The Marvelwood Magicians

by Diane Zahler

  “It’s all right, Bell,” she said, keeping her voice as level as she could. “I’m fine. I knew I would be. You don’t have to worry.”

  “That was crazy,” he said, awed. Tibby bounced beside him.

  “What did Mattie do to the tigers?” she asked. “Is Mattie crazy?”

  “A little bit daftie,” Da told her. “But she’s fine.”

  “She can talk to those tigers,” Tibby confided. “Everyone is scared of them but Mattie. Even that ringmaster.”

  “I know,” Da said. His voice was full of wonder.

  Mattie wriggled in his grip, and he put her down. Her legs were strong enough to hold her up now. “Sorry if I frightened you,” she said. “But Master Morogh—he had a gun. I couldn’t let him shoot them.”

  “I can’t believe you did that!” Selena cried, throwing her arms around Mattie. At her touch, Mattie read her, too. Like Bell—fright and admiration. “Weren’t you afraid they’d eat you?”

  “Maybe a little,” Mattie told her. “But ‘courage is being scared to death … and saddling up anyway.’” It was one of her favorite John Wayne quotes, and it made Selena smile.

  “Never again,” Da said sternly. “You leave the cats to Ahmad. Do you understand?”

  Mattie nodded meekly.

  “But how did they get out?” Maya wondered. “Someone had to let them out. Who would do that?”

  Mattie remembered the image she’d seen when she first touched Hasha. “I think … I think it was Ahmad,” she said.

  “Ahmad? That doesn’t make sense,” Maya protested. “He’s their trainer. Without them, he wouldn’t have an act.”

  “I could be wrong,” Mattie said. “I’m not sure.” But from what she had seen, Ahmad clearly had something to do with it.

  “It is nearly time for the Come-In,” Maya said. “Can you do your readings?” Her voice was unusually gentle. Mattie knew that she wasn’t angry anymore.

  “I think so,” Mattie said. Then her mother was Maya again, all business.

  “You should get changed then, while your da sets up the stage. He will do his act, and we will do ours next, as usual.”

  “I have to get ready, too,” Selena said. She squeezed Mattie’s hand. Be careful! she mouthed, and Mattie nodded.

  Mattie mounted the stairs into the stuffy wagon. The heat of the day had built inside. It wasn’t going to be very pleasant doing readings in there, but at least people would be quick about it. They wouldn’t want to linger.

  It seemed like there were even more people streaming through the entrance today. It was Sunday, everybody’s day off. Mattie watched the crowd in front of Master Morogh’s stage. She wondered whose skills, whose special talents he was claiming from the volunteers who raced up, eager to be hypnotized and humiliated in front of everyone.

  Da did his act and then took Tibby to the back yard. Bell sat with Mattie behind the curtain in the airless wagon while Maya read futures.

  “You should go to the back yard,” Mattie whispered. “It’s cooler there.”

  “I don’t want to,” he whispered back. “I don’t feel like seeing anyone.”

  Mattie pulled out the checkers board, careful not to rattle any of the pieces. Maya’s quiet voice was background music to their fierce game, and Mattie was about to jump three of Bell’s pieces when he suddenly grabbed her arm.

  “Listen,” he hissed.

  Mattie stopped, still holding her red checker.

  “I’ve been wanting you to read my future,” Mattie heard Master Morogh say. She turned wide eyes to Bell.

  “Shouldn’t you be doing your own show?” Maya asked. She sounded calm. “You don’t want to disappoint your audience.”

  “Oh, I never disappoint,” Master Morogh assured her. “My audience is heading for the big top now. I have a few minutes.”

  “You’ll have to take off your glove,” Maya said.

  “Of course,” came Master Morogh’s smooth voice.

  There was a moment of silence. Then Maya said, “Oh. You want …”

  “Yes,” Master Morogh said. “Yes. Yes. Now you must give me your power. Will you? Now. Now. Now.” His words were steady and slow, like his metronome.

  A terrible fear rose in Mattie. Where was Da? She and Bell jumped up, and the checkers flew into the air and rattled to the floor.

  Mattie yanked back the curtain but stopped short. Maya sat at the table, Master Morogh across from her. He had one glove off, the glove that had covered his good hand. Maya’s hand lay over his limply. In the dim light Mattie could see her face, slack and expressionless as Bell’s had been up on the ringmaster’s stage.

  Mattie shouted, “Stop!” and at that moment something—almost like electricity—leaped between their two hands. Maya rocked backward in her chair, her hair standing out as if she’d stuck her finger in a socket, and she let out a cry that sounded like pain.

  Master Morogh looked up and smiled. It was a horrible smile, the same smile he’d given after Selena had fallen, and after he’d hypnotized Bell. His little beard bobbed.

  “No,” Mattie moaned. Maya blinked, her eyes slowly coming into focus.

  “You can’t have it!” Bell shouted. “Give it back!” He advanced into the room, trying to look threatening. But he was just nine, and small for his age. The ringmaster smiled again.

  “But she gave it to me,” he said mildly.

  “Get Da,” Mattie commanded Bell. “Hurry!”

  Bell pushed past the table and out of the wagon. Master Morogh stood up. Maya still sat as if in shock, her hair settling back into place. She looked at her hand wonderingly, turning it this way and that, as if it didn’t really belong to her.

  “What have you done?” she asked Master Morogh.

  “You know what I’ve done, my dear,” he said to her, his tone soothing. “It’s mine now. I’ll use it well.” He moved as if to leave the wagon, but Mattie was in his way. She shrank back against the wall, terrified of touching him.

  “Mattie, Mattie, Mattie,” he said to her, his words rhythmic, like his metronome. Mattie stared stubbornly at the floor. If she didn’t meet his eyes, he couldn’t hypnotize her … could he?

  But that must not have been what he wanted right then, because he walked to the door, which was still swinging open from Bell’s rush outside, and in an instant was down the steps and away.

  CHAPTER 13

  Da came crashing into the wagon, with Bell pulling Tibby just behind. “What happened?” he demanded. But Mattie didn’t have to tell him. He saw Maya sitting stunned at the table and flung himself down beside her.

  “Maya love,” he breathed, taking her hands. “Oh, my dear one, what’s he done? Och, how did this happen?”

  Maya let out a whimper, a tiny, awful sound. “I was not expecting him,” she said. Her voice was thick with tears. “He was so much stronger than I. I never imagined he would be so strong.”

  Tibby started to wail. Mattie wanted to wail herself. She’d never seen Maya cry before. Maya was the strong one. But Master Morogh had overpowered her so easily!

  “It only took a minute,” Mattie said in bewilderment. “I didn’t even know he was here. I should have stopped him!”

  Da looked up at her. “You couldn’t have done anything, child. We underestimated him.”

  “You were right, Simon,” Maya said in a low voice. “We should have run when we first had the chance. We should never have waited. We must run now. To save the others.”

  The others. Mattie knew that Maya meant her. It was she that Master Morogh wanted. And if Maya was no match for the ringmaster, what could Mattie do?

  Da put an arm around Maya as she wept and swept the sobbing Tibby into his embrace with his other arm. Mattie caught Bell’s eye and looked at the door. He nodded. In the chaos of Maya’s grief, they edged to the door and slipped out.

  People surged toward the big top as the calliope music rang out. Mattie and Bell were lost among the crowd at once, moving with them to the tent. At the entrance
they broke off; there would be no room even on the straw for them tonight. They ran around the big top, sneaking past Master Morogh’s wagon and then the tigers’. The cats were lying down, but they were alert, watching with their impenetrable eyes. Mattie and Bell stopped there to talk.

  “We have to do something,” Mattie said.

  Bell shook his head hopelessly. “He’s too strong. You saw. What can we do?”

  “I don’t know,” Mattie admitted. “But there must be something. Otherwise we’ll leave tonight, and you’ll never get your talent back. And neither will Maya.”

  Bell was silent for a moment. “We can’t do that,” he said finally. “We can’t leave like that.”

  “We’ll bargain with him,” Mattie said recklessly. “We’ll force him to give the talents back. I’ll promise him mine for yours and Maya’s.”

  Bell stared at her. “But … what will you do without yours?”

  “You know I don’t want it,” Mattie said. “I’ve never wanted it. And it’s the only way we can get yours and Maya’s back.” She tried to sound certain.

  “Mattie …”

  But Bell’s voice trailed off. They had no other ideas. It was that or nothing.

  The Bellamys came careening around the corner of the tigers’ wagon on their way to the big top.

  “Come watch from the back,” one of them suggested. Suddenly Mattie knew which one it was—Elso. He had a tiny mole on his neck. And next to him was Oto. He had five moles, in exactly the same place. And Maso had two. Each brother had the same number of moles as his name. One part of her thought, Aha! So that’s how Selena knows which one is which!

  Mattie and Bell went with them, entering the big top through the back door. When Selena came back through the ring doors after the Grand Entry, Mattie ran up to her. “The ringmaster got to Maya,” Mattie said quietly.

  “What do you mean, ‘got to her’? What did he do?”

  “He hypnotized her. He took her talent.”

  “Oh, Mattie!” Selena breathed. “Your poor mom! Is she all right?”

  “No, she’s really not,” Mattie admitted. “She was crying. She was—oh, it was awful. She wasn’t like herself at all.”

  Selena winced. “I can’t even picture your mother crying. What on earth are you going to do?”

  Mattie told her. Selena’s eyes grew large with alarm as she talked.

  “No. You can’t face him alone. You can’t.”

  “I have to,” Mattie said. “Do you have a better idea?”

  “I just need more time!” Selena grabbed Mattie’s arm, not caring that Mattie could read her. Her thoughts were frantic. “I’ve found out so much about him already. We just haven’t figured it all out yet!”

  “We don’t have more time,” Mattie said.

  “Then I’ll help you,” Selena promised. “After the show. We’ll get Master Morogh to come to you then.”

  Mattie, Selena, and Bell watched the performances. Part of Mattie wanted the acts to go on and on so she didn’t have to face what came next. Even in the breathless heat that had collected under the big top, she felt frozen when she thought about what would happen when the show was over. She didn’t have any clear idea what she would say to Master Morogh or what he would do to her. All she knew was that she had to do something for Bell and Maya, and for Selena.

  The last act, as usual, was the tigers. The crowd loved them—the mixture of grace and danger in their act was thrilling. Mattie watched the big cats carefully to see if they behaved differently after their short-lived escape. But they did as Ahmad ordered, balancing on their stools, running in a circle, lashing their tails and growling as the trainer snapped his whip in the air. There was a moment when Ahmad put his turbaned head in Hasha’s mouth that terrified everyone, in that way that people love to be scared. Will she eat him? they wondered, knowing of course that she wouldn’t.

  It was all for show, Mattie knew now. All the cats really wanted was freedom.

  The applause at the end was deafening, and the entire troupe came out to parade around the ring and take their final bows. The calliope blared, and Master Morogh stood in the center of the ring, the spotlight bright on him. The other spots swept over the artistes as they danced and tumbled. The Bellamys did backflips; the clowns somersaulted into each other, knocking down first one, then another. Selena and her sister cartwheeled in a circle, though Mattie noticed that Selena barely missed crashing into Sofia as they spun. Even her cartwheel timing had gone bad. The audience didn’t notice, and the clapping went on and on.

  Then, with a suddenness that took Mattie’s breath away, all the lights went out and the music stopped. There was utter darkness in the tent, and utter silence. Slowly, slowly, the house lights came up again. The ring was empty; all the artistes had crept out. This was Master Morogh’s idea, to make everything more dramatic, more mysterious. Mattie had to admit it was effective.

  From behind the tent, Mattie heard Selena call to her, “Master Morogh’s on the way to his wagon. We have to go to him—now!”

  Mattie looked at Bell, and he grabbed her hand. “Let’s go,” he said. Mattie read anger and resolve in him, and a fear that echoed her own.

  She nodded. It was time.

  Bell and Mattie ran out to the back yard. Selena joined them as they tried to figure out where Master Morogh had gone. The wind picked up, pressing them back. It smelled of sulfur and storm-dampness. Mattie couldn’t see any of the artistes at first, but then a flash of heat lightning flared across the sky, and in its light she made out Chaz’s big orange wig and the sparkles from the Silvas’ costumes. A clap of thunder followed a moment later.

  “Oh, we’ll lose him!” Mattie cried. She didn’t want to have to go into the ringmaster’s wagon. It was his place, and she was afraid of it.

  Selena pointed to the ringmaster’s tall top hat, bobbing above the others. “He’s over there, near the Bellamys’ wagon.”

  Mattie pushed through the crowd. “Master Morogh!” she called out. She could see him now, his short, round frame halting at the sound of his name. “Master Morogh!” she cried again.

  He turned. It was too dark for her to see his expression. They made their way over to him, and then Mattie could see the slow smile spread over his face.

  “Well, well, well,” he said. “Mattie Marvelwood. What a surprise.”

  She took a deep breath. “We have to talk.”

  “Indeed? What about?” Master Morogh looked only at Mattie, ignoring Selena and Bell completely.

  “You’ve taken things that belong to us,” Mattie said. “We’d like them back.”

  “But they were given,” Master Morogh replied. “And I want to keep them.”

  “They don’t belong to you,” Mattie insisted. “You can’t have them.”

  “Oh, but I can,” he said. “Now, get out of my way, children. We have work to do. A storm is coming.” He turned away.

  “Wait!” she cried.

  “Ah, Mattie, Mattie, Mattie,” Master Morogh said, turning back again. Mattie met his eyes, green and penetrating under his odd, arched brows. Right away she was drawn in, and she moved closer to him. Bell reached out to pull her back, but Mattie shrugged him off.

  “Is it my talent you want?” she asked Master Morogh.

  “And what makes you think that I wouldn’t just take it, if I wanted it?” he said. He sounded indifferent.

  “I don’t think it works that way,” Mattie said. One of the ringmaster’s eyebrows shot up even further. “I think it has to be given.” That’s what had happened to Bell, and to Maya as well. Master Morogh had asked, and they had given him their talents.

  “And I can make you give me yours, if I choose to,” he said coolly.

  “I’m not as easy to hypnotize as my brother and mother,” Mattie said, though she wasn’t at all sure this was true. “I’ll ask you again. Is it my talent you want?”

  “Yessss,” he answered, drawing out the s like a serpent’s hiss. “That’s right. You. Your talen
t. The others’ are entertaining—even your mother’s is just a curiosity. It’s diverting to be able to disappear. It’s amusing to know the future. But what can I do with that, really?”

  “You could make a lot of money with it,” Mattie pointed out.

  “I don’t want money,” he replied.

  “You want to know people’s thoughts,” she said.

  “That’s right.” Master Morogh smiled. “Oh, you’re just a child. You have no idea what you can do!”

  “But why would you take things like—like Julietta’s voice? And Selena’s grace?” Mattie asked. Upon hearing the question, something flickered in Master Morogh’s face—an expression that reminded her, though she didn’t know why, of the sadness in Hasha’s eyes.

  He gazed at her with a measuring look. “You’re a funny girl,” he said. “But you would understand, perhaps. You don’t like to be different—neither do I. And I was always the one without a talent. The outsider. Now I have them all. I can sing like an angel, I’m as graceful as a ballerina. I have a weightlifter’s strength and the power to make my audience believe my every word. I have the ordinary, everyday talents, and the special ones as well. Do you see?”

  Mattie didn’t see. What did he mean, “the one without a talent”?

  “But I don’t know what people think,” the ringmaster said. “Oh, the power, the utter power of it! To know what others are thinking—who’s plotting against you, who’s for you—why, it’s everything. It’s the culmination.”

  “You might not like it as much as you think you will,” Mattie warned.

  “I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you,” Master Morogh said. “I’m sure that I can find a way to live with it. I want your talent. Will you give it to me, Mattie Marvelwood?”

  Mattie looked around, at Selena and Bell. On Bell’s face she saw a mixture of dread and hope, and she knew what he wanted. She wished Maya were there, so she could know how her mother really felt. Maya would never say it, but would she want Mattie to do what she was going to do?