Hurry Up, Houdini! Read online

  As the crowd applauded, Annie waved the wand over her hat. In a strange voice, she said, “Zoom-bally-hula-hula-hi-ho-hay! Which means, Oh, wondrous hat, send new friends our way!”

  Jack reached into the hat, pushed down on the secret flap, then gently lifted out a dove. As the crowd cheered and clapped, he reached in again and took out the second dove. Jack handed the birds to Annie. They perched on her fingers as she lifted her hands into the air. The birds flapped their wings, bowing to the audience.

  The cymbals crashed.

  The crowd cheered and clapped.

  While Annie distracted the crowd with the birds, Jack scooped the deck of cards off the table and stepped into the shadows. Behind his back, he divided the deck equally. Then he hid the two halves in the palms of his hands.

  Annie gave the doves to Hank and Butch. Then she turned back to the crowd. “I believe my brother has something to share with you now!” Annie shouted. “Jolly Jack?”

  Jack took Annie’s place in the spotlight. “Are there any cardplayers in the house?” he called.

  Many in the audience raised their hands. Some laughed loudly and teased each other.

  “Well then, my friends,” said Jack, “my strong advice to you tonight is never play cards with a magician!” As he spoke, he secretly gripped the edge of the card stack in his right hand. Using his thumb, he expertly inched the top card up until it was just behind his fingers.

  All the while, Jack kept talking: “But oddly, some folks are foolish enough to challenge me to a game. Therefore, I never travel anywhere without a deck, but I prefer my cards to remain invisible until I am ready to use them!”

  Jack then raised his right hand and flipped out the card, pretending to pluck it out of the air. The audience gasped. Cymbals clashed.

  “Of course, you can’t play a card game with only one card!” Jack said. He reached into the air with his left hand. “Ah, good! Here is another … and another … and another!”

  The drummer pounded his drums each time Jack appeared to snatch a card from the air. He produced card after card. “What’s this? Another! Another!” Finally, he said, “My goodness! I seem to have gathered an entire deck. Who wants to play a game?”

  The cymbals crashed. The crowd cheered and Jack bowed.

  Annie stepped into the spotlight, holding up three large rings. “Once upon a time, in a palace in China, we learned the ancient art of magic rings,” she said.

  Jack knew that one of the rings had a tiny opening in it. Annie hid the opening between her thumb and index finger so no one could see it.

  “These are three solid rings,” Annie told the crowd. “There is no way on earth to link them together!” She banged the rings against one another, making a show of trying to fit them together. Each time she failed.

  Jack stepped forward. “But deep in the palace of the emperor,” he said, “a Chinese sage taught us a magical song.” Jack waved his wand over the first ring and sang, “Hong-hong-hong-hong!”

  Annie banged the rings together again. This time she slipped the solid rings through the hidden opening in the other ring. Her hands moved so swiftly no one could see what she was doing.

  “Once again, the magic song has worked!” she shouted, holding up the three connected rings.

  Cymbals crashed.

  As the crowd applauded, Annie easily disconnected the rings. Then she tossed the two solid ones high into the air. When they came down, she caught them so they slipped perfectly through the tiny opening of the third ring.

  Annie held up the connected rings, and the orchestra played triumphant music. As she bowed, the audience clapped and cheered wildly.

  Jack joined her in the spotlight. “You have been most agreeable and welcoming tonight!” he shouted. “We will think of you fondly for years to come. But now we must leave you. During intermission, you can prepare your minds and nerves, in anticipation of the most amazing escape artist of all time: the Great Houdini!”

  Trumpets sounded. Everyone cheered and stamped their feet.

  Jack and Annie each bowed with a flourish. They raised their top hats to the crowd. Then, laughing and waving, they ran offstage, and the curtain came down.

  “Well, my dear,” said Annie, “we did it!”

  “We were brilliant!” said Jack.

  Smiling, they pulled off their white gloves and grabbed their top hats. Hank and Butch quickly appeared and carried away their table and props. “Good show! Good show!” they said.

  “Thanks, guys,” said Jack, pulling off his bow tie.

  “What time is it?” Annie asked.

  Jack pulled out his pocket watch. “Eight-forty-eight,” he said. “Our timing was perfect. We even have seventeen minutes of magic left over!”

  “And Houdini should be in his dressing room now, since he goes on at nine,” said Annie. “While we’re still great magicians, should we try to talk to him? Maybe even show him a trick or two?”

  “Yes!” said Jack.

  Jack and Annie hurried off the stage. When they reached the dressing rooms, they found Mr. Dewey outside Houdini’s door. He was pacing up and down, wringing his hands. “He’s not here!” he cried. “He’s not here!”

  “Who?” said Jack.

  “Houdini?” said Annie.

  “Who else?” shouted Mr. Dewey. “He’s not here! N-O-T! H-E-R-E!”

  “Where is he? What happened to him?” asked Jack.

  “Who knows?” cried Mr. Dewey. “All I know is that this is a disaster! The hooligans will demand their money back! And probably tear the theater apart! I’m facing ruin! Disgrace! All is lost!”

  The stage door banged open, and Mr. Wilson rushed in. “No sign of him outside, Boss,” he said.

  “Ohhh, Wilson!” cried Mr. Dewey. “We’re doomed! We’re doomed!”

  Mr. Wilson nodded grimly.

  Jack looked at his pocket watch. “Ten to nine,” he said. “He could still make it in time.”

  Mr. Dewey raised his arms in the air, as if calling out to Houdini wherever he was. “Hurry up, Houdini! Hurry up!” he cried. Then he buried his head in his hands.

  Oh, brother, thought Jack. Mr. Dewey was nuts. But where was Houdini? He and Annie needed him, too—or they’d never learn a secret of greatness from him.

  “Listen, kids, if he’s not here by nine, you’ll have to go back out,” Mr. Wilson said to Jack and Annie.

  “Back out where?” said Jack.

  “Onstage,” said Mr. Wilson.

  Mr. Dewey looked up. “Yes!” he cried. “You said you knew hundreds of tricks! Just keep performing till he shows up—if he shows up! Hold the crowd till he comes. Hold ’em if he doesn’t come! Save me! I’ll pay you!”

  “No, no, you don’t have to do that,” said Annie. “We’re happy to help.”

  “Annie, stop!” Jack whispered. “Our magic hour’s almost up.” He looked back at the theater owner. “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid we can’t go back out there.”

  “You must! You must!” said Mr. Dewey. “They love you! Go out and save my theater! Save my life! Please!”

  “Whoa, take it easy,” Jack said, trying to calm the hysterical man. He didn’t know what else to say.

  “Don’t worry, Mr. Dewey, we’ll help,” said Annie.

  “Thank you!” cried Mr. Dewey. “I’ll look for Houdini outside!”

  Mr. Dewey hurried away. Mr. Wilson called to his crew and told them to put the rabbits and birds back in the hidden compartments of the table.

  “Let’s talk,” Jack said to Annie. They slipped into their dressing room, and Jack closed the door.

  “I know you said yes only because Mr. Dewey was losing his mind,” said Jack. “But I don’t see how we can do this.”

  “Well, if we go on at nine, we’ll have five good minutes,” said Annie.

  “I know, but what if Houdini’s still not here after five good minutes?” said Jack.

  “Maybe we could hold their attention some other way,” said Annie. “We could at least try
.”

  “Hmm.” Jack thought for a moment. “Actually, maybe we can get away with doing the same tricks we did before,” he said. “Now that we know how they work, they shouldn’t be that hard. We know how to push on the tops of the hats. We know about the hidden compartments in the table. We know about the opening in the ring.”

  “Yeah … right. Right, easy,” said Annie. “You can keep doing card tricks, and I can keep throwing the rings around.”

  Mr. Wilson opened the door, and sounds from the audience filled the room. Jack could hear feet stamping and people chanting, “Hoo-dee-nee! Hoo-dee-nee!”

  “Everything’s back onstage,” said Mr. Wilson. “Ready to tame the lions?”

  Jack still felt the confidence that came from being a great magician. “Showtime!” he said.

  “No problem!” said Annie.

  Jack and Annie left the dressing room and followed Mr. Wilson through the backstage area.

  “Dewey’s out on the avenue, looking for Houdini,” said Mr. Wilson. “Take your places, and I’ll pull the curtain.”

  Jack and Annie strode onto the stage and stood in front of the table. Jack looked at his pocket watch. It was nine o’clock.

  The curtain rose to great fanfare. The audience clapped and cheered. It took a moment for everyone to realize they were looking at Jack and Annie again. After a stunned silence, some people started booing and hissing.

  Jack stepped forward. He tipped his hat and laughed his jolly laugh. “What a terrible surprise, eh?” he shouted. “You didn’t know Jolly Jack is the secret identity of the Great Houdini, did you?”

  More booing and hissing.

  “Seriously, folks, I understand your disappointment,” said Jack. “But the world’s greatest magician is preparing himself backstage right now to give you the best show you’ve ever seen. So please allow Jolly Jack and the Amazing Annie to entertain you for a few more minutes!”

  The audience quieted down, but then someone yelled, “We want Houdini!”

  “Take it outside, pal!” said Jack. “So do we!”

  The audience laughed.

  Jack turned to Annie. “The wand, sister dear.”

  Annie expertly dropped the wand down her sleeve into her hand. The cymbals crashed. But this time, there wasn’t much applause.

  Annie gave the wand to Jack. As he placed his hat over the hidden compartment on the table, he secretly pushed down on the trapdoor. Jack then waved the wand around the brim of the hat. He opened his mouth to speak—but suddenly, horribly, he couldn’t think of anything to say!

  Holding the wand in midair, Jack turned to Annie. She looked confused, too. Their hour of being great stage magicians had ended. The magic was over.

  Some people yelled from the audience. Jack felt embarrassed and self-conscious. He couldn’t believe he was trying to perform magic in front of a gazillion people. It was like a nightmare! He couldn’t move or speak!

  Annie rushed over. She reached into Jack’s hat and pushed down on the top. Out jumped the rabbits—one, two, three! But this time, Annie couldn’t catch them, and they jumped to the floor and hopped around the stage.

  The audience laughed and booed.

  Annie put her hat over the second trapdoor and pushed down on the top. Out flew the birds. They circled above the table while Annie grinned foolishly. “See? Magic doves … again,” she said. The stagehands came out and tried to gather up all the creatures.

  The audience booed.

  The musicians didn’t know what to do. They played random violin squeaks, drum sounds, and trumpet wails.

  Jack grabbed the deck of cards. “Um … are there still some cardplayers here?” he said. He thrust out his arm. Instead of a card appearing in his hand, the whole deck flew into the air.

  BLAAAAH! played the trombone.

  Annie grabbed the three silver rings, but she fumbled them, too, and they clattered to the floor.

  Again, the trombone played, BLAAAAH!

  The audience laughter and booing had turned to shouting, “Hoo-dee-nee! Hoo-dee-nee!” People stamped their feet.

  Mr. Wilson yelled from the wings, “Different tricks, kids! Do something new!”

  Jack was desperate to leave the stage. He grabbed Annie by the arm. “Let’s get out of here!” he said.

  “Wait,” she said, squinting out at the crowd. “Listen.”

  Jack heard people yelling, “Hurrah!” Then he heard cheers and clapping!

  Has Houdini arrived? Jack wondered.

  The audience clapped and chanted louder than ever: “Hoo-dee-nee! Hoo-dee-nee!”

  Mr. Dewey was leading a man and woman down the aisle, toward the stage. The woman’s hat was piled high with bananas and roses. “Is that Bess?” said Jack.

  “Yes,” said Annie. “It’s Bess and Harry!”

  “How weird! What are they doing?” said Jack. “Are they coming to help us?”

  Mr. Dewey led Bess and Harry onto the stage.

  Bess rushed over to Jack and Annie. “What are you two doing here?” she said to them.

  “What are you two doing here?” said Annie.

  “We got trapped on the Trip to the Moon! The gears got stuck!” said Bess. “So you kids are performers?”

  “We were just filling in for the Bambini Brothers!” said Jack. “And then—”

  “Hey—what’s Harry doing?” said Annie.

  Harry had walked down to the footlights. He was bowing to the crowd! And the audience was screaming and cheering.

  Harry raised his hands to quiet them. Then he motioned to Jack and Annie. “Come here, kiddos!” he said.

  Jack and Annie walked downstage. Harry put one arm around Jack’s shoulders and the other around Annie’s.

  Then he looked back out at the crowd. “Folks, wasn’t that the worst magic act you’ve ever seen? Ha! It’s all part of the show! I asked my young friends to warm you up for me … and that they did! Now I think you’re ready, no?”

  “Yes!” the audience screamed. “Yes!”

  Harry looked from Annie to Jack. “You can relax now, kiddos,” he said. “The Great Houdini has arrived.”

  “You … you?” breathed Annie.

  “You’re the Great Houdini?” said Jack. He couldn’t believe it!

  “Just give us a moment to set up our show!” Houdini shouted to the audience. “Sit tight, and we’ll be back quick as a wink! In the meantime, how about a nice hand for these funny little magicians?”

  Music played, Jack and Annie bowed, the crowd roared enthusiastically, and the red curtain came down. Bess rushed over to Jack and Annie. “Thanks for helping us out!” she said.

  “We had no idea you had a comedy act,” Harry said.

  “We had no idea you were the Great Houdini!” said Annie.

  “That’s what we figured,” said Bess. “Forgive us for having a little fun with you two.”

  “Harry! Hurry!” Mr. Dewey said. The theater owner led Houdini back to his dressing room.

  “Thanks again, you crazy kids, for covering for us!” said Bess, hugging Jack and Annie.

  “Everyone, please clear the stage!” Mr. Wilson said. “We have to reset!”

  “Stick around and watch us!” Bess said to Jack and Annie. She guided them to a couple of chairs just offstage. “Sit here! I have to help Harry.” She hurried back to the dressing room.

  As crowd noises filled the theater, Annie turned to Jack. “Can you believe it?” she said.

  “No … I can’t—I can’t believe it …,” said Jack. He was in a daze.

  “Maybe we’ll learn the secret of greatness from him now,” said Annie hopefully.

  “Oh, right,” said Jack. He pulled off his gloves and looked at the Ring of Truth on his finger. He hoped it would soon start to glow.

  While the Houdinis prepared for the show, the stagehands found all the rabbits and doves and put them back in their cages. They picked up the cards and rings and hauled the table away.

  “Set Harry’s cabinet center stage!”
Mr. Wilson called.

  Hank and Butch carried a wooden cabinet onto the stage. Black fabric covered three sides of it, and a black curtain hung in front.

  Just as the audience began to stamp their feet, Mr. Dewey led the Houdinis out of their dressing room. Bess was wearing white tights and a short pleated dress. Her delicate face was framed by a ring of dark curls. Harry was dressed in an elegant black suit, his hair combed back neatly.

  The curtain rose, and the orchestra played a rousing tune.

  Bess stood beside the cabinet while Harry stepped into a spotlight. For a long moment, he gazed intensely at the audience. When the noisy crowd grew quiet, he spoke in a voice that carried all the way to the back of the theater.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, I, Harry Houdini, would like to make a bet with you! I’ll bet a thousand dollars there is no lock that can hold me captive tonight! They don’t call me the Master of Escape for nothing!”

  From that moment on, Harry Houdini was the Master of Escape. As the orchestra played, he performed easily, with humor and confidence. Several times during his act, he invited volunteers onstage to make sure all his locks were securely locked and all his knots were tightly tied.

  During his first trick, Houdini asked the audience volunteers to check three pairs of handcuffs that Bess had locked around his wrists. Then he stepped inside his cabinet.

  Bess closed the black curtain. “Let’s count to ten together!” she called to the crowd.

  Everyone counted: “One! Two! Three! …”

  On the count of ten, Houdini threw open the curtain—his handcuffs dangling from his hand!

  Jack and Annie gasped. “How did he do that?” Jack said.

  Harry did the trick again with a new level of difficulty. This time, Bess not only locked handcuffs around Houdini’s wrists, she also wrapped chains around his ankles and secured them with padlocks. Again, excited volunteers made certain that all the locks were truly locked.

  When the black curtain closed, Bess asked everyone to count again. On the count of ten, Harry threw open the curtain—freed from his shackles and handcuffs. The crowd clapped and cheered.