by Justin Swapp
“Marcus…” Faustino said, letting his name linger.
“Marcus from across the street,” replied Ellie quickly.
Faustino opened his mouth to say something more, but the judges stood on their feet and raised Marcus’s scores. As he expected, they weren’t very good. At least he could go home now. This had been a lot to take in.
Suddenly Marcus heard galloping footsteps behind him.
“I win,” a high-pitched voice said, emerging from backstage. “I win, I win.” Elizabeth ran toward Faustino, her arms thrashing in the air. She was beside herself, but Faustino only had eyes for Marcus.
Faustino looked down as he opened his jacket with one hand. Marcus stepped back out of instinct. The unique blue glow still emitted from the pocket where the glass ball had been placed.
“Who are you?” Faustino asked in a lowered voice, a hint of suspicion slipped into his words.
Marcus didn’t have to answer as the TaDa sound played over the speakers and the crowd clapped. Elizabeth tugged on Faustino’s arm, still trying to get his attention.
Faustino stood up straight and gave Marcus one last look before he turned to Elizabeth and put on his stage smile.
“Let’s go, Marcus” Ellie hooked his arm and walked him to the side of the stage.
“Let’s give a big round of applause to Elizabeth Stratton,” Faustino said mechanically, “your winner, and my new apprentice!”
With that, the audience stood and applauded vigorously. The ushers finally opened the exits. Marcus and Ellie promptly joined the multitude at the door.
Marcus looked back at the stage to see Elizabeth hugging Faustino, hopping up and down and clapping. Then, she hugged him again. But Faustino’s head was craned and his face was somber while he tracked Marcus through the multitude. It was as if Elizabeth and the crowd weren’t there. Marcus had the strange feeling that even if a thick cement wall had been built between them, Faustino would still see him somehow.
Outside, Ellie pulled Marcus by the hand while they navigated between the people in the street. Even with some distance having been put between them, Marcus looked back at The Magic Box and couldn’t shake the feeling that he was now being watched.
5
A Strange Sale
One morning, several weeks later, Marcus awoke to a thumping sound near his head. He shot up, jittery, and spun around in his bed. Tofu sat in the windowsill gazing across the street, his overactive tail beating against the cushion he sat on.
Rubbing a hand through his hair, Marcus tried to shake off the memories that invaded his mind every morning: the Magic Show, Faustino’s glass ball, the blue glow from Winston’s hidden room, and that awkward moment when Faustino wanted to know who he was. He still couldn’t help but feel like someone was looking over his shoulder and reaching out to find him.
He never wanted to go back to The Magic Box again.
Since the show, Marcus had taken The Magic Shop more seriously, much to his grandparents’ surprise. He had learned all the products, how to manage the inventory, and he had even asked for customer service lessons from his grandpa. But, above all, he never, ever left Ellie alone again.
Tossing his feet over the side of the bed, Marcus rubbed his face. After a stretch, he slid off the bed and landed on something soft and squishy.
“Ouch.” Ellie sprang up from the ground, irritated.
“Sorry.” Marcus began going through the clothes in his closet. “I keep forgetting you’re there.”
“You know I don’t sleep well,” Ellie said, “not since—”
“The show,” Marcus said. “Believe me, I know.”
“I just sleep better in here.”
“Maybe I’d sleep better in your room, because ‘in here’ isn’t helping me any,” Marcus said. “You’re probably what’s waking me up all the time.”
“Sorry, Marcus. That Faustino guy creeped me out, and I can’t seem to let it go.”
“I can’t shake him off either. Every night it’s a different—”
“Kids,” their grandma called from the kitchen, “it’s time for breakfast.”
After a deep sigh, Marcus raised an arm and took a whiff. Ellie screwed up her face and waved a hand in front of her nose as she went downstairs. Marcus checked again. He didn’t smell anything.
Marcus meandered around his room a moment before he decided to power on his radio. He figured maybe some music would get him going. Sparks leapt at him, followed by a warped, humming sound that tried to escape from the speakers. He couldn’t believe that he had randomly fried his electronics.
“You should never have gone out,” a voice said, barely more than a whisper. Marcus whirled around, but saw nothing unusual. Everything was like before: Tofu at the window, fried electronics by the wall, and clothes on the floor.
Marcus ran a hand over his face, and then his stomach growled.
I’m either losing my mind, or my stomach is talking to me, he thought. He opened his bedroom door while scratching his head and walked downstairs to join his sister.
*****
“Where’s Grandpa?” Ellie asked as Marcus entered the kitchen a minute later.
“Well,” their grandma said, patting her neck for her crystal locket before turning back to the empty frying pan on the stove. “He had a business trip to go on. He left late last night.”
Marcus shot Ellie a look of surprise.
“Since when does Grandpa go on business trips?” Marcus asked as he sat down at the table. His breakfast waited for him.
“Something to do with inventory,” his grandma added. “Milk, dear?”
Marcus nodded. “Yes, please.” He started with the pancakes and sausage.
“You really splurged on breakfast, Grandma,” Ellie said. “Can we afford this?”
“Nothing too good for you kids,” she answered, smiling quickly.
“I can’t remember the last time Grandpa went on a business trip,” Marcus said. “Where did he go?”
“You know, I’m not sure. It’s somewhere down South, I believe.”
“Maybe he’ll bring us back a present or something,” Ellie said.
“Well, I wanted to make sure I fed you before I ran off to do some errands.” Grandma wiped her hands on her apron then looked out the window. “You’ll watch the shop for me, right?”
“Are you okay, Grandma?” Marcus asked.
“Yes, dear, thank you. I just get a little anxious when your grandpa travels without me.”
“We’ll watch the shop, Grandma,” Ellie said.
“I shouldn’t be too long,” their grandma reassured them as she left the kitchen. “Mind the rules.”
Ellie finished breakfast before Marcus. She cleaned her dishes and wiped down the counter. Marcus was in no hurry.
“I’m going to open the shop,” she said. “Don’t take all day.”
Marcus smirked as she left. He wondered where his grandpa had gone and what he might be doing, but that thought was quickly replaced by the last piece of sausage on his plate. He just loved rolling it in syrup.
A few minutes later Marcus joined Ellie in the shop. She had opened the shop door to let the nice breeze in and sat by the bookshelf rather than behind the counter.
“Friendly reminder,” Ellie said, “it’s your turn to run the register today.”
“Great,” Marcus said. Ever since Ellie had taught him how to handle customer transactions she had wanted to take turns. Now he regretted having her show him.
Marcus tapped his fingers to the beat of some random song in his head. He hated this whole business of magic, and now that he was stuck behind a counter with nothing to do while other kids were out playing sports or getting into trouble, he was especially irritated.
Staring out the door, Marcus watched people walk by The Magic Shop, not noticing it at all. One man walked by, hunched over, focused on something in his hand. A moment later an older woman actually crossed the street and back rather than walk in front of the shop. At least she smil
ed at him. It was going to be a long day.
Whether Marcus liked it or not, though, he had real responsibility now, or at least that is what Grandpa kept telling him any time he brought up trying to get out of tending the shop. He had to stand behind the counter and wait for customers all day. He had to do something constructive with his time. He had to help provide for the family.
He looked down at a piece of laminated paper tacked to the backside of the counter which only Marcus could see. He mouthed the words he had practiced over the last few weeks. Grandpa said he needed to work on his customer service skills. He wanted to be ready, to know what to say when a customer walked in.
Sometime later, when his eyes tired of reading, he looked out the door again. It was all there was to do. A man hobbled by on a cane, looking at something in his hand; a girl dribbled a basketball off her foot and into the street and some boy swinging a bag labeled “The Magic Box” picked it up and tossed it back to her; another customer lost to the shop down the street.
An electronic buzz sounded above the shop’s door as the sensor picked up someone walking in.
“Uh,” Marcus said, springing up and fumbling the laminated paper a bit, “good day, and welcome to The Magic Shop—your source for the finest magical supplies in town.”
“Thank you, young man,” a woman said, dragging a young boy by the hand. “Where are your…”
“There they are, Mom,” the boy said as he shook his hand free and ran down the middle aisle. The boy came back with a package entitled: Cup & Balls. “It even comes with a DVD to teach me how!” the boy exclaimed.
“How to do what, dear?” his mother asked. “What do those do?”
“You pass these balls through solid cups,” the boy said, “and the audience wonders how you did it.”
The mother smiled at her son and took the bag to the counter. “How much?”
Marcus held up the bag and lifted a scanner gun to the bar code. The computer beeped, and the price appeared on the screen.
“Four-ninety-five, ma’am,” Marcus said.
The woman reached inside her purse, pulled out a ten-dollar bill, and handed it to Marcus. He put the money in the till and gave her the appropriate change.
“Thanks,” the boy said as they left the store.
“Nice job,” Ellie said, appearing suddenly next to Marcus, “and all by yourself too.”
“Ha ha,” Marcus said slowly. “I’m starting to get this down.”
“Do you want the next one?” Marcus asked.
Before Ellie could answer the shop door buzzed again, and Marcus turned to see a familiar-looking man hunching slightly over a unique cane, wearing black from head to toe. As he entered the shop he straightened himself out, putting something in his overcoat pocket.
“Good day, sir, and wel—”
“Is it?” asked the man as he smoothed the front of his shirt several times. “A good day, I mean,” he added when he saw Marcus’s confusion.
The man wandered through the store casually. Marcus thought he saw a rather disapproving look on his face. He picked up a product, stroked his goatee, and finally shook his head. Another time he actually made a ‘tsk’ sound with his tongue and then put the product back on the shelf.
“Don’t you have anything else?” the strange man asked, poking his cane at various things on the shelves. “I’m looking for something other than card tricks and random gags, if you know what I mean.”
Marcus wondered about the cane. It was solid black, but the handle was a talon made of white gold. What caught Marcus’s attention was that there was space between the claws, like something belonged there. Marcus caught a scornful look from Ellie, who had evidently noticed that his mind had wandered off.
Ellie tried to help. “We’ve recently received some crystal balls and—”
The man laughed and put a hand on his overcoat.
“—and Ouija boards,” Ellie said. “I only mention them because they are supposed to be more involved than—”
“I’d like to see your other inventory, please,” the man said in an oily voice, tapping his cane on the ground at the word ‘other’.
“This is all we have, Sir, I’m sorry,” Marcus said. He took a deep breath and continued. “I will say that you could try The Magic Box just down the street. They tend to carry other—”
“No, young man. They don’t have what I require. I’ve come to this very shop for a reason. I believe you have what I am looking for, hm?” The man acted like Marcus was merely playing hard to get.
“What did you have in mind, Sir?” Ellie asked.
“I’d like to see your,” the man paused, “finer things, please.”
“…and by finer things you mean what, exactly?” Marcus asked.
“Bored are you? Fine, I’ll play your little game,” the man said. “You shop owners get so eccentric in a poor economy, don’t you?”
Marcus gave Ellie a questioning look, like he was trying to decide if he should laugh at the man or consider him to be a dangerous lunatic.
“Now, let’s see, where could it be?” the man said to himself as he kicked up a large floor rug by the bookshelf. “Trap door?” The area under the rug looked quite normal. “Attic?” He looked up at the ceiling, but found nothing there either. He paused a moment, and then asked, “another room, perhaps?”
“Sir,” Ellie said, “I think you should leave now. We obviously don’t have whatever it is that you are looking for.”
“I trust that you do,” the man said, patting his jacket pocket, “and I will pay you well for it.”
“Excuse us a moment, please,” Marcus said as he walked out from behind the counter, grabbed Ellie by the arm, and pulled her through the back door and into their living area.
“What are you doing?” she asked. Tofu sat on the couch, watching and wagging his tail.
“He says he has money, Ellie,” Marcus said excitedly. “I think we should open the blue room and let him look around.”
Ellie covered her face with her hands. “Are you crazy?”
“Think about it,” Marcus said. “This could solve our financial troubles. There were prices by the items in there, remember? And where do you think Grandpa took that lady visitor that first morning in the shop? I’m sure he took her back here and sold her something.”
“What if you’re wrong?” Ellie asked. “This could get us in a lot of trouble.”
“That lady walked out of the back room saying ‘nice doing business with you’, remember? And I bet you money that those numbers by the items in the blue room were price tags.” Marcus clapped her on the arm, feeling pleased with himself. “We just need to make sure to charge this guy at least whatever the price tag says.”
“I don’t know, Marcus,” Ellie said. “You don’t even know what you are doing up front, let alone back here. We were lucky that Grandpa didn’t kill us for going into that room the first time. Let’s just take down this guy’s phone number and—”
“But he didn’t kill us, Ellie. And haven’t you heard of buyer’s remorse? If we let this guy walk, he probably won’t ever come back. We might not even get another customer today. We have to act, Ellie. Let’s make Grandpa proud.”
“Well, I don’t think—”
“Sir,” Marcus said, loud enough for the stranger to hear through the wall, “We will show you what you want. Just a moment.”
Ellie shoved Marcus. “What are you doing?” she asked. “That wasn’t your call.”
Marcus ignored her, threw the tapestry to the side, and hung it on its wall clip. He rapped the doorknocker three times, and soon the familiar blue light cracked in the shape of a doorframe.
Marcus opened the door to the shop to inform the man that they were ready for him, but he was already there, waiting with baited breath. He rubbed his black gloves together. “May I come in?” he asked.
“Right this way, Sir,” Marcus said.
The man smiled widely and his hand darted to his overcoat jacket as if something h
ad just pricked him. Then, he proceeded to enter the room. He paused when he saw the blue light outlining a door in the wall.
“Well, well,” the man said, “you were being coy, weren’t you?”
Marcus didn’t look at Ellie. He didn’t want to see the condemning look she was surely boring into him. He grasped the wall knocker and pulled.
As the door pulled away from the wall, the blue light spilled into the room they were in, casting cold shadows all along the walls. The stranger approached slowly, like one might approach a sleeping child. Then he stopped, reached into his overcoat pocket, and removed a small glass ball.
Marcus looked at Ellie, sure she was thinking the same thing that he was.
The stranger held up the glass sphere and watched as a small ball of blue light appeared inside. The blue light rotated around the inside of the sphere like a compass gone wild. As he stepped closer, the blue light pushed against the glass ball in the direction of the room.
The man looked pleased with himself. “So it is true…” he returned the glass ball to his pocket. “May I?” He gestured toward the blue room.
“Of course,” Marcus said. This time, though, he caught Ellie’s disapproving glance and quickly amended his comment.
“You can look,” Marcus said, “but don’t touch. Store policy.”
“Very well,” he entered the blue room, paused, and closed his eyes. He extended his arms, moving his fingers as if he felt something tangible in the air around him. He breathed in slowly.
He looked around the blue room with a fondness that seemed paternal. “This may be the finest collection I have ever seen, and I have seen many in my time.”
“May I ask a question?” Ellie asked.
“You just did,” he said. “But of course, you’re welcome to ask another.”
“The glass ball, what is it for?”
“Really?” he asked. A moment passed in silence. The stranger gave the two children a confused look. “And here I thought our little charade was over.”
Marcus asked, “Would you like to leave?”
The stranger looked shocked at the notion that he would be asked to leave over such a trivial affair. “What is the glass ball?” he said. “You are obvious collectors, or brokers, if you prefer, of the finest magical artifacts I have seen in some time. It would hardly be a presumption to think that you knew that one of the sphere’s functions is to help you find magic.” He waved his hand majestically at the shelves of wondrous items in the blue room. “It would seem that you have made good use of yours.”
