Deadly Brew
A Teen Novel of Suspense
by Marie Prato

 Chapter 1

Tantalizing Tea Leaves

“Now for the weather,” said the radio announcer. “The Lake George area can expect a few flurries this afternoon. Nothing to worry about, folks.”

“Maybe someone should call Joe and tell him to look out the window,” said Cindy Jelkin, clutching onto the steering wheel of her dad’s old Chevy pickup.

Nancy Krommer chuckled. Joe Thorton had been Lake George’s newscaster for as long as she could remember. Last spring one of the locals had to call him and tell him to stop predicting sunshine—it had been raining for hours and her basement was already flooded. But no one really minded Joe’s laziness. He was a year-rounder and that bought a lot of slack in the small Lake George community.

“It looks like we’re in for a blizzard,” said Nancy, rolling down her window so she could read the name on the dilapidated street sign. Large snow flakes swirled around the pickup while gusts of wind struck its body. The wipers scraped rapidly back and forth across the windshield as the truck careened over bumps and jolted through pot holes.

“Most of these streets don’t even have names on them,” sighed Nancy, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. “Maybe we already passed Grove Road.”

“After today there is only one more shopping day until Christmas,” continued Joe. “Let’s support our merchants who stay through the winter by buying locally. Remember, folks, your favorite radio station will be counting down the days to 1979 by playing all the oldies.”

“You’re twirling again,” stated Cindy, glancing sideways at her friend.

“Thanks,” said Nancy, yanking her finger out of her shoulder-length hair. She was determined to stop the childish habit before her senior year. The next song that came blasting from the pickup’s radio was “Bad Moon Rising” and Nancy couldn’t help thinking it was an omen of what was to come. Why had she ever agreed to come to Grove Road with Cindy? Nancy was scared. She had never had her fortune told before. What if the witch was a phony? Worse, what if Ruth was for real and saw horrible things in the future? The old woman might even look into her tea leaves and start blurting out all the fantasizing she had been doing about Gary. Nancy felt the heat move across her face. Could the witch be that good? Two girls from her soccer team had already gone to Ruth. According to them, several of the witch’s predictions had come true.

 “Here it is,” said Cindy, making a quick left. “I hope this lady can really see the future. I don’t want to hear any made-up bull like you’re going to marry some rich and handsome man. Not unless it happens to be true, of course.”

Nancy shook her head and laughed. She had known Cindy Jelkin since they were little kids. She remembered the first day of kindergarten. Nancy had been the second tallest girl in the class and Cindy had been the shortest. For Show and Tell Nancy had brought in pictures of her favorite heavyweight boxer while Cindy had shared a recipe for cookies that she and her mother had made. In grade school their differences had widened even more. Nancy had made the soccer team and cut her hair to her shoulders while Cindy had made a quilt and spent hours braiding her coarse red hair. In their freshman year, Nancy had taken courses to help her get into a good med school while Cindy shopped for clothes and talked about marriage and kids. Yet, instead of their differences coming between them, somehow the girls had grown closer over the years.

“You don’t think the witch just makes up things that she thinks people will pay to hear, do you?” asked Cindy, crinkling her freckled forehead.

 “I’d rather hear a romantic lie than that I was going to flunk out in med school,” answered Nancy, wrapping a shiny strand even tighter around her finger, “or that something was going to happen to my mom. I really couldn’t take hearing anything like that.”

Both girls were silent for a moment. Yesterday, Nancy had been excited about seeing this woman and getting a preview of the future. But that had been yesterday. Now Nancy just wanted to go home. She felt a tug on her scalp and realized she had twirled her hair into a tight knot.

“Don’t go running out on me,” said Cindy, pointing to the telltale ball of hair on her friend’s finger. “Besides, what will the girls at school say if we tell them we got scared and didn’t go in?”

That was the deciding factor. The truck skidded slightly as Cindy eased down on the brake. On the right, about 20 yards set back from the road, was a small, broken-down house, with gray flaking paint and a collapsing front porch. A flickering light showed from the dirty windows and thin strands of black smoke curled out from a pipe stuck in the side of the shack.

“This must be it,” whispered Nancy. “I wish we had hidden a note somewhere telling our parents where we were going.”

Nancy and Cindy had decided not to tell their parents about the fortune teller until after they had been there just in case either of their parents didn’t approve. This way, reasoned the girls, if they were forbidden to go back, at least they would have already had their fortunes told. Not telling had seemed like a good idea at the time—a little sneaky—but a good plan anyway. Now, Nancy wasn’t so sure.

“Really, Nan,” Cindy said with a note of exasperation in her voice. “Ruth only reads tea leaves. She’s not going to put us in a pot and cook us.”

The girls climbed out of the truck and walked along the road, searching in vain for a path through the foot-deep snow.

“Ouch,” screeched Nancy as she stumbled on a partially covered boulder. “I see a broken neck in my future if we don’t get inside quick.”

Cindy laughed. Nancy couldn’t help but giggle too. After getting her balance, Nancy and her friend continued trudging through the snow.

Both girls were still chuckling when they reached the rickety porch. Before they could knock, the door opened. Nancy felt her jaw go slack as she got her first glimpse of Ruth.