The light scent of cinnamon mixed with other spices greeted them as they entered the quaint shop. Like kids in a candy store, their eyes danced around the room taking in all the shelves and counters overflowing with magical paraphernalia. Sterling spotted a tall, handsome young man reaching for a top shelf, wielding a feather duster as if it were a magic wand.
“Ahem!”
With a final flourish of the duster, the twenty-something storekeeper turned around. When he spotted the old magicians his china-blue eyes danced with excitement. “You must be the Silvers, I’ve been waiting for you. I’m Ricardo Magique, better known around here as Quick Rick.” He danced around the counter and greeted each of them with a gentle handshake. Reaching down to pat Waldo, he said, “I know you’re not supposed to pet service dogs, but this one looks so friendly. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Heck no,” said Sterling, “he’s part of our act.”
Waldo snuggled close to Quick Rick and grunted in his best doggie voice, Niiicccee.
“Wow, it sounded like your dog said ‘nice.’ Funny how the ear can fool you sometimes.” He ruffled Waldo’s fur. “You’re nice too, fella.”
Flossie flashed a wide grin. “My Harry always said, when it comes to magic, the ears are almost as important as the eyes. But Waldo really does talk, sort of. He’s the genuine article.”
“Ha, ha. I’m not sure whether to believe you or not, after all you’ve got quite a reputation. Gramps always said the Silvers were one of the most professional acts he ever knew. It gave him great pleasure to design illusions for you.”
Flossie fluffed her blue curls, and with a big grin on her face she said, “Well, it’s a real joy to meet you, too, young man. My Harry always said your grandfather was the best in the business, bar none. When did he retire?”
A shadow crossed Quick Rick’s face. “Ahhh, it’s been two years now since Slick Nick made his last curtain call. One day he was puttering around the shop, and the next my poor grandpa was gone. I really miss him.”
Sterling patted his arm. “But how wonderful that you’re carrying on his work. Guess your Dad didn’t want to get involved in the family business. I’ve never heard anything about him.”
“No wonder. That scumbag took off when I was only ten and we never saw him again. I was lucky that Gramps took me under his wing—or shall we say cloak? He taught me everything and I’ve even invented illusions on my own. I guess you could say it was my legacy. You know, back in the day, The Conjurer’s Club named Chateau Magique in his honor.”
“I’m mighty sorry to hear that Slick Nick’s made his final exit. Us old timers are getting to be a pretty rare breed these days.”
Flossie adjusted her thick glasses and studied the young magician’s neatly combed jet black hair and swarthy complexion. Then she tweaked his cheek. “Well, Ricky, you seem to be every bit the man your grandfather was. You even look like him. Of course Slick Nick had one of those pencil thin mustaches—the kind everyone wore back then—but I like this bushy one you’ve got, it gives your face a certain strength.”
As they walked around the shop, Quick Rick stopped now and then to comment on something he had devised. He indicated a worn brown leather sofa and a few chairs at the back of the large shop and said in a deep, resonant voice, “Please, have a seat. I’ll make you some tea.”
He ran behind a curtain and almost magically reappeared with a tea tray bearing three cups and a plate of sweets. “I can’t believe I’m actually meeting part of the Scintillating Silvers act. Tell me, are you guys still doing any gigs?”
Sterling leaned forward and placed his hands on his knees. “Yep, we may be a bit creaky, but every Thursday we do a little act at the Home for Hollywood Has-Beens. Just to keep our hand in it, you know. Waldo, here, is part of the act.”
As if on cue, Waldo gave a throaty rumble that sounded like Maaagggic.
“Maybe you can fix us up with simple trick to spark up our show, if it isn’t too expensive. We pretty much do the same things over and over. See, one of the advantages of performing for old folks is most of them don’t remember the act from week to week.”
“Oy vey, if they did remember our careers would be over.”
Rick smiled, thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers. “Say, I’ve got just the thing for you. It’ll really perk up the performance.”
“Hope it’s not too pricey.”
“Nope. It’s on the house. A gift from me for the old folks you entertain. Gramps might have known some of them.”
They chatted for almost an hour. With Waldo comfortably hunkered down at Rick’s feet, Flossie and Sterling Silver recounted stories of the old days. When the young man got up to greet a customer seeking a magic kit for a precocious nephew, Sterling scanned all the posters on the wall looking for the faces of old friends. His eyes came to rest on one in particular. The magician was wearing a green and gold silk turban, the center of it embellished with a magnificent faux jewel. Sterling, ever a sucker for flashy costumes, couldn’t take his gaze away from it. For a moment he took in the whole poster, which featured a pretty assistant in the background. His mind’s eye flashed on the news item about the young woman who had been electrocuted. He was sure it was the same girl.
“Say, Rick, that poster over there—the one with the fella in the fantastic turban—isn’t that...”
“Yes, Sheik Ali Kazaam. He’s our local celebrity, performs all over the world. That turban is his trademark. Quite a number, isn’t it? What can I tell you about him?”
Flossie got up and walked over to the wall, pushed her glasses up on her nose and studied the bright placard. “Yeah, that’s some turban, alright, but I want to know about the assistant. Is she the one who got fried like a chicken? I read all about it in the Magic Moments Monthly.”
“Um, that’s quite a way to put it Flossie, but yes, that’s Pearl Woo.” Quick Rick looked wistfully at the old troupers and shook his head. “What a tragedy. Poor Pearl, she was so beautiful and talented. She worked for the Sheik a few years and she adored him. She came in the shop often. I was thinking of asking her out.”
“Too bad you didn’t have the chance, she’d have been one lucky woman. Why, if I was fifty years younger, I’d love to go out with a handsome guy like you.”
“So would I,” Sterling said, tearing his gaze away from the flamboyant magician in the picture. “By the way, I hear this Ali Kazaam will be on our cruise along with all the other magicians. What’s he doing now? Working without an assistant?”
“Well, he came in two weeks ago and said he was preparing to go on a special cruise called Magic on the High Seas with a few hundred magicians. He had a new girl on his arm named Jade Moon. Said she was going to pitch in as his assistant for the cruise. I’m telling you, that guy is really charmed. She was even more beautiful than Pearl. Guess we’ll be getting a new poster with her picture on it pretty soon.” He sighed. “I’ll keep this one with Pearl for myself.”
“Wow! He replaced her that fast? My Harry—he should rest in peace—looked for just the right girl for a long time before he hired me. It’s not easy to find a good magician’s assistant, you know.”
“I guess it was a stroke of luck that he managed to hire her just in time for the cruise. She must have had some experience in magic. She seemed pretty knowledgeable when I talked to her. Of course he might have just fallen for her good looks.”
Another half-hour sped by and finally Flossie said, “Well boys, this has been wonderful but we can’t let the ship sail without us. We’d better grab a cab and go back.” She smiled at Rick. “My daughter and her mother-in-law are meeting us on the ship and I’ll bet they’re already on board.”
Sterling groused, “Yep, I agree, let’s shake a leg. I can’t wait to see Goldie, but as for Belle, I could wait till the cows come home to see that old bat.”
Waldo stood up and yawned. It sounded like Gooolllldddiee.
After hugs all around, Rick walked them to the door. Midway he paused and reached behind the counter. He held out a large shopping bag and said to Sterling, “Here’s the illusion I promised you. If you have any problems with the instructions, call me and I’ll walk you through it. Trust me, it’ll blow their socks off.”
“Well,” Sterling quipped, “That’ll be hard to pull off, since most of them wear those elastic stockings.”
Outside, Rick hailed a cab and made sure the old magicians and their gangly service dog were neatly tucked inside. He went inside, walked over to the poster of Sheik Ali Kazaam and Pearl Woo and looked at it for a long time. Then he said out loud, “We would have had a great time together, Pearl.”