The Magic Talisman

by John Blaine

  The machine started up with a whine that built into a near-scream. Suddenly a spray of mist shot from the end of the antenna tube and a crackling arc of electricity flashed across the gap. The top of the cart seemed to explode with a white, blinding flash and a puff of white smoke arose. Hassan rolled the generator away.

  The captain and the magician walked to the cart, and the expression on the officer’s face was sheer disbelief. He gasped, “She’s alive!” The audience gasped, too, because the figure’s breast was rising and falling as though breathing after great exertion.

  Derek and the captain unstrapped the girl and helped her to her feet. She still held a white dove. As she stood upright, she tossed it into the air and it flew up into the stage arch.

  “Her name is Karen,” the magician announced. He shook hands with the captain. “Thank you, sir, for your help.”

  Shaking his head, Captain Douglas left the stage as applause continued for a long minute.

  Jan leaned close to Rick and whispered, “Now we know why the figures weigh the same.”

  Barby giggled. “The flash blinded the captain just long enough. No wonder he looked so dazed.”

  Both girls had known instantly how the trick worked. To pivot that way, bringing Karen up and swinging the dummy down into the cart, the top had to be perfectly balanced. Rick thought the bright flare was probably magnesium, set off by the electric bolt. He suspected that Karen had held a different dove, and that the one Derek had ‘captured’ was safe inside the cart as Hassan rolled it offstage. Although he knew that the magician was now David, it was less confusing to think of whoever was on stage as Derek.

  Jan seemed to have recovered, at least outwardly, from the flash of viciousness. Rick murmured, “Any feelings, Jan?”

  “It just stopped a few minutes ago. I’m fine now, Rick.”

  Rick thought it strange how the feelings came and went. The logical explanation was that the unknown presence was not trying to signal Jan continually-if there was any logic at all to the situation. He wondered if, when not transmitting to Jan, the presence was trying to communicate with someone else.

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  Was the vicious one trying to reach her, too?

  On stage, Derek and his assistants, including Karen now, went through a variety of illusions. Some were mechanical, using equipment, others were pure manipulation. Rick was sure Derek and David changed places two or three times. Then, as the male assistants cleared the stage of all except the two large cabinets, Derek stepped forward.

  “One of the most difficult illusions is levitation, in which a person, entirely unsupported, rises into the air sustained only by the will or magic, if you prefer—of the magician. Karen, my dear,are you willing to trust yourself to my magic?”

  “As you command, Master.”

  “Very well.To begin, we must have a launching platform.” He clapped his hands. The Hindu and Hassan brought in a pair of ordinary ladderback chairs and set them down at center stage, back to back and about six feet apart. The Mongol brought a wooden plank, which he placed across the chair backs.

  “For some reason I do not understand,” Derek said with a smile, “A simple plank makes the best platform and the chairs the best support. Anyway, you can tell we’re not resorting to trickery.” He joined in the laughter.

  Derek picked up Karen, who caught his lapels and kissed him. He placed her on the plank. Hassan brought a long, white wand which Derek took and waved over the girl. “Up, Karen,” he commanded.

  She rose about two feet above the plank. Derek walked completely around her, the wand outstretched so that it passed above her reclining body, then he walked around again, the wand held under her. The audience applauded. The wand had passed through all spaces that might have held any form of support-or so it seemed.

  “Up, Karen,” Derek said again. The girl rose until she was above the level of his head, a bit more than six feet above the stage. “Now, Karen, please show our guests a bit of acrobatics.”

  Rick had seen levitation tricks before, but he stared as Karen stretched out her arms, sat upright, and continued bending forward until her fingertips touched her toes. Then she threw herself backward in one graceful motion that sent her in a complete loop that made the audience gasp, then burst into prolonged applause.

  Karen floated down to her straight-out position on the plank platform, and Derek stepped forward to make an announcement.

  Then, as Rick would say later, “The lights went absolutely crazy!”

  CHAPTER V

  The Broken Illusion

  Suddenly the stage was almost but not quite concealed by an intense flickering that confused vision and Page 27

  caused people to turn away. Rick had a blurred impression, as though seen through surging dark water, of Karen flying away and a dark form hurtling down. Derek seemed to be staggering backward and vanishing.

  For a long moment the flickering continued to disturb and block vision, then the lights flashed to normal.

  The murmur in the audience rose to a near shout, then they broke into applause. Karen was gone! Where she had been on the plank was either one of the twins, or the David-Derek dummy.

  Rick couldn’t believe his eyes. There was no way such a switch could have taken place...was there?

  And Derek seemed stunned. He hesitated, then moved slowly forward from the left cabinet, seemingly more bewildered than Captain Douglas had been...or was it part of the act?

  The magician waited until the applause died, then stretched his arms wide. “My friends, we have had a slight mishap. What you see on the plank before you is my tailor’s dummy, the one on which my costumes are fitted. We call him Sam, and he’s a nuisance, because he’s always trying to get into the act.

  Apparently he was caught by a little leakage in the magic force, and that same leakage caused Karen to vanish. Now we must get her back.” Derek turned to the right wing and called, “Hassan, Tombo, your help please.”

  Hassan and the Mongol appeared. “We must clear the stage.Tombo, if you will please take Sam, Hassan and I will remove the platform.”

  Organ music swelled while the stage was fully cleared, even the cabinets rolled away. Derek and Hassan returned from the wings. The magician carried an armload of golden silk, and the assistant a large ring of aluminum, like a hula hoop. Derek shook out the silk, and he and Hassan clipped it to the hoop, creating a tall cylinder of cloth.

  “Now we must try to bring Karen back to us,” Derek announced. “If we are successful, she will appear in this cocoon of silk. Our problem is that sound does not carry well in the realm of the invisible, and I must ask your help.All of you. Will you help me?”

  There was a chorus of agreement and applause, in which the Spindrifters joined.

  “Thank you. What we must do is shout her name, Karen, all together, on the count of three.” The cylinder was held high by Hassan with both hands, and by Derek with one. He used the other to lead the count.

  “One. Two. Three!”

  There was a concerted shout of KAREN!

  Derek and Hassan dropped the hoop, and Karen stood there, erect, the folds of silk at her feet.

  Applause continued for long minutes as Karen and Hassan left Derek alone on the stage. Finally he held up his hands for silence, and when the audience quieted, he smiled and bowed.

  “Guests of the House of Illusion, we leave it to your good judgment. What was real and what was not?

  You may believe me when I tell you that even I do not always know. In the words of Omar Khayyam,

  ‘A hair perhaps divides the false and true.’ We hope you will visit our house again.”

  Derek held out his hand and Karen ran to join him. They took several bows, then Derek called forth the Page 28

  three assistants for their share of applause. The curtain closed and the show was over.

  Rick sat up straight, feeling as though he had just awakened. He stared at the faces of his family and friends. “I just don’t believe they could do some
of those things.”

  Scotty shook his head. “Neither doI . That levitation and the substitution were the most baffling things I’ve ever seen in a magic show.”

  “Pretty incredible,” Hartson Brant agreed. “But isn’t that the purpose of magic, to baffle and bewilder?”

  Jan’s soft voice answered him.“Usually, sir. But that last trick...something went wrong, really wrong. I wish we could go to see them. Karen was badly shaken. I could tell.”

  Mrs. Miller asked, “How do you know, dear?”

  “I could feel it, Mom.”

  Scotty stood up. “Let’s go backstage. I know where they’ll be, and if Jan is right-and I’ll bet she is~

  they’ll be glad to see us.”

  “In a moment.”Hartson Brant reached into his pocket. “I know we’re guests, but there’s our waiter to take care of.” He put down a substantial tip. “All right, Scotty. Lead the way.”

  Scotty led the group to the staff lounge in back of the stage, knocked on the door, then opened it and stuck his head in. “Care for a bit of company?”

  “Of course.”Derek opened the door wide. “Please come in, everyone.”

  Jan hurried to Karen. “Are you all right? I felt something strange...I was scared. I knew you were very frightened.”

  Karen rose and put her arm around the girl. “It’s all right now, Jan. I was terrified for a few moments because I didn’t know what was happening to me.”

  Rick stared. “Do you mean the switch of you and the dummy wasn’t part of the act?”

  Derek laughed without humor. “I wish it had been. But something, or somebody took over control.

  Please, won’t you all sit down? I recognize Dr. Brant because Rick looks so much like him.How do you do?Scotty, how about introducing everyone?”

  “Delighted to meet you,” Dr. Brant said. “Are you Derek or David?”

  “I’m Derek, sir.”

  Scotty introduced Mrs. Brant and the Millers, then Derek introduced his helpers. Hassan of Aleppo was Archy Sullivan, the stage manager of whom the twins had spoken earlier. Tombo the Mongol was Tom Bums, and the Hindu Swami was Joe Melano .

  After the visitors refused the offer of refreshments and thanked and congratulated the magicians on a great performance, with special praise for the mural, Derek explained, “We had one bit where we planned to use the replica-the dummy, as you call it- but we had to scrub because we couldn’t find it.

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  Archy, Tom, and Joe looked everywhere, but it was just gone.”

  “Could you see where it appeared from?” Scotty asked.

  “No. The lights went wild and we couldn’t see much of anything. When Karen vanished and the replica appeared on the plank I was shocked silly. I staggered back and bumped into the cabinet, and Dave whispered, ‘Karen’s here with me. Improvise,quick . We’ll go below and you can bring her from center one.’ That’s a stage position.”

  David picked up the tale. “I was waiting in the left cabinet when the stage blurred. I tried to make out what was happening, but my eyes were all confused by the flickering. I heard someone behind me, and stepped out of the back of the cabinet and there was Karen. She fell into my arms and whispered that she was all right, then began to sob, from shock and fright.”

  “No wonder,” Barby said angrily.

  “What was the blur?” Dr. Miller asked. “We saw a fast shimmer that effectively blocked the view, although I could faintly see motion. I couldn’t make out what was happening.”

  “I thought I saw Karen fly away,” Rick told them, “and it seemed as though something dark descended.

  It must have been the replica.”

  Derek agreed. “That’s about all I saw, too. The shimmer was completely disorienting. But to answer your question, Dr. Miller, we have no idea what caused the shimmer.”

  “What was supposed to happen, Dave?” Scotty asked.

  “Derek would levitate Karen over to the right cabinet, explain that he was going to make an invisible crossing while Karen floated overhead, then I would step out and catch her just as the harness released.”

  “But the cabinet was empty,” Mrs. Brant protested. “We could see the entire inside of both cabinets.”

  David smiled. “Thank you, Ma’am. The cabinets look honest. Of course they’re not. You’d be surprised at how much room you can’t see.”

  “You haven’t told us what happened to you, Karen,” Jan reminded.

  “What Rick saw was what actually happened. I was swung to the rear, behind the left cabinet, and lowered to the floor. The harness released and I was left standing there.”

  “That harness must be a true marvel of engineering,” Dr. Miller commented. “I can’t even imagine how Karen could go through those maneuvers without bumping into wires or cables.”

  “Nor can I,” Dr. Brant agreed.

  “It’s pretty tricky,” Derek smiled. “Dave made some brilliant design changes in an earlier type of apparatus. I should also add that he designed the Phantom Caravan mural and lighting system. Karen supervised the artist.”

  Karen spoke up. “Scotty has written and told us a great deal about the Spindrift scientists, and if ever anyone needed scientific help, it’s the Camerons.”

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  “And you shall have whatever help we can give,” Hartson Brant assured her. “Tomorrow we’ll make a start right after Thanksgiving dinner. Right now I suspect you could use some well-earned rest.”

  Jan hugged Karen. “While our dads work on the shimmer and the switch, we’ll get Rick and Scotty on the job here. This house has a mystery that must be solved, and you watch them do it”

  After witnessing the last act of the show, Rick was far from sure that he and Scotty could do anything but stand with mouths open like a pair of dopes. He warned, “Don’t promise too much, Jan.”

  “Of course I won’t.” She gave him a radiant smile. “I’ve only promised that you’ll findthe answers, that’s all.”

  “Let’s go home,” Scotty pleaded. “I feel confusion coming on.”

  Rick said feelingly, “And to that, ditto!”

  As Scotty led the way back to the main entrance, Jan moved close to Rick and whispered, “It’sback. It started while we were on our way to the lounge to see the Camerons.”

  Barby demanded, “What are you two whispering about?”

  “We were wondering whether you’re going to feed that little hamster to Dismal or keep it as a pet,” Rick told her, grinning.

  “Dismal would probably adopt it,” Barby retorted. “Anyway, I’ve decided to leave it so Mr. Tombo, the Mongol, can give it to some other golden girl.”

  Aboutfour o’clock the next day, fire crackled in the fireplace of the big Brant library, a comfortable room lined with books and oak paneling that Hartson Brant used as a study. The family and guests were well fed, and Rick hoped, in the mood for some useful conversation.

  Karen sat on the leather couch, flanked by Barby and Jan. The girls had taken to her like an older sister, and Rick could understand why. She had a quality of serenity, combined with an intuitive understanding of people much like Jan’s.

  Derek, easily identified by a bow tie of red dots on a blue background, was seated on a camel saddle near the fire. David, in a bow tie of blue dots on a maroon background, was in a leather armchair that was Rick’s favorite. The Millers and Mrs. Brant shared another couch. Hartson Brant was in his chair behind the desk. Scotty was stretched at full length in front of the fire, while Rick was perched on another camel saddle. The two saddles were souvenirs of a trip toEgypt .

  Hartson Brant broke into the buzz of conversation with a question. “Who’s going to lead the talk about our investigation? I’d prefer to listen for a bit.”

  Scotty rolled over and pointed at Rick. “How about Old Man Curiosity himself? I could hear him bouncing around in bed all night trying to figure out what had happened.”

  “Did you figure it out, son?” Hartson Brant asked.

  Rick
shook his head. “I went around in tight circles.”

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  “Too bad,” Dr. Miller observed smiling. “I was sure Spindrift’s leading advocate of the deductive detective method would have the answers by today. Never mind. I’m sure you’ll have the solution in a short time.”

  Rick didn’t mind being teased by Jan’s dad. They were good friends. He grinned.

  “Then suppose we follow Scotty’s suggestion?” Mrs. Miller offered. “Let Rick lead.”

  The group applauded, and Rick smiled, pleased. “Okay. I’ll start. So far, we have two mysteries, and they’re surely connected somehow. The first is Jan’s strange feeling about the Mirella estate, which Karen shares, at least to some extent. Let’s take that first one.”

  Rick ticked off the points. “Item one: Jan had a sudden desire to go into the estate. She had never been in there, and hadn’t even been past it for months. She had a feeling that someone, or something, was trying to communicate with her, even that it needed her. At least part of the impression was that of an old man. Jan’s impression was of friendliness and warmth until last night. Then, just before the show started, she had a strong, upsetting feeling of something hateful and vicious in addition to the nice feeling. She said it was not in the house, but close by.”

  Rick smiled at Jan, then looked around at the others. “How useful is a feeling? Or even two different ones? Believe me, if it were anyone but Jan, I wouldn’t take this seriously. But when Jan says she feels something, you can be sure it’s exactly as she describes it.”

  Mrs. Brant said quietly, “We all know Jan, at least those of us on Spindrift No one on this island would disagree with you.”

  “Nor would we Camerons,” Karen agreed. “But wouldn’t scientists reject such non-specific mental impressions?”

  “I’m naturally biased in favor of my daughter,” Dr. Miller replied, “but apart from her feelings, I’m quite prepared to keep an open mind.”

  “So am I,” Hartson Brant added. “I agree with Rick.”

  Rick looked at Karen. “Tell us about your feelings.”

  “Mine are not intense like Jan’s, but I agree there’s a presence in the house. I’ve sensed the presence, and I’ve had a feeling of being watched sometimes when there was no one else in the room. I feel that someone—or something we don’t know about, is in the house with us.”