The Third Movement

by Neil Patrick Harris

  Ridley held out her hand, asking to see the doll. Theo brought it over. “But this isn’t the actual dummy,” Ridley said. “This is a replica. A smaller version of the original.” The Misfits passed it around.

  “Gives me the willies,” said Katia, shuddering. She and Trixie moved the cart away from the kids and went back to work. The Other Mr. Vernon was too focused on his dough to notice.

  “How’d it get under the dome?” Carter whispered.

  “You should know,” said Ridley. “You’re the one who’s so good at making things vanish and then reappear.”

  “It proves that Mr. Whispers knew we were watching from the hallway,” Theo said.

  “So, he gave us… a doll?” asked Leila.

  “Maybe he wanted to make us laugh,” Izzy said nervously, her eyes wide.

  “Maybe he wanted to scare us,” said Olly with a shiver.

  “Or he wanted to warn us not to get too close,” Theo added, taking the doll from Carter. The head appeared to be made of wood. The dummy’s features—his eyes, his jaw, his hair—were merely painted on, as was his big red bow tie. A string emerged from inside the jacket on the back, a loop tied at the end. Theo pulled the loop, and something inside the doll began to whirr.

  A tinny voice peeped, “Now you see me!”

  The Misfits glanced at one another around the table, stunned, as though someone had stolen their voices from them.

  After a few seconds, Carter said, “Let’s just give it back.”

  “How?” asked Ridley. “Do we knock on Mr. Whispers’s door and say, Thanks but no thanks?”

  “I say we keep it,” said Leila. “We can show it to my dad when he gets home.”

  But who knows when that will be? thought Theo. And who knows what the ventriloquist has planned for us before that happens?

  Later, the group headed down the winding road back toward the center of town. “Despite everything else,” Leila said, “we need to rehearse again for the talent show. To iron out the wrinkles.”

  “Right,” Carter agreed. “Theo’s grand finale needs to be cleaned up.”

  “I thought we were settled on Leila’s act,” said Theo uncertainly.

  “It’s worth discussing,” said Ridley. “We’ve got to end with something really unforgettable.”

  “I still think we should finish with our juggling act,” said Olly.

  “Yeah!” said Izzy. “There’s nothing more impressive than when we juggle twelve hard-boiled eggs.”

  “Except when we eat them!” Olly skipped and then tumbled into a pratfall.

  “No way, you guys,” said Ridley. She had shoved Darling Daniel into a pouch at the back of her chair so no one would have to look at it. “Our act is a magic show, remember? Juggling doesn’t even compare.”

  “Tell that to the eggs,” Olly whispered with a grin as he stood up again.

  Clouds were rolling in, blocking out the blue of the summer sky. From the distance, there came a rumble of thunder. The Misfits had just made it to the red-and-white-striped awning of the barbershop when the sky opened up and poured buckets onto Mineral Wells.

  As they huddled together, trying to stay dry, Leila pointed to the barbershop window and yelled out, “Holy cannoli, Carter! I knew you were good at making things vanish and appear, but this is truly impressive. I didn’t even see you slip into that shop!” The Misfits followed Leila’s finger to the barber’s chair closest to the window, where the Darling Daniel doll was sitting slightly slumped and staring directly at them.

  Carter’s jaw dropped. “But I didn’t—”

  “It’s not the same doll,” said Ridley, pulling their doll out from her pouch.

  The group went inside. The barber glanced up from his customer, a young gentleman who did not appear to need a haircut, and said to them, “Have a seat. I’ll be with you shortly.”

  “We are not looking for a trim, sir,” said Theo. “Can you tell us where you got that doll?” Theo pointed at the chair near the window.

  “Huh,” said the barber. “Not sure. Some kid must have left him.” He went back to his customer, lathering the young man’s chin and neck with a frothy cream.

  Theo strolled to the doll and picked it up. His friends watched him as if he were handling a stick of dynamite. The doll looked the same as the one they had found on the dining cart—eight inches tall, big wooden head with painted features, custom-made tuxedo. A looped string came out of its back. Theo stuck his finger through and pulled. There was the familiar whirring sound, followed by the tinny nasal squeak of a voice. This time it said, “Made of wood but filled with laughs!”

  The young man in the barber’s chair turned his frothy chin to the group and said, “Hey, I’ve heard that voice before.”

  “Where?” Theo asked urgently.

  The young man peered closer. “My mother found a little doll just like that this morning at the bottom of one of her grocery bags when she got home. I pulled the string, and it said… something like that.” He pointed at the doll. “What a funny thing. It appeared out of nowhere. Like magic.”

  “There’s a ventriloquist scheduled to do some shows at the resort,” said Carter. “These dolls look like his dummy.”

  “My brother and I live up there,” Izzy told the young man.

  “Maybe you’ve heard of us,” Olly added. “The Golden twins? We do a floor show in the lobby every Tuesday and Th—”

  Ridley coughed in Olly’s direction and shut him up. “May I ask what you’re going to do with that doll?” she said to the barber. “I mean, you wouldn’t mind terribly if we kept it?”

  The barber shook his head. “It goes into the lost-and-found box. What if its owner comes back?” He whipped out a straight razor and began to remove the shaving cream from the young man’s throat.

  “I have a feeling that’s not going to happen,” Ridley whispered to the group. “What a waste.” Then she raised an eyebrow and nodded at Carter.

  Carter’s face turned fuchsia. He mouthed, I don’t steal!

  Leila let out a chuckle that sounded slightly forced. “Okay, friends! It’s stopped raining now. Time for us to get to work!” Theo took that as his cue to place the Daniel doll back onto the barber’s chair near the window.

  As soon as everyone was outside, Leila hugged her arms across her chest. “Mr. Whispers only showed up this morning. How’d he have time to leave the dolls around town?”

  “Maybe he has a crew,” said Carter, who still looked a bit red in the face.

  “Just like Bosso,” Ridley started.

  “Just like Sandra,” Theo finished.

  They all glanced around the town green. People who had ducked under awnings and into doorways to hide from the downpour were starting to emerge again. Sunlight was breaking through the clouds.

  “Look!” Olly cried out, pointing at the gazebo. “There’s another one!”

  The group rushed across the street. Olly catapulted up the gazebo steps and snatched another stray doll from the floor. When he pulled the string, the tinny voice echoed, “Escape your boring lives with Darling Daniel!”

  “It’s like they’re multiplying,” said Izzy. “A plague of dummies!” She frowned. “Plagues are never good, are they?”

  “Not really,” Olly responded. “I prefer musicals!”

  Ridley grabbed the doll from Olly. “I don’t trust this thing.” She wheeled over to the railing and raised the doll over her head.

  “Stop!” shouted Theo, coming up behind her. “It will break.”

  Ridley turned to him. “Exactly my plan, buddy. I want to see what’s making it tick.”

  “But if you break it open, you might destroy the mechanism that allows it to speak. How will you test it, then?”

  Ridley frowned. “I guess I’ll have to dissect it carefully when I get home instead.”

  “But this one is ours!” said Olly. “I’m the one who noticed it.”

  Disappointed, Ridley handed it back. “Fine. I still have the one from the hotel.”


  “Thank you,” Izzy said, wiping her brow in mock relief. “He’s sensitive about his toys.”

  “I am not!” Olly tucked the doll into his jacket pocket. “I’m just sensitive in general,” he stated proudly.

  One of the gazebo steps creaked. Theo whirled around to find Emily Meridian coming up behind them. Relieved, he could not hold back a smile.

  “I see you guys have found another new friend.” She nodded at the doll poking out of Olly’s pocket.

  “Hey there, Emily!” said Leila, giving the girl a hug.

  Theo wished he could hug Emily too. Instead, he shook her hand. She smiled, and a warmth tickled up Theo’s neck.

  “You’ve seen them too?” asked Carter.

  “Oh yeah,” said Emily. “They’re all over the place.”

  Ridley crossed her arms. “Wendel Whispers is up to no good.”

  “Is that some kind of code phrase for your magic club?” Emily asked.

  Theo laughed. “Wendel Whispers is a ventriloquist, the new act up at the resort. Darling Daniel is his dummy, and these dolls are replicas of him. We believe they are part of his scheme.”

  “The resort ventriloquist has a scheme?” Emily looked as if she was trying to suppress a grin.

  “He’s working for Kalagan,” snapped Ridley. “Of course he has a scheme.”

  “We are not certain about that yet,” said Theo. “We need to explore all the options, remember, Ridley? Like Mr. Vernon said.”

  “What if the dolls are like a misdirection?” Carter asked. “Does the ventriloquist want us to look in one direction while he’s sneaking in others?”

  The group glanced around the town green. But they did not spot Wendel Whispers (sneaking or otherwise).

  “I see the magic shop is closed for the day,” Emily went on, changing the subject.

  “We’ll open again as soon as my dad gets back from his last-minute business trip,” said Leila.

  “Why don’t you all come by the music shop?” Emily suggested. Theo noticed she was looking right at him as she said it. “Have some lemonade. I told my dad about you last night, and he really wants to say hi.”

  “Thanks,” said Ridley, a fake smile smeared across her face. “But we have to practice for the talent show. Some other t—”

  “I’d like some lemonade,” said Theo. Ridley’s jaw dropped, as if she could not believe that he had defied her.

  A pang flickered in Theo’s rib cage. What was the harm in a little lemonade?

  “Me too,” said Leila quickly. “After that walk down from the resort, my gullet’s kind of dry.”

  Carter shrugged and stepped between Emily and Ridley. “We have time, I guess. Just for a bit.”

  Ridley huffed but then eased back in her chair. “Fine. Just for a bit.”

  EIGHT

  The music shop was only a block and a half from the park, in a row of stone houses on Main Street. A sharply pitched tin roof slanted up to the sky just over the second-floor windows. Black shutters complemented the panes. Certain stones in the wall had been painted bright colors. Chartreuse. Mauve. Cerulean. Coquelicot. Smaragdine. (No, those are not the names of mythical dragons.… They are real colors! Go look them up if you feel the need! I shall wait.… Welcome back. You DO look a bit wiser!) The shop’s front window was decorated with a gold-leaf script that read MERIDIAN’S MUSIC ~ TOOLS TO HELP YOU MAKE SOME NOISE.

  A mechanism was triggered as Emily opened the door, and a music box chimed a brief ragtime tune when the Magic Misfits strolled in. Inside Meridian’s Music, the walls were packed with hanging instruments. Guitars, violins, and cellos. Trumpets, trombones, and tubas. Xylophones, drum kits, a couple of pianos, and even some intricate gothic-looking pump organs.

  At a counter on the far side of the store, Theo could see a trim man dressed in a brown tweed suit, and as the chime ended, the man glanced up from a gadget with which he had been tinkering. His head was bald, and a long salt-and-pepper beard grew from his cheeks and chin all the way down to his shirt collar.

  “Hey, Pops!” said Emily. “These are the kids I was telling you about. The magicians from down the street.”

  “Ah! Hello there, magicians,” he said with a smile. “As you’ve probably already gathered, I am Emily’s father, Mick Meridian. But you can call me Mick.”

  The Misfits each introduced themselves, and Mick politely shook their hands until he came to “Theo Stein-Meyer!”

  “Hello there, Mr. Meridian. Uh, I mean, Mick. Very nice to see you again.”

  “It’s been too long, Theo. Please give your parents my best.” He reached out and squeezed Theo’s shoulder as if they were old friends, or even long-lost family members. Given how many instruments and how much sheet music the Stein-Meyers had purchased at the shop, Theo was not surprised. To the others, Mick added, “I’ve always loved magic. But I’ve never been very good at it. Perhaps you’ll be kind enough to give us a show?”

  “Right now?” asked Leila.

  “Why not?”

  Carter shrugged. “We do need to rehearse.”

  Ridley shifted her wheels. “I don’t think we’re ready for a real audience just yet.”

  “But you were practicing in the park only yesterday,” said Emily. “Everyone was watching.”

  “It can’t hurt,” Leila said to her friends. “Can it?”

  “But we don’t have everything we need,” said Ridley.

  “We should have enough,” said Carter, patting his satchel.

  Theo peered at Mick Meridian, who looked amused. “Give us a few minutes to set up,” said Theo.

  “Not a problem,” answered Mick. “Let us know when you’re ready.”

  The Magic Misfits got ready, then went through their program. The twins started, making jokes and contorting their bodies in shocking ways. Next came Carter, who made his own head disappear. Ridley peeled the banana and revealed the surprise inside. Theo played his violin, making a handkerchief dance since he had left the teddy bear at home, and this time, at the end, he caught it. Finally, Leila reenacted the burglary scene from the magic shop, tying up the others while Theo accompanied with a classical solo.

  The Misfits took a bow, and Mick and Emily clapped, but only politely. Theo felt his face grow hot. He glanced at the others, who looked similarly disappointed at the lackluster response. Mick cleared his throat uncomfortably, then said, “The best part is, you still have time to spruce it up!”

  If it was meant to be a compliment, it certainly did not feel like one. Leo’s words from the previous evening sprang into Theo’s head. Was he wasting his time with these tricks? If the Magic Misfits were not good enough to impress even a local business owner and his daughter, maybe they were not good enough to win the Mineral Wells Talent Show.

  “I thought it was great,” said Emily. “You guys have a good chance at winning. I’m sure of it.”

  Ridley whispered to Leila, “Is that really going to be the finale?”

  Leila looked hurt but did not answer.

  Carter turned his back on the small audience and chimed in, “Leila’s been working really hard—”

  But then Mick clapped his hands together. “Tut-tut!” he said. “I did not intend to create any tension. Your show is going to blow them away. Truly. You just need to practice.”

  Olly and Izzy bowed, then rolled forward and fell to the floor, pretending to be unconscious. Ridley, Leila, and Carter began to whisper with one another about their tricks. Theo ignored them, moving toward the counter.

  “It’s been a long time, Theo,” said Mick. “I would have thought a musician with talent such as yours would have been more curious about the wonders I keep hidden here at Meridian’s Music.”

  “I adore music,” said Theo. “But my friends and I have grown very close. Magic is the thing that binds us.”

  Mick nodded. “Friends are as important as family. I’m happy that Emily finally worked up the courage to say hello to you. To all of you.” Her eyes went wide, and suddenl
y, she found the floor to be very interesting.

  “Courage?” Theo echoed. He had imagined that Emily Meridian was practically pulsing with courage. “But yesterday, she took down a bully in less than three moves.”

  “Did she?” Mick glanced at his daughter. Wearing a slight smile, Emily shrugged. “I’m impressed.”

  “I thought you had lots of friends, Emily,” said Theo.

  “Appearances can be deceiving,” she answered, pursing her lips.

  Mortified, Theo quickly added, “I did not mean to—”

  “It’s okay.” Emily held up her hand. “No offense taken.”

  “Maybe…” Theo found himself suddenly trembling. “Maybe you would consider hanging out with the Magic Misfits sometime?”

  “Yeah,” said Olly, appearing beside Theo as if from nowhere.

  “Definitely,” said Izzy, appearing on his other side as if from another nowhere.

  “We love new people,” said Olly. “We barely know any kids up at the resort.”

  “Most of them come for a few days or a week and then disappear back to their ordinary lives.”

  When Mick turned away, Theo whispered, “Emily, you could help us keep an eye on Wendel Whis—”

  “Theo,” Ridley practically yelled out. Theo turned to find her motioning for him to zip his lips.

  Theo flinched. “But she already knows.…” Ridley raised an eyebrow, and he knew enough to not continue.

  Leila stepped toward the counter, keeping her voice low. Thankfully, Mick was busying himself with his project again. “I think Emily would have a great time helping us spy on the ventriloquist. We’re going to sneak around the resort tomorrow and use our skills to—”

  Carter spoke up. “To do secret things. Right, Leila?” He glanced at Ridley, who threw him a smile.

  Now it was Leila’s turn to flinch. Carter and Ridley were side by side, as if commanders in an army, making moves to build a wall against potential threats.

  Theo felt a tingling in his fingers, like static electricity building up. There must be some way to release it. It was not like the Misfits to disagree so much.