Nightingale's Nightmare (Cassadaga Book 4 Read Online Free Page B

a new era.

Six
     
    Lollie Hobbs, the owner of the Hotel, greeted the two women with her arms outstretched.
    “I haven’t seen you girls for a while,” she said. “Must be spending all your time with your gentlemen.”
    “ Si, I with Stephano a lot,” Poppy said, beaming at Lollie.
    Nightingale didn’t respond to that remark, choosing instead to go another direction. “We’re here to celebrate Sheila’s election to the board.”
    “Oh, that’s wonderful!  I’m happy for her,” Lollie said, leading the way to a table. “I’ll send Tina over to get your order.”
    “You not here lately?” Poppy asked Nightingale as they sat down.
    “No, Bill has been having me cook for him. Guess I don’t have to worry about that now.”
    “He be back.”
    “Maybe. If I even want him back.”
    “You do.”
    “We’ll see.”
    They ordered a wine carafe along with a plate of cheese and crackers.
    “So things are going well with Stephano?” Nightingale asked.
    “ Si. He love me, I love him.”
    “Are you thinking about marriage?”
    “Maybe…But we have fun now, so why hurry?”
    “I see your point. Have you ever been married?”
    “No. I just play the grass.”
    “ It’s play the field, Poppy,” Nightingale corrected.
    “ Si. Field. You been married?”
    “I’ve been married twice. The last husband is the one I’m suspected of murdering.” Nightingale reached for her wine glass as the waitress set it down on the table, taking a long swallow. “I don’t think I’m in any hurry, either, to tie the knot with anyone.”
    “In South America, girls supposed to marry young,” Poppy said, sipping at her wine. “I be, how you say, old lady?”
    “Old maid.”
    “ I be old maid down there.”
    “How long have you been in the states?”
    “I born here when parents on vacation in Miami, but they return home. I stay until eighteen, then come to Florida.”
    “That makes you a citizen.”
    “ Si, I citizen. I think it better here, so here where I want to live.”
    “What was your childhood like, Poppy? You never talk about it.”
    The expression on Poppy’s face made Nightingale think she still didn’t want to talk about it. “Not nice.” She took a sip of her wine, replaced the glass on the table and looked Nightingale squarely in the eyes.
    “You promise not to tell?”
    “Of course, Poppy, I won’t tell a soul.”
    “My father die, my mother had no job,” Poppy said, sighing over the memory. “I thirteen, too young to work. So my mother move away from Brazil to Colombia. She stay near a friend who got her a job. That why I speak Spanish, but I still remember the Portuguese.”
    “What job did your mother take?”
    “She work making men happy.”
    The statement hung in the air like stale cigarette smoke.
    “Oh.” It was the only word that fell out of Nightingale’s mouth.
    “Sometime men come home with her, stay the night. More money.” Poppy grew more uncomfortable as she spoke, frequently sipping from the wine glass. “I sleep in next room, hear things. Men sometime come into my room, try touch me. I scream when happen, they run away.”
    “Did any of those men ever, uh, try to, did anyone…”
    “ Si . That why I come to Florida.”
    Nightingale reached out her hand and placed it on Poppy’s arm. “It’s okay. They can’t hurt you now. And I promise I’ll never say a word to anyone.”
    Poppy nodded her head. “ Gracious. ”
    ~~
    Nightingale sat down across from her client, a young girl named Heather who was probably nineteen years of age. She appeared quite nice, perhaps a bit naïve. Nestling into the high-backed chair, Nightingale closed her eyes, waiting for the impressions to appear. What she saw was unusual and not at all like anything she had ever seen in any other reading. Nightingale opened her eyes, looking strangely at her client.
    “Yeah, I know. Weird, huh?” the client said.
    “Beyond weird. Do you believe someone has put a curse on you?”
    “Yes, my