[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Page 46
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
knew he hadn't touched either end of the ribbon to draw it through the ring.
"I hate to disappoint a crowd," Chance said sadly. "Do any of you know how to
make this damn thing disappear?"
Since no one else did, Chance decided that the first thing to do was to get
the ring off the ribbon. He asked Ally to hold one end of the ribbon while he
held the other.
The ring, after some more effort, somehow magically popped off the ribbon
without breaking it or passing over either end.
He finally did manage to make the ring disappear, and there was more
laughter when Helmut Wilson insisted he make it reappear.
"Now, I never promised I could bring it back," Chance warned him.
"Isn't it insured, darling?" Celine asked, making everyone laugh again.
"Bringing things back is a little harder," Chance explained. "I'm not so good
at that yet."
Wilson played the straight man very well and good-naturedly, too, considering
what that ring was probably worth. Ally enjoyed his exaggerated
reactions as
Chance's efforts to conjure the ring produced an egg, a dirty sock, and a
garter belt.
"Yours, I believe," Chance said innocently, handing the lacy thing
to a pretty debutante. Then he looked over at the waiter. "Could I maybe get
something to wet my whistle?"
"Of course, sir."
The waiter gave him a long-stemmed goblet full of white wine. Chance
sipped from it and then covered it with the handkerchief. After a few
elaborate gestures, he uncovered the glass again and revealed Mrs. Wilson's
diamond ring borne on the stem of the glass. They had to pulverize the glass
to get the ring off.
"Sorry about that," Chance said, as if baffled by how that had happened in the
first place.
When the growing crowd demanded more, Chance said, "Well, I'm gonna have to
start charging you. How about a dollar for my next trick?" He looked slyly at
Ally.
"Miss Cannon, would you pay a dollar to see me do something else?"
Smiling, and enjoying herself more than she would have thought
possible, Ally fished a dollar out of her purse. Chance folded it up again
and again, until it was just a tiny square, taking the whole while. When he
unfolded it again, it had changed into a one-hundred-dollar bill.
"Hey!" Ally said, amazed. "Here, let me give you a few more dollars!"
Instead, Ambrose Kettering gave Chance a hundred, instructing him to turn it
into a thousand-dollar bill. However, when Chance unfolded the bill, it had
turned into an ordinary dollar.
"Oops!" Chance shrugged and smiled beguilingly at Kettering. "Sorry.
That happens sometimes."
By the time he finished the impromptu performance, he had returned Ally's bill
to its original denomination, despite her protests, and given a
one-hundred-dollar bill back to Kettering. To show his appreciation, Wilson
invited Chance and Ally to join him for a while in that inner sanctum, that
holy of holies, his private penthouse suite.
The Wilsons' private suite was as lush, grandiose, and ugly as the
rest of the hotel. To Ally's disgust, there was no food being served up
there, only drinks. She had regained her appetite. The Wilsons' various
children were there, though Ally supposed "children" might not be the best
way to describe them. Helmut and Celine had no children together, but they
each had two kids from previous marriages. The four young people, three girls
and a guy, were all college age or older. One look at the son made Ally
Page 47
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
suspect he was a serious drug user. The girls all seemed just plain silly.
But then, Ally thought, being raised with this kind of wealth was
probably enough to make anybody rather giddy.
"Yes, it's a rough business," Chance admitted in answer to Celine's questions
as
Ally gave up her search for something edible and joined them in a
conversation alcove. "There can't be more than a few hundred guys making their
living as full-time professional magicians. I've been one of the lucky ones."
"It's an expensive business, isn't it?" Wilson asked. "Financing an
entire magic act?"
"Very expensive," Chance admitted wryly. "The financing alone seems
like a full-time job. Our show doesn't go in much for costumes,
which saves us some money, but& " He shrugged and contemplated his
drink. "The props have to be constructed by expert illusion builders. We
have to rent trucks and buses, buy airline tickets, negotiate with unions,
rent rehearsal halls. Then there are lighting designers and technicians, set
designers, illusion engineers, animal handlers, company managers, you
name it." He smiled. "It's sure a long way from Ghirardelli Square."
"Who finances you, if you don't mind my asking?" Wilson said.
"Oh, the show makes pretty good money," Chance said vaguely, and changed the
subject.
Among the elite guests invited to Wilson's suite, Ally was surprised to notice
the
Arab who had tried to walk straight through her the night before. When he came
over to join them, trailed by the same two veiled women who had been with him
last night, Celine spoke with him briefly in French, then turned to Chance and
Ally.
"This is Sheik Nesib el Dheilan," she told them. "He wishes to meet you."
"Hi," Chance said uncertainly, returning the man's unblinking, sloe-eyed gaze.
"Hi, there," Ally said, thinking how predatory the man looked as his eyes
traveled over her. "We met last night. Sort of."
There was no reaction to this comment. Instead, the sheik said to
Chance, "Though the woman is not as comely as my wives, I offer you three
camels for her."
"Your wives?" Ally bleated.
The sheik made a dismissive motion, indicating the two dark, silent,
berobed figures standing behind him. Ally cleared her throat, prepared to tell
Nesib el Dheilan precisely what she thought of such an offer, but Chance
stopped her.
"Your offer is an insult," he said. "Twenty camels or no deal. Think it over."
He
rose to his feet, pulling Ally off the couch, too. "Celine, thank
you for your hospitality. We'll see you later."
Ally was sputtering with mingled outrage and laughter by the time
uSey were safely inside the elevator. "Why didn't you let me give that
ill-mannered bigamist a piece of my mind?"
"I don't think it's your mind that he's after, Ally. Besides, nothing you
could say would change the way he's lived and thought his entire life. And I
was ready to leave.
Weren't you?"
"Yes," she admitted. "Very rich people are& well, they're just not that much [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]