‘Because you don’t want to break the magician’s code?’
He shrugged and grinned in response, even though that wasn’t the reason. But what else could he tell her? He’d spent long hours trying to work it out. Flashes of memory came to him, then dissolved behind his eyes before he could piece them into an explanation. But he was getting somewhere. There were clues that were pointing in a certain direction. Before he left, he hoped he might get to the bottom of it.
Yet all too soon their bags were packed and Frau Grossen was waving to them from her front doorway. There were tears in her eyes which Grandad was careful not to notice. He gave her a hug, but broke away before she could kiss him on the cheek.
Since Catine was too busy for lessons, Helvar came with the Coopers on their walk to the station. This gave Matt the opportunity he had been hoping for.
‘I’ve been thinking about my magic trick in the Great Hall,’ he said to the tutor, who nodded to show he was listening. ‘Thanks to the story we made up, everyone believes the sceptre was in that chandelier all along. It wasn’t though. You and I know that. So how did it vanish and then appear again so many years later?’
‘Maybe Borrodi did interfere, as the Prince’s advisers suggested. Then he died before he could reveal where he’d hidden it.’
‘It’s possible,’ said Matt, with a shrug. ‘But how did it turn up again under my cape? Walter Borrodi wasn’t there to interfere this time.’
They had fallen a little way behind Matt’s grandfather. Actually, Matt had let this happen on purpose. Now he stopped, making Helvar do the same.
‘I don’t think Walter Borrodi interfered,’ Matt said. ‘I think it was someone else, first when Mattheus performed his act and again a few days ago.’
Helvar looked down at him. His eyes were rock-steady and not a muscle twitched in his face.
‘So I’ve been thinking about who,’ Matt said, hoping to prompt some reaction from Helvar. ‘Whoever stole the sceptre is probably dead, but the person who returned it is very much alive.’
Still nothing.
‘Only a handful of people knew what we were up to that morning,’ Matt said, ‘and they were all in front of me, where I could see them, making a little audience.’
At last Helvar spoke. ‘Yes, I was part of your audience.’
‘Ah, but that’s just it, said Matt. ‘For a minute or so, you weren’t. You went out into the corridor. There was another door from the corridor onto the stage and the table was right there, in easy reach. What’s more, you didn’t come with Catine and me to the dressmakers’ room. Plenty of time to slip away and pick up something you’ve had all along.’
Helvar stood completely still. ‘You think it was me? But how could I have the sceptre?’
‘I can’t work that out,’ Matt admitted. ‘But there has to be a reason Mattheus put a circle around that man’s face in the photograph and there has to be a reason why you look so like him.’
‘You are quite the young detective, Mr Cooper. You ask why, not just who. So what answer do you have? Why would someone who looked like me steal such a precious thing, even if he only meant to hide it?’
‘I don’t know that either,’ said Matt. ‘It certainly caused trouble for Catine’s family. Someone had a grudge against them, maybe.’
‘A grudge,’ Helvar replied with a laugh. ‘Doesn’t sound like much, does it? Some poor fellow didn’t like the royal family.’
‘I asked Catine when we said goodbye. She says you didn’t show much respect for royalty when you first arrived.’
Helvar shrugged. ‘I’ve never liked princes much.’
‘What changed your mind about Catine’s family, then?’
‘Olivar Delano,’ he responded immediately. ‘What Catine said about him was true. He would have ruled Montilagus badly. Better the Mahlings, especially Mikheil. I see great potential in him, and in Catine.’
‘You encouraged Mikheil to study science.’
‘Yes, if a man is going to rule a country, he should believe in science, not the promises of fools.’
‘Sounds like a good reason for the Mahlings to get the sceptre back.’
A harshness had crept into Helvar’s voice, but now he smiled and relaxed his tone. ‘Well, then, perhaps you have all the answers you need.’
Matt could see he’d get nothing more out of Helvar. He still had his suspicions but that’s all they would ever be.
Up ahead, Grandad seemed satisfied that Matt was closing the gap and he moved on through the gates of the station, leaving Matt alone with Helvar for a little longer.
‘Catine says you will leave at the end of the year,’ said Matt.
Helvar’s face became solemn. ‘It’s time to move on.’
Matt thought that was sad, but he didn’t want to embarrass Helvar by saying so. He was about to say goodbye, when Helvar delivered a final surprise.
‘I saw how close you became to the Princess. She has told me she hopes to see you again in Australia. Who knows what will come of your friendship, but I do know, Matthew, that one day you will fall in love.’
Love! thought Matt. I’m only fourteen.
Helvar had been working something free from his hand as he spoke. Now, he held out a ring on his palm. An amethyst caught the sunlight, shining like a tiny rose.
‘When you do find someone special, Matthew, give her this ring so that she will always remember you.’
Matt was astonished. ‘No, I can’t take that. I’ve seen you touch it, like it’s part of you!’
‘Please, I insist,’ said Helvar. ‘I have worn it for a long time – forever, you might say. Innocent people have suffered because I kept this ring on my finger for too long. I made them part of something I felt compelled to do, and I deeply regret the harm that came to them. Please, let me give this ring to you so it will be worn by someone who can enjoy love’s magic.’
And before Matt could protest any further, Helvar bowed politely and walked away along the cobblestoned lane.
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About the Author
JAMES MOLONEY is one of Australia’s best-known authors for the young. He has twice won the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award, but his greatest success has been in winning the hearts of children and teenagers with his brilliant fantasy adventures beginning with The Book of Lies. He lives in Brisbane, where he writes every day in a shed specially built in his backyard.
Copyright
Angus&Robertson
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, Australia
First published in Australia in 2014
This edition published in 2014
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Ltd
ABN 36 009 913 517
harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Buena Vista Books 2014
The right of James Moloney to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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National Library of Australia Catalogue in Publication data:
Moloney, James, 1954– author.
Disappearing Act/James Moloney.
978 0 7322 9575 2 (pbk.)
978 1 7430 9701 4 (epub)
For secondary school age.
Magicians – Fiction.
Magic
tricks – Fiction.
A823.3
Cover design and illustration by Hazel Lam, HarperCollins Design Studio
Disappearing Act Page 14
