by Justin Swapp
Marcus sat down across from Ellie and wondered whether or not he should tell her what he just saw. He tried to get her attention by staring at her, but she was engrossed in her novel.
“Where do you get all those books?” Marcus asked.
“From the shelves in the family room,” she said. “Grandpa has some great books in there.”
“Okay, you two, let’s talk shop,” their grandpa said, placing a plate stacked with large pancakes on the center of the table. He flopped down across from his wife, who busily nibbled a sausage, and grabbed a strip of bacon for himself.
“While you are out of school, you will tend the shop every day during the day, except Sundays. Your nights are yours.”
Marcus asked, “Even Saturdays?”
“Especially Saturdays,” their grandma answered. “That’s the busiest day of the week because kids don’t have school and adults usually aren’t working.”
Ellie bit her lip, and Marcus looked for something outside the window to distract him.
Their grandpa chuckled, clapping both kids on the back. “Come on, this could be fun if you want it to be. After all, we are talking about magic.” He raised an eyebrow.
Marcus rolled his eyes. “Cute, Grandpa.”
“It won’t be as bad as you think,” their grandma said. She put her plate in the sink and fingered a dream catcher hanging in the window. “You’ll see.”
They ate in silence for a few more minutes, and then Ellie joined their grandma at the sink. Marcus stood up quickly after he jammed a pancake-wrapped sausage into his mouth. The ladies got angry if he didn’t help.
“Okay, in order for you to run the store,” their grandpa said after they had tidied up in the kitchen, “we need to teach you the basics. Come on.” They entered the living room, the only room between the house portion of the building and the shop.
“On this far wall we keep a stock of inventory to replace the product in the shop when it runs out.” Marcus recognized his hiding place. He and Ellie both nodded mechanically.
“Okay, on to the shop itself then,” their grandma said.
They walked through a door on the wall directly across from the kitchen and into the shop.
The shop was clean and modern, but far from the glitz and glam that you’d see elsewhere in Nevada. There were no slot machines and no blinking lights.
In the middle of the shop, several aisles were stocked with face cards, disappearing coin kits, fake barf, and other classical gags and tricks. Along the walls were shelves of old books, how-to videos, and crystal balls stamped, “made in China” on their underside.
One by one, their grandma reviewed the pricing of each shop item with them, and then she taught them how to process a customer’s payment.
Their grandpa took his turn by explaining the computer system in detail, but was interrupted when a knock came at the shop door, leaving the attached bell ringing faintly. This was odd because the shop didn’t open for another hour.
Approaching the door, Winston peered through the peephole. When the shop was up for business they left the door open.
“Dear,” he said as he came down off his toes, “I’ll to need a minute please. She’s early.”
Charlotte went on explaining the shop’s various details while her husband removed the locks and chains that bound the door.
The moment Winston cracked open the door, a tall, Asian woman pushed it wide-open and stepped inside. “Winston,” she said with a nod. She carefully wiped a long strand of jet-black hair out of her face and began examining the shop. Her skin was like brown pearls, a creamy color that complemented the traditional black and red Asian dress she wore.
“Where is it?” she asked. Her cloudy jade-colored eyes caught Marcus’s attention.
“Not just yet,” Winston said, wagging a finger as he looked the woman up and down. “Did you bring what we had discussed?”
Marcus tried to pay attention to the instructions, but it was particularly difficult when his grandpa acted so mysterious. What confused him was that his grandma was trying to ignore the exchange entirely.
“Silly old man,” the woman said coyly. “Of course I did. Why else would I be here?”
“You can’t fault me for asking, Elba,” his grandpa said. “Not all transactions happen smoothly, as you know.” Winston looked over at the children, who quickly looked away. Raising an eyebrow, he added, “I’m just taking precautions.”
“Well?” Elba asked a moment later.
Winston gave a slight bow, and with a sweep of his arm, said, “Right this way.” He glided giddily toward the back door of the shop, opened the door for Elba, and they both disappeared from sight, leaving Marcus to wonder what they were up to.
“Marcus,” his grandma said sharply as she put her hands on her hips, apparently noticing he was no longer paying attention, but rather gaping at the door to the back of the shop. “How do you process someone’s credit card?”
“Um,” Marcus scratched his head, still watching the door. “I…”
“Marcus Winston Fith, you had better pay attention. Greater responsibility, remember?”
Marcus shook his head. “Sorry Grandma.”
****
It was sometime later, after Charlotte had gone on to explain various magic tricks and the duties of running the store, before Winston and Elba returned.
Elba appeared first, holding her handbag snugly against her body. Grandpa followed slowly, his expression hard to read. While he was smiling, he looked bewildered.
Elba patted her handbag. “Nice doing business with you,” she said when she opened the front door.
Winston nodded. “Thank you, Elba. This means a lot to our family.”
“I hope it works,” she said, and then she was gone.
The kids’ grandma glanced up at her husband hopefully for the first time since Elba had arrived. He blinked hard and gave her a slight nod.
“Okay kids,” their grandma said, suddenly in a hurry. “Ellie, I want you and Marcus to practice processing transactions with this credit card like I showed you. I shouldn’t be long.” Charlotte rounded the checkout counter and headed off to the back room with Winston.
Ellie positioned herself behind the cash register where her grandma had been just a moment ago. “Get me that pack of face cards,” Ellie said, pointing at the first aisle.
Marcus wandered over to a nearby shelf on the first aisle, grabbed a pack of cards, and returned to Ellie.
She took the cards and began to repeat what their grandma had shown them. “What do you think that was all about?” Ellie asked curiously as she scanned the bar code on the back of the pack of cards with the scanner gun at the register. The system beeped, and displayed the cost. She responded by swiping the credit card.
“We need to talk,” Marcus said, not taking his eyes off the back room. “I saw something this morning.”
“Let me guess, spots? I wasn’t going to say anything, but you look horrible. You didn’t sleep well, did you?”
“Seriously.” He looked her in the eyes. “I saw something super strange.”
Ellie put the pack of cards and the price scanner down and considered Marcus. “What do you mean?”
“I saw Grandpa do something weird this morning before breakfast.”
“But you didn’t come downstairs until after me.”
“Actually, I came down first, but when I saw Grandpa, I hid.”
“Why?”
“You know how Grandpa hates when we mess with the shop inventory. Well, I was toying around with it when he walked into the room, so naturally I ducked behind the table. I had a good view of him when he started fiddling with the wall.”
“What wall? What was he doing exactly?”
The clopping of footsteps preceded the shop’s back door opening, and Winston and Charlotte entered the room again. “Kids, we’re going out for a while,” Winston said. “We need you two to stay behind and watch the shop, okay?”
“But we’re not ready
!” Marcus exclaimed. “You’ve barely told us anything.”
“This will be a good test to see who paid attention this morning,” their grandpa said.
Ellie sat down on the chair behind the counter. ”Where are you going?”
“To run some errands.” Their grandpa hooked arms with their grandma. “We shouldn’t be more than a few hours.”
“Do your best,” their grandma reached the front door, “and it will all work out. No pressure.”
They left without another word.
Ellie wandered toward the bookshelf, fingered a few books, and pulled one off the shelf. She sat down at a nearby chair and began to read.
“So that’s it?” Marcus tossed his arms up in the air. “Grandma and Grandpa just leave, and you just flop down and start reading? I’m just stuck here.”
As if he had been cued, Tofu trotted into the room, his dog collar jingling lightly in stride. He stood at Marcus’s feet for a moment.
“Hey there, boy.” Marcus scratched Tofu behind the ears. “At least I have you to keep me company.”
Tofu turned around and went back into the living room behind the shop.
Marcus sighed. “You could have at least chewed on Ellie’s book.” He waived the dog off. Predictably, Ellie didn’t even look up from her book.
With nothing else to do, Marcus got up and followed the dog into the living room. “You’re a funny little creature, Tofu.” Marcus looked around, but saw no sign of Tofu. He whistled for him like he normally did, but got no response.
Marcus looked behind the couch, under the coffee table, and in some of the inventory, but couldn’t find him. Then he considered the tapestry, and Tofu virtually vanished from his mind.
When Marcus lifted the tapestry, he stared at the triangular knocker he had seen his grandpa manipulate earlier that morning. He couldn’t resist figuring out what his grandpa was up to. On the other side of that wall was some kind of secret.
Marcus looked over his shoulder—all clear.
His curiosity was peaked, and he couldn’t resist figuring out what was going on. What was it that grandpa had done?
He reached out for the knocker, but hesitated. If he got caught, he would be in a lot of trouble. Their grandpa hadn’t told them about this, and he had obviously gone to quite a bit of trouble to conceal whatever was behind this wall.
An unexplainable feeling came over Marcus at that moment. Perhaps this wasn’t just a secret—this might be dangerous.
He took a deep breath and grabbed hold of the knocker. As he touched it, his hand tingled. His arms prickled with goose bumps, and then, in an instant, zap! He felt a shock, and jerked his hand away.
Was this a security measure?
It felt like a warning. He and his grandpa had a good relationship—an understanding. This would violate his trust for sure. Marcus let go of the tapestry and stepped back.
“What are you doing?”
Marcus spun around to find Ellie standing behind him with her book at her side.
“Nothing. I… I was just looking for Tofu.”
As if he had finally heard his name, Tofu strolled in from the kitchen; a pancake dangled from his mouth. He dropped the pancake at the children’s feet, and broke off a piece to eat.
“I guess we’ll never have to worry about that one going hungry.” Ellie scrunched her nose. “It’s like he comes equipped with food radar.”
Marcus wiggled Tofu’s tail. “So, do you remember what I told you earlier?”
“About how you were bored and stuck here? Yeah.”
“No, about Grandpa acting differently.” Marcus pulled back the tapestry. “Can you explain this?” He pointed at the wall knocker.
“What about it?” Ellie asked, sounding slightly annoyed. “This is an old house, and sometimes old houses have quirks. Grandma and Grandpa have done the best that they could with it, you know. They just can’t afford to renovate it yet.”
When it came right down to explaining what he had seen, it was harder than he thought. Marcus felt his cheeks redden, and he knew he was acting sheepishly.
“Spit it out already,” Ellie said. After a moment, she turned around and started walking out of the room.
“Grandpa opened the wall, Ellie. I watched him,” Marcus said as if he had been holding his breath too long. ”He’s hiding something important on the other side.”
Ellie turned around, chuckling. “You really didn’t sleep well last night, did you?”
“I mean it.”
“Prove it, then,” she said. With her arms crossed Marcus thought she looked a lot like grandma. “Open it.”
Marcus considered the wall again and swallowed. It was a big, thick wall. He wasn’t even sure that he could open it, and now he had the added pressure of not looking like a fool. This is the kind of thing Ellie could get a lot of mileage out of if he were wrong.
Marcus doubted himself. Maybe he had been seeing things after all.
“What’s the hold-up? Ellie asked. “If this is your idea of a joke—”
“I don’t want to break Grandpa’s trust.”
“Look, if Grandpa really was acting odd, he might need our help,” Ellie said as Tofu finished the last of the pancake. “We should at least check it out to see if there is anything to this. I’ll hold the tapestry.”
Marcus nodded and tried to remember what his grandpa did. Marcus took hold of the knocker, and felt that strange sensation in his arm again.
“My arm is prickling. It’s going to zap me.”
“Ignore it,” Ellie said.
“Easy for you to say.” Marcus tapped the knocker once and felt a surge through his arm. He recoiled.
Ellie reached out for him. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. It’s like I jammed butter knife in a wall outlet.”
“You’re right,” Ellie said. “Something strange is going on. We have to try again. If you want me to—”
Marcus grabbed the knocker again and swallowed hard as the hairs on his arm rose. He knocked again and felt a jolt run through his arm. He ignored it and knocked a third time.
The wall wheezed.
Ellie jumped back. ”What was that?”
Without answering, Marcus tugged on the knocker with both hands. As he pulled, a line of light cracked, and then traced the shape of a door on the wall. Marcus kept pulling, and soon a door-shaped slab gave way to a small room filled with a soft blue light.
“I don’t believe this,” Ellie said, squinting at first. Marcus stepped away.
It appeared to be a simple storage room, but smelled sterile, like a hospital. The cold light seemed to emanate from the walls, as if the room was buried behind a sheet of thick ice. Placed neatly on the shelves were objects and instruments of various shapes and sizes, but they all looked dated. Beside a basic-looking crystal ball, there was a wooden box with hieroglyphics painted on its sides, a sword with exotic symbols etched on the blade, and a feathered leather necklace with the most graceful golden plumage Marcus had ever seen. There were many other things as well, all of curious workmanship. While all the items were quite different, they had one thing in common. Strips of folded cardboard were neatly displayed in front of each object like small tents. The only markings they bore were beautifully hand-written numbers; all of them except for the crystal sphere.
“What is this place?” Ellie asked, eyes wide with wonder. She looked down at the misty floor. Marcus thought it looked like the smoke that came from the dry ice they used at Halloween.
“See,” Marcus said earnestly, “I told you Grandpa came in here this morning.”
Ellie rubbed her neck. “What did he do in here?”
“I think he put something in here. Maybe what he got from the hospital last night.”
“What do you mean? What did he get from the hospital last night?”
“Haven’t you noticed what he does at the hospital when we visit? He always talks to Caleb and Anabell, one-by-one, and gives them some of Grandma’s homemade li
corice, and Anabell hands him something that he stuffs in his jacket.”
At that moment the shop’s front door rang out loudly, and Marcus froze up.
“Hurry and close this up,” Ellie said. She darted out of the room and headed for the shop, calling: “I’ll get the door.”
“Come on, Tofu,” Marcus said in a huff. Tofu was in the blue room, preoccupied with smelling something on the bottom shelf that looked like a knotty old stick. Marcus stepped outside the room and Tofu followed.
This time he easily pushed the slab of door into the wall, a slight hiss being the only sign of resistance until the door-shaped crack of light faded, and ultimately disappeared. With a sigh, Marcus replaced the tapestry, ran a hand through his hair, and returned to the shop.
Ellie was just finishing up with a customer. Marcus thought she looked like she had been doing this for years. She took the product, scanned it, and ran it through the computer without a problem.
“Thanks for coming by,” she said as the woman left. “And please tell your friends about The Magic Shop.”
“That was pretty good.” Marcus approached the checkout stand. “I couldn’t have done that.”
“You’re probably right. You didn’t exactly pay attention to Grandma when she was explaining it.”
“What did you think of the blue room?”
“I don’t know. It was strange, for sure, but there didn’t seem to be anything too weird in there, just a bunch of old stuff. What were those numbers, price tags or something?”
“Maybe they’re selling antiques on the side to support the family?” Marcus speculated.
Ellie grabbed her chin. “Do you think that’s where Grandpa took that lady this morning?”
“She did say ‘nice doing business with you,’” Marcus said.
After talking things out with Ellie a bit, Marcus felt better. At least, he didn’t feel as potentially crazy.
Ellie went on to show Marcus everything that their grandma had already shown them that morning. A few more customers came by the store, and they took turns handling each of them.
After a while Marcus began to bore, and took to staring out the window at the passersby across the street.