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The wooden sign that hung from the
roof of the old shop blew back and forth as the wind howled down the
street. It bumped against the gutters with little thuds. "It’s freezing
today," Ian said, rubbing his furry arms. "There must be a winter storm
blowing in from the east," he added.
As Ian and Mac walked down the
street, flakes of snow began to fall from the gray, dismal sky. "Och no.
It’s snowing now. Let’s go inside one of these shops and warm up," Mac
suggested. The two raccoons looked up and saw the wooden sign. "Let’s go
in here, Madam Fiona’s Palm Reading," Mac read. "Sounds good to me," he
said and turned the knob on the door. The wind blew in behind them.
"Shut the door," someone shouted
from the back room. "Take a seat. I’ll be with you in a moment."
Ian and Mac climbed onto the chairs
and looked out the window. "It’s snowing hard now," Ian whined. "Let’s let
Madam Fiona read our palms. At least we’ll be warm."
Just then a woman came walking
through a bright purple curtain. She looked at the raccoons. "Animals?
What are you two raccoons doing in my shop?" she asked.
Ian and Mac looked at each other.
Madam Fiona was a sight. She had on a lime green skirt with a lemon yellow
blouse, an orange scarf was tied around her head and long, straggly black
hair poked out from below it. She wore bright red lipstick and had dark
brown eyes. The raccoons didn’t say a word.
Madam Fiona walked over to the
window and looked outside. "I see. You’ve come in to get warm. Well, since
you’re here, I might as well tell your future. Come and sit over here at
this table," she said, pointing to it, "and I’ll get my crystal ball." She
pushed the purple curtain aside and disappeared into the back room.
"She seems nice enough," Ian said.
"What did she say though? She’s going to look in a crystal ball and tell
our future?" He gulped and swallowed hard.
"It’s not real, Ian. She just does
this to get money from people. Don’t believe a word she says," Mac
whispered.
Madam Fiona came back through
carrying a large glass ball. She set it on a stand in the center of the
table. "All right. Let’s see what the ball tells us." She sat down on a
chair and rubbed her hands together. Ian and Mac leaned over to get a
better look at the ball. It was the size of a bowling ball, clear and
crystal and very shiny. Suddenly a fog or mist began to appear inside the
ball. Ian gulped. "I see two raccoons," Madam Fiona mumbled.
Ian and Mac looked at each other.
"Us?" Ian mouthed silently. Ian nodded his head.
"The two raccoons live in the
woods," she continued.
"How did she know that?" Ian
whispered very softly.
"The raccoons live in a tree, high
up in the branches." Mac didn’t fall for it but Ian did.
"I see the biggest raccoon, you,
having an accident and getting hurt," she said pointing to Mac. Ian looked
at Mac and put his paw on his arm to comfort him. Mac looked annoyed. "I
see the smaller raccoon finding a treasure, a golden treasure." She nodded
to Ian. His eyes lit up with excitement. "I see love, a lassie raccoon who
loves both of you, causing a quarrel between you two, who are best of
friends and last, as my vision is fading, I can see the two of you sitting
down, eating a feast and friends once more." She stood up and carried the
crystal ball into the back room.
"Och, no, Mac. You’re going to get
hurt in an accident and we’re going to fight over a lassie, but the good
thing is that I find a treasure and we’re going to eat a feast and be
friends again," Ian smiled.
"She’s making it all up, Ian. She’s
a fake!" Mac said.
Madam Fiona came back through and
walked over to the window. "I see the snow has let up. I think you two
better head back to the woods before a paying customer comes in." She
opened the door and they ran out.
"Be careful, Mac. I don’t want you
to get into an accident on the way home," Ian sighed.
Mac kept on walking down the street.
When they neared the end of the road and were about to walk into the
woods, Mac tripped on a stone and fell flat on his face. "Aha! Och, no.
You’ve had an accident, Mac, just like Madam Fiona said you would. Are you
all right? Are you dead? Are you alive?" Ian said, fussing all about the
fallen raccoon.
Mac lay still. He hadn’t been paying
attention and hadn’t seen the stone and that is why he tripped. "I simply
tripped. It wasn’t an accident caused by Madam Fiona," Mac said. The
ground was wet and muddy from the earlier snow. Mac was a mess.
"She said you’d be in an accident
and you fell. She was right, Mac. That means that next, I’m going to find
something golden. I’m going to find a treasure!" Ian was so excited.
Mac sat up and brushed as much of
the mud off his fur as he could and then stood tall. He walked right into
the woods and ignored Ian’s nonsense. "I’m going home. If you want to
waste your time looking for a treasure, then you go right ahead." He
marched on.
Ian kicked the snow with his paws.
He was feeling rather foolish but wanted so badly to believe in Madam
Fiona. Deciding not to go back to the tree right away, Ian brushed the
quickly melting snow away and lay down against a large stone. He looked up
at the sky and watched the clouds float by. He tried to see shapes in
their forms. He was about to get up when he noticed something lying behind
a stingy nettle. "What’s that?" he wondered. It seemed to be golden color
and when the sun came out from behind the clouds it sparkled. "Gold! It’s
my golden treasure!" he shouted. He jumped up and ran over to see what it
was. There lay a gold colored tin. He picked it up. It was shiny and had a
label on it. Ian read it out loud, "Mrs. Mackintosh’s Chocolate
Treasures." Ian started to laugh. It wasn’t a treasure like he thought it
would be but it was golden and it was treasure. He ran into the woods to
show Mac. "Mac! Mac! I found my golden treasure!" he shouted.
Mac was in the tree taking a nap. He
was awakened by Ian’s shouting and looked down. Ian was climbing the tree
with the golden tin in his paws. "I found it, Mac. It’s golden and it’s a
treasure!"
For just a moment Mac was surprised.
He saw the golden box held tightly in Ian’s paw, but when Ian showed it to
him, he burst out laughing. "What a fake Madam Fiona is! You really don’t
believe this is a treasure, do you?"
"It says treasure on it, Mac and it
is golden!" Ian pouted. Seeing that Mac was only going to make fun of him,
he sat down on the branch and began to nibble on the chocolates inside the
golden tin. The sun was out now and it was warming up. Ian let the sun’s
rays dry his fur.
After a few minutes the two raccoons
heard, "Uncle Mac. Uncle Ian. I’ve come to play with you." It was Molly.
"Mum’s got to go see Gran. Can I stay with you?" she asked.
Ian looked down and saw her mum
standing there and waved at her.
Mac helped Molly climb to their
branch. "She’ll be fine with us. Cheerio for now," he shouted down to
Molly’s mum and off she went. "Well, Molly, you’ve come for a visit have
you. What would you like to do?" he asked.
"Uncle Mac, I want to go swimming in
the loch," she smiled.
"Och no, Molly. It’s far too cold
for that. It just got done snowing this morning. You’ll catch your death
of cold," Mac answered.
Ian, who was listening said, "I’ll
take her. I don’t think it’s too cold. It’s not snowing any more and the
sun is out now." He was angry with Mac. "Come on, Molly. Uncle Ian will
take you swimming."
"Ian, it’s far too cold. She’s just
a wee lass. The water’s like ice," Mac warned.
Ian ignored him. "Molly and I will
be just fine," he snarled at his friend. He put Molly on his back, climbed
down the tree and off they went.
Mac sat in the tree, angry with Ian.
After about half an hour, the two of them came back. Molly was coughing
and shivering and so was Ian. Mac said, "Molly, you pure wee thing. Uncle
Mac’s going to go and find some big leaves to wrap you in. I’ll be right
back," he said, glaring at Ian. He came back a few moments later with some
big leaves. "Come here, Molly and let me wrap you in these." She then
climbed onto Mac’s lap and he held her until she was warm again. Ian sat
on the tree branch shivering and sneezing. "Serves you right. I told you
not to take her, but no you wouldn’t listen."
Soon Molly was sound asleep. Ian
searched for some large leaves and wrapped himself in him. All day long
the two raccoons ignored each other. Mac started to think about Madam
Fiona’s words. He and Ian were fighting and not speaking to each other,
just like she had predicted. When Molly woke up she was feeling much
better, but Ian was sick all day long and never could get warm. Mac and
Molly played down on the ground all afternoon. As the sun was about to go
down, Molly’s mum came to pick Molly up. Mac noticed she was carrying a
bundle in her arms. "These are for you and Ian," she said, handing Mac a
bag. "Molly’s gran made them for you. You could say it was a feast. There
are all kinds of sweets and savories for you. Enjoy them," she said. Molly
hugged Mac and they left.
Mac looked at the food and then
thought of Ian up in the tree, cold and miserable. He climbed up the tree
and sat right next to Ian. "Sorry to hear you’re not feeling well, but I
think this should cheer you up," Mac said. Ian sat up and looked at the
bag. Mac pulled out some licorice, black current drops, buttery biscuits,
Cornish pasties, two bags of chicken flavored potato crisps, a steak and
kidney pie and five sausages.
Ian’s eyes bulged. "Mac, it’s a
feast!" The two of them gobbled down every last crumb. Ian wiped his paws
on one of the leaves and said to Mac, "I’m sorry for taking Molly to the
loch. I should have listened to you."
"That’s all right, Ian. You learned
your lesson. I’m just glad Molly didn’t get sick. You do realize that
Madam Fiona’s last prediction just came true, don’t you? First I was in an
accident, when I fell, and then you found the box of Mrs. Mackintosh’s
Chocolate Treasures, like she said.
"Then we got into a fight over a wee
lass, Molly and now we are friends again and enjoyed a feast," Ian
continued. "Madam Fiona was right," he laughed.
"I do admit she got it right. It
wasn’t like I thought it would be, but she was right. I’m sorry for making
fun of you, Ian, but let’s just stay away from Madam Fiona from now on. I
don’t think I like knowing what’s going to happen. Life is much more fun
being surprised," Mac said.
Ian nodded in agreement and then the
two raccoons ran down to the stream to wash their paws off. After that,
they lay in a patch of soft green clover, their tummies filled, and took a
long nap. |
