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Authors: Lissa Evans

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BOOK: Big Change for Stuart
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‘I'm fine,' said Stuart, climbing out, though actually he felt shaky and strange and in dire need of a sofa and a glass of water. ‘What are you doing here? Why didn't April come?' he added.

The triplet frowned. ‘
I'm
April,' she said.

‘No you're not.'

‘What do you mean
No you're not
? I should know who I am, shouldn't I?
I'm
April and you promised to wait until I got here before you started exploring.'

‘But you're not wearing glasses,' said Stuart. ‘And you've got a camera.'

She rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. ‘I was on my bike delivering papers, and then I swerved to avoid a hedgehog, fell off and scraped my knee and broke my specs,' she said. ‘That's why I got here two hours late. And then I happened to borrow May's camera because I
thought
it would be useful.'

‘Oh.'

‘I so wish you'd just
try
to—' she began, and then tilted her head, puzzled. ‘Why are your shoes all covered in sand?' she asked. ‘And why are your trousers falling down?'

There was a pause in the conversation while Stuart scuttled back to get his belt.

‘The thing is,' he said, bending to pick a thorn out of one of his socks, ‘you'll never believe where I've been for the whole of those two hours. I don't believe it myself.'

April lost her cross expression and looked at him eagerly. ‘
Magic?
' she whispered.

‘Yes. Definitely.' And he told her about his jigsaw puzzle in the desert. And about the emerald letter S that had greeted his return.

‘
Use the star to find the letters!
' exclaimed April. ‘That's what the message said, didn't it? Oh, I
wish
I'd come.'

‘So do I,' replied Stuart honestly, ‘and next time you will.'

‘Promise?'

‘I promise.' Stuart held out his hand, and April started to shake it and then froze, gazing open-mouthed past his head.

‘Look,' she said. ‘It's not shining any more.'

Stuart turned. The sun was pouring in through the window, but the golden surface of the Pharaoh's Pyramid barely glinted. It was still a beautiful object, but like the Well of Wishes it had lost its lustre.

‘The magic's all used up,' said Stuart wonderingly. ‘It's like a flat battery – there's no more power in it.'

Then he remembered the six-pointed star, and ducked back into the pyramid to retrieve it.

‘Whatever's the matter?' asked April as he blinked at the object in his hand.

Stuart held up the star so she could see it. One of the six spokes had completely disappeared.

She stared for a moment, open-mouthed. ‘So what happens if you put it back in the socket again?'

Stuart tried it. ‘Nothing,' he said, taking the star out for a second time. ‘So that must mean you can only do each adventure once.'

April nodded. ‘One down,' she said softly. ‘Five to go.'

THE OPENING OF
the exhibition was a bit low-key; only a few people bothered to follow the handmade sign in the foyer, and most of them were related to either Stuart or April. Inside the room, the only note of celebration was a table with some feeble refreshments.

‘Good thing I'm not hungry,' whispered April, grimacing at the plate of plain biscuits and single bowl of crisps before returning to where her parents were looking at the Cabinet of Blood.

Stuart sipped from his cup of watery squash, and watched the guests amble between the exhibits.

Stuart's father was being escorted round by Rod Felton, and although the two men
appeared
to be looking at the Arch of Mirrors, Stuart could
hear
scraps of Latin floating across the room, and the curator seemed to be miming a Roman sword fight.

April returned to the table and took three biscuits and a huge handful of crisps.

‘I thought you said you weren't hungry,' said Stuart.

She glowered at him.

‘Oh,' said Stuart. ‘You're not April, are you?'

‘No.'

‘June?'

‘I'm
May
!' she screeched indignantly. ‘Are you
blind
?'

She stalked off towards her sisters and began a whispered conversation with them. Dark looks were cast at Stuart.

He turned away and ate a crisp or two. He couldn't help getting the triplets mixed up – they had the same faces, the same hair and they wore the same sort of clothes. Other than April's glasses there wasn't a single way of telling them apart, yet they went mad if you pointed that out. If they really wanted people to know who was who, he thought, then they should dress in different colours.

‘Excuse me?' A soft-voiced man was peering down at Stuart. ‘I see from your badge that you're the curator. Though you seem kind of young for that.'

‘I'm ten,' said Stuart.

‘OK. Well, I'd like to be shown around the exhibition. Is that at all possible?'

Stuart nodded. ‘Are you American?' he asked.

‘Canadian. Maxwell Lacey – good to meet you.' They shook hands. Maxwell Lacey was wearing an expensive-looking jacket and emerald cufflinks. He looked about the same age as Stuart's father, but had a large black moustache and neatly brushed pale grey hair. ‘So how did you get to be in charge?' he asked Stuart.

‘Partly because I found the tricks in the first place, and partly because Teeny-tiny Tony Horten was my great-uncle.'

‘Really? Well, isn't that something!'

Maxwell Lacey paused by the first exhibit. He leaned over the rope and gazed at the great bronze throne surrounded by intricately worked flowers and tendrils, and then switched his attention to the little card pinned to the wall next to it.

‘We didn't have a lot of time to write the cards,' said Stuart apologetically, ‘and we still haven't worked out how the trick operates, so the second sentence is a bit of a guess. We're going to have another go tomorrow.'

‘And by “we”, you mean …'

‘Me and April. One of the triplets over there.'

‘And is April also related to Tony Horten?'

‘No, that's just me.'

‘I see.'

They moved on to the Arch of Mirrors. ‘We didn't have a lot of time to look at this one, either,' said Stuart quickly.

‘It's a fine-looking object,' said Maxwell Lacey, adjusting his tie in one of the many reflections that bounced back at him. ‘And this workshop where you found the illusions – was it on your property?'

‘No, it was in the town park, underneath the bandstand.'

‘I see. And who owns the park?'

‘I don't know. The council, maybe?'

As they progressed past the Cabinet of Blood (which Stuart and April still hadn't managed to open) and the Fan of Fantasticness (which they hadn't managed to close), Maxwell Lacey asked several more rather odd questions about local council land ownership.

Stuart was beginning to run out of answers and was relieved to see one of the triplets approaching him.

‘I'm April,' she said pointedly, ‘just in case you can't tell. I'm sorry to interrupt, but someone's just turned up who I think you'll want to see.' She squinted over at the doorway.

There, wearing a shiny purple suit with a sparkly bow-tie, and holding a bundle of yellow paper, stood Clifford Capstone. Until a week ago he'd been an unpaid assistant to the mayoress, but had realized her true nastiness just in time and had helped April and Stuart when they'd been in desperate need.

‘Hello!' he called, catching sight of them and hurrying over. ‘I thought this would be a good place to hand these out. Have a leaflet,' he added, thrusting one into each of their hands.

‘I'm Mysterioso,' explained Clifford, ‘just in case you were wondering.'

‘You've spelled
magician
wrong,' said April.

‘Have I?' Clifford goggled at the leaflet and then looked crestfallen. ‘I didn't notice; I've printed out six hundred now – I can't really change them.'

‘It doesn't matter,' said Stuart. ‘I'll come.'

‘And me,' said April. ‘And, tell you what, I'll review it for my paper.'

‘Will you? I've been rehearsing very hard, but it'll be my first solo show and I'm not convinced I've really come up with the right ingredients yet. Leaflet?' he added, offering one to Maxwell Lacey.

‘Thank you kindly,' said the Canadian. ‘So this is your hobby, is it?'

Clifford's eager, round face became suddenly
strained
and serious. ‘It's far more than a hobby,' he said. ‘It's what I've always wanted to do. I gave up my job and used up most of my life savings to train as a magician, but now I've realized that the only way to become one is just to go ahead and
do
it.'

‘And what type of magic does Mysterioso do?' asked Maxwell Lacey.

‘I thought I'd mix and match, seeing as it's my first attempt,' said Clifford. ‘A couple of large illusions, a little bit of close-up magic, a wild-animal-based finale. I'll see what goes down best and take it from there. You're interested in magic, I take it?'

‘No,' said Maxwell Lacey unexpectedly, ‘but my employer is very interested indeed. As a matter of fact, I need to call her now. It's good to meet you people.' Smiling, he folded the leaflet into his pocket and then left the room.

April turned to Clifford again. ‘What sort of wild animal are you using in your wild-animal-based finale?' she asked.

‘Wait and see,' he said, raising his eyebrows mysteriously. ‘I guarantee it'll be a surprise …'

BOOK: Big Change for Stuart
9.19Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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