The Magic Mirror

by Michael Gemignani

worth. Then he=ll make a profit selling it to someone else.@

  AHow can he sell it if there=s a oil well in the yard?@ I asked.

  AWell, first,@ replied Robin, Athings will bet better eventually. When the well is in place, it will be less noisy and the mess won=t be as bad. Oh, it won=t be the same as before, but it will be better. That=s when Daniel will sell the house. The house won=t be worth what it was worth before Daniel drilled there, but it will be worth more, I=m sure, than what Daniel intends to pay for it.

  AAlmost anything can be sold. The trick is to find the price that someone will pay for it. Daniel is smart enough to know that once he ruins the original value of something, he can buy it from the discouraged owner at less than he knows he can sell it for later. I played the same game when I worked for the bank, except I never deliberately ruined anything. I just looked for securities that I thought were underpriced, bought them, and then sold them later at a profit.@

  ABut how did Daniel get permission to put an oil well in these folks= front yard?@ I asked.

  AHow, indeed?@ Robin replied. AI=m sure he downplayed the problems and offered them just enough money that they thought they were getting a bargain.@

  ABut can=t they do anything now?@ I asked.

  AThey could go to court,@ Robin answered, Abut that=s expensive and time-consuming, and Daniel almost certainly has a contract that=s entirely in his favor. Believe me, I know all the tricks. But I am proud that I rarely used deceit in my work, and never intentionally. Sometimes I gave a client bad information because I myself had been given bad information. But I did my best to research what I was selling so I could present as honest a picture as I could. I still made a lot of money, despite my honesty.@

  ADespite your honesty?@ I asked.

  Robin laughed. AYou would not have survived long at the bank. Of course, many of my colleagues lied to make sales. They told people to buy a stock when they themselves were selling the same stock. They told clients that a bond was a safe investment, even though they knew it was almost worthless. They made more money than I did, but I made more than enough, and I could sleep well too.@

  I was puzzled. AWeren=t your colleagues who knew they were cheating their clients ashamed of what they were doing?@

  AI don=t think they thought about it much,@ Robin answered. AThey were making piles of money. For awhile, their clients were also making piles of money. So everyone was happy. It didn=t seem to matter that the wealth was built on a foundation of lies.

  AThe magic mirror showed me that in the future B it didn=t tell me exactly when B the lies would be exposed and the clients would find that what they had bought had lost much of its value. The lost the savings they were depending on for their retirement. In their anger, they looked for someone to blame.

  AAnd the mirror showed me that I was to be singled out for much of the blame, even though I had acted honestly. The ones who had lied got to keep the money they had made. They became rich while making others poor. And if they were willing to lie to make their money, they were willing to lie to avoid blame when their deals went sour so they could keep it.

  AThe fact is that everyone was greedy. The clients wanted to believe the lies because they were getting rich. My colleagues believed their own lies because they were getting rich. When everything was going well, those who worked at the bank were the envy of the business world. Everyone wanted to work at the bank and get rich, I among them. Greed made everyone believe what they had to believe to make even more money . . . until the party ended.

  AThe mirror helped me realize what was happening, or going to happen, so I decided to go back to my parents.@

  AAre you sorry for your decision?@ I asked.

  ANot at all,@ Robin replied quickly. AI=m just embarrassed that I trusted the system so much while I was a part of it. And I=m grateful the mirror brought me to my senses in time to get out when I did.@

  We had now reached the center of town. I recognized the stores in which David and I tried to hide while waiting for the council meeting to start. There were, however, far fewer people around than I remembered the last time we were here. David pulled the car over to the curb in front of the drug store in which I had escaped the men that Daniel has sent to stop me from testifying at the council meeting.

  ARobin,@ David said. AThey don=t know you here. Would you go in and ask what=s happening in town? Don=t say anything about Daniel or the house we saw. You do know the story though so you can follow up with any questions you think appropriate.@

  Despite the fact that David and I remained in the car, I still felt nervous. I kept my head down and facing away from the sidewalk so that no passersby could get a clear look at me. David surveyed the area, but put glanced at the floor when anyone came close enough to the car that they might recognize him.

  Robin had been in the drug store about ten minutes when a man crossed the street and approached our car. David and I were startled to recognize Scott, the homeless man with whom we had shared breakfast the day after we had been run out of Hardwick on our first visit. Scott came to the window at David=s side and motioned for David to roll down the window.

  AScott,@ David greeted him warmly. AGreat to see you again. Do you want us to buy you lunch?@

  ADavid,@ Scott replied grimly. AI=m not interested in what you can buy me. I wasn=t interested in what you could buy me when we first met. I was interested in how you would treat me and whether you would reach out to a poor, homeless stranger. If you had not treated me with kindness then, I would not have come to you today to warn you to flee this place.@

  Just then Robin came out of the drugstore. He slid into the back seat of the car and announced excitedly, AThere=s a big celebration today at the city park. Daniel=s dedicating some new storage tanks at the edge of the park and treating the entire town to a barbeque cookout.@

  Robin looked over and saw Scott peering in the window. ASorry, did I interrupt something?@

  ANo,@ Scott said, Abut you returned just in time. You and your friends must leave town immediately, or you will be caught up in some big trouble.@

  AHow do you know this?@ Robin asked somewhat sharply. AYou look like someone who=s asking for a handout.@

  David spoke up at once. AForgive him, Scott. He doesn=t know you. But I am smart enough to take your advice. We=re out of here now.@

  Scott stepped back and David rolled up the window. Then David pulled the car on to the highway and drove away.

  AWho was that guy?@ Robin asked. AWhy did you pay any attention to him the way he was dressed?@

  AYou judge from appearances,@ I answered. AI suspect if you look back, there will be no sign of him. We helped him once, and he just repaid our kindness.

  ABut I don=t think he needed our help when we met him. He was testing us, and we must have passed the test. I personally trust what he told us.@

  AI suppose so,@ sighed Robin, Abut I would have enjoyed going to that barbeque. This Daniel sounds like an interesting fellow.@

  I didn=t find out what happened after we left Hardwick until we stopped again at the diner in Danieltown and talked to the counterman who had first told us about Daniel. The owner of the home on whose front lawn Daniel was drilling a well had become mentally unhinged. He edged as close as he could to the podium while Daniel was speaking, drew a handgun from under his shirt, and shot Daniel in the head and chest, killing him instantly. The crowd and Daniel=s body guards immediately wrestled the man to the ground and beat him to death.

  Though Daniel was, in my mind, an evil man, I felt sorry for him, just as I felt sorrow for those he had cheated. He could have done much good, but chose instead to use his power solely to enrich himself. And now was dead at the hand of a man he had cheated. That man too was now dead and his family destroyed.

  Had we stayed that fateful day, we might have been recognized and accused of conspiring to kill Daniel; thus, we also might have been killed by a frenzied mob.

  Robi
n did not look back as we pulled away from the drug store, but, if he had, as I did, he would have noticed that Scott was no longer in sight. Had he, too, fled, or had he simply vanished after his mission to us was fulfilled? Robin had not been with us when we encountered the magical houses and the strange men in the forests, nor had he been with us when found Scott lying at the edge of the road.

  Those who have never experienced magic may discount its existence. But Robin had looked into the magic mirror, and what he saw changed his life. Would he believe in magic, or would he decide in the end that his imagination was playing tricks on him? And did it matter after all?

  A Homecoming

  It was two months and two weeks to the day on which I left that David pulled his car into the driveway of Martha=s and Samuel=s home, parking right behind the truck in which Samuel had driven me to Danieltown to begin the quest that was now coming to a successful completion. We had found Robin and brought him with us within three months as promised.

  Martha must have heard our car pull into the driveway. As we opened the doors to get out, she came out of the front door of the house and walked toward us. The sight that greeted her seemed almost more than she could bear. She screamed, either out of surprise or delight, I could not tell. But her screams attracted Samuel=s attention, and he came running out to see what was the matter. The shock seeing me and Robin again caused him to stand momentarily in stunned silence.

  Suddenly, as one, they ran toward Robin who was standing by the car and embraced him, though it was a bit ungainly for all three with arms flailing about, both Martha and Samuel reaching out for Robin simultaneously, and Robin awkwardly trying to hug his parents. I wondered whether Robin had showed his parents much affection when he was younger, or did he think them ignorant and backwards, as so many children view their parents, and, ashamedly, as I viewed mine.

  After a minute or so, Robin and his parents untangled themselves. AI can=t tell you how wonderful it is to see you again, son,@ Samuel blurted. AWe had all but given you up for lost.@

  AI suppose I was lost,@ Robin replied, Abut you can thank these two men for finding me and bringing me home.@

  Martha and Samuel turned their attention to me and David as Robin motioned toward us.

  AAdam,@ Martha said, AI=m so glad to see you again too. And you kept your promise to us. Samuel and I weren=t sure we would ever see you again either.@

  I sighed. AI promised you and Samuel I would return to you within three months, either with or without Robin. We were lucky to find him. But I did have some help from this man. I want you to meet David. Without his car and his help, we would never have found Robin.@

  Samuel walked over to David and shook his hand. AThank you so much for helping Adam. You can=t imagine how wonderful it is to have our son back home.@

  I must admit that I had mixed emotions as I watched Martha and Samuel embrace their son. For a time, I was their son. They were all that I imagined loving parents to be, and I was happy living under their roof. Now I had to return to my own parents again, and I was not sure how I would be received, or even, perhaps, remembered.

  AAdam and David,@ Martha blurted, Ayou must come in and have lunch with us. We just finished cooking, and, although we did not expect such wonderful company, I will cook some more dishes so you=ll have plenty to eat.@

  AOh, please don=t go to a lot of trouble for us,@ David said. AWe had a big breakfast. I=m sure they=ll be enough with what you already have.@

  AWell,@ Martha replied, AI can always cook some more if you don=t get enough. It=s the least I can do for you after what you=ve done for us.@

  The five of us entered the house. Robin went straight to his old room, the