Prince of Air by Ann Hood Read Free Book Online Page B

scribbling on it, and tossing it on some rickety folding chairs.”
    She shifted again. “Chairs that feel like they were retrieved from a trash heap,” she added. “Pickworths always went to the Field School.”
    â€œThe Field School closed in 1969,” their mother said.
    â€œWe have to get backstage,” Felix said.
    â€œBreak a leg, you two,” his mother said.
    Great-Aunt Maisie nodded in their general direction, and Great-Uncle Thorne ignored them completely as they left the auditorium to get ready.

    Despite her earlier reluctance, Maisie seized on her role as magician’s assistant to Felix. She slipped on her black-ruffled tulle skirt, tights decorated with silver stars, and her mother’s old high black platform shoes. On top, she wore a faded leotard, but she threw a dramatic cape over her shoulders. The cape was also black, but the lining was an iridescent blue. Maisie made Felix sprinkle almost an entire tube of glitter on her.
    â€œDon’t forget the hair,” she told him, scrunching her eyes shut.
    â€œYou sparkle everywhere,” Felix said when he’d finished, stepping back to examine his handiwork.
    He wore the tuxedo that almost fit him and Great-Uncle Thorne’s top hat. From behind the curtain, Maisie and Felix watched Lily Goldberg play her cello. Felix wished he could have asked Lily to be his assistant, especially for the handcuff trick that Great-Aunt Maisie had shown him. Though she didn’t want magic in the house for a reason Felix didn’t understand, she seemed very interested in the handcuff trick and that he do it just right.
    â€œRemember,” she’d advised, “it is not the trick that is to be considered, but the style and manner in which it is presented.”
    Then Great-Aunt Maisie had explained to him that all he had to do was have his assistant give him a kiss for luck, handcuff him so that his hands were behind the chair he sat in and away from the audience, give the handcuff key to a member of the audience, then distract everyone by swirling her cape dramatically and leaping around like a crazy person.
    â€œAnd I get out of these handcuffs how?” Felix said.
    He had no desire to get stuck handcuffed to a chair and have to get the dumb things sawed off him.
    â€œI’m satisfied with the disappearing handkerchief, you know,” he’d said.
    But Great-Aunt Maisie was practically jumping with excitement. “Here’s the thing,” she said excitedly, clapping her hands together. “The key Maisie gives to someone in the audience isn’t the real key.”
    â€œOkay,” Felix said. “So where is the real key?” His wrists itched just thinking about this trick going badly wrong.
    Great-Aunt Maisie opened her mouth and pointed.
    â€œIn my mouth?” Felix said.
    â€œNot your mouth, you dolt. In your assistant’s mouth. When she kisses you good-bye, she slips it into your mouth—”
    â€œGross! I’m not having a key that was in Maisie’s mouth slipped into mine. By my sister? No way.”
    Great-Aunt Maisie shook her head, disgusted. “Of course not. You choose the most beautiful girl you know and ask her to do it.”
    Felix thought about Lily Goldberg and blushed. Thankfully, Great-Aunt Maisie didn’t notice. She just kept on explaining.
    â€œAnd while your beautiful assistant is twirling and spinning like Isadora Duncan, you—”
    â€œWho?” Felix asked.
    â€œDon’t you know anything?” Great-Aunt Maisie said. “Isadora Duncan is only one of the most famous dancers who ever lived. Poor thing. Such a tragic end.” She sighed. “Why am I even bothering to teach you this trick?”
    â€œExactly,” Felix told her. “I’ve got the card trick and the disappearing—”
    â€œTwo tricks?” she bellowed. “You call that a magic act?”
    â€œIt’s just the school Talent