The travel agent 8/21

The Head waited until everyone was back in their seats before going in front of the curtains to make the final announcement.

“Parents, ladies and gentlemen, we now come to the moment I’m sure a great many of you have been waiting for. Many of the children here have been baffled by Jane Bell’s card tricks, but now we’re in for something far more spectacular. At her request the entire stage has been cleared. I can assure you that the only moveable item remaining is a very large roll of black cloth and the magician herself. The only other people on stage will be her parents, who will make sure no one else interferes, with what I understand can sometimes be rather risky illusions. I give you Jennifer Jane Bell, master magician!”

Abigail smiled to herself at this description of one of the Witches Homes’ apprentices and then joined in the polite applause that followed the announcement.

The curtains parted and Jennifer was revealed standing in the middle of the stage. Her parents left their seats and came to stand in the wings, one on either side of the stage.

She was wearing her school uniform navy blue skirt, with white short sleeved blouse and tie. Any one less like a ‘master magician’ couldn’t be imagined.

She waited until the applause died down and the audience had realised that there was nothing to be seen except the back wall of the building and the large roll of cloth mentioned by the Head.

She stood still for a moment, then slowly raised her arms from her sides until they were pointing upwards. As she did so the black cloth unrolled and lifted up to the ceiling so that she was standing in front of a completely black background. Her parents tweaked the cloth into position in one or two places then returned each to their own side of the stage.

There was a mild flutter of applause; although it seemed fairly obvious to most of the audience that the cloth must have been raised on wires at her signal.

Bringing her arms round in front of her, she next shaped her hands as if she was holding an invisible bowl. Then supporting the ‘bowl’ with her right hand, she raised the other and with her palm facing the audience, poured water from it into the bowl beneath, making it become visible.

Changing hands, she now magically added butter and sugar, two eggs and some flour. Finally she threw in a large handful of cherries. Then holding the bowl in both hands, a large spoon appeared and stirred the mixture by itself.

A flamboyant gesture over the bowl produced a puff of smoke, after which she was seen to be holding a perfectly cooked cherry cake. Everyone applauded; some of the audience turning to their neighbours to explain how they thought the trick had been done.

Abigail had told her that the effect of all her tricks would be heightened if she made no extravagant claims about her abilities, so Jennifer Jane continued in silence as soon as the noise from the audience died down.