On Sunday afternoon, I hung out behind the kitchen door and listened to Sookie interview prospective apprentices in person. She’d ask them all the same question: “Are you good at keeping secrets?”
When it was Raj’s turn, he said, “I keep lots of secrets. Just ask my sister.” Amarjeet, who had been listening with me, frowned in a way that made me think Raj had a gift for blackmail.
Sookie hesitated before she handed Raj the shirt and bow tie that Skeeter always wore. Raj didn’t seem to notice her reluctance – he was grinning from ear to ear.
***
When Sookie didn’t want my help in learning new illusions, I found a different way to help her. For one thing, I used my position as the roadie for the Drearden talent contest to get permission for Sookie to move the old trunk up onto the stage at our school. She insisted she needed it there to practice her surprise magic trick. I also made sure my sister got the most rehearsal time of all the elementary school acts. I also placed her show last on the program. The audience voted for the winner, and everyone knows that people always remember the last event best.
On a Friday afternoon, the week before our Christmas break – and most importantly, the week before the talent show – Mom, Sookie, and I loaded the magician’s trunk into our car. We folded down the backseat to make room for Sookie’s props, and then Mom drove to the school. I had to walk to Darkmont to meet up with them, as there was only room left for two passengers in the car.
I hoped my family appreciated that I was almost frozen to death by the time I joined them in the gym. Winter weather was still hitting our town hard. We’d had a heap of snow. Actually, the whole town looked very Christmassy with the weather, and you couldn’t help but get excited for the holiday. Except that we were behind on our Christmas shopping because the one highway leading out of town was barely letting traffic through, and Mom hated driving in the snow. The river that surrounded the town had frozen, although none of our parents were allowing us to skate on it yet. Grim Hill looked like a regular snow-capped alpine mountain. But no one seemed interested in tobogganing there, even though it was the only big hill in town.
Once inside the gym, I rubbed my legs, trying to make the numbing chill disappear. Sookie had met up with Jasper and Zach who had been hanging out in the gym shooting hoops. They were now helping her and Mom with the trunk. As I climbed up on the stage, Jasper and Zach were setting the trunk upright. The blue cape that Sookie had decorated with silver moons and stars hung across the top of the trunk like a curtain. Jasper parted the curtain and checked inside.
“Out, out,” Sookie said as she shooed Jasper away.
Reluctantly, Jasper closed the curtain. While Sookie got to work directing Zach and Mom on turning the cabinet slightly to the left, then to the right, then back again, Jasper pulled me off center stage and behind a heavy curtain.
“What’s Sookie up to now?” he asked in a worried voice.
“It’s a secret.”
“But you know what the secret is, right?” Jasper was frowning.
“Of course …” But I think he saw through to the truth – the fact that I had no idea.
Jasper shook his head and mumbled, “You understand the difference between illusion and real magic, don’t you?”
“Why wouldn’t I? You explained it once or twice.”
“What I mean is, you’re keeping a close eye on your sister, aren’t you? You’re watching out …”
I was about to ask “Watching out for what?” but Amarjeet arrived with Raj, and my sister was ready to begin rehearsals. Sookie demanded the boys get off the stage, and then I ran to the wall and pulled the ropes, closing the stage curtains. Sookie made it clear rehearsal had to be done in private. Still, I was pretty surprised when Sookie pushed me away too.
Mom left me in charge as she rushed back to the office to finish her photocopying for all the teachers. Amarjeet and I hung around the gym with Jasper and Zach. We took the second basketball and shot a few hoops, but I almost wanted to jump through the hoop myself, and ask Zach, “So, do you notice me now?”
Couldn’t he tell Emily was more interested in that jerk Clive?
I wasn’t the only one distracted. Jasper kept looking toward the stage. He’d jump at every little sound. After a clang and bump behind the curtain, he raced toward the stage; I ran after him and shouted, “Sookie, is everything all right?”
“Yes, everything is going great,” she called back.
Jasper walked away with me, but he kept looking back at the stage.
After that, our shooting hoops fell apart and Zach left. Amarjeet sat down on the bench waiting for Sookie and Raj to finish, while I made sure Jasper didn’t try to spy on my sister by pacing back and forth in front of the stage. I wasn’t about to let him run to Clive with any secrets ever again, although Jasper maintained he’d never done that in the first place.
When my Mom arrived to pick us up, she offered to take us all for strawberry tapioca tea at the nearby Bubble Tea Palace, but Raj dozed off in the car. Mom drove Raj and his sister home instead. I asked Sookie how she managed to wear him out with the preparation for her trick.
She only told me it was a secret.
CHAPTER 14 A Mysterious Malady
RAJ WAS SICK the very next day after rehearsal, and his mother called to say he would not be able to be a magician’s assistant for the Queen of Mystery. Sookie had to recruit another assistant, and then another, and still another. But each time the new assistant showed up for the magic rehearsal, the next day, that kid was sick. Even though students from her class were lining up to volunteer for her, there was a bad flu going through Sookie’s school, and pretty soon she was running out of assistants. Fortunately, the older grades hadn’t gotten the bug yet. Sookie was fine though – not even a sore throat – but the flu was causing a big headache for her magic act.
Then Sookie’s latest assistant, Mia’s sister Toni, became ill. One by one, all the kids from her class who wanted to be her assistant caught the flu. Mostly I’d stayed out of the magic act though, as Sookie was managing fine by herself. I was busy at soccer practice, getting ready for the intramurals.
The afternoon before the talent show, and two days before the intramurals, Sookie was training a new girl named Anne. She was assistant number ten by my count.
That day, while Sookie was up on the stage rehearsing, I was setting up the gym for the talent contest, along with players from both the girls’ and boys’ soccer teams. We’d decorated everything with red and green streamers and balloons. The elementary school provided us with tons of white paper snowflakes, which took us forever to tape onto the walls. They’d also made red and green paper lanterns, which were a pain in the neck to hang along the stage, but I knew the kids would be checking to make sure that we’d used all their decorations. Finally, we arranged the chairs. There were two hundred seats to set up! This was a small town and not too many exciting things happened – no fancy plays or concerts. This talent contest was sure to be a big hit with the parents and all the people in town.
Ms. Dreeble arrived after most of the other kids had left. I was still arranging the green paper programs on the seats of the chairs.
“Cat, this gym looks great!” she said.
I wanted her to say that since I’d worked so hard I should automatically be team captain.
“We’ve definitely raised enough money for the intramurals,” she said. “Are you ready for our game?”
It wasn’t exactly the heaps of praise I was looking for, but I couldn’t fault my teacher for keeping her soccer focus. That mattered a lot to me, too, and I couldn’t wait for the game. Not to mention that all this volunteering also went along nicely with me helping Sookie win the talent contest. I nodded and tried looking dedicated and exhausted at the same time as I placed another program on a chair.
“You know,” said Ms. Dreeble, “Emily is still interested in stepping down as captain of the girls’ soccer team. She’s apparently babysitting quite a lot.”
“I’m thinking maybe it would be better if we had the new team captain begin with the first game. Are you still interested, Cat?”
“Yes.” I swallowed hard. It’s funny. When something so important – something that you’ve been looking forward to so much – happens, it’s as if your mind blanks out. The best I could come up with was one word. And I didn’t even sound all that excited.
Ms. Dreeble looked as if she’d been expecting more of an outburst from me. Usually she was trying to get me to behave the opposite way. But she said, “Good, then it’s settled.”
Team captain! I finished the rest of the setup for the show, told some of my friends the good news, and then rushed home to tell Sookie and Mom.
Dinner that night was my favorite: chili with garlic bread on the side, a perfect celebration for a great day. I was team captain! And my sister would win Drearden’s talent contest. I could finally put Clive in his place.
***
“Hurry up or we’ll be late,” commanded the Queen of Mystery.
Thursday evening, Sookie stood at the top of our staircase. She was dressed for her magic show in black jeans, a crisp white blouse, black jacket, red cape, and of course, the turban. Mom had pointed out Sookie might trip over the sparkly red gown she’d discovered in the old trunk, but my sister refused to give up the purple turban. I had to admit, she did look like a magician – ridiculous hat or not.
Sookie didn’t look one bit nervous, but I had enough butterflies crashing around in my stomach for both of us. We bundled up in scarves, hats, gloves, and thick jackets. The road was icy, but Mom had broken down and bought snow tires, complaining about how she’d never expected that kind of expense.
Personally, I was feeling very lucky. Now I was captain of the soccer team; there was an exciting game tomorrow, and both the boys and girls would be playing in it. Ticket sales for the contest were staggering, which meant there would be money left over for dinner in the city tomorrow night for all the players after the game. It just didn’t get better than that. And my sister was about to kick serious butt with her magic show tonight. Poor Clive and Skeeter.
When we pulled into the high school, we saw Jasper directing parking – not a great job to be chosen for, considering it was so cold outside. When I went through the door, Amarjeet grabbed me and asked me to help her sell last-minute tickets, even though that hadn’t been one of my jobs. She was biting her lip, and she rubbed her head as if it ached.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “But I have to get home.” Her voice caught and it sounded as if she was trying not to cry. “My brother has been in a coma. I’m going to the hospital tonight to visit him.”
Alarmed I said, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”
“I guess he’s going to be okay,” Amarjeet said as if she was trying to convince herself. “The doctors say all his vital signs are good.”
I didn’t know what to say. I told her that I hoped he would be all right, but it just didn’t seem like enough. I took the ticket envelope and replaced Amarjeet at the front door. She raced off looking extremely worried.
Within minutes, it got really busy. Townspeople streamed in as I collected all the tickets and pointed everyone to the gym. The show was about to begin.
When the lights dimmed, I ran across the hall to the lunchroom and double-checked that coffee, tea, and hot apple cider would be ready to go at intermission. I also helped Mia put out the baked goods we’d be selling. She seemed distracted and she almost tipped over a tray of cupcakes that were piled high with chocolate and vanilla frosting.
“Watch out,” I said, grabbing the tray.
“Oh. Sorry …” Together we carefully placed the tray on a cafeteria table. Then she sat down with a sigh. “This just isn’t as much fun when my own sister can’t be here. Toni was so looking forward to the magic show, and she was super-excited that Sookie had chosen her as an assistant.”
“How’s she feeling?” I asked.
“Lately she just sleeps,” said Mia.
The hair on the back of my neck tingled, and I felt goose bumps break out on my arms. My mind was turning. Sleeping … that was Raj’s problem too. Come to think of it, that was also Buddy’s problem. Was this all a coincidence? No big deal, I tried to convince myself, except coincidences were generally not a good thing in this town …
Just then I heard shouting outside in the hallway.
CHAPTER 15 The Last Assistant
“YOU CAN’T BACK out now!” Clive yelled at his brother. “You’re the lead guitarist.”
Skeeter simply shook his head. “I quit. All Sookie’s magician’s assistants are sick. She needs me.”
Again I got a different opinion of Skeeter. I had thought he was a sellout, abandoning Sookie just because his brother said he should. But when the two brothers stood together in the hall, I could see that Clive was quite a force. He was tall for his age and lots taller than Skeeter. He also looked really, really angry. But Skeeter quietly stood up to him. He slipped the electric guitar strap off his shoulder and handed the guitar to his older brother. Clive snatched it out of his hands.
“You’re letting your group down.” Clive shook his head.
“They don’t need me. Sookie does.”
No one else in the rock band seemed that upset that Skeeter was backing out. I wondered why. Then a freckle-faced kid with a mop of light brown hair and a black T-shirt said, “C’mon, Clive. This is really your band. You should be the one who plays with us tonight.”
The other boys nodded. So … Clive was the one who played in this rock group …
“You can’t let your band down,” said Skeeter.
The boys all agreed. Clive strapped on the guitar and stormed off to the stage area with the rest of the band trailing behind. Clive was going to appear on stage in front of all the kids on our soccer teams and play music with sixth-and seventh-graders – how perfect was that? I broke out into a huge grin.
“C’mon, Skeeter,” I said. “I’ll show you where Sookie is.”
“You mean, the Queen of Mystery. We’d better hurry.”
I brought Skeeter backstage. By the way she hugged him, I assumed Sookie was ecstatic to take Skeeter back on with such late notice – not that she had much choice. Anne didn’t show up tonight. She was sick. It was lucky Sookie hadn’t caught the flu – or Skeeter for that matter.
Sookie helped her assistant with his bow tie.
“So what trick are we doing?” asked Skeeter.
Sookie leaned forward and whispered into Skeeter’s ear.
“Awesome!” he said.
Then they shooed me off stage.
Finally, I took a seat in the gym to watch the show. Except, what was I thinking? For the next thirty minutes I endured squeaking violins, toots, and squeals from trumpets and singers so off-key my ears ached. I sat through a dance act where I nervously watched a girl trip several times and almost tumble from the stage in her enthusiasm. When it was intermission, I was happy to abandon my seat and head to the lunchroom.
I rushed around pouring coffee and tea for the adults, handing out treats, collecting money, and making change. At the end of intermission as the next act was announced, the adults hurried back to their seats. They all seemed to be enjoying the show. At the last minute, Mitch showed up at the refreshment table. I waited until Emily carried the coffee urn away before I asked him an important question – something I’d just thought of.
“Are you interested in a few freebies … in exchange for a favor?” I asked him as I reached under the table and produced a plate stacked with cupcakes.
“What type of favor?” asked Mitch. He looked tempted.
“Some special lighting for my sister’s magic act,” I said, holding the plate close to his nose so he could get a good whiff of chocolate.
Mitch reached out, grabbed a c
upcake, and sank his teeth into it. Then he smiled, displaying his icing-covered teeth. “I guarantee Sookie will be in the spotlight for her whole act,” he said as he grabbed more cupcakes.
A few minutes later, the show began. I had to admit the second half offered some tough competition for Sookie. Two school gymnasts performed an impressive tumbling and juggling act. They could even throw hoops in the air, do cartwheels, and then catch the hoops, never stumbling on the stage. The audience roared. The gymnasts were so good, I bet that even though they were in grade six, they could get jobs with Cirque du Soleil.
Next, there was a little girl with dark hair who wore a frilly white dress. She was maybe in grade two. She played the piano better than any one I’d ever heard.
I’d done my best to make sure Sookie was last, but Clive pulled a few strings of his own and booked his band right before her.
When Clive appeared onstage, towering over those younger kids, all of us on the soccer teams burst out laughing. I could almost see a tornado of anger swirling over Clive’s head like in a cartoon. But my laughter died on my lips when Clive began playing.
Clive was an astonishingly good singer and guitarist. I mean, although it disgusted me to even think it, he was talented. His band played a cover of a popular song and they sounded as good as the original band. When they finished, the audience – including all the kids on our team – thundered applause. I started to get really worried about Sookie’s grand finale.
As the applause died down, the curtains closed on Clive’s rock band. When the curtains swooshed open again, the gym was plunged into darkness, except for the spotlight. Mitch kept his end of the deal. He shone the yellow light right on Sookie and her magician’s trunk.
I caught my breath as the audience became quiet. It was as if everyone else in the auditorium had left.
And the only thing I saw was Sookie crossing the stage stiffly, like a zombie – as if she was under some sort of magical spell herself.
Grim Hill: The Secret Deepens Page 8