Real Magic (14 page)

Having blustered enough to make his point, Walter settled back in his chair and lit up a cigar. He threw on the face of a gracious benefactor but still bared his teeth like the Big Bad Wolf ready to eat up a kid and her grandma. "I'm all ears."

"You must already know that it's not as easy as just showing up and saying you want to join the club. If it were, you wouldn't be screwing around with me. The way I figure it, my best move is to try to infiltrate the group from more than one angle. I've befriended the guys, but I also thought I'd try to use the girl."

"Oh, I bet you thought about using her." Walter snickered enough to get a chuckle out of Freddie.

"I didn't mean like that. I meant —"

Walter slammed a hand on the desk. "I don't believe a word of this crap. We watched you on your date. It didn't look like any infiltration of the magic group at all." Walter got up and lifted his golf club from the stand by the door. "In fact, it looked a lot like the two of you were swooning over each other so much that you weren't thinking at all about the things you should be thinking about."

Even as Duncan's skin prickled at the sight of the golf club, a part of him warmed at the idea that Walter's spies thought Lucy had swooned for him. "There's no need for that club. I'm telling you, this is a real way to get what you want."

Walter's face reddened as his lips tucked in. He clenched and unclenched his grip while a vein pulsed on his forehead. Duncan thought the man might have a heart attack. "Prove it," Walter said. "What great information have you got? Tell me. How are you going to use this dame to get yourself in the club?"

"It's working already. I'm not even in the club yet and I've got a trick to show you. They like me. They show me stuff."

This caught Walter's attention. Though he kept the golf club in hand, he sat back in his chair and puffed his cigar several times. "Show me."

Duncan paused for two seconds, but those seconds stretched out before him as if they would never end. He had to present something to Walter, but it couldn't be any old card trick. It had to be something that Walter would believe came from the magic club, something those guys were capable of but also something that led Walter to believe there was value in continuing his pursuit of the club.

Ben's 10/20 force trick came to mind. It certainly came from a club member, but it wasn't special enough. Besides, Duncan thought Walter probably understood a 10/20 force already.

No, the club's magic that Duncan had seen would not suffice. He needed to draw on his own repertoire, but that meant he had to be extra careful. He had some flashy tricks he knew, but many had been developed as late as the 1970s or even the 2000s. If he tried to show one of those tricks, Walter would think Duncan to be a magical genius. He would probably see massive dollar signs. He might even try to tie Duncan into a performance contract and manage his career. What would definitely happen, though, was that Walter would no longer have an interest in the magic club, would attempt to take over Duncan's life, and Duncan's line to finding the door home would be severed.

As time returned to normal, a memory flashed in Duncan's mind — a rainy, Sunday afternoon with Pappy, and a challenging trick he had spent the whole day working on. "I need a deck of cards," he said. Walter snapped his fingers toward Freddie, who quickly provided a new deck.

Duncan shuffled it up and placed the cards down. "Do you believe in a higher power?" Before Walter could get upset, Duncan put out his hands. "Please, I'm trying to show you. So, do you believe?"

Rolling his shoulders and uttering an impatient sigh, Walter said, "Yeah, of course."

"Of course. And because most people believe like you do, most people believe everything happens for a reason." Duncan picked up the cards. "It sounds good enough. Well, let's put that idea to the test."

Walter leaned forward, only this time his face bore a hint of boyish excitement. Duncan knew the look well, had worn it many times in front of Pappy — this was the look of a man who had a great passion for magic, love for learning new tricks, and a desire to master the skills needed. Those same hands that bashed in skulls with an iron stick rubbed together in anticipation of Duncan's performance.

Duncan cut off about a third of the deck into one hand, a third onto the table, and the last third in his other hand. He then put the deck back together and casually counted off a six card packet. "To be completely fair, you'll make all the decisions here." Duncan dealt two cards face down next to each other. "Which one do you want? Either one. It's up to you. Pick one and slide it over to yourself."

Walter thought for a moment and then picked the left card. Duncan knew that thoughtful look, too. Walter wasn't deciding between cards. He was trying to figure out what the trick might be.

Duncan dropped the packet on top of the right card, picked the whole thing up, and then dealt two more cards. "Once again, pick whichever card you want." Walter picked the one on the right this time. Again, Duncan reformed the packet, shuffled, and said, "One more time." As before, Walter paused and replayed the trick up to this point, his eyes sparkling as he rocked slightly in his chair. Then he chose the card on the right.

"Okay," Duncan said and recapped that Walter had made three selections without any influence upon him. While he said this, he picked up the deck with his left hand while his right scooped up the unselected card on the table and brought it all together. "Now, for the rest of this I'm going to need the help of two assistants."

Time for a flashy move he knew Walter would eat up. Holding the deck in his right hand, he tossed the whole thing into his left but pinched off the top and bottom cards so they remained in his right. Easy to do with practice and it looked fantastic. He then turned over the two cards — the two black Jacks. "These fellows will do fine."

Walter chuckled. "I like that part." The glee radiating off him made him seem younger by the second. If not for the golf club on his lap, Duncan could have forgotten the kind of man Walter was — at least, for a moment.

"These two guys are very important." Duncan placed the Jacks face up on the deck. "They're going to help us out. One goes on the bottom, one stays on top." He moved one Jack to the bottom of the deck. "Now, if I just do a little toss," he said and once again tossed the cards to his opposite hand, pinching the two Jacks. Except this time, a face down card was caught between the Jacks. "Looks like my assistants have found something for us. Let's see what it is." Duncan turned it over to reveal the Five of Spades. "That's all well and good, but of course, we have to ask the question — Why did the Jacks capture the Five of Spades? Well, remember, everything happens for a reason. Please, Mr. Walter, turn over the cards you chose."

One at a time, Walter turned over his cards — the Five of Diamonds, the Five of Hearts, and the Five of Clubs. Duncan spread the remaining deck face up. "You can examine the deck if you wish. You won't find any other fives."

"Son of a bitch." Walter stared at the cards wide-eyed. "I like that. Oh, yeah, I like that one a lot. Now, show me how it's done."

"Of course. That's the whole point here, after all."

Walter nodded to Freddie. "I told you this guy was going to be good. I told you."

"First thing you want to do is stack the top of the deck with any four of a kind, we'll use the fives again, followed by the two black Jacks. The rest of the deck doesn't matter. We give a little speech on how everything happens for a reason and I cut the deck in thirds, but when I put it back, even though it looks like I cut the deck, I make sure the top third, the part with my stacked deck, remains on top."

Walter scrunched up his face in concentration. "I thought something looked fishy there."

Sure you did,
Duncan thought. "Next I count off six cards — my stacked cards — and we go through the charade of having the spectator choose cards. They choose one, and you set the packet on top of the unchosen card and do it again. Now I've got the two Jacks up top and that can't work, so I set the packet on top of the unchosen card and look like I'm doing an overhand shuffle."

"But really you're reversing the order, getting the two Jacks to the bottom, and the last two fives to the top."

"That's right. Now, we let the spectator choose a third time. Remember, every time they've chosen, it doesn't matter which card they pick because both cards are fives. Then comes the flashy part." Duncan paused a little to let the anticipation build. This was another performance, and he wanted to milk it for all the goodwill he could get. With a man like Nelson Walter, goodwill was gold. Especially considering the alternative involved a blood-stained iron golf club.

"Watch close," Duncan said. "This takes practice. First thing you do is drop the Jacks on top of the deck and pick up the deck with your left hand. With your right hand, you're going to lift off one of the Jacks and slide it under the remaining five card on the table while you scoop it up."

"So it looks like you just picked up the five? They don't see the Jack."

"Exactly. Scoop up the cards and place both five and Jack under the deck. Understand?"

"Yeah, yeah. You got a Jack on top, and on the bottom is the five and the other Jack."

Duncan nodded. Walter actually made a good student — eager, excited, and involved. As long as Duncan ignored the gnawing fact that Walter could, at any moment, kill him, this would be an enjoyable experience.

"Next thing you do is give a little talk about needing two assistants, at which point you hold the deck in your right hand with the thumb on top and the fingers below. Toss the deck from your right hand to your left, and the friction from your right-hand fingers and thumb will hold back the top and bottom cards so you can appear to pinch out the two Jacks. All you do now is put the Jacks face up, one on top and one on the bottom of the deck, in your left hand. But this time, when you put the Jack on the bottom you leave it side-jogged to the left."

"Side-jogged?"

"So that the card sticks out a bit to the left. The spectator won't even notice it. You do the toss again, this time left to right. The friction in your fingers keeps back the Jack on top and on the bottom, both the five and the Jack. After the deck is tossed, you've got three cards in your left hand — the two Jacks sandwiching the Five. Reveal the Five and have the spectator turn over his cards which will be the other fives. And that's it."

Walter stared at the cards on the table. "And Vincent Day showed you how to do this trick?"

"He showed off the trick. I figured out how to do it. Been working on it all night."

Walter lifted his head and stared straight into Duncan. All the humor and joy drained from his face. Duncan tried not to blanch at the sight but knew he had failed. It took all his will not swallow against his drying throat. If Walter suspected a lie in any of this, Duncan knew he'd be taken to the other side of that door.

At length, Walter stabbed the cards with his index finger. "Get me more of this stuff. And get in that damn club. If this is the crap Vincent's willing to show outside of the club, then the really good stuff, the things I most want to see, will be on the inside. And they'll be amazing."

"I'm trying."

"Try harder. I got my interests here but they won't last forever. And when they're gone, then so are you. You understand?"

"Yes, sir." On instinct, before his brain could process a thought and override his mouth, Duncan added, "If you really want me in there, then I could use a favor."

Walter looked to Freddie in disbelief. For the longest pause, Duncan waited, expecting a bullet to pierce the tall back of his chair and slam in his skull. But the bullet never came. Instead, Walter lifted his cigar and puffed. "What favor do you want?"

 

When Duncan splashed
into the Magic Emporium, his wide grin lighting the room up, the whole gang sat around a table hot and bored.

"What's got you so happy?" Morty asked.

"Vincent, my friend, you and I have jobs."

Vincent sat up in his chair, his face paling as he looked to Duncan. "I never said I wanted a job."

"If you got a job, you take the job," Lucy said from behind the counter.

Duncan had not noticed her until she spoke, but when he finally did, his eyes lingered upon her lovely form until Ben spoke up. "What about the rest of us? You got jobs for us?"

"Sorry, fellas, but this is a job performing magic tableside at The Walter Hotel."

"Oh." Vincent brightened. "You didn't say this was a magic job."

"You didn't let me get that far."

"We can perform magic, too," Lucas grumbled.

Morty rolled his eyes. "Lucas, the day you and Ben and I can do magic well enough to perform at The Walter is the same day you'll pay for lunch. In other words, it ain't happening." To Duncan, Morty added, "Feel free to use my fedora trick. I'll bet those rich folks will eat it up."

"Thanks," Duncan said. "And if I can get you guys jobs, too, I will."

"Look at him," Ben said. "Gets a job and suddenly he thinks he can throw out bones to us all."

"It's not like that. Look, Vincent and I played poker with this guy who knows Mr. Walter and they wanted some tableside magic for the club. That's it. I didn't mean to sound like —"