Divine nodded.
“So you use your immortal abilities to help mortals,” he said solemnly.
Divine felt herself relax. As much as she tried not to let it bother her, the attitudes she often ran into with “townies” about the carnies bothered her. Most people came to the carnivals just to have fun and didn’t make judgments, but there were a large number of people who thought all carnies were scum, con artists, and thieves. That she was a con artist and thief, scamming money off foolish people who believed in fortune-tellers and such nonsense.
Divine did not—and never claimed to—tell fortunes. She did, however, try to help whoever she was reading, in whatever way she could. It was rare to actually save a life as she had with Allen’s wife, but she liked to think she had contributed to the health and well-being of others. She could quite often smell illness on a mortal. Undiagnosed diabetics had a sweet scent while cancer had the faint but distinct, sickly sweet stench of rot. She could also hear the rasp of lung or bronchial problems, a skipping or irregular heartbeat, a fast or slow pulse rate, etc. There were many health issues she could recognize and diagnose and advise the customer to have checked out.
Divine also did a quick read of the minds of whoever accompanied each customer, sometimes finding useful information there, like a cheating husband, a troubled friend, a child with a dangerous secret that needed revealing, or abuse they’d been warned to keep quiet. And then too, she could read the customer’s mind and know when they were going to do something stupid, or illegal, or desperate and advise them against it. Often, their shock that she knew what they were thinking or planning was enough to return some sense to them.
Divine tried to help people in exchange for the money they paid. She did not simply take the money and give some spiel about meeting a tall, dark, handsome stranger and living the good life. She tried to help. She always had.
“Yes, I use our abilities to try to help mortals,” Divine said finally. “And I get paid for it. I’m not ashamed of that.”
Marco nodded, but then asked, “So you aren’t hiding or running from something?”
Divine shifted impatiently at the question. She wanted to say no, but instead asked, “Is that why you joined the carnival? Because you’re running or hiding from something?”
Marco grimaced and then sat back in his own seat with a smile. “Touché.”
“You didn’t answer the question,” she pointed out.
“Neither did you,” he responded at once.
They were both silent for a moment and then Marco sat forward and asked, “Will you at least tell me your real name?”
“Madame Divine to strangers and Divine to my friends,” she answered at once and raised her menu again.
“Is Divine your real name?” he asked suspiciously.
“Is Marco yours?” she countered, staring blindly at the appetizer section.
After a pause he asked, “How old are you?”
Divine slapped the menu down with irritation. “Now that’s just rude.”
“Yes, it is,” a laughing voice announced, drawing their attention to a cute little blonde who had just stopped at their table. Their waitress, it seemed. With twinkling eyes and a bright smile, she admonished Marco, “You never ask a lady her age. At least not if you enjoy your manhood and wish to keep it intact.”
Divine’s mouth twitched briefly and then eased into a smile when Marco’s jaw dropped at the girl’s cheek.
“Thank you,” Divine said to the waitress. “You’re going to get a big tip.”
“Only if you’re paying,” Marco grumbled, but there was amusement in his eyes too now, and chagrin as he glanced to Divine and murmured, “My apologies. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Obviously,” Divine said dryly, but was still smiling.
The waitress laughed and then tilted her head. “Can I get you folks something?”
“Ah.” Divine’s gaze dropped to the menu she’d been pretending to peruse. She really wanted to order something. She did plan to give the girl a tip. The problem was she didn’t eat. At least she hadn’t for eons. She didn’t even drink except to nurse teas when in mortal company, and those she didn’t drink so much as hold in front of her face, occasionally pressing the rim to her mouth as the steam gave her a mini facial of sorts. It was probably good for her pores, she thought, frowning at the menu. After another moment, she sighed and smiled apologetically at the girl. “Actually, maybe we’ll wait for Hal and Carl to get back.”
“Oh, you have friends coming?” the girl asked.
“Well, they’re here already I think. Two older men, one bald and the other missing most of his teeth?” she said, hoping to prod the girl’s memory. “The young lady who greeted us at the door said they had been seated here and thought they might have gone out to the patio.”
“Oh no, they left,” the blonde said, looking rather disappointed to pass this news on. “They wanted the oak-smoked ribs, but we only serve those on Sunday. They said they might as well come back on Sunday instead then and head back to their bottles and bunks now . . . Whatever that means,” the girl added wryly.
Divine merely smiled faintly. It meant exactly what it sounded like; the two men had gone back to their bunks in the trailers and the bottles of booze waiting there. She didn’t explain that though, but slipped her hand in her skirt pocket and pulled out a ten. Setting it on the table, she offered the girl a smile and stood. “Thank you.”
“Oh, you don’t have to—” the girl protested, picking up the ten-dollar bill to give back to her.
Divine waved it away. “I appreciate the information. We could have been here awhile waiting, and then I would have worried about what had become of our friends. Keep it.”
Patting the girl’s shoulder, she headed for the door, aware that Marco was following her.
“Bottles and bunks?” Marco asked. “I gather that means—”
“Back to the carnival,” Divine finished with a nod. “Both Hal and Carl have bunks in the bunkhouses.” She shrugged and added, “Dining out is expensive on their pay. If they want the ribs, they probably can’t afford to spend money tonight too.”
“Yeah, I noticed the pay is lousy in the carnival,” Marco said dryly.
“Worse than lousy,” Divine agreed with amusement. “Which makes me wonder why you’d bother with it. Surely you could find a job elsewhere?”
“Surely I could,” he agreed evasively. “But this seemed like fun.”
“Hmm,” Divine said dubiously, doubting there was anything fun about hefting steel and hawking corn dogs.
“I gather you do better than the laborers?” Marco asked as they stepped outside into the humid night. It was like walking into a sauna, or slamming into a hot, wet towel. Honestly, the heat the last week or so had been terrible, but the humidity had been worse—a wall of misery that enveloped them everywhere they went. She would be glad when summer passed and fall returned with its milder temperatures.
“I suppose that’s a rude question too,” Marco muttered suddenly, and Divine realized he was still waiting for an answer. She debated just saying yes it was rude, but then changed her mind.
“I own my RV and don’t need to hire setup guys,” she said quietly as she led the way to her motorcycle. “Everything I make is my own.”
“You don’t have to pay Madge and Bob for rental space or anything?” he asked with surprise.
“I used to,” she admitted. “But I’ve become a bit of a draw, and then I started helping them with things like hiring locals when we get to each town, steering them away from the troublemakers and criminals and things like that. The second year I did that, I prevented their hiring a fellow who turned out to be on the FBI’s most wanted list. They were so grateful they decided to pass on making me pay rental anymore as a thank-you.”