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warned. “I see wings. Wings tell me you may be limiting yourself at your job—”
    â€œWell, there was a promotion I was going to apply for, but then—”
    â€œYou must not put up barriers,” Lady Azura interrupted her. “See this fence shape? You are holding yourself back. Do you feel that way?”
    â€œWell, sometimes . . .”
    â€œYou need to set yourself free, and then you will succeed at work.” Lady Azura peered closer at the leaves. “I see a palm tree here near the bottom. You shall go on a trip soon. A vacation.”
    Mrs. McHugh brightened. “Really?”
    â€œYes.” Lady Azura pointed into the cup. “And seethis wagon shape near the palm tree? You will go on the vacation with a childhood friend . . . wait, no, you shall meet your childhood friend while on vacation.”
    â€œSonya? Sonya will be there?” Mrs. McHugh sounded delighted.
    Lady Azura looked up at her client. “Yes, I think it is indeed Sonya,” she said in a dramatic voice.
    I wrinkled my nose. I bet I could just as easily read this woman’s fortune from a pack of M&Ms! Red—you’ll find love. Yellow—something scary will happen. . . . I stepped away from the curtain, about to leave.
    Then I heard Mrs. McHugh say, “I’m here because my friend, well, she said that you can reach beyond. She said you can . . . contact the dead.”
    I froze.
    â€œThere is someone you want to communicate with?” Lady Azura asked.
    â€œYes.” Mrs. McHugh choked back a sob. “My brother, Ronald. He passed last year.”
    â€œLet us begin,” Lady Azura said.
    I crept back to my spot by the curtain and peered back inside. The lamp had been switched off and the drapes drawn, leaving the room nearly dark. A largewhite cylindrical candle flickered in the center of the round table. Lady Azura and Mrs. McHugh grasped hands. My throat felt dry. I licked my lips. Can she really do this?
    Lady Azura reached down by her feet and lifted a large cut-crystal bell. She shook it gently four times. Each time she directed the tinkling bell to a different corner of the room. “We wish to communicate with Ronald—”
    â€œRonald Amato,” Mrs. McHugh supplied.
    â€œRonald Amato, dear brother of Lynn,” Lady Azura continued in a monotone. “Move among us, Ronald. Come to us from the four corners of the Earth.”
    Lady Azura stared straight ahead. Even in the shadowy candlelight, I could see her eyes were no longer focused. “Beloved Ronald, we ask that you join us.” She began to sway and hum.
    â€œRonald . . . Ronald . . .” She chanted his name over and over.
    Then the table began to shake. Ever so slightly at first. A small tremor. But then it happened again. And again, until it was clear that the table was moving on its own.
    Mrs. McHugh’s eyes flew open. Her hands still grasped Lady Azura’s. Lady Azura gazed blankly into the distance, as if present only in body and not in mind. I was totally freaked out for a moment before I realized what I was feeling: that pins-and-needles feeling had started. A familiar, prickly sensation crept along my skin. The muscles in my throat constricted. I wheezed softly, trying to suck in air.
    â€œIs—is he here?” Mrs. McHugh whispered.
    The table stopped shaking. I knew the answer before Lady Azura spoke.
    â€œRonald is with us.”
    Crouched outside the room, I stared through the break in the curtain at the translucent form of a heavy, bald man in an ill-fitting suit. Ronald. He shimmered in the right corner behind Lady Azura.
    How did she do it? I wondered. Sure, I could see spirits, but only when they chose to show themselves. I couldn’t just make them appear.
    â€œRonnie, oh, dear Ronnie.” Tears streamed down Mrs. McHugh’s cheeks.
    â€œRonald, we thank you for joining us,” Lady Azura said, her voice low. “How have you