“Well, so far, so good,” Guillermo said. He pressed on Miguel’s belly with 2 fingers. “Oh, I think I see the problem.”
Guillermo spun Miguel around and patted him gently on the back. After a few seconds, Miguel belched the loudest burp that Juliette had ever heard. She stared at Miguel for a moment in shock, then laughed and laughed. “That was amazing!”
“Miguel!” his mother admonished, embarrassed.
“Miguel,” Guillermo asked, “why didn’t you just burp?”
“Because Jon Aiza says that every time you burp, your soul pops out of your mouth and the devil can steal it!”
Guillermo smiled warmly. “Well, he’s wrong. There’s nothing dangerous about burping. Does your tummy feel better?”
Miguel nodded.
“Thank you, doctor,” his relieved mother said, patting her heart. “Oh — I mean, your highness. Come on, Miguel.” She grabbed his hand and led the boy outside. “You embarrassed me in front of the prince!” the woman continued. “That’s it — no more soda for you.”
“But moooooom!” the child whined.
Juliette looked up at Guillermo and smiled. “You handled that quite well.”
“Thanks,” Guillermo said, reaching for a bottle of hand sanitizer on the medicine cabinet. “I’ve seen my share of Miguels. You’d be surprised how many kids show up with the oddest things. You just have to roll with it; if you make too big of a deal out of something, you could embarrass the child and maybe even stunt his emotional growth. I remember this one boy, he came into the office with a crayon stuck halfway up his nose-”
Just then, the front tent flap opened again and a man in his late 40s wearing glasses and a white lab coat with a stethoscope draped around his neck stepped into the tent. “Doctor Valdivia! I thought I heard your voice!”
“Doctor Casiraghi! What a pleasant surprise!” The two men greeted each other like old friends, shaking hands and smiling broadly.
“Let me get a look at you,” Doctor Casiraghi said.
“How have you been?” Guillermo asked. Juliette had never seen the prince look so ecstatic.
“Fine, fine. Back from Africa, I see.”
“Yes, well, I’m sure you’ve heard the news.”
“How is it over there?”
“It’s much better than it was 6 months ago, but there’s still so much to do. The new vaccine is working wonders.”
Juliette watched Guillermo speak passionately with Doctor Casiraghi. His entire demeanor lit up; he was so animated, so excited, so smart. She found him utterly intoxicating.
Not good, not good. At this rate, I’m going to jump his bones in front of all of these children!
As the men continued laughing and chatting, off in their own world of medical jargon, Juliette surreptitiously crept to the exit and slipped out unnoticed.
It was a short walk to the magician’s stage from the First Aid Tent. Juliette made a beeline for the backstage area and smiled when she found what she was looking for.
“Uncle!” Juliette waved.
François looked up and beamed at the sight of his niece. “Ma chère!”
Juliette embraced her uncle. François pulled her close and whispered in her ear, “What in God’s name are you doing, child? Your picture is all over the news!”
“Uncle, don’t start.”
They broke their embrace. François smiled broadly and spoke in a loud voice just in case anyone was listening, “Here. Help me unpack this trunk.”
As they bent down, their faces hidden by the opened trunk lid, François resumed whispering passionately, “How could you have let it blow up like this? Your face is on every TV channel. Why didn’t you return home before things got out of hand?”
Juliette shrugged, “I couldn’t, uncle. They posted a guard on the necklace.”
“To hell with the necklace, child! Forget about it! We’re talking about your life here. There are reporters snooping around everywhere. What if they discover your other identity?”
“Don’t be absurd, uncle. They won’t.” She paused. “And even if they do, Guillermo will cover for me.”
“Oh, so it’s ‘Guillermo’ now, is it? I think you’ll be shocked to find out how quickly your royal friend Guillermo will abandon you if the truth ever comes out.”
“He’s not like that, uncle,” Juliette insisted.
“Oh, ma chère. You are deluding yourself.” François shook his head. “We need to get you out of here today. I am sure of it.”
“No, uncle,” Juliette’s voice was firm. “You gave me 10 days to get this job done and I plan on keeping my promise. Especially after seeing this so-called charity picnic today.” She sighed deeply as she scanned the park grounds. “The aristocracy is broken. They are so disconnected from reality, they can’t even run a charity picnic correctly — even if they have the best of intentions. Guillermo is a good man but how do you fix a problem that runs this deep?” Juliette shook her head. “If I don’t get that necklace, the orphanage will never get a roof by winter — I know it.”
“And if you get caught and imprisoned, the orphanage will never get a roof, period. Why can’t you see this is a dead end?” François smiled sadly. “Oh, mon enfant, would you listen to your old uncle for once? It’s all fun and games now but the aristocracy hasn’t pulled out their long knives yet. Let me get you out of here before things get worse.” He playfully nudged her arm with his elbow and grinned. “I’m performing the ‘disappearing booth’ today.”
“You must be joking.”
“Now, now,” he held out his hands, “Let me finish. Here’s what we’ll do. There’s a disguise in the truck. Philippe has the long black wig. After the reveal, it will take at least 20 minutes before they figure out that we used a body double. You and I could be over the border into France before they even suspect something is wrong.”
Juliette realized the last part, at least, was true: La Maçana Park was so far north, she could literally hike over the border into France in under 30 minutes. By car, it was less than five.
“Uncle, I-”
“At least consider it. Please? For me?”
Juliette gazed into his kind brown eyes and sighed. “All right. I’ll think about it. But I’m not promising anything.”
“Excellent!” François clapped his hands together and stood. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, young lady, I have a show to perform!”
Chapter 8
Guillermo spotted Juliette wandering away from the South Stage. He tried to get her attention with a wave but she appeared to be completely lost in thought. He jogged over to her.
“Are you missing your mommy, little girl?” he teased.
She woke from her trance. “Guillermo. I’m sorry. I didn’t even see you.”
“Something on your mind?”
“I don’t know,” she trailed off, then, “Tell me, if someone discovered my secret, what would- No,” she shook her head. “No. Never mind. It’s nothing. How was your friend?”
“Doctor Casiraghi? He’s quite well. That was actually his tent we were in. He just stepped out to get a quick bite to eat.”
“Have you known him long?”
“Oh yes,” Guillermo said. “At least 10 years. He was one of my medical professors at university. In fact, he inspired me to become a pediatrician.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes. When I was just starting pre-med, I had him for Anatomy and Physiology…”
As he rattled on, explaining to Juliette how much he admired Dr. Casiraghi and the enormous influence he had on his professional life, Guillermo noticed that Juliette never seemed to be bored, always asking little questions to keep the conversation going. He was growing to like her more and more with each day that passed, this mysterious beauty that he had trapped in his castle. She was quick-witted and full of surprises, unlike any woman he had ever dated before.
Well, I doubt anyone would call this ‘dating.’
“Ladies and gentlemen,” a voice bellowed through
the loudspeakers on the South Stage. “The magic show will begin in 5 minutes. Please find a spot now.”
“Shall we?” Guillermo offered his arm. “I believe Armand told me that a quilt with the royal crest would be laid out for us… Ah! There it is.”
Guillermo and Juliette sat. He had asked Armand to place the quilt right up at the front of the stage so Juliette’s uncle, François the magician, could see his niece calm and enjoying herself.
Around him, happy families relaxed under the beautiful blue sky.
Soon, the dramatic entrance music began. François ran out to center stage, tipped his top hat to take a bow and a plastic sunflower popped out, stuck to the top of his head. The children loved it.
“I am François, master of illusion,” he introduced himself to the crowd who applauded politely.
François launched into his act. He produced a large pair of interlocking metal rings and proceeded to lock and unlock them in rapid succession. As he set down the rings, he sneezed. He patted his suit coat, reached into his pocket, and produced a long continuous ribbon of colorful handkerchiefs tied one after the other — pulling and pulling while wearing a look of disbelief.
“Next, I’ll need a volunteer.” Many little hands shot up into the air. “You there,” he pointed at a young boy. “Let’s give him a hand.” The boy ran onto the stage. “What’s your name?”
“Rahul!”
“Well, Rahul, would you like a hat?” The boy nodded. François produced a sheet of thin origami paper and handed it to Rahul. “Now, here’s what I want you to do.”
François had the boy tear the paper in half several times; François took the pieces from Rahul using only two fingers, waved his magic wand above them, then carefully unfolded the paper — which should have been in shreds — into a complete sailor’s hat! He placed the hat onto the excited boy’s head while the crowd applauded.
François then gave the boy a series of magic wands in comical trick that ended with the boy holding a wand the size of a toothpick and François holding one that was 5 feet tall. The children clapped and laughed.
He sent Rahul back to his seat and brought up a young girl as his new assistant. He performed several tricks with her: the bouquet of flowers from thin air, the handkerchief that “teleported” to a box across the stage, and the coins from behind the ear.
François was a hit; the children were entertained, and even the adults were joining in, chuckling and offering encouragement to the young assistants who made their way onstage.
About 20 minutes into his act, François took center stage. “For this next trick, I need an adult volunteer. How about you, young lady?” François offered his hand to Juliette. “Let’s give her some encouragement, shall we?”
Everyone began applauding, even Guillermo. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “I guess I should have seen this coming.”
Juliette smiled and ascended the stage. She waved to the crowd.
“Can we have the children come up to the front of the stage? Stand right there, so you can see what we’re doing.”
Several of the children crowded to the front of the stage to watch the next trick. Two stagehands dressed in black carried out a small table with a pitcher of milk on it.
“Now, my dear, I need your assistance. I am going to make this milk disappear.” François removed his top hat and set it on the table. “Now, dear, pour the milk into this hat.”
Juliette lifted the pitcher and poured half the milk into the top hat. François waved his magic wand, “Abracadabra! The milk is gone! Place the hat on my head.”
Juliette peered into the hat. “Are you sure?”
“Of course,” François nodded confidently.
Juliette shrugged her shoulders and plopped the hat onto François’ head-
-and milk came pouring out all over his face!
The children squealed with glee.
François made an angry face. Juliette giggled with the crowd.
“OK, OK, one more time.” François set the top hat back on the table. “Young lady, fill that hat with milk again.”
Juliette emptied the pitcher into the top hat. François gave an evil smile as he waved his magic wand. ““Abracadabra! The milk is gone! Young lady, place the hat on your head.”
Juliette peeked into the top hat, shrugged again, and put the hat on her head. She waved happily at the crowd. There wasn’t so much as a trickle of liquid.
François, enraged, grabbed the hat off of Juliette’s head and angrily put it on his own head-
-and was immediately drenched with milk from the hat!
The children pointed and laughed.
“Ohhhhh!” he yelled with false rage. “I’ll get you!” François ran offstage briefly then returned carrying a full pitcher of milk.
“Oh no!” Juliette said and comically ran to stage left as François followed her, ready to toss the milk on her. She then ran all the way across to stage right with François trailing her menacingly. Just as he caught up to her, she bolted for the front of the stage and stopped right in front of the crowd of children.
François stood right behind Juliette. “I’ve got you now!” he yelled. He pulled back the pitcher, ready to soak her with milk-
At the last second, Juliette ducked!
François tossed the contents of the pitcher over Juliette into the crowd of children-
Everyone held their breath-
As confetti began to rain gently down on them. There was no milk in the pitcher at all!
The adults laughed and applauded; the children didn’t know what to think, gazing up at the falling confetti, trying to catch it in their hands.
Both Juliette and François took a bow.
“And now,” François announced, “for my final trick, I am going to perform the ‘Disappearing Booth.’” The stagehands wheeled out a tall black box about the size of a telephone booth. “I will use my powers of magic to make the young lady disappear!”
Juliette glided over to the booth and stepped inside. François stood next to the booth holding the curtain as the two had a brief conversation. Guillermo wasn’t sure, but it seemed like there was some tension between François and Juliette. Finally, she shook her head emphatically, “no,” and François flipped the curtain closed.
That was odd…
François spun the booth around twice while chanting, ““Abracadabra! Alakazam!” He stopped the booth and flipped open the curtain with a flourish; Juliette was gone!
“Now to make her reappear.” François closed the curtain and spun the booth, repeating his chant. “Make the princess reappear!” He pulled back the curtain to reveal-
- a cute, white, plump bunny rabbit sitting at the bottom of the booth.
The children were enthralled, pointing at the bunny and calling out to their mothers. “Look, mom! A bunny!”
François scratched his head, checked his magic wand, and said, “You’re not the princess! Let’s try it again.” He closed the curtain, spun the box, said the magic words, and when he opened the curtain — the box was empty.
“Hmmmm,” he said. “I think I’m going to need some help. Children, help me chant. When I say ‘one, two, three, princess appear’ I want you to say it with me. Are you ready?” François spun the box. “One, two, three, princess appear!”
The children tentatively repeated the words. François flung back the curtain and — the box was still empty.
“No, no, children, you have to say it like you mean it. Now, once again,” François closed the curtain and spun the box, “one, two, three, princess appear!”
This time, the children shouted the words confidently.
François nodded, smiled, and said, “This time, I’m sure!” He tossed aside the curtain, and —
— the box was still empty.
François made a point to tap the inside of the box with his wand; he looked genuinely confused. Guillermo started to get an eerie feeling; a tingling of the hairs on the back of his neck.
&nb
sp; Wait — is this what that tension on stage was all about? Did she- She didn’t run, did she? If she takes off-
“Boo!”
The children spun around and their eyes lit up with delight. Guillermo’s gaze followed.
There was Juliette, standing at the back of the crowd, grinning and holding the fluffy white bunny!
The children ran up to her. “Can we pet the bunny, princess?”
“OK,” Juliette smiled, “but you have to be gentle. He gets scared easily.”
Two little girls stroked the bunny’s fur, their little faces filled with joy.
The adults applauded — including Guillermo. As he gazed at her, he felt an odd sense of pride — even though he realized that he had no logical right to feel that way since their engagement was nothing more than a business arrangement. Still, he was proud of this surprising beauty, his fiancée.
What a woman!
“Well, I’m impressed,” Guillermo smiled. “How did you get behind us so fast?”
Juliette and Guillermo were strolling near the trees at the east end of La Maçana Park, sharing a private moment while the volunteers began the cleanup. Off to their right, the main stage was being disassembled and packed into a waiting van; the carnival tents were coming down, the vendors carrying boxes to their cars. The children were long gone, already back in their seats at school, their half-day field trip complete.
Juliette smiled slyly. “It’s a secret.”
He laughed. “I’ll bet.” He paused, then, “You know for a minute there, I was worried you weren’t coming back.”
I almost didn’t! Juliette thought but swallowed the words.
“That’s all part of the illusion,” she said aloud. “I don’t want to spoil the surprise for you but in a good 80 percent of the magic acts you see, the magician’s female assistant is the real performer; the magician is a flashy distraction. The assistant is the one who has to contort her body to dodge the swords being shoved into a box or to squish herself into an impossibly small space. I started training to become Uncle François’ assistant when I was very young — I’ve been practicing yoga and gymnastics since I was 11. I’m not complaining — it’s given me a love for exercise and taught me patience.”
Princess Thief: Stealing Your Heart Page 7
