“Nice to meet you, Carter. A fortunate coincidence you being here,” Theo said, adjusting the cuff links on his sleeves. Then he pushed the violin bow back into the pocket of his tuxedo pants, despite it being longer than his thigh.
“How did you do that?” Carter asked. “The bow is way too long to fit in your pocket. And how did you make the money sack move?”
Theo grinned from ear to ear. “I am afraid I will not be revealing that to you just yet. Perhaps another time. But I must admit: I am impressed! You have sweet skills too!”
Carter’s chest swelled. It felt like a great compliment, especially coming from a boy in a tuxedo who spoke like British royalty. “Why were you helping the people in the crowd?”
“Because they could not help themselves,” Theo said. “They did not know they had been robbed.”
“But what do you get out of it?” Carter asked.
“Nothing, I suppose,” Theo said, “except knowing that I did what was right. That’s worth something.… What is wrong? You look confused.”
Carter was confused. Mr. Vernon used magic but wasn’t selling anything. Leila used magic to escape things for fun. And Theo used magic to help others. But if experience (and Uncle Sly) had taught Carter anything, it was that others would always let him down.
Yet in these people, he felt kindred spirits. They reminded Carter of himself.
Not knowing what to say, Carter gave a wave and mumbled, “Well, nice meeting you.”
“You’re leaving?” a voice asked. “But we just arrived.”
Carter turned to see Leila coming down the sidewalk alongside a girl in a wheelchair whose hair was red and unruly. Leila wore a smile, while the other girl gave Carter a cautious (almost annoyed) once-over.
“Carter, you know Theo?” Leila asked, surprised.
“Just met, actually,” Carter answered.
“You know Leila?” Theo asked Carter.
“Small town,” Leila said.
“And I’m Ridley. Ridley Larsen. Yes, I’m in a wheelchair. Don’t ask me about it or you’ll get a bloody nose.”
“Cross my heart,” Carter said, crossing his heart.
Theo squeezed Carter’s shoulder. “You will never guess what just happened.”
“Probably not,” said Ridley. “How about you just tell us?” Theo went on to relate the tale of how Carter had helped him stop the group of criminals from robbing the crowd in the park. “You should have seen us! A perfect team!”
“That’s amazing, Carter,” said Leila. “Very impressive.”
“Theo did most of the work,” Carter added. “I was just sort of his assistant.”
Just then, a group of four kids dressed in expensive-looking clothes walked past and snickered, pretending (though not really) to hide their laughter.
At the same time, Carter, Leila, Theo, and Ridley looked down at their feet and whispered, “Jerks.” They all looked at one another and—at the same time—said, “They weren’t laughing at you—they were laughing at me.” All four chuckled and then turned toward the magic shop.
“People laugh at me because they think I’m strange,” Leila explained as she led the group up the street. “I like being strange.”
“People laugh at me because I wear a tuxedo,” Theo added. “My parents got a great deal at the tuxedo emporium before I was even born!”
“People laugh at me because I’m smarter than them,” Ridley said. She flicked at a bike bell that was attached to the arm of her wheelchair. It rang out: Ring-ring! “It’s not my fault that they don’t read books.”
“People laugh at me for all sorts of reasons,” Carter finished. He couldn’t bring himself to tell them that the reasons were his worn-out clothes and his unwashed hair and that he sometimes dug through trash cans for dinner.
They walked in silence for a bit, then Leila asked, “Who wants cookies?” She stopped in front of Vernon’s Magic Shop. “My poppa made linzer tarts this morning.”
Two women wearing fancy floral dresses and wide-brimmed hats swung the door open and exited the shop, pushing past the group, laughing hysterically. “What a fantastical store!” one of the women cried out. “You kids have fun in there.”
“We always do,” said Leila, waving the others to follow her inside.
The store parrot squawked from her perch near the register and everyone jumped. The bird repeated what sounded like an odd poem:
“Rub the Yellow Piranha for the Magicians Club! Rub the Yellow Piranha for the Magicians Club!”
“What’s the Yellow Piranha?” asked Carter.
Leila shrugged. “Usually our parrot is smart. But sometimes she just says nonsense. Carter, meet Presto. Presto, meet Carter.”
“Nice to meet you?” Carter said, unsure if he should offer a hand to shake. He’d never talked to a bird before.
The bird squawked again, insistent: “Rub the Yellow Piranha for the Magicians Club!”
“Yes, yes, Presto, my girl,” said a voice near the ceiling. When Carter looked up, Mr. Vernon was standing on the balcony overhead, still holding that feather duster as if it were his magic wand. “We all heard you, crazy parrot.” That seemed to be enough to calm the bird down. “Sorry, friends! She gets excited sometimes.”
“Excited isn’t the word I’d use,” Leila whispered. When she waved her hand, the parrot flew over and landed on her shoulder. Leila made kissing sounds, and Presto echoed them back to her. Then they both giggled.
Ridley glanced around the store. “Where’s my Top Hat?”
Carter thought it best not to ask why Ridley would keep her top hat at Vernon’s Magic Shop. Theo reached underneath the counter and pulled out the white rabbit that had been hopping around the store earlier that day.
“Come here, Top Hat,” Ridley cooed, a true smile spreading across her face. Theo placed the rabbit on Ridley’s lap, where it nestled against her stomach, nose twitching furiously.
“Ridley’s mom is allergic,” Leila explained, “so we’re babysitting Top Hat for her.”
“The Other Mr. Vernon has been feeding her well,” Mr. Vernon said. “Don’t you worry, Ridley.”
“I’m not worried. Not one bit.”
A knowing smile appeared beneath Vernon’s black mustache as he turned to Carter. “I see you’ve met the others.”
“I did,” Carter said. But his mind questioned whether the meeting was by chance or by design. Had Mr. Vernon purposely asked Carter to return at four, knowing the kids would be getting off school? “Do you three meet here a lot?” Carter asked Leila.
“Every Friday after school lets out,” Leila said. “Ridley is homeschooled, Theo goes to private school, and I go to public. So we don’t get to see one another except here. We meet, talk illusions and tricks, and, of course, practice.”
“I practice levitation,” Theo said, “as in, making things float in the air. You saw my work earlier today.”
“I love learning about transformation,” Ridley added. She pulled a top hat off a nearby shelf, moved it behind her wheelchair, and when it reappeared, it had become a book with a top hat on the cover. “I like to change objects from one to another.”
“And I escape!” Leila said. “Dad, can you please chain me upside down in a tank full of water?”
“I can, and I will—when you turn eighteen,” Mr. Vernon said.