Page 10 - Like No Business I Know

Movie Time

“You should tonight. The winner will be Mrs. Ivy Schrunk, of
Madison, Wisconsin.”
Heidi remained amused. “Now your prophecy is going to fail,” she
smirked. “Nobody knows who will win until Buddy Bluggers picks a
postcard out of a drum. And even if it’s fixed, you wouldn’t be in on
it.”
She turned on the console radio next to the sofa and waited for it
to warm up. Then she tuned in to the broadcast.
“—to thank our lucky stars!” the erstwhile bandleader crowed
through the speaker. A grinding rumble in the background grew
louder, then ceased abruptly. A small door could be heard snapping
open, followed by the rustle of rummaging.
“And here it is, ladies and gentlemen, this week’s winner: oops!
Upside down! I don’t know what they’re teaching them in school
these days!” Well-prompted laughter from the studio audience. “But,
seriously, folks, while the rest of you are shivering in the icy grip of
winter, one very fortunate individual will be vacationing, all expenses
paid, right here in sunny Southern California, touring the Hollywood
studios and meeting the stars for lunch in the commissary. Ivy
Schrunk of Madison, Wisconsin: you can thank your lucky stars!”
Heidi Holman sucked in her breath, and shook her head as if
enmeshed in spider-webbing. Trembling, she turned off the radio.
Mrs. Lachesis remained as she was, poised and alert. Then she spoke.
“Have you ever dreamed of knowing tomorrow’s winners at Santa
Anita or Hollywood Park? Or somehow getting hold of tomorrow’s
newspaper with all the stock market prices? Or that same newspaper
to be printed in one year’s time?”
Heidi continued shaking her head.
“You mean you’re—what is the word?—clairvoyant? But you also
know things from my past that weren’t published in the Mirror or
Daily News.”
“That is because people in the future discovered how to
communicate with people in the past. It requires great amounts of
energy, so I’m told; I’m not a scientist, just a businesswoman. The
public record is, of course, accessible to anyone. Again, I’m told that
even very private information winds up in diaries that are preserved
in libraries; privacy may be gained in the present, but lost in the
future, if you know what I mean. Anyway, Miss Holman, I am not

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