“I’m delighted to meet you,” the magician said. He got to his feet and bowed so low that his pointed beard poked a little hole in the carpet.
Whetū nodded, feeling a little awkward in her grubby white socks. “I’m pleased to meet you too.”
She crossed over to the couch and sat down by her mother.
“As I was saying, Ms Toa,” said the magician, settling back down onto his armchair. “You shall be in complete charge while I am away on tour.”
“Where are you going?” asked Whetū. She’d always thought that when she was grown up she’d buy a caravan, and then she could go wherever she wanted. She planned to have propellers installed and make it watertight so that she could also travel overseas.
“I shall be touring three of the finest cities in Europe,” said the magician. “I like to do two shows in each city. One show is for rich people who must be entertained to prove how rich they are, and the other is for poor people who must be entertained to forget how poor they are. On the whole I prefer performing for the poor. Their dreams are bigger, and so their applause for my magic is much louder. And for a stage performer, applause is everything.”
The magician gazed out the window with a far-off expression, before turning back to Whetū and her mother, who both looked confused.
“Never mind. I shall be gone for a week, and then I shall be back to prepare for a big concert for the King and Queen. A great honour and very well paid. Ms Toa, I shall expect you to keep my house in good order and take care of all my paperwork. I understand you’ve been a personal assistant before?”
“Oh yes,” said Mum. “I used to work in a bank. I didn’t have to clean anyone’s house, though.”
“It’s more a matter of telling the brooms and dusters what to do,” said the magician. “They tend to slack off if I’m not here.”
“Of course,” said Mum, shooting Whetū a nervous look.
“You’ll also be taking show bookings and arranging travel documents and taking care of my accounts.”
“I’m very good with the business side of things. What kind of computer do you have?”
“Computer?” said the magician with a frown. “I don’t have a computer. I just write everything down on little bits of paper. They fill a huge room, right to the very top.”
Mum gave a small gulp. “How do you find anything?”
“Oh, I don’t. That’s why I need a personal assistant.”
“I rather think you do. Never mind. I have my own computer, so I’ll sort it out for you.”
“And then there’s the farm animals,” the magician continued. “As animal keeper, you’ll need to feed them and muck out the sheds and … yes?”
Mum was shaking her head. “You didn’t say anything about animals! I won’t have time to take care of them and do everything else as well.”
Whetū looked down at her hands. She’d known all along this would happen.
The magician frowned. “I’m afraid the animals are very important. Did I not mention them at all?”
“You did not,” said Mum firmly.
The magician waggled his hands in the air and a bunch of bright red pōhutukawa flowers appeared. He presented them to Mum with a flourish.
“The flowers are very lovely,” she said. “But not lovely enough to convince me to look after a lot of livestock, I’m afraid.”
“Well then,” said the magician. “We may have a problem. I can’t just go away and leave the animals to look after themselves. Heaven knows what kind of mischief they’d get up to. One of the pigs turned her ear into a silk purse the other day. She couldn’t tell me why she’d done it. She wasn’t even going shopping! Oh no, it wouldn’t do to leave them alone for even a day, let alone a whole week.”
“Then I suppose we’d better start packing. It’s a pity. I was just beginning to feel like it was a proper home.”
Whetū sat up straight. She didn’t want to pack. They’d only just arrived! And where would they go? They had no home to go to, no family who wanted them and the car was far too small to live in. And besides, this was the most exciting place she’d ever been to in her life. They couldn’t just leave!
“No, Mum!” said Whetū, and her tone was so firm that her mother jumped and dropped her cup (which was fortunately empty), and the magician’s bow tie spun round and round in circles.
“We don’t have a choice, Whetū,” said Mum. “It’s impossible.”
“I’ll do it,” said Whetū. “I’ll be the animal keeper.”
“But …” said Mum.
“Excellent!” said the magician. “I’m glad that’s settled. And of course, I’ll be happy to pay you for your work.”
He got to his feet and pulled out a pink hourglass from his pocket. “Good heavens. My bus leaves in half an hour. I must dash. I don’t suppose you’ve seen a big white rabbit around anywhere?”
“He was with the bull,” Whetū said, hoping the magician wouldn’t ask any awkward questions. It certainly wouldn’t do for him to find out that his new animal keeper had already made one of the animals cry.
“Excellent, excellent.” He patted his pockets and then drew out a roll of yellow paper tied with a red ribbon. He handed it to Mum. “Everything you need to know is written on here. See you in a week!”
He shook their hands so vigorously, Whetū’s feet nearly left the floor. And then he was gone.
Mum sank back onto the sofa cushions and stared at her daughter. “You’re going to look after the animals?”
“I’ve met most of them already,” Whetū said. “They’re a little … unusual, but I think I’ll manage.”
“I’m glad,” said Mum. “I didn’t want to leave just yet.”
“Me neither,” said Whetū. “But we’ll see how we feel in a week, shall we?”