Observations placeholder

Joe Cassidy

Book: The Diviner

'I'm psychic.'

It was the first time I had ever used that word about myself. In fact it was the first time I'd even admitted it to myself, let alone to anyone else.

'You're psychic?'

'That's what I said.' If she'd been shocked at my words, she wasn't half as shocked as I was. 'It's the only word I can think of to describe it.'

'Can you prove it to me?'

'Well, I can. But before I do that, let's get one thing clear. You know everything about me, because you've got files this thick. I know nothing about you, only that you were highly recommended.'

'That's true enough.'

Now, I didn't know what I was going to say to this lady.

And I hadn't realized this was the way the morning was going to go. So I just plunged in.

'Your father was a diplomat.'

'Yes,' she said. 'He was.'

I paused after that. I sensed that some of the questions I was going to ask her might upset her, as they were very personal. So I said, 'If I ask you a question, please will you tell me the truth? Because if you don’t, if you try to divert me, this will get complicated and the conversation will get us nowhere.'

'OK.' She fiddled with her pencil. 'That's fine.'

'Your grandfather was a diplomat.'

'That's right.'

'And forgive me for saying this, but there was wealth within your family.' She reddened. 'Much more than a diplomat would earn, I mean. Had your father inherited a vast amount of money?'

'Yes. Yes, he had.'

'But would I be right in saying that he wasn't exactly mean but he didn't throw money at you. He wanted you to find your own way.’

'That's right.'

'I'm getting that you were in boarding school.'

'I was, yes. From the age of eleven.'

'While you were home one weekend, you said you needed some money because you were going on a school trip.'

'That would happen sometimes - yes.'

'And I see that your granny was living with you at the time. She wasn't well, she was living in an annexe.'

'Yes. I was still at school when she moved in. That's right.'

'Going back to the money, you knew you'd get a few pounds from your parents. But you wouldn't get as much as your girlfriends in school would get.'

She nodded.

'You stole money from your granny's purse, and that gave you more than the other girls in school.'

She looked at me in silence. The seconds passed. I was afraid I really had offended her. Then she said, in her English accent, 'Mr Cassidy. You have to use this gift.'

'I'm sorry?'

'You have to use it. For the sake of your health.'

'What?'

‘We deal with medical science here. Obviously I have you here because we're trying to understand people like you. You are different. I've met people with powers before, but I've never met anyone with powers as strong as yours seem to be.'

'You mean, nobody else has accused you of stealing a fiver from your granny's purse?'

She laughed. ‘Well that's true enough! But the important point is that you need to use your gift if you want to get better.'

'Is that so?'

'It is. Because the last patient I had with healing powers got so sick from suppressing her gift that she ended up in a wheelchair. You're having trouble with your health now, but if you accept and work with the gift you have, I think you'll find your health will improve. It's suppressing it that's causing the problems.'