Vince’s work as a diplomat meant that he had to travel very often. He was quite used to the routine of airports, tickets and baggage. And anyway, this trip was one he was looking forward to.
He was on his way to Geneva, then his base, to pick up some things for a sojourn in Paris, filling in for a sick colleague.
He was travelling via Rome, and by the time he had downed a few drinks with a couple of friends at the airport and deciphered the incomprehensible announcement over the public address system, he was late for his flight.
As he strolled down the aircraft aisle, he was aware of all the eyes on him, probably thinking: “Oh, he’s the one we’ve all been waiting for.”
And wouldn’t you know it? His seat was the centre one in the row. The woman sitting in the aisle seat had to get up to let him in.
He did try to nod politely to her once he had sat down but she just ignored him and carried on reading her book. He turned to the other woman sitting by him and felt a little more optimistic. She was quite a stunner, wearing a blue, long-sleeved dress and matching hat.
Perhaps in her mid-40s, she was wearing dark sunglasses but they only made her seem more alluring. She was quite something, and if the whiff of expensive perfume was anything to go by, quite well off too. He discreetly tried to catch a glimpse of her left hand. He found he was quite looking forward to the hour-long flight.
It turned out that Eileen was a History of Art teacher and it was her first time overseas. She had never flown before this trip and was absolutely terrified, so perhaps that was why she turned to Vince, starting up a conversation to break the tension she was feeling.
He found out that she was on her way to Nairobi to attend a conference on women’s issues. She chatted on, explaining how she had gone into the US information agency and been given this assignment. She was full of enthusiasm about her big adventure. She had already stopped in Rome to meet the FAO and was on her way to Geneva to meet the WHO, before going on to Nairobi.
As the flight settled into its normal routine, she seemed to relax and the conversation turned to superstitions.
“I went to a fortune teller,” she explained.
“It was at the circus, just fun, you know,” she trailed off.
Vince pressed her a bit. She looked at him and hesitated before answering him.
“She forecast three misfortunes.”
Vince was quite surprised at the fear in her voice. Surely these circus fortune tellers were just a gimmick
Vince was quite surprised at the fear in her voice. Surely these circus fortune-tellers were just a gimmick. And if not, surely a fortune teller who did see something lurking in the future would not actually tell the person?
“I ignored it at first,” she added. “But two bad things have already happened.”
With a slight tremor in her voice, she explained that her maid had fallen off a ladder while cleaning her apartment and smashed a priceless collection of Japanese miniatures. Soon after, her neighbour had borrowed her new car and smashed it into a tree. He had not been hurt in the accident but the insurance had refused to pay up as the neighbour was not covered by the policy.
“And now I am waiting for the third. I shudder to think what it might be.”
Judging by the way she looked out of the window, her hand clutching the seat arm between them, Vince was pretty sure that she thought the plane trip would be the next misfortune.
In spite of himself, Vince shuddered. He did his best to reassure her; after all, no one had been hurt and it could all have been coincidence. Surely she had no reason to suspect that the third misfortune would be tragic?
All too quickly, the captain informed them that they were to land in Geneva. Eileen turned to Vince and shyly asked whether he would mind holding her hand till they touched down.
She took off her sunglasses as she spoke, and a pair of deep green eyes looked at Vince, full of apprehension.
Vince most certainly did not mind. He could feel her fingers tightening on his arm as the runway unfolded beneath the aircraft.
As the wheels bumped gently onto the tarmac, Eileen smiled at him and said: “Seems we beat the Grim Reaper”.
He laughed nervously.
As the rest of the passengers leapt up to retrieve their baggage, elbows and bags jabbed at them. It was time to leave.
They exchanged names and addresses and shook hands, somewhat formally and self-consciously. They parted.
Vince soon settled down into his Paris office and in the whirl of activity trying to catch up, he did not have much time to think about his travelling companion until a few days later.
He opened the International Herald Tribune and came across a story about a woman who had been murdered in Africa. The woman, who was on an assignment for the USIA, was in Nairobi for a conference.
On her first day there, she had gone out to dinner with some other delegates. They had been held up at gunpoint by a young thief. They all handed over their wallets but it seems that he was jittery and the gun went off, killing the woman.
He could not bear to look at the photo of Eileen’s smiling face looking up from the page.
Had the fortune teller’s third misfortune really struck?
This is the 37th in a series of short stories The Sunday Times of Malta is running every Sunday. It is taken from The Unexplained Plus (Allied Publications) by Vanessa Macdonald. The first edition was published in 2001 and reprinted twice. It was republished, with added stories, as The Unexplained Plus. The Maltese version of the book, Ta’ Barra Minn Hawn (Klabb Kotba Maltin), is available from all leading bookstores and stationers and from www.bdlbooks.com.