The Trouble with Abracadabra

by Michael Dahl

  The place was absolutely filthy with magicians.

  “And just think,” Charlie said. He crossed his arms. “Each and every one of them will be at Brack’s party tonight.”

  It was a warm night, so most of the partygoers stayed outside. They sat on the benches in the rooftop garden. They lounged on the chairs next to the rooftop pool.

  Brack started the night standing on his own, wearing a simple brown suit. Charlie and Ty stood not far off, so they could keep an eye on him.

  But before long, he’d been spotted, sitting at a table under a canopy.

  “Hey, there’s the old master,” said a magician. It only took seconds before Brack’s table was mobbed.

  Magicians stood in front of his table. They made things disappear. They made things appear. They juggled. They levitated objects and levitated themselves. The assistants performed flourishes or little spins, showing off their clothes or hair or smile.

  At the table, Brack smiled politely.

  “Do you have an open slot in your farewell show, Mr. Abracadabra?” asked a woman after she made her sister disappear — and then reappear as her brother.

  “Please, Mr. Abracadabra,” said a man as he juggled bowling balls while riding a unicycle, “make room for me on that stage!”

  Brack didn’t respond to anyone. He just smiled.

  Theopolis was the last magician to arrive. He strode off the elevator, right up the front path. Then he stomped to the front of the line of magicians.

  Tonight he wore his most impressive garb: a heavy black robe that shined like silk, trimmed with silver and gold thread. He carried a staff, like some ancient wizard. On each side of him was a magician’s assistant, both hobbled and bent. The assistants were dressed in burlap cloaks.

  Charlie elbowed Ty, who was busy watching some jugglers practicing next to the pool.

  “Look who’s here,” Charlie said.

  Theopolis threw back the hood of his robe.

  At the same moment, a huge bolt of lightning — one of Theopolis’s special effects — struck his wizard’s staff. Smoke rose up from his feet.

  “Wow,” said Ty. “You have to admit, he knows how to make an entrance.”

  “Mr. Abracadabra!” Theopolis said in his deepest voice. “I — the Great and Powerful Theopolis, lord of the demon realm and the greatest sorcerer in the dimension — have come to offer a challenge.”

  Brack winked at Ty and Charlie. Then he looked back at Theopolis. “Go on,” he said.

  A few people nearby chuckled. Theopolis ignored them. “This hotel has become old,” Theopolis said, putting up his arms grandly. “You have become old.”

  Brack shrugged and smiled. “Too true,” he said.

  “Your retirement from magic,” said Theopolis, “draws near. You will no doubt enjoy a rest. A very long rest. It will do you good.”

  “He’s been resting for fifty years,” Ty whispered to Charlie.

  “The hotel itself could use some fixing too,” Theopolis went on. “Its age is showing, as yours is. It needs to be… updated. Brought up to modern times.” He laughed. “You’ve been in hiding for a long time, old man. The world has changed, and so has magic.”

  “Perhaps,” said Brack.

  “And so, I offer this challenge,” Theopolis said. “I will now perform an act of magic so striking, so amazing, that you will not believe it possible.”

  “An illusion?” Brack said.

  “No illusion,” said Theopolis. “True magic — the demonic power I learned in my studies. Power from other dimensions.”

  “I see,” said Brack. “Then what is the challenge?”

  “I say it is magic,” Theopolis said. “You say it is an illusion. Then prove it. After the feat, you will have until the night of your final performance to show how it was done.”

  “And if I can’t?” Brack said.

  “Ah,” said Theopolis. He grinned and made a temple of his fingers before his face. “If you cannot, then you back out of your final performance and hand the theater over to me… and the hotel along with it.”

  “What?!” said Charlie.

  “That’s ridiculous!” shouted Ty.

  Brack put up his hand to silence the boys. “What if I do show how it was done?” Brack asked Theopolis. “What will you give me?”

  Theopolis frowned in disdain. “It’s barely worth considering,” he said, “but if that happens, I suppose we can come to some monetary agreement.”

  “No money,” Brack said. “You will agree never to step foot inside this hotel again.”

  “Very well,” said Theopolis. He bowed.

  Brack stood up from his chair and walked out from behind the table. He didn’t look like the old elevator operator today. He didn’t look old at all, except in the way that a tall and mighty oak tree looks old.

  Brack stood in front of Theopolis. They were about the same height when Brack stood fully upright. “Begin your trick, Theo,” Brack said. He didn’t smile.

  “It’s no trick,” said Theopolis.

  “Yes, yes,” Brack said. “It’s true magic. Just get on with it.”

  Theopolis bowed deeply, smiling. With a flourish of his black robe, he walked to the far side of the pool. He pushed through the crowds.

  For a moment, Charlie lost sight of him. Then Theopolis reappeared at the edge of the pool. He walked to the end of the diving board and stopped.

  Ty and Charlie shuffled over to stand with Brack. “You boys watch closely,” Brack said out of the side of his mouth. “You can bet Theopolis won’t make this easy.”

  Charlie nodded. He and Ty had solved one of Theopolis’s tricks already. Maybe this wouldn’t be so hard.

  * * *

  Any hopes Charlie and Ty had that this trick would be as simple as Theopolis’s last trick were dashed right away.

  Theopolis was in prime form. Thick white smoke rose up from the ground and settled over the roof.

  Theopolis threw back his head and raised his staff with both hands. Thunder clapped across the sky. Party guests flinched and ran for cover under canopies and on the mansion’s big front porch. Only Brack, Charlie, and Ty stayed beside the pool.

  The whole rooftop estate filled with an eerie red light. The light crackled and popped, like tiny bolts of lightning.

  “Great demons of the dimensions of power!” Theopolis shouted at the thundering red sky. “I call upon you! Give me your power!”

  As he spoke, the thunder grew louder. The sky became a deeper, darker red. The lights at the party — which had been so bright and friendly — switched off.

  Suddenly the rooftop party looked less like a celebration of Abracadabra’s return and more like the vision from a nightmare.

  “Give me the power!” Theopolis screamed at the sky once more.

  Then, slowly at first, he rose from the diving board. He kept his head and arms up to the sky, and he rose higher and higher, until he was at least twenty feet over the pool.

  Magicians gasped and muttered. Assistants sighed and clapped. Charlie and Tyler looked at each other, and then stared back at Theopolis.

  But Theopolis wasn’t done yet.

  High above the rooftop, the robed figure floated farther out over the pool. He brought down the staff and lowered his head for a moment. The crowd hushed.

  Suddenly, Theopolis threw the staff straight up, into the dark red sky and the white clouds of smoke and the streaks of lightning.

  Charlie knew that all of it — the smoke, the thunder, the lightning — was just special effects. Still, he couldn’t help being impressed. Theopolis might be a fame-hungry, underhanded jerk, but he was good at putting on a show.

  The staff reached its apex and seemed to explode. When it fell back toward Theopolis, who was still floating high above the swimming pool, it was in three pieces.

 
The Great Theopolis didn’t flinch. He caught the three pieces and immediately tossed them up.

  Before Charlie could guess what had happened, Theopolis was juggling the three pieces perfectly.

  The crowd cheered. Brack nodded, impressed. Ty leaned closer to Charlie and whispered, “Since when does Theopolis juggle?”

  Charlie shrugged. It was a good question.

  Finally, Theopolis caught all three pieces at once. The staff seemed to reassemble itself. He held it aloft once more. “I thank you, great demons of the dimensions!” he shouted into the clouds. “And now, go back to your own realm!”

  Lightning cracked. The thunder boomed: the loudest crash yet. Charlie had to cover his ears with his hands. The red light flashed brightly, and Charlie had to turn away and close his eyes.

  When Charlie looked back, Theopolis was gone.

  “Where’d he go?” someone shouted.

  Chattering spread through the crowd of magicians and assistants. Most of them sounded very impressed. A few magicians standing near Brack and the boys said things like, “Pff, I could do that,” and, “I don’t see what the big deal is.”

  But it was a big deal, Charlie knew. Theopolis had levitated, called demons from another dimension, controlled the weather, and vanished.

  He’d even juggled.

  Brack put his arms around Ty and Charlie. “I hope you boys were watching closely,” he said quietly. “I’ll need your help to figure this one out.”

  Just then, someone stepped up behind them. “Counting on the help of two children?” said Theopolis. He laughed. “This proves it. You are too old, too out of touch with magic today.”

  Brack didn’t respond.

  “You have less than one week,” Theopolis said. “Then you will leave this theater, cancel your farewell show, and hand over this hotel — and this rooftop estate — to me.”

  He pulled up his hood, sneering at Charlie and Ty, and stormed for the exit.

  “What a nasty man,” Charlie said.

  Brack nodded. “Indeed,” he said, “but he is also a master illusionist.”

  “What are you saying?” Ty asked.

  “I’m saying that I hope you two have some ideas,” Brack said, “because frankly I’m stumped.” With that, the old magician walked back to his table under the canopy.

  The next day was Monday, so Charlie and Ty had to get back to school. Charlie had a load of homework he hadn’t done over the weekend, so for the next two days, he was stuck at home after school.

  He didn’t get back to the hotel until Wednesday afternoon.

  “Have you figured anything out?” Charlie asked Ty when he arrived at the Abracadabra.

  “Of course not,” Ty said. He was lounging on the couch nearest the front desk. He nodded toward the elevators.

  Charlie turned to look. There was Brack, wearing his elevator-operator uniform. He was sitting in his chair in the lobby right by the elevators. He didn’t look happy.

  “He’s been like that since the party, pretty much,” Ty said. “I think he’s just hoping Theopolis will let him stay on as elevator operator when he gives him the hotel.”

  Charlie shook his head sadly. “He’s really given up already?” he asked.

  “Can you blame him?” Ty said.

  Just then, the front doors of the hotel swung open and Theopolis entered.

  And so did a lot of other people.

  Charlie recognized some of the assistants from the party. They trailed close behind him. There were a few magicians from the party too, including Mr. Thursday, the juggling expert.

  And behind the whole group of magic people were reporters. They barked questions and took photos and shot video.

  Theopolis led the little parade, his face full of pride. When he reached the center of the lobby — where he could be easily seen by everyone, including Brack — he stopped.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” Theopolis said, smiling smugly, “I will answer all your questions. Now, who is first?”

  Joey Bingham stepped up and held out his microphone. “What are your plans for the hotel when you take it over?” he asked.

  “See?” said Ty quietly to Charlie. “Everyone’s acting like Brack already lost.”

  Theopolis made a big show of looking up and around the lobby. “So much wasted space,” he said. Then he ran a finger along the back of a nearby lobby chair. “And everything is so old.”

  He pretended his finger was dirty just from having rubbed the chair. The reporters chuckled.

  Charlie glanced at Brack. The old magician hung his head.

  “My plan is a full reboot, if you follow me,” Theopolis said. He walked toward the elevators as he spoke. “I will modernize everything. There will be projectors, flat-panel screens all over the lobby. There will be a fully demon staff, naturally.”

  “Naturally,” grunted Ty sarcastically.

  “We’ll start by tearing up the old theater,” Theopolis said, just as he and his group reached the elevators. “Now excuse me. I will go up to my room.”

  Without even looking at Brack, he barked out, “Thirteenth floor, please.” Then he stepped into the elevator with his two hobbled assistants. Brack got up with a sigh and stepped into the elevator too. The doors closed.

  Charlie gritted his teeth. “It’s time for us to get to work,” he said.

  Ty nodded. “Where do we start?”

  “First, we talk to Rocky,” Charlie said.

  “He’s in the office,” Ty said, slipping behind the front desk. “Come on.”

  Charlie followed. Soon the two boys were sitting in the main office. Rocky, one of the front-desk workers, leaned on a file cabinet.

  “So,” Charlie said, “are you with us?”

  “Sure,” said Rocky. “I don’t want Brack to lose the hotel either. Can you imagine working for that nut Theopolis? No way. So, how can I help?”

  “Give us a list of every magician who’s checked into the hotel since Brack’s press conference,” Charlie said.

  “Why do we want that?” Ty asked.

  “They were all at the party,” Charlie said, “and they’re all experts in magic, to some degree. Maybe one of them can help us.”

  “Coming right up,” Rocky said. He went to the front desk and started tapping at the computer.

  “What if they won’t help us?” Ty said.

  Charlie thought about it. “I don’t know,” he said, “but right now, what else can we do?”

  Ty and Charlie talked to magicians all afternoon and into the evening. Charlie had to call home and tell his parents he’d miss dinner. It was late when they got to Mr. Thursday, the juggler, and they weren’t even halfway down the list yet.

  Ty knocked on the door of room 1001. The juggler opened the door immediately.

  “Yes?” he said. “Oh, it’s you two. Come on in.” He moved back inside and left the door open for them.

  The room was a mess, strewn with bowling pins and bowling balls, softballs and baseballs, unlit torches, knives and batons. “I was just in the middle of practicing,” Thursday said. “I’m always in the middle of practicing, actually.”

  “We won’t take up too much of your time,” Charlie said. “We’re asking everyone who was at the party if they have thoughts about Theopolis’s big trick.”

  “Helping out old man Brack, huh?” Mr. Thursday said. He sat down on the couch.

  “We’re trying to,” Ty said. He sat down too. “We’ve already talked to a hundred magicians.”

  “Well, maybe ten,” Charlie said.

  “Whatever,” said Ty. “The point is we still have no idea how Theopolis did that stuff.”

  Mr. Thursday’s eyebrows went up. “No idea at all?” he asked.

  Charlie shook his head.

  “Well, the juggling was very good,” Mr. Thursday said.
“In fact, it was some of the best juggling I’ve ever seen in my life.”

  “Really?” said Ty. “That’s surprising to hear. You’re the best juggler around. I wouldn’t think you’d be so quick to praise Theopolis. Is he a friend of yours?”

  “Of course not,” Thursday said with a chuckle. “I’ve never even talked to him. I just think his juggling was very good.”

  “Especially since he was floating in midair,” added Charlie.

  Mr. Thursday stood up.

  “I don’t know anything about that,” he said. “I’m no levitation expert.” He moved toward the door. “Now, if you two will excuse me,” he said. “I have a lot of practicing to do.”

  Ty stood up. “Do you have a performance coming up?” he asked.

  “If everything goes according to plan,” Mr. Thursday said, “yes.”

  Charlie and Ty stepped into the hallway. Mr. Thursday closed the door.

  Ty sighed. “That was no help at all,” he said, glancing at the list. “Let’s see, who’s next?”

  Charlie yawned. “I have to get home,” he said. “Let’s pick this up tomorrow after school.”

  “Okay,” said Ty. “Three o’clock. Don’t be late.”

  The next day of school was the longest Charlie had ever experienced. As soon as the last bell rang, he hurried to the hotel.

  Ty was already there. “Finally,” said the bigger boy when Charlie ran into the lobby, out of breath. “What took you so long?”

  “How… how did you get here so fast?” Charlie asked.

  Ty laughed. “Take a guess,” he said. “What’s quicker than walking? In fact, what’s as fast as… lightning?”

  Charlie gasped. “You got it?” he said. “You got your bike?”

  Grinning, Ty pulled it out from behind the front desk: the Tezuki Slamhammer 750, Edition 6, in cherry-pop lightning red.