Previously, Ella Mae and Averil Quicksilver had to flee the Natchez Trace in Mississippi as Sam Bradford, a wealthy Louisiana deal maker, relentlessly pursued the mother and daughter, hiring an assassin to kill them. The two psychics knew that Sam had murdered his wealthy wife.
After escaping from Mississippi, Ella Mae and Averil settled in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, known as a spiritual and healing center in the Northern Ozarks. Ella perceived positive energy in Eureka Springs, so they bought a Victorian house on a hill, establishing the Eureka Psychic Center. Many ill travelers sought the curative waters of the "Basin Spring" and found their way to the Psychic Center to learn what their future held.
Sam Bradford sick with the cancer traveled to
Eureka Springs to take the basin waters and the cure. After having soaked in
the magic baths and drunk the bottled basin spring water, Sam felt better and
was upbeat. He decided to stay in Eureka Springs for a few weeks and sent his
servants back to New Orleans.
One night on a whim, Sam visited the Psychic Center
which he had learned about from the hotel staff. It was short walk from the
hotel and he paused outside the small Victorian, studying the gingerbread house.
He recalled the strange note from
Shadowman, his hired killer. The killer had quit the job after finding the two
women on the Natchez Trace, returning the retainer to Sam with a cryptic note, Eureka Springs.
As Sam stood on the sidewalk, he felt an attraction
to the location, a sensation he found vaguely familiar. With some trepidation,
he went up the steps and rang the bell, which was immediately answered by young
girl in a shadowy hood. Without speaking, she beckoned for Sam to enter the dim
hallway. Unexpectedly, she took his hand and led him to the living room lit
with candles. The girl led him to couch where he took a seat. Sitting in an arm
chair in a dark corner was a slender woman, also wearing a hood.
Sam sniffed the sweet incense floating in the quiet
room. The woman gestured for Sam’s hand, which he gave her and she ran her
fingers over his palm.
“You’re in remission.” The Seer said. “Good for
you. Time will tell.”
Sam relaxed. Indeed, he was in remission. His
doctors said it was miraculous, one of those improbable events that had nothing
to do with the quacks in Eureka Springs. It did not matter to Sam and he welcomed
the good news. Always alert to possible investment opportunities, he would
continue his curative routine and observe others who came for the treatment.
“Shadowman abandoned you.” The woman in the corner
said.
Startled, Sam leaned forward and he recognized these were
the same two psychics from Rue Toulouse, the ones who had saved his fortune.
But also they knew he had drowned his wealthy wife in a contrived
boating accident.
He held up his hands, palms open, a gesture to
indicate it was all a misunderstanding.
The woman in the corner laughed and then beckoned
for her assistant to come forward. Sam was startled as the young woman dropped
her hood, revealing her alabaster face set off by jet black hair and dominated
by wide green eyes. Looking into those riveting eyes, Sam Bradford felt a
violent shock and he involuntarily slid out of the chair onto his knees, bowing
his head.
“My fortune is yours.” He said. “I am your
acolyte.”
The girl looked at her mother and smiled.
“Our movement has begun.”
