Sybil watched this from the other side of the room for a little while and eventually came to Archie’s rescue. “May I help you with something?” Sybil asked Luke.
Luke said, “Oh, I was just waiting to talk to Arch.”
“Would it be too much trouble for you to wait in line? I would hate to upset those who have been waiting.”
“I waited in line earlier. I just had something kind of important to tell him, so I was hoping I could grab his attention for a minute.”
“Are you a friend of Archibald’s?”
“Yeah, we’ve been friends since we were . . .” Luke put his hand out to show that they’d been friends since they were little.
“Oh, how nice,” she said with a warm smile. She put her hand out. “I’m Sybil Schofield, Archibald’s agent.”
Luke shook her hand. “I should have known! He told me his agent was from England.”
“Yes, Doncaster. I moved to San Francisco about a year ago.”
Luke pointed at Archie. “You’re very lucky to be working with that guy right there. He’s been telling me stories my whole life. He was definitely meant for this.”
“You wouldn’t happen to be the friend he mentioned in the book, would you?”
“Of course I am,” he said.
He walked over to a table and picked up a book. He opened it to the illustration of Archie and his black-haired friend, and held it next to his face. Lifting his chin he said, “See the resemblance?”
Sybil laughed. “Actually, I do!”
“I still think he should’ve used my name so there would be no doubt.”
“We talked about that! He tried to use your name, but it just didn’t fit with the text. At least he didn’t change your name to fit the text better. He did consider it.”
“You’re kidding . . .”
“Yes, actually I am kidding.
“So you’re Luke then?”
Luke offered his hand. “Yes. Luke Pindabrook.”
“What do you do, Luke?”
Luke smiled. “Magic. My family performs on the beach and in the dinner theater.”
“Oh, that’s right. Archibald told me. I’ve seen your family perform from a distance, but just haven’t had the opportunity to actually watch the show yet. When do you perform next?”
“Today at four,” he said. “In fact, every day at four, and Saturday evenings, right here in the theater.”
“Well, I’m going to come and see you today. It will be a nice little break from all of this book business.” She smiled a little sheepishly and said, “Not that I don’t love the book business, but this was one of those deals that went really fast and it’s completely done me in. A magic show is just what I need.”
“How about I pull you in as a volunteer. Are you up for that?” Luke asked.
“Sure! What do I have to do?”
“Just follow my lead.”
“Oh no. Is that all I get?”
“When we put the tent over your head and begin throwing things at you, you just say things like, ‘Ouch! Stop!’”
“Oh no. That sounds a little dodgy.”
“I promise, it’ll all be in good fun, and you’ll come out looking just as attractive.”
Sybil raised her eyebrows at his compliment.
Luke went on. “Do you eat? Because if you do, we could have dinner after the show.”
“Actually, I quite like eating and that does sound lovely.”
“Yes, lovely,” Luke said teasingly in a mock British accent, but Sybil didn’t catch his meaning and looked at him blankly.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “This English accent of yours is killing me. I mean . . . I really love it. You sound a lot like Mrs. P.”
Sybil laughed. “Mrs. P? Archie’s mum?”
“Yeah. I’ve called them Mr. and Mrs. P. since I was a kid.”
“They’re wonderful people,” said Sybil. “And it’s been great meeting another Englishwoman in America.” Realizing she’d been distracted much too long, she said, “You know, I really should be getting back to Archibald’s guests.”
“Oh, sure,” Luke said taking a step backward. “I need to get ready for the show anyway.”
“Cheerio!” she said before turning to leave.
Luke smiled and said in a mock accent, “Cheerio!”
Sybil shook her head at his teasing.
“Sorry,” he said walking away, completely forgetting why he’d come to see Archie, “I can’t help myself!”
At four o’clock Archie went home exhausted after the book signing. Knowing he had some long days ahead of him with the upcoming book tour, he decided to take a nap. Sybil, on the other hand, suddenly energized by meeting a certain dark-haired magician, went straight to the beach to catch the magic show.
Not only was Sybil captivated by the show but was also quickly becoming charmed by Luke Pindabrook, whom she found glancing her direction many times during the performance. About halfway through the show, Jeremiah Pindabrook, Luke’s father, asked for a volunteer from the audience. Luke, decked out in his show clothes, walked in the sand through the small crowd in search of his volunteer. About half of the crowd stood for the show, and the other half sat in the chairs. Luke walked between the people and around the chairs and eventually made his way back to the front row where Sybil was sitting. When he put his hand out to her, she took it and let him lead her up front.
While she usually liked attention, she suddenly found herself a little shy and said quietly, “I changed my mind. Fetch another volunteer.”
Luke, used to crowds and loving attention, couldn’t imagine not enjoying being up front, so he really was unsympathetic to her plea and only shook his head. “You’ll be fine.”
“That’s rubbish,” she whispered with a half terrified smile.
Once in front, Luke announced, “People of Outlandish, let me introduce you to the Englishwoman from . . .” He whispered, “Where is it you’re from?”
“Doncaster,” she whispered a little impatiently.
“Oh yes. People of Outlandish, let me introduce you to Sybil, the Englishwoman from Doncaster!”
She turned red and smiled as the crowd clapped for her.
“Sybil from Doncaster has informed me she doesn’t really want to be up here, so I’m going to make it easy for her.”
Two of Luke’s brothers brought over a seven-foot long, lightweight, tubular tent. They walked around revealing the hollow construction to the audience.
Luke announced to Sybil as well as the audience, “Sybil of Doncaster, please, do not move. Stand very . . . very still.” He then whispered in Sybil’s ear, “Remember what I told you to do.”
Sybil froze and his brothers put the tent over the top of Sybil so that all the crowd could see was the covering.
“Does that make it easier to be up here?” he hollered from outside the covering.
“Yes. Thank you,” came her muffled voice.
Luke said to the audience in a British accent, “Sybil said yes, thank you.”
The crowd laughed at him.
At least eight of the members of the Pindabrook family surrounded the narrow tent and began throwing random items over the top. A banana went in as well as a telephone, a small suitcase, a pair of shoes, and many other random items.
From inside the tent, came little noises of discomfort.
“Oh!”
“Ouch!”
“Stop that!”
The crowd oohed and awed and put their hands to their mouths.
Eventually, when at least fifteen items had been thrown into the tent, Luke said, “Sybil from Doncaster, are you well?”
“Yes . . . yes, I believe so!”
“Are you ready to be set free from the tent?”
“Please.”
“What is that, S
ybil of Doncaster?”
“I said, yes! Please!”
Quickly and dramatically, Luke and a brother grabbed a hold of the tent and threw it off of Sybil. Sybil stood there smiling, deciding she liked volunteering after all, and the audience broke out in applause because not only was Sybil perfectly fine (after being pelted with the likes of fruit and telephones), but there was not one item inside the tent with her. Everything had disappeared.
Luke showed the audience the open ends of the tent and said in his best British accent, “The British are known to eat some pretty unusual things.”
The crowd roared with laughter, as did Sybil from Doncaster.
After the show was over, Luke hurried over to Sybil. “So how did you like the show?”
“I loved it! Your family is fantastic! But I must know . . . that little trick you did with me in the tent. How did you do it?”
“Ah, I cannot tell you. I’m sworn to secrecy. Family pact.”
“That hardly seems fair. I didn’t even get to see it.”
Luke said, “Then you’ll just have to come to the next show and see if you can figure it out.”
Sybil narrowed her eyes. “Hm.”
“Let me just run home to change before we go to dinner. Meet you back here in fifteen minutes?”
“You must live close!” she replied.
“Yeah, that’s our house over there,” Luke said pointing to a house so large it looked like a five-star hotel.
“Goodness! You live in that mansion?”
“Well, there are eighteen of us.”
“I thought Archibald said there were fourteen children. Wouldn’t that make sixteen of you?”
“Yes, it would, but two of my brothers are married and their wives live with us now.”
“Oh, well, they might as well, as gigantic as that house is.”
“The more, the merrier,” he said through laughter.
“Do their wives perform with you?” Sybil asked. “I don’t think I saw them up there today. Did I?”
“No, but they might someday. It takes a while to learn the ropes. The rest of us have been at it our whole lives.”
Sybil shook her head. “I don’t think I could ever learn it. It’s truly an art form.”
“I’d like to think so,” Luke said with a large smile.
“Well, it was a brilliant show. No wonder you’re so popular around here.”
“Thank you,” he said. “We have ourselves a lot of fun, but it’s a lot of work keeping it interesting. We have to change the show twice a year, and that means coming up with a lot of new material. But it’s what the Pindabrooks do!”
“Well, you do it very well.”
“Thank you,” he said, tipping his ragged top hat. “I’ll hurry!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be here,” she said, waving him off.
Even with the commotion of the crowd behind her, Sybil was lost in thought. She knew she was feeling something she’d never felt before, and she suspected she was quickly falling for Luke Pindabrook.
24
Luke and Sybil spent five hours at The Jazz House: Thirty minutes eating, three hours talking, and the rest of the time dancing. That would have made a nice first date, but when they left there, they wandered to Central Circle for coffee and strolled the streets until 2:00 a.m., which meant Luke was very tired when he woke the next morning.
All of the Pinderbrooks were late sleepers, including Luke, so when he opened his eyes and realized it was only 8:00 a.m., he assumed he would fall right back to sleep. However, his mind went directly to Sybil and sleep never came. He lay there with a smile on his face as his mind recalled their evening together.
He probably would have lain there for another hour just like that except a vision of Tallie interrupted his dreamy thoughts, which made him jolt out of bed.
“Oh no! I’m an idiot!”
He had a gut feeling Tallie had no intention of letting Archie know she was there, even though it made no sense to him. Because of that, he worried he’d really screwed up in forgetting to tell him he’d seen her. He hoped he wasn’t too late.
When he knocked on the Plumbys’ door, not even thirty minutes later, it was Albert who answered.
“Morning, Mr. P! I’m sorry to come so early but I need to talk to Arch. Is he up and around yet?”
He held the door open for Luke. “He is. He’s having his breakfast.”
Luke walked in and Albert asked, “How’s your family?”
“We’re all good! Just keeping busy, you know.”
“That’s good to hear,” Albert replied. “Busy is always good.”
When Luke walked into the dining room, he expected to find Archie under the dining table, but he was actually eating breakfast under an umbrella at the table.
“Have you graduated to the tabletop?” Luke asked when he saw Archie.
“I guess I have,” Archie said looking a little proud of himself.
Luke opened his mouth to tell Archie about seeing Tallie, but Archie spoke first. “I saw you talking to my agent yesterday at the book signing. You looked quite smitten.”
Luke’s smile revealed he certainly was smitten. “She came to the show yesterday . . . and then we had dinner . . . and we danced . . . and had coffee . . . she’s incredible, Arch.”
Archie smiled and lifted his chin in mock pride. “Who would’ve thought it would be me who would bring a woman into your life?”
Luke grinned. “Yeah, I guess, in a roundabout way, it was you. Seriously though, Arch, I think she might be the one. I know it was just one evening, but I have this feeling.”
“You don’t have to convince me. I’m a believer.”
“Oh man! I almost forgot, again! Stop interrupting me, Arch.”
“What?” Archie asked.
“Well, yesterday, when I was trying to get your attention at your book signing, it was because I saw Tallie.”
“You saw Tallie?”
“Yeah. I wasn’t sure it was her at first. She was wearing a big hat and sunglasses, but when I tried to get her attention, she took off. It was really weird.”
“It couldn’t have been Tallie. She can’t be here. She’s in New Zealand. And why would she run from you? That’s not like her.”
“No, I’m pretty sure it was her, Arch, and I don’t think she wanted me to see her.”
Archie felt somewhere between panicked and excited.
“Why didn’t you tell me yesterday?”
Luke lifted his hands and carried a guilty expression. “Like I said, that’s why I came to see you, but you kept getting interrupted, then I started talking to Sybil . . . and got completely lost in the conversation. Before I knew it, it was time to prepare for the show. Man, I am really sorry.”
“Why would she come to Outlandish without telling me?”
“I don’t know, man. That’s why I thought you should know.”
“Where did you see her?” he asked.
“Outside The Lupine, at the fountain. She was eating a pretzel.”
Archie grabbed his umbrella off of his stand and stood up. He put his hand on Luke’s arm and said, “Thanks, Luke. I need to find her.”
“No problem. I hope you do.”
After Archie ran out the front door, Annella offered Luke breakfast, and he happily accepted.
Archie didn’t run, but he walked as fast as his legs would go. It was only a few blocks to The Lupine, but to Archie it felt like miles. When he finally got to the hotel, he put his head down, closed his umbrella just enough to get through the door, and then opened it again once he was inside.
He hurried to the front desk and was out of breath when he asked, “Good morning, Mrs. Collin. Could you please see if Tallie Greenleaf is checked in?”
The gray-haired lady at the front desk was someone Archie had visit
ed with on a few occasions when he’d come to meet Sybil for breakfast. She was talkative and kind and he enjoyed chatting with her, but all he could think of was finding Tallie.
“Oh hello, Archie,” she said much too slowly. “It was a good turnout yesterday, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, much better than I expected. Thank you for coming.”
“It’s just wonderful having a real author in Outlandish!”
Archie didn’t want to be rude so he said, “Well, thank you. I am quite happy about it myself.” He put his hand on the counter and looked at her pleadingly, “I’m so sorry to rush you, but would you please check your register for Tallie Greenleaf. I’m in a bit of a hurry.”
“Of course, I would be happy to. Is she a friend of yours?”
“Yes,” he said, “she is.”
Mrs. Collin turned her back to Archie and looked through some papers on the back counter. “When did she arrive?” she asked.
“I’m not sure.”
While she looked through a stack of papers, she said, “I bought two of your books for my grandchildren. Abel is three, and Cassie is five. I know they’ll just love the story!”
Archie sighed without realizing it, and Mrs. Collin turned around to look at him. “Is everything all right, dear?”
Archie covered up his anxiety with a forced smile and said, “I just really need to find Tal—my friend.”
Mrs. Collin put her chin down, smirked, and raised her eyebrows. “Oh, I seeee!” she said nodding slowly.
Archie felt frustrated with the kind woman but had no idea how to make her work faster, so he decided to play along and said, “Yes, well, I would really love to find her. She’s pretty special to me.”
Mrs. Collin, seeming pleased to have been invited into Archie’s love story said, “You just wait there for a minute, dear. I’ll see what I can find out for you.”
When she walked into the back room, Archie found himself feeling incredibly impatient, but he knew there was nothing else he could do, so he stood and waited, tapping his fingers on the counter as he did.
Finally, after about five minutes, Mrs. Collin came back in and said, “I’m sorry, Archie, but she checked out about thirty minutes ago.”
Archie dropped his head. “You’re kidding?”
Archie of Outlandish Page 19
