Part 24 (1/2)
The Torresian crow drops Sam on the top of a hill. It's so steep, she can't stop running it's the kind of running that's almost flying and if Kitty hadn't rushed forward and caught her, I think she would have launched herself into the air and flown back to the crow for ever.
HOW TO WALK ON HOT COALS.
A bed of volcanic rock is alight on the ground. The masked magician summons the G.o.ds and walks across it barefoot yet the feet are not burnt. How?
THE SECRET.
Firewalking has nothing to do with faith, willpower or the paranormal.
1. Air has a low heat capacity and our bodies have a high heat capacity, so even if the coals reach 1,000 degrees, a person with normal soles won't get burned if they walk quickly.
2. It's safer to use fuel that has a low heat capacity such as volcanic rock and wood embers.
3. It helps if your feet are insulated with sweat or water.
WARNING: DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME. AT THE VERY LEAST, YOU'LL BURN THE CARPET.
UP TO YOUR NECK IN ANTS.
”Am I back, Kitty?”
Kitty holds Sam by the shoulders and waits for her to catch her breath. ”You never left.”
”I did. Lola came too. I saw my grandfather. He was as real as you are!”
Ruby Featha stops drumming. ”Real? Not an illusion then? Not magic? Are you sure, Sam Khaan?”
Did she have the answer to the three questions? Had she visited the Lower World to retrieve the long forgotten truths? No, she hadn't. Sam's elation turns to melancholy. She's confused.
”It is normal to feel that way,” says Ruby. ”Sometimes it takes a lifetime to understand the questions, let alone find the answers.”
”What if I die never knowing?”
”n.o.body dies never knowing,” says Ruby. ”The dead have all the answers.”
Right now that's no comfort to Sam. She'd felt so far from death, so energetic, so happy, after talking to her grandpa. Now all she wants to do is sleep.
Ruby takes her hand. ”Your mind is full, your stomach is empty. Let's eat.”
It's impossible to feel miserable for long sitting around a campfire with a blanket around you to keep off the night chill. Especially when you're sharing the experience with your totem animal and a woman who can catch fish with her bare hands.
Lola isn't keen on salmon, but she's happy to stuff her cheeks with berries and nuts. Sam leans back and uses her soft belly as a pillow. ”Ruby, how did you get to be a midiwiwin?”
”Some inherit the t.i.tle but to inherit is not enough; you must prove your skills.” She pauses to poke the fire. ”You have to suffer a trauma or an affliction. Suffering provokes your psychic abilities.”
Kitty taps her mask to draw attention to herself. ”I've suffered! I tripped over a cot on the stars and binged my hat when I was a little grill. Then the wh.o.r.ehouse caught fire and my farce was destroyed by the flans. Then I fell into a wharf and almost drained to death. Then I lost my mammary, didn't I, Sam?”
”Yes, and you muddle up your words, especially when you're tired.”
”No, I don't.”
”You do. You just said mammary instead of memory.”
”I did not. There must be something wrong with your earring, Sam.”
Ruby interrupts; it would be a shame for an argument to break out and spoil the evening.
”Kitty, the fact that you have suffered greatly explains your ability to communicate with the spirits. I believe they contact you through automatic writing?”
How Ruby knows this, I don't know. Maybe the spirits wrote and told her. It doesn't matter; at least Kitty feels better for having her skill and her suffering publicly acknowledged.
”I'm glad someone recognizes my pain,” she mutters.
Sam feels it's only fair to remind her that she's not the only one who's suffered and reels off a list of dreadful things she's had to endure.
1. Being told that her mother had died in hideous circ.u.mstances.
2. Being told that her father was a no-hoper called Bingo Hall.
3. Not being allowed to perform magic.
4. Not being allowed to bring friends home.
5. Having to wear circus clothes to school.
6. Being threatened with a teapot.
7. Being locked in an attic.
8. Being made to eat sc.r.a.ps.
9. Being forced to cut Aunt Candy's toenails.
10. Having to sleep in a knicker drawer.