Princess Thief: Stealing Your Heart (8 page)

“You’re
on,” the prince said.

Juliette
and Guillermo took their positions side by side and gripped the handle of their
guns.  The carny flipped the switch. 
“Go!”

The
pair squeezed the triggers and water came shooting out.  Juliette trained her
stream at the clown
’s
mouth and popped her balloon before Guillermo’s was even halfway filled.  “I
win!” she cheered triumphantly.

Guillermo
leaned in close, cupped his hand by her ear, and whispered,
“I should have
known The Robin Hood Robber would have excellent aim.”  He pulled back and
grinned.

“Who?”
she deadpanned.  “Never heard of him.”

“Yeah,
right!” he chuckled.

Just
then, she felt the slightest tug.  She turned around to see a young girl with
tightly curled brown hair, no more than 6, wearing a pink dress, smiling up at
her timidly. 
“Are
you the princess?”

Juliette
smiled at her. 
“Not
yet.  Did you want something, sweetie?”

“Can
I touch your crown?”

Juliette
squatted down to the little girl
’s level.  “It’s a tiara.  Can you say
that?”

“Tiara,”
the little girl repeated, swinging her hips from side to side and looking down
shyly.

“Is
your hand clean?”

The
girl shoved her hands out, palms first, for Juliette to inspect. 
“Uh huh!”

“Well,
OK, then.”

The
little girl ran her hand over the tiara and commented,
“So pretty. 
Thank you, princess!”  She promptly ran away before Juliette could say, “You’re
welcome.”

Juliette
stood and smiled contentedly for a moment, but as she surveyed the crowd
slowly, her expression fell.  Soon, she was frowning.

She
turned to Guillermo. 
“You
know what?  I can’t do this.  I’m sorry.  I just can’t.”  She stormed off
towards the First Aid Tent leaving a dumbfounded prince behind her.

Juliette
flipped open the tent flap and marched inside.  She was alone.  There were two
cots on her left and a medicine cabinet at the back of the tent.  As soon as
she plopped down in one of the metal folding chairs, Guillermo burst in.

“What
happened?” he demanded.  “You were doing so well.”

“I
can’t pretend any more, Guillermo.  This is wrong.”

“If
it’s the reporters, they’re packing up now-”

“No,”
she shook her head.  “It’s not that.  It’s these children.”  She glared at him
in anger.  “I can’t help but notice that none of the children at this
children’s hospital charity event are actually in need of any charity or any
hospital!  Their clothes appear to be brand new and I haven’t heard so much as
a single sniffle.”

Guillermo
sighed, grabbed a nearly stool, and sat down facing her. 
“So, you noticed
it, too.”  His eyes were sad; he suddenly seemed very tired.  “How do you think
I feel?  I’m a pediatrician for God’s sake!”  He ran a hand through his black
hair.

Juliette
felt the blood drain from her face.  She was expecting a fight, not this.

Oh,
Juliette, you can be such an idiot sometimes!

“I’m
sorry,” she said, “I accused you without thinking.” 

She
paused.  No response.

“Guillermo,
look at me.”  She kept her eyes on him until he met her gaze.  Once he did, she
apologized again, “I really am sorry.  I shouldn’t have accused you.”

He
nodded.

“Look,
I’m not blaming the kids,” she continued.  “Every child deserves to have a good
time regardless of their parents’ economic status.  But why are we throwing a
party for children who are well fed and in perfect health?”

Guillermo
exhaled slowly. 
“The
board of trustees claims that kids like this make for better photo ops; and
better photo ops lead to higher donations.”

“Donations? 
From whom?  Aren’t people supposed to sponsor a sick or underprivileged child
to an event like this?  How does this picnic raise money, exactly?”

Guillermo
got a faraway look in his eyes. 
“You know, Juliette, that’s a really
good question.”

“Excuse
me?” a woman’s voice called from the entrance.  “Is anyone in there?”  The tent
flap opened and a stout woman in her early 40s entered the tent holding her
son’s hand.  “My son isn’t feeling well.  Oh!” she stopped when she saw
Guillermo and Juliette.  “I’m so sorry!  I thought this was the first aid
tent.”

“It
is,” Guillermo immediately switched emotional gears and smiled, “please, come
in.  I’m a doctor.”

“Oh? 
Oh!  Yes, well,” she pushed her child forward, “my little Miguel says he has an
upset stomach.”

“Well,
let’s have a look.”  Guillermo hopped off of his stool.

The
nervous mother continued,
“The flu is going around his school.  Do you think
it’s the flu?”

“Hmm…” 
Guillermo felt Miguel’s forehead, then walked to the medicine cabinet and
retrieved a flashlight and tongue depressor.  “Say ahhhh.”

“Ahhhhhhhhhh,”
Miguel said.  Guillermo pressed down on Miguel’s tongue and peeked into his
throat.

“Well,
so far, so good,” Guillermo said.  He pressed on Miguel’s belly with 2
fingers.  “Oh, I think I see the problem.”

Guillermo
spun Miguel around and patted him gently on the back.  After a few seconds,
Miguel belched the loudest burp that Juliette had ever heard.  She stared at
Miguel for a moment in shock, then laughed and laughed. 
“That was
amazing!”

“Miguel!”
his mother admonished, embarrassed.

“Miguel,”
Guillermo asked, “why didn’t you just burp?”

“Because
Jon Aiza says that every time you burp, your soul pops out of your mouth and
the devil can steal it!”

Guillermo
smiled warmly. 
“Well,
he’s wrong.  There’s nothing dangerous about burping.  Does your tummy feel
better?”

Miguel
nodded.

“Thank
you, doctor,” his relieved mother said, patting her heart.  “Oh — I mean, your
highness.  Come on, Miguel.”  She grabbed his hand and led the boy outside. 
“You embarrassed me in front of the prince!” the woman continued.  “That’s it —
no more soda for you.”

“But
moooooom!” the child whined.

Juliette
looked up at Guillermo and smiled. 
“You handled that quite well.”

“Thanks,”
Guillermo said, reaching for a bottle of hand sanitizer on the medicine
cabinet.  “I’ve seen my share of Miguels.  You’d be surprised how many kids
show up with the oddest things.  You just have to roll with it; if you make too
big of a deal out of something, you could embarrass the child and maybe even
stunt his emotional growth.  I remember this one boy, he came into the office
with a crayon stuck halfway up his nose-”

Just
then, the front tent flap opened again and a man in his late 40s wearing
glasses and a white lab coat with a stethoscope draped around his neck stepped
into the tent. 
“Doctor
Valdivia!  I thought I heard your voice!”

“Doctor
Casiraghi!  What a pleasant surprise!”  The two men greeted each other like old
friends, shaking hands and smiling broadly.

“Let
me get a look at you,” Doctor Casiraghi said.

“How
have you been?” Guillermo asked.  Juliette had never seen the prince look so
ecstatic.

“Fine,
fine.  Back from Africa, I see.”

“Yes,
well, I’m sure you’ve heard the news.”

“How
is it over there?”

“It’s
much better than it was 6 months ago, but there’s still so much to do.  The new
vaccine is working wonders.”

Juliette
watched Guillermo speak passionately with Doctor Casiraghi.  His entire
demeanor lit up; he was so animated, so excited, so
smart
.  She found
him utterly intoxicating.

Not
good, not good.  At this rate, I
’m going to jump his bones in front of
all of these children!

As
the men continued laughing and chatting, off in their own world of medical
jargon, Juliette surreptitiously crept to the exit and slipped out unnoticed.

It
was a short walk to the magician
’s stage from the First Aid Tent. 
Juliette made a beeline for the backstage area and smiled when she found what
she was looking for.

“Uncle!”
Juliette waved.

Fran
çois looked up
and beamed at the sight of his niece.  “Ma
ch
ère
!
”

Juliette
embraced her uncle.  Fran
çois
pulled her close and whispered in her ear, “What in God’s name are you doing,
child?  Your picture is all over the news!”

“Uncle,
don’t start.”

They
broke their embrace.  Fran
çois smiled broadly and spoke in a loud voice just
in case anyone was listening, “Here.  Help me unpack this trunk.”

As
they bent down, their faces hidden by the opened trunk lid, Fran
çois resumed
whispering passionately, “How could you have let it blow up like this?  Your
face is on every TV channel.  Why didn’t you return home before things got out
of hand?”

Juliette
shrugged,
“I
couldn’t, uncle.  They posted a guard on the necklace.”

“To
hell with the necklace, child!  Forget about it!  We’re talking about your life
here.  There are reporters snooping around everywhere.  What if they discover
your other identity?”

“Don’t
be absurd, uncle.  They won’t.”  She paused.  “And even if they do, Guillermo
will cover for me.”

“Oh,
so it’s ‘Guillermo’ now, is it?  I think you’ll be shocked to find out how
quickly your royal friend
Guillermo
will abandon you if the truth ever
comes out.
”

“He’s
not like that, uncle,” Juliette insisted.

“Oh,
ma
ch
ère
.  You are
deluding yourself.
” 
François shook his head.  “We need to get you out of here today.  I am sure of
it.”

“No,
uncle,” Juliette’s voice was firm.  “You gave me 10 days to get this job done
and I plan on keeping my promise.  Especially after seeing this so-called
charity picnic today.”  She sighed deeply as she scanned the park grounds. 
“The aristocracy is broken.  They are so disconnected from reality, they can’t
even run a charity picnic correctly — even if they have the best of
intentions.  Guillermo is a good man but how do you fix a problem that runs
this deep?”  Juliette shook her head.  “If I don’t get that necklace, the
orphanage will never get a roof by winter — I know it.”

“And
if you get caught and imprisoned, the orphanage will never get a roof, period. 
Why can’t you see this is a dead end?”  François smiled sadly.  “Oh,
mon enfant,
would you listen to your old uncle for once?  It
’s all fun and games now but the
aristocracy hasn’t pulled out their long knives yet.  Let me get you out of
here before things get worse.”  He playfully nudged her arm with his elbow and
grinned.  “I’m performing the ‘disappearing booth’ today.”

“You
must be joking.”

“Now,
now,” he held out his hands, “Let me finish.  Here’s what we’ll do.  There’s a
disguise in the truck.  Philippe has the long black wig.  After the reveal, it
will take at least 20 minutes before they figure out that we used a body
double.  You and I could be over the border into France before they even suspect
something is wrong.”

Juliette
realized the last part, at least, was true: La Ma
çana Park was so far north, she
could literally hike over the border into France in under 30 minutes.  By car,
it was less than five.

“Uncle,
I-”

“At
least consider it.  Please?  For me?”

Juliette
gazed into his kind brown eyes and sighed. 
“All right.  I’ll think about it.  But
I’m not promising anything.”

“Excellent!” 
François clapped his hands together and stood.  “Now, if you’ll excuse me,
young lady, I have a show to perform!”

Guillermo
spotted Juliette wandering away from the South Stage.  He tried to get her
attention with a wave but she appeared to be completely lost in thought.  He
jogged over to her.

“Are
you missing your mommy, little girl?” he teased.

She
woke from her trance. 
“Guillermo. 
I’m sorry.  I didn’t even see you.”

“Something
on your mind?”

“I
don’t know,” she trailed off, then, “Tell me, if someone discovered my secret,
what would-  No,” she shook her head.  “No.  Never mind.  It’s nothing.  How
was your friend?”

“Doctor
Casiraghi?  He’s quite well.  That was actually his tent we were in.  He just
stepped out to get a quick bite to eat.”

“Have
you known him long?”

“Oh
yes,” Guillermo said.  “At least 10 years.  He was one of my medical professors
at university.  In fact, he inspired me to become a pediatrician.”

“Is
that right?”

“Yes. 
When I was just starting pre-med, I had him for Anatomy and Physiology…” 

As
he rattled on, explaining to Juliette how much he admired Dr. Casiraghi and the
enormous influence he had on his professional life, Guillermo noticed that
Juliette never seemed to be bored, always asking little questions to keep the
conversation going.  He was growing to like her more and more with each day
that passed, this mysterious beauty that he had trapped in his castle.  She was
quick-witted and full of surprises, unlike any woman he had ever dated before.

Well,
I doubt anyone would call this
‘dating.’

“Ladies
and gentlemen,” a voice bellowed through the loudspeakers on the South Stage. 
“The magic show will begin in 5 minutes.  Please find a spot now.”

“Shall
we?” Guillermo offered his arm.  “I believe Armand told me that a quilt with
the royal crest would be laid out for us…  Ah!  There it is.”

Guillermo
and Juliette sat.  He had asked Armand to place the quilt right up at the front
of the stage so Juliette
’s
uncle, François the magician, could see his niece calm and enjoying herself.

Around
him, happy families relaxed under the beautiful blue sky. 

Soon,
the dramatic entrance music began.  Fran
çois ran out to center stage, tipped his
top hat to take a bow and a plastic sunflower popped out, stuck to the top of
his head.  The children loved it.

“I
am François, master of illusion,” he introduced himself to the crowd who
applauded politely.

Fran
çois launched
into his act.  He produced a large pair of interlocking metal rings and
proceeded to lock and unlock them in rapid succession.  As he set down the
rings, he sneezed.  He patted his suit coat, reached into his pocket, and
produced a long continuous ribbon of colorful handkerchiefs tied one after the
other — pulling and pulling while wearing a look of disbelief.

“Next,
I’ll need a volunteer.”  Many little hands shot up into the air.  “You there,”
he pointed at a young boy.  “Let’s give him a hand.”  The boy ran onto the
stage.  “What’s your name?”

“Rahul!”

“Well,
Rahul, would you like a hat?”  The boy nodded.  François produced a sheet of
thin origami paper and handed it to Rahul.  “Now, here’s what I want you to
do.”

Fran
çois had the boy
tear the paper in half several times; François took the pieces from Rahul using
only two fingers, waved his magic wand above them, then carefully unfolded the
paper — which should have been in shreds — into a complete sailor’s hat!  He
placed the hat onto the excited boy’s head while the crowd applauded.

Fran
çois then gave
the boy a series of magic wands in comical trick that ended with the boy
holding a wand the size of a toothpick and François holding one that was 5 feet
tall.  The children clapped and laughed.

He
sent Rahul back to his seat and brought up a young girl as his new assistant. 
He performed several tricks with her: the bouquet of flowers from thin air, the
handkerchief that
“teleported”
to a box across the stage, and the coins from behind the ear.

Fran
çois was a hit;
the children were entertained, and even the adults were joining in, chuckling
and offering encouragement to the young assistants who made their way onstage.

About
20 minutes into his act, Fran
çois took center stage.  “For this next trick, I
need an adult volunteer.  How about you, young lady?” François offered his hand
to Juliette.  “Let’s give her some encouragement, shall we?”

Everyone
began applauding, even Guillermo.  He leaned over and whispered in her ear,
“I guess I should
have seen this coming.”

Juliette
smiled and ascended the stage.  She waved to the crowd.

“Can
we have the children come up to the front of the stage?  Stand right there, so
you can see what we’re doing.”

Several
of the children crowded to the front of the stage to watch the next trick.  Two
stagehands dressed in black carried out a small table with a pitcher of milk on
it.

“Now,
my dear, I need your assistance.  I am going to make this milk disappear.” 
François removed his top hat and set it on the table.  “Now, dear, pour the
milk into this hat.”

Juliette
lifted the pitcher and poured half the milk into the top hat.  Fran
çois waved his
magic wand, “Abracadabra!  The milk is gone!  Place the hat on my head.”

Juliette
peered into the hat. 
“Are
you sure?”

“Of
course,” François nodded confidently.

Juliette
shrugged her shoulders and plopped the hat onto Fran
çois’ head-

-and
milk came pouring out all over his face!

The
children squealed with glee.

Fran
çois made an
angry face.  Juliette giggled with the crowd.

“OK,
OK, one more time.”  François set the top hat back on the table.  “Young lady,
fill that hat with milk again.”

Juliette
emptied the pitcher into the top hat.  Fran
çois gave an evil smile as he waved his
magic wand.  ““Abracadabra!  The milk is gone!  Young lady, place the hat on
your head.”

Juliette
peeked into the top hat, shrugged again, and put the hat on her head.  She
waved happily at the crowd.  There wasn
’t so much as a trickle of liquid.

Fran
çois, enraged,
grabbed the hat off of Juliette’s head and angrily put it on his own head-

-and
was immediately drenched with milk from the hat!

The
children pointed and laughed.

“Ohhhhh!”
he yelled with false rage.  “I’ll get you!”  François ran offstage briefly then
returned carrying a full pitcher of milk.

“Oh
no!” Juliette said and comically ran to stage left as François followed her,
ready to toss the milk on her.  She then ran all the way across to stage right
with François trailing her menacingly.  Just as he caught up to her, she bolted
for the front of the stage and stopped right in front of the crowd of children.

Fran
çois stood right
behind Juliette.  “I’ve got you now!” he yelled.  He pulled back the pitcher,
ready to soak her with milk-

At
the last second, Juliette ducked!

Fran
çois tossed the
contents of the pitcher over Juliette into the crowd of children-

Everyone
held their breath-

As
confetti began to rain gently down on them.  There was no milk in the pitcher
at all!

The
adults laughed and applauded; the children didn
’t know what to think, gazing up
at the falling confetti, trying to catch it in their hands.

Both
Juliette and Fran
çois
took a bow.

“And
now,” François announced, “for my final trick, I am going to perform the
‘Disappearing Booth.’”  The stagehands wheeled out a tall black box about the
size of a telephone booth.  “I will use my powers of magic to make the young
lady disappear!”

Juliette
glided over to the booth and stepped inside.  Fran
çois stood next
to the booth holding the curtain as the two had a brief conversation. 
Guillermo wasn’t sure, but it seemed like there was some tension between
François and Juliette.   Finally, she shook her head emphatically, “no,” and
François flipped the curtain closed.

That
was odd
…

Fran
çois spun the
booth around twice while chanting, ““Abracadabra!  Alakazam!”  He stopped the
booth and flipped open the curtain with a flourish; Juliette was gone!

“Now
to make her reappear.”  François closed the curtain and spun the booth,
repeating his chant.  “Make the princess reappear!”  He pulled back the curtain
to reveal-

- a
cute, white, plump bunny rabbit sitting at the bottom of the booth.

The
children were enthralled, pointing at the bunny and calling out to their
mothers. 
“Look,
mom!  A bunny!”

Fran
çois scratched
his head, checked his magic wand, and said, “You’re not the princess!  Let’s
try it again.”  He closed the curtain, spun the box, said the magic words, and
when he opened the curtain — the box was empty.

“Hmmmm,”
he said.  “I think I’m going to need some help.  Children, help me chant.  When
I say ‘one, two, three, princess appear’ I want you to say it with me.  Are you
ready?”  François spun the box.  “One, two, three, princess appear!”

The
children tentatively repeated the words.  Fran
çois flung back the curtain and —
the box was still empty.

“No,
no, children, you have to say it like you mean it.  Now, once again,” François
closed the curtain and spun the box, “one, two, three, princess appear!”

This
time, the children shouted the words confidently.

Fran
çois nodded,
smiled, and said, “This time, I’m sure!”  He tossed aside the curtain, and —

—
the box was still empty.

Fran
çois made a
point to tap the inside of the box with his wand; he looked genuinely
confused.  Guillermo started to get an eerie feeling; a tingling of the hairs
on the back of his neck.

Wait
— is this what that tension on stage was all about?  Did she-  She didn
’t run, did
she?  If she takes off-

“Boo!”

The
children spun around and their eyes lit up with delight.  Guillermo
’s gaze
followed.

There
was Juliette, standing at the back of the crowd, grinning and holding the
fluffy white bunny!

The
children ran up to her. 
“Can
we pet the bunny, princess?”

“OK,”
Juliette smiled, “but you have to be gentle.  He gets scared easily.”

Two
little girls stroked the bunny
’s fur, their little faces filled with joy.

The
adults applauded — including Guillermo.  As he gazed at her, he felt an odd
sense of pride — even though he realized that he had no logical right to feel
that way since their engagement was nothing more than a business arrangement. 
Still, he was proud of this surprising beauty, his fianc
ée.

What
a woman!

“Well,
I’m impressed,” Guillermo smiled.  “How did you get behind us so fast?”

Juliette
and Guillermo were strolling near the trees at the east end of La Ma
çana
Park, sharing a
private moment while the volunteers began the cleanup.  Off to their right, the
main stage was being disassembled and packed into a waiting van; the carnival
tents were coming down, the vendors carrying boxes to their cars.  The children
were long gone, already back in their seats at school, their half-day field
trip complete.

Juliette
smiled slyly. 
“It’s
a secret.”

He
laughed. 
“I’ll
bet.”  He paused, then, “You know for a minute there, I was worried you weren’t
coming back.”

I
almost didn
’t!
  Juliette thought
but swallowed the words.

“That’s
all part of the illusion,” she said aloud.  “I don’t want to spoil the surprise
for you but in a good 80 percent of the magic acts you see, the magician’s
female assistant is the real performer; the magician is a flashy distraction. 
The assistant is the one who has to contort her body to dodge the swords being
shoved into a box or to squish herself into an impossibly small space.  I
started training to become Uncle François’ assistant when I was very young —
I’ve been practicing yoga and gymnastics since I was 11.  I’m not complaining —
it’s given me a love for exercise and taught me patience.”

“Well,
I think other things, too,” Guillermo suggested.  “Not many people could
actually pull off a secret identity.”