Gallows Hill Read Online Free PDF Page A

her ticket and paused uncertainly.
     
    "What do I do now?" she asked.
     
    Sarah motioned her into the chair across from her. The girl sat down gingerly, as if expecting the bottom to fall through, while Sarah gazed down into the ball, trying to act as if she saw something fascinating in its depths. The earphones beneath her headgear remained stubbornly silent, and she was struck by a wave of panic. What if the radio wasn't working?
     
    Then, to her relief, the earphones crackled into life, and Kyra's voice burst upon her eardrums.
     
    "That's Cindy Morris. Her dad's the minister at Pine Crest Community Church. She's adopted, but nobody's supposed to know it. She bleaches her hair, and she used to wear braces. When she was little, she had a grubby old baby doll named Dorcas that she dragged around with her everywhere."
     
    Sarah stared into the ball, trying to assimilate the shotgun torrent of splattered information. She decided to start with the basics.
     
    "Your name," she said softly. "I see a round letter. It must be an O—no, it's half an O—the letter is C. Cindy is the name, isn't it? I can't quite see the last name, but it does seem to be a bit longer than the first name, and it seems to me that the two middle letters are the same."
     
    "Morris," the blond girl said. "I'm not surprised you know that. Everybody knows the cheerleaders."
     
    The statement was offered as a challenge, but Sarah ignored it.
     
    "Morris," she repeated. "Yes, that's what it is—Morris. But there's something wrong with the letters. They keep shifting around. It's like they're not sure they belong there—as if there was a time when your name was something else."
     
    "I don't know what you're talking about," the girl said nervously.
     
    "Maybe I'm wrong. Things aren't always what they seem. If you did have another name, it was at a time when your smile looked different and your hair was darker."
     
    "What do you mean, 'darker'?" Cindy demanded in a defensive voice. "I'm a natural blonde."
     
    "Like I said, things aren't always what they seem," Sarah said. Her eyes remained glued to the crystal sphere. "The person I see in the glass is not the same as the person who is sitting across from me. In the glass I see past the outer shell into the soul. What I see is an insecure child in need of a friend. No, wait—she has a friend—someone—something..." She leaned closer to the glass. "She is hugging someone and gaining comfort, but it's not a flesh-and-blood person. It's too soft and cuddly to be a person. It's a... doll!"
     
    "So what else is new?" Cindy said. "All girls have dolls when they're little."
     
    "Not like this one," said Sarah. "This doll has a distinct personality. She has an old-fashioned name. Her name..." She paused for effect and then said softly, "Her name is Dorcas."
     
    There was a long pause.
     
    Then Cindy exclaimed, "How did you know that?"
     
    "I am Madam Zoltanne," Sarah said as if that explained everything. "Now the glass grows dim and the pictures fade. Peace be with you, and may the stars in the heavens watch over you."
     
    The girl left the tent, and Sarah drew a deep breath. She couldn't believe it had gone so well! For once her mother had been right; all her experience in high-school theater was paying off.
     
    Cindy's place was taken by a little girl in a Minnie Mouse costume.
     
    "That's Amy Albritton." Kyra's voice spoke into Sarah's headphones. "I sometimes baby-sit her. She's in second grade and has an older sister named Jennifer. She's a Sesame Street freak and watches it every afternoon. She's afraid of the dark, so her folks gave her a Big Bird night-light."
     
    Talking to Amy was easy, because the child had been so conditioned by television that nothing struck her as fantastic. Although Sarah mentioned her sister, Jennifer, by name and made a subtle reference to the night-light—"A big yellow bird watches over you every night"—Amy didn't seem too impressed. What she did respond to