“Well, we’re desperate, aren’t we?” Vi said, her hands out, palms up. “We really don’t know what else to do.”
“I love crystal balls!” Seth said. “Diana has a bunch in her store. How do you use it? I’ve never seen anyone use one.”
Vi cast a severe glance in his direction. “You have to be very careful. Some people see all sorts of future events in a crystal ball, some see only possibilities. Others get so lost in the future that they forget about the present.”
Alex and I glanced at each other. We’d heard the same speech when we were about Seth’s age. Mom had caught Alex, Diana, and me consulting it about a crush Diana had and whether he would ask her to the dance. The event stuck in all our minds because it was the only time my mom had been mad that I was trying to use my talents. I sensed that she was afraid of the seemingly innocent orb. She’d taken it away and I still didn’t know where she kept it. She left the room to go to her secret hiding place.
Alex sighed heavily. “I’d rather do the pendulum.”
*
Vi mobilized the rest of us into clearing the table. Mom breezed back into the dining room, out of breath and dusty. She carried a battered wooden box about half the size of a shoe box. I wondered again where she was hiding the thing.
She set the box in the middle of the table with the reverence normally reserved for religious ceremonies. Dad slid his chair back.
“Don’t go wandering off, Frank,” Mom said without looking at him. “We need all the energy we can get.”
Dad’s shoulders slumped.
Seth wore the gleeful expression of a five-year-old on Christmas morning. Alex regarded the box as if it might contain poisonous snakes. I gripped the table and waited for Mom to open it.
She flipped open the lid to reveal a clear crystal sphere nestled in black velvet. Lifting it out, she also pulled away a square of velvet to polish the surface. After she was done, she set a round metal stand on the table, draped that with the velvet, and set the ball in the stand, all without touching the surface of the crystal. Mom and Vi were very particular about fingerprints. I was reminded of crime scene techs handling evidence.
Vi had been rifling through the cabinet that sat in the corner of the dining room and now returned to the table with several candles and a lighter. After the tapers were lit, Mom turned off the overhead light and plunged us all into the warm glow of candlelight. I didn’t feel cozy.
Seth’s eyes gleamed in the flickering lights and he resembled one of his manga comic book characters, all big eyes and angles. Alex had instinctively pulled back from the crystal and he regarded me warily from across the table. Mom and Vi looked at me expectantly.
I closed my eyes. I was already getting a headache right in the middle of my forehead.
“I hate scrying,” I said. Scrying uses fire, smoke, or reflective surfaces to help see visions of the future.
“You were fine when it was a bonfire in the middle of the woods,” Vi said.
“That didn’t give me a headache the way this does.”
“Just give it a try,” Mom said. “You haven’t looked at it in years. Maybe it will be better this time.”
“I’ll do it.” Seth’s hand shot into the air. “Tell me what to do.”
For a kid who was all worked up about his ability to talk to animals, Seth was certainly enthusiastic about every other method of seeing the future or communicating with other realms. I would think talking to Tuffy would seem tame compared to a séance or viewing the future. But I’ve never gotten a message from an animal.
“Let Seth try,” I said, rubbing the spot between my eyes.
Vi tsked. “He doesn’t have any abilities.”
Seth and I exchanged a panicked look. Had they figured out Seth’s Dolittle tendencies?
“I thought anyone could at least try,” Dad said.
Vi glowered at him and then shrugged. “Fine, give it a try, Seth.” She carefully slid the ball toward Seth.
“Seth, you have to look deep into the crystal and be patient,” Mom said. “Sometimes the surface will get cloudy or misty and you have to move beyond that to see what lies inside. It doesn’t work every time, but give it a try.”