Page 20 of Deadly Misfortunes

“Okay, so yeah, I’ll say first that I learned Damon came by to see you at the party last night. But that’s not what this is about.”

Sascha was surprised that Lucy was interested in discussing something else.

“I…well, I want to work at the fair with you this weekend.”

Both Katrina and Sascha raised their brows.

“I…thought it would be good advertising for my business. I could have a booth next to yours. You would be the main show, Sascha the Sensation, of course. But I could put up my sign: Ghostly Intervention. And then I would offer visits with departed family or friends.”

“You would have to get hold of the fair coordinator for booths. You might not be able to do it at this late date,” Sascha explained. “We don’t have anyone else who does what you do, so it’s possible. Everybody’s booths are juried for that reason. You’ll have to pay a fee also.”

“Prescott will help get your booth set up if they go for it,” Kat said. “You still have your cover and table for a booth, right?”

“Yep.”

Lucy hadn’t done one of those at the fair for several years. Sascha was surprised she wanted to now.

“Okay, so here’s the card for the coordinator,” Sascha said, handing it to Lucy. “No hard feelings about Damon?”

Lucy let out her breath. “He can’t have you. I’ll be stuck with him unless I can convince Mom and Dad to change their minds. At least I convinced them that I would marry him after Kat’s babies came. And…” Lucy frowned. “And being married to him is only for five years.”

Which was a long time.

“But maybe I can get them to whittle down the time. In any event, I don’t plan to live with him, just so you know. I’m sure he’ll be happy with the arrangement too.”

Sascha thought that could work. At least they wouldn’t kill each other, but she knew they couldn’t have an extramarital affair, even if they weren’t living together.

Lucy didn't hesitate to call the fair's concession coordinator. Sascha suspected she had an ulterior motive.

"Yes, hi, I'm Lucy Brighten, and I know it's late to do this, but my cousins Sascha the Sensation and Katrina are set up there every year with their fortunetelling booth. I would love to set up a booth next to them and give fairgoers a chance to speak to their dearly departed friends and family. I have a shop in town, but I'll have someone else manning it for the weekend."

She looked at the coffee table and tapped her high-heeled shoe on the floor. “Departed Intervention." She gave the coordinator her website address.

There was a lengthy pause. "No, well, just once, but I did it at a different fairground, and it was very successful. No. I won't be competing with my cousins. Yes. I spoke with them. Here, you can talk to Sascha." Lucy handed her phone to Sascha.

"This is Sascha."

"Are you all right with your cousin, Lucy, setting up a booth next to yours?"

Sascha glanced at Lucy. She nodded and motioned to Sascha to vouch for her.

"Yes. She has a lovely setup for it, and Prescott will help her set up the table and tent."

"All right. Let me talk to her. She needs to pay for the space."

Sascha handed Lucy's phone back to her, and she paid for the space. "Thanks so much." Then they ended the call.

"Why have you never done more than one ghostly performance at a fair?" Sascha asked, wondering if Lucy’s booth wasn't as popular as Sascha’s fortune telling was. It certainly would take more time to contact ghosts, she figured. At least when she did seances, it did.

"I was hot, and it was buggy," Lucy said.

Both Kat and Sascha frowned at her, sure that wasn’t the only reason.

"All right, already. The one and only time I did it was a disaster. One man nearly had a heart attack when his dead business partner accused him of murdering him to take over the business. A woman fainted when she heard from her dead husband, and another ran off screaming when her daughter spoke to her about things only the mother would know. Of course, several said I was a charlatan, even though I knew things I shouldn’t have about them. That's par for the course. But I was hot and plagued with bugs too.”

"We'll have fans going to take care of both problems," Kat said.

But terrifying fairgoers with their ghostly encounters was another story. Sascha thought that having Lucy set up next to them could be a catastrophe, given her previous experience.