scribbling on it, and tossing it on some rickety folding chairs.â
She shifted again. âChairs that feel like they were retrieved from a trash heap,â she added. âPickworths always went to the Field School.â
âThe Field School closed in 1969,â their mother said.
âWe have to get backstage,â Felix said.
âBreak a leg, you two,â 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 magicianâs assistant to Felix. She slipped on her black-ruffled tulle skirt, tights decorated with silver stars, and her motherâs 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.
âDonât forget the hair,â she told him, scrunching her eyes shut.
âYou sparkle everywhere,â Felix said when heâd finished, stepping back to examine his handiwork.
He wore the tuxedo that almost fit him and Great-Uncle Thorneâs 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 didnât want magic in the house for a reason Felix didnât understand, she seemed very interested in the handcuff trick and that he do it just right.
âRemember,â sheâd advised, âit is not the trick that is to be considered, but the style and manner in which it is presented.â
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.
âAnd I get out of these handcuffs how?â Felix said.
He had no desire to get stuck handcuffed to a chair and have to get the dumb things sawed off him.
âIâm satisfied with the disappearing handkerchief, you know,â heâd said.
But Great-Aunt Maisie was practically jumping with excitement. âHereâs the thing,â she said excitedly, clapping her hands together. âThe key Maisie gives to someone in the audience isnât the real key.â
âOkay,â Felix said. âSo where is the real key?â His wrists itched just thinking about this trick going badly wrong.
Great-Aunt Maisie opened her mouth and pointed.
âIn my mouth?â Felix said.
âNot your mouth, you dolt. In your assistantâs mouth. When she kisses you good-bye, she slips it into your mouthââ
âGross! Iâm not having a key that was in Maisieâs mouth slipped into mine. By my sister? No way.â
Great-Aunt Maisie shook her head, disgusted. âOf course not. You choose the most beautiful girl you know and ask her to do it.â
Felix thought about Lily Goldberg and blushed. Thankfully, Great-Aunt Maisie didnât notice. She just kept on explaining.
âAnd while your beautiful assistant is twirling and spinning like Isadora Duncan, youââ
âWho?â Felix asked.
âDonât you know anything?â Great-Aunt Maisie said. âIsadora Duncan is only one of the most famous dancers who ever lived. Poor thing. Such a tragic end.â She sighed. âWhy am I even bothering to teach you this trick?â
âExactly,â Felix told her. âIâve got the card trick and the disappearingââ
âTwo tricks?â she bellowed. âYou call that a magic act?â
âItâs just the school Talent