22
Sophie, Zack and Alex got off the tube at Euston and took the now-familiar route to the Magic Circle headquarters. It seemed odd to be walking without Jonny’s tall frame casting shadows around them. They were strangely quiet as they thought about all the work they had to do. An awful lot of work!
Alex looked at his watch as he bounced along with a spring in his step. Of course, he was still petrified. Petrified of the amount of work they still had left to do, petrified of his impending performance in front of Council, petrified of having to perfect picking a safe in the pitch dark without sufficient time to practise on the moss-green safe down in the Council’s chamber. Petrified of this zip-line Jonny was constructing …
A zip-line? We must be out of our minds. Sophie’s brain was still buzzing with the million things they still had to do. She pictured herself climbing into her hotel bed for the last time that evening, before heading back up north, perhaps plugging herself back into the rainforest to find out how the exotic bird was getting on. Would they really have accomplished everything they wanted by the end of the day?
It seemed an almost impossible set of tasks, a whole mirage of blurry intertwined events that would only become clear at the final moment. Would she even get the place at the Magic Circle she’d so desperately fantasized about all her life …? Or was that strangely not as big a priority to her right now? Whatever the case, they were fast running out of time!
Zack couldn’t help but smile. Not even he, with his sideways-thinking brain, could have imagined what lay ahead. He couldn’t have wished for three better friends in Jonny, Alex and Sophie. Of course, he’d known Jonny since his first day at school when the boy (taller than his teacher, even then) had come over and shown Zack his dinosaur egg – which wasn’t actually an egg but a stone wrapped in tinfoil – but it had been the start of a friendship for life. And now, with Alex and Sophie too, Zack felt that they were unstoppable! The Young Magicians …
They headed for the blue door, looking at each other, taking deep, important breaths.
‘OK,’ said Sophie. ‘Just remember to act normal. It’s just an ordinary day here at the Magic Circle. Imagine you’re palming a playing card, if that helps, Alex.’*
The heavy door opened just as they arrived, revealing Cynthia, evidently a little stressed but pleased to see them again all the same.
‘Jonny not with you, my dears?’ she said breezily, holding the door open as they walked casually inside.
‘Oh, no, he’s just … tying up a few loose ends,’ said Zack innocently, smiling at the others.
‘But he’ll be back in time for the auditions this evening,’ added Sophie, as if trying to reassure herself.
‘Oh, good, good. Well, follow me then. You must all be very excited. How are you feeling, Alex?’ Cynthia led them down the dim corridor, avoiding the now formidable number of rodent traps, which took up more space than the actual floor itself, it seemed.
‘Erm … I’m OK,’ said Alex. ‘The others have been … helping me.’
‘Wonderful! That’s what it’s all about,’ said Cynthia. ‘Right, let me just find my keys. New rules from Council apparently: the Junior Room is to be kept locked at all times, even when occupied.’ She jangled around in her pockets and handbag as Sophie looked at Zack and Alex. So President Pickle and his cohorts were trying to exclude young magicians even further? Interesting, thought Zack darkly.
Cynthia finally fished out her keys, which had somehow fallen through a hole in her pocket and looped themselves on to the inside part of her long skirt; Zack and Alex had to look away while Sophie helped her untangle everything without revealing too much bare skin. ‘There we go. Brilliant – thanks, Sophie,’ said Cynthia somewhat breathlessly.
‘Actually, we were wondering whether it might be possible to rehearse on stage rather than in the Junior Room,’ Sophie said politely as Cynthia started on the top lock.
‘And also … whether it might be possible to perform as a group,’ added Zack.
Cynthia studied them, mildly suspicious. She really was becoming rather fond of them, especially Sophie. But she was tired. Tired of having to defend their antics to her husband and others on Council. ‘They’re just being curious, Edmund,’ she had constantly found herself saying over the past few days. ‘You were a child once, remember?’ (All over a steaming plate of roast dinner of course, with all the trimmings!) But her husband would never see reason. And President Pickle could humour his wife all he liked, but there wasn’t a chance in hell that these four would ever be considered as future members of the Magic Circle. Not on his watch, at least.
Cynthia smiled at Alex. ‘You know you’ll still have to perform on your own, even if you do something as a group,’ she said, believing this was behind Zack’s request.
Oh, if only you knew the real reason, Cynthia, thought Zack.
‘Well, we’re going to have to run this by President Pickle, I’m afraid,’ she told them. ‘Follow me.’
Sophie grimaced as Cynthia hastily relocked the door, ignoring the sound of Deanna’s yelps that had started to eke their way through the garish door (what was she doing in there?).
The four of them hurried down the corridor, increasingly conscious of time.
Strange, thought Zack as Cynthia led them through the Grand Theatre and down the spiral staircase – they’d never actually walked down it before. He tapped his fingers along the banister rail, catching Sophie’s eye and grinning.
Nor had the Young Magicians seen the formal entrance to the Council’s chamber, which was way less impressive than the title might imply, simply consisting of a plain wooden door smothered with a giant NO ENTRY sign. Still, better getting in this way than the spidery way. Alex shuddered at the memory of the double-sided cupboard.
Cynthia knocked lightly on the door, looking down at them. ‘Let me do the talking, please.’
They nodded.
‘Enter!’ bellowed President Pickle.
Cynthia popped her head round the door, temporarily shielding the others from view. ‘Do you mind if we have a quick word?’ she asked.
‘Of course, honeypot!’ said President Pickle indulgently, smiling at her like he did when his dinner was nearly ready.
Cynthia opened the door to reveal Zack, Sophie and Alex.
‘Oh!’ He sighed, puffing out his cheeks. ‘I might have guessed. What have they been up to this time?’
‘Oh, nothing – nothing at all.’ Cynthia beckoned them into the chamber. ‘They just wanted to know whether it was possible to perform as a group as well, as part of the audition. It was their idea to come and ask you privately.’
Bless Cynthia, thought Sophie. Always trying to make them look good.
‘Silence in the Council’s chamber!’ shouted President Pickle all of a sudden. ‘Bill is counting.’
The three friends looked over towards the other end of the long table where Treasurer Bill Dungworth sat slowly counting odd bits of shrapnel, some of which had evidently long gone out of circulation. Beside him was the giant green safe, the door hanging open, revealing it to be completely empty. Zack swallowed involuntarily at the sight of the draughty safe confines – it sure looked pretty impenetrable!
Bill stared at them vacantly before writing something tiny on a scrap of stained paper and continuing, almost certain he’d lost count but writing down some random figure all the same for consistency.
‘May I ask why you wish to perform as a group?’ said President Pickle haughtily. ‘You, little girl – you may now speak.’ He waggled his fingers at Sophie.
She swallowed her anger. ‘Well, we just want to do as much as we can to make a good impression on Council. Especially given all the upset we’ve caused lately.’
President Pickle sniffed pompously.
‘We were actually hoping to perform a group escape from that safe there,’ said Zack, gesturing towards it. ‘If that’s OK by you, that is?’ he added with a quick, fetching smile.
President Pickle looked over at the safe and then at Bill, who had dozed off again, his drooling face knocking over a pile of rusting half-crowns. ‘Bill!’ he shouted, causing a sound wave to shoot along the length of the table and straight to the back of Bill’s rotting teeth. The man woke with a start, jotting down another number before counting the coins again – starting with another number that he had blatantly just plucked out of the air.
‘You know that safe has been around since the society was founded some hundred plus years ago?’ the president said, getting up and patting it solemnly, like it was an ageing farm animal that had served them well, but was now at the end of its life. ‘Its walls are constructed of eight-inch solid steel; only Bill knows the code that opens the locking mechanism, and he forgot it way back in the mid-seventies. It’s completely airtight. It even took Houdini two and a half hours to escape!’
Cynthia looked down at the Young Magicians, concerned. They hadn’t mentioned that their group efforts might be dangerous. ‘You know what? Maybe this isn’t such a great idea, after all,’ she said, biting her bottom lip and trying to hurry the three back out of the room.
‘Oh, no, no!’ said President Pickle, rather joyful all of a sudden. ‘I think it’s a brilliant suggestion!’
Whether he was attracted by the idea of a group escape or by the prospect of keeping the four under lock and key – especially tonight of all nights – they couldn’t tell. But they had his permission to go ahead, and that’s all that mattered right now.
Well, that’s items one and two ticked off, thought Sophie – and she hadn’t even had to hypnotize anyone yet!
‘Don’t you want to double-check the constitution, darling?’ Now that she realized what Zack, Sophie and Alex were suggesting, Cynthia was trying to put her husband off.
‘No, that’ll be all. I look forward to seeing the performance later. Of course, you’ll need to get the safe up the stairs and into the theatre yourselves.’ President Pickle couldn’t help a giggle. ‘But I’m sure you’ll find a way,’ he added, with a trace of his usual mean streak back. ‘Good luck!’
Cynthia mothered them quickly out of the room, pulling the door shut. ‘Now, listen here, you three!’ she said, turning on them suddenly, her caring voice a little higher than usual. ‘If this is another one of your little errands, then I don’t want anything to do with it. I’m washing my hands of you! I will not help you get that safe up the stairs, do you hear me?’ Cynthia looked like she was about to cry before tearing off round the corner and stomping up the spiral staircase. ‘Dangerous magic!’ Her voice echoed in the distance. ‘As if my job isn’t difficult enough without you four!’
Sophie, Alex and Zack looked at each other sadly. But right now there were bigger things at stake than Cynthia’s feelings. She’d come round once she knew what they were trying to achieve.