The Light Beside the Sea

Chapter 2

2

By the time I reached home, my mood had lightened. Nothing like work looming to pull you out of darkness and self- pity. I had just enough time, an hour, before my new client, Katrina Norden, arrived. Katrina had been recommended to me by Maggie Sefton, my fiancé Michael’s sister.

Maggie and I had become very close over the last few years. I was an only child and became an orphan when my parents were killed in a car crash. From the age of five, I was raised by my grandmother Gloria and my honorary grandfather, Kuan Lee, who lives in the first floor apartment of Gloria’s house. I always envied friends who had what I considered a ‘normal’ life, two parents and several siblings, and Maggie’s presence in my life is a gift from the universe. My family is very small, but because of dear friends, I’m not alone in this world. Some of us are born with family, others, like myself, collect them as we go along.

Wizard, my twenty-pound black cat raised his head. His ears twitched. He had heard something, thanks to his supersonic hearing. I headed down the hallway. My new client was no doubt about to ring the bell. I trotted down the stairs to the front door. No shadow loomed through the sheer curtain and beveled glass. Strange. I opened the door, just to be sure my client hadn’t tumbled down the outside stairs to the sidewalk, but nothing, no one. As I started to close the door, I spotted a small bundle of black cloth on the threshold. I picked it up. It fit nicely into the palm of my hand. I peeled off the cloth covering and gasped, almost dropping it. A collection of very tiny bones were laced together with red string in an approximation of a human skeleton, topped by a curved seashell, like a hooded beak. There was an odor, pungent and strange. I shivered and re-wrapped the sinister charm, or whatever it was, and looked for a place to discard it. Was someone playing a joke? Somebody’s great idea to creep me out? If so, it was working. I slammed the door and hurried up the stairs to the hallway. I no sooner reached the top of the stairway when the doorbell rang. I opened a drawer in the hallway table and dropped the small bundle in. I wiped my hands on my skirt, wishing I had time to wash. I took a deep breath and did my best to push the sight of the thing out of my mind and returned down the stairway to open the door for Katrina.

I smiled and said hello and welcomed the young woman in. She was thin and pale, almost waif-like, with long blonde hair that hung limp and bedraggled over her shoulders. She was dressed in a baggy San Francisco State sweatshirt and jeans. She wore no makeup and her expression was blank. She didn’t smile in return, but nodded. Obediently, she followed me up the stairs and down the hall to my office. I indicated the client chair and she sat gingerly as if her body was in pain. I offered her coffee or tea, but she shook her head. She was not doing well. I knew from the study of her chart that she had been sent down a dark hole. I had my ideas about what had caused that, but I hoped to learn more.

"Katrina, have you ever consulted an astrologer before?"

"No," she answered faintly. "Maggie Sefton is a friend, sort of, a classmate. She thought it might help. Nothing else does."

I turned the monitor toward her so she could see the chart and the positions I was about to point out. "Well, as you know, your Sun sign is Pisces and there are many other water sign placements in your chart. This makes you a very open and sensitive person. However, there are three planets in earth signs to keep you grounded." I continued, "I see that a very important relationship was formed, was committed to, about six months ago when your progressed Moon reached your Ascendant." I waited to see if Katrina would respond but she sat quietly, a glazed look came over her eyes. Sometimes this job feels like pulling teeth. But I had to draw her out.

"I also see that something unexpected or inexplicable has completely pulled the rug out from under your feet. Neptune by transit is crossing over your fourth house cusp, dissolving any sense of security. This has hit you very hard. Whatever the events that have transpired, your world has been completely rocked. I imagine this pertains to the relationship I just mentioned."

Katrina looked down at her hands which she had been twisting the entire time. She became completely still for several moments, then burst into tears. Not delicate tears, but heavy sobs. Emotion took over her entire body. I moved my chair close to her and put my arms around her. I held her for a long time until her sobs subsided. There were no words that would help her. Not at this point. She needed to get things out. Feelings she had bottled up for a while. "My fiancé was killed," she finally managed to say. A shock ran through me. I knew now why Maggie had referred this woman to me. But who was I to offer insight? I was barely standing on my own two feet myself.

"I’m so sorry, Katrina. I’m so sorry for your loss."

"Nobody understands. Not my friends, not even my mother. My fiancé was murdered. He didn’t just die from some natural cause, some illness or disease. Somebody killed him and I don’t know why. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to go on or how to pick up the pieces of my life."

I could certainly sympathize. Then I decided to reveal myself to her. Something I never do with a client. They're there to work out their own problems, not to listen to mine. "There’s no easy answer, Katrina. Sometimes there are no answers. I don’t know if Maggie told you, but I’ve been through the same experience."

Katrina gasped. "Your fiancé was murdered?"

"Not exactly. Well . . . he was killed in a hit and run accident three years ago."

Katrina fell silent, watching my expression. "How did you ever . . .? How did you manage to go on?"

"It wasn’t easy. Excruciating at times. It changed my whole life. I had just earned my masters at . . ." I pointed to her sweatshirt with the San Francisco State logo, "at your same school. But I couldn’t go forward with my plans for a teaching career. Instead, I found this," I waved my hand in the direction of the computer monitor. "And I’m very happy in my new life. I don’t have any answers for you, Katrina. All I can say is, take the time to grieve. Don’t let anyone pressure you and take advantage of all the support that’s being offered to you. It will take time but you will find your way."

"I’m very close to graduation, but I don’t know if I have the strength to take final exams or finish." Her shoulders began to shake again, but she took a deep breath to control herself. "I thought I had tons of friends but somehow after this, they’re avoiding me. I’m sure they are. I have my mom and my sister, so I guess there’s that."

"Hmm, not a surprise, unfortunately. Fair weather friends don’t handle tragedies very well."

"They act like I’m some kind of leper. As if getting close to me will be contagious for them."

"Not much you can do about that. Nothing like this to w**d out the false friends, is there?" My new client needed a ray of hope. "Katrina, right now, Jupiter is in Capricorn, but it will be entering Aquarius in about a week. Your ninth house cusp is two degrees of Aquarius. And the ninth house is all about higher education. That arena of life covers a lot more levels, but it’s the important one to look at in terms of higher education. I think you will find the strength to finish up. Jupiter always brings blessings wherever it falls and I believe some luck and good fortune will come your way if you can just finish up your studies. You won’t regret it. Trust me."

"I . . . I don’t know. I don’t know if I can. My mother is really pushing me not to drop the ball. She says I can cry all I want once I’m finished with school. It’s only another month and then I’m done."

"Find the strength. You can do it. It’s much better not to lose the momentum. Otherwise you could find yourself a few years from now really regretting that decision and at a point in life where it might be very hard to go back."

Katrina sighed heavily, "I guess you’re right. I’m so sorry I’m falling apart . . ."

"No need to apologize. You’re human. That’s what human beings do," I smiled. "And once you're finished, come back and we can talk about next steps. About finding work and a career path for you."

"Thanks, Julia." She smiled for the first time. It lit up her lovely face, "Maggie was right. She was right to send me here."