Howl of the Wolf Read Online Free PDF Page A

was half past eight. Only thirty minutes until she was done for the evening.
    She’d had three readings tonight, which wasn’t bad for a Wednesday evening. There was always a bigger crowd on Friday and Saturday nights, but she preferred to work the weekday nights for those who didn’t like to come downtown on the busier weekend evenings. Tilly let her set up and do readings in a corner table, not charging her for the space or asking for part of her fee. To Tilly’s way of thinking, if folks came in for a reading, they would always buy something to eat or drink before or after their reading. And ninety percent of the time they dragged a friend or two with them and they bought something as well.
    The arrangement worked out great for both of them. Café Ledet was well known for having a tarot reader there six nights a week, so she wasn’t the only professional working there in the evenings. There were two other women who came in two nights a week to do readings as well. Sunday evenings were reserved for live music, usually a solo performer with a guitar.
    The art on the wall was available for sale and Tilly got a commission for whatever she sold. That was more than fair to Sabrina’s way of thinking. She studied the paintings as she absently shuffled her tarot deck. Tilly had two of her pieces left, but it was probably time to swap them out. After a while, the regulars stopped noticing the canvases if they weren’t changed. She’d do that tomorrow when she stopped by for her morning coffee.
    The low hum of the music and conversation soothed her as she continued to shuffle the cards. The long, warm day in the Square coupled with her restless night had left her drowsy. She yawned and glanced at her watch again. Twenty-five minutes left.
    The café closed at nine on weeknights and eleven on the weekend. Tilly would be back soon and then the three of them would head around the corner to her apartment. She hoped whatever Jessica had in mind would work. She could use a night without dreams.
    Her eyes were heavy and she closed them to rest a moment. She swayed to the jazzy music drifting out from the stereo speakers, letting the music soothe her soul. Her surroundings melted away. Shadows filled her mind but quickly parted to reveal the bayou. Some folks found it scary out there, but she loved it, always had.
    The cypress trees were heavily laden with Spanish moss, giving the entire area a ghostly appearance at night. Marshy grasses sprang up under her feet. The world was alive with the music of the bayou as the sun sank in the distance, bathing the land in its dying colors. The grasshoppers chirped, insects buzzed and the bullfrogs sang their nocturnal song. Something flew overhead, probably an owl or a bat, and in the distance she heard a splash as something entered the water.
    The pathway before her was familiar, one she’d walked most of her young life. Her grandmother was gone, but the little house and the land on the edge of the bayou were still there, still called to her when she needed to get away from the noise and business of the city. Now they belonged to her.
    She heard a low hiss and froze in her tracks. There in the grass three feet in front of her was a snake that stretched about four feet in length. She couldn’t tell if it was poisonous or not, but it was always better to err on the side of caution and let it pass. She curled her toes into the warm dirt beneath her bare feet and stood still as the snake slithered over some moss and through the grass. It paused for a moment and seemed to study her. She held her breath, releasing it slowly as the creature eventually moved on.
    Sabrina continued walking but paused to pick up a sturdy stick from the ground. It would work to flick away a snake if she came across another one. The air was thick with moisture and the atmosphere seemed to close in around her, the scent of water and slightly rotting vegetation mixed with the sweeter perfume of the irises and other