"Patricia C. Wrede - Magician 1 - Mairelon the Magicia" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wrede Patricia C)

worth should be kept close." The crowd chuckled as he
stuffed it into his closed fist and it vanished.

"Dear me, i seem to have lost it in spite of my efforts," the
magician went on, opening his fist "Now, where . , ahl"

He reached down toward a pretty muffin-maid standing in
front of the stage and pulled the handkerchief out of her bon-
net, A string of colored scarves came with it, knotted end-to-
end. Mairelon frowned. "Now, what am I to do with all of
these?" he mused. Carefully he folded them into a compact
ball and wrapped the ball in the white handkerchief. When
he shook it out, the scarves were gone,

The flow of chatter continued as Mairelon borrowed a
penny from a man in the crowd and made it pass through his
handkerchief, then vanish and reappear. He pulled an egg
from behind another man's ear, broke it into his hat, then
reached into the hat and removed a live dove. He covered it
briefly with his cloak, then drew the cloak aside to reveal a
large wicker cage with the dove inside. He placed cage and
dove on the floor of the stage and gestured with his walking
stick, and they vanished in a puff of smoke and flame. He
showed the crowd a shallow bowl and had one of the barrow
boys fill it with water, then dropped a sheet of paper in and
pulled out ten tiny Chinese lanterns made of folded paper.
Kim watched the show with unabashed enjoyment. Near
the end, the droopy man reappeared, carrying an ancient
tambourine. As Mairelon finished his performance, his com-
panion circulated among the crowd, collecting pennies and
shillings from the onlookers.


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Reluctantly Kim pulled her mind away from the fascinating
sight of Mairelon the Magician juggling eggs that, as they
passed between his agile fingers, changed from white to red
to blue to yellow in rapid succession. This was the first time
both men had been outside at once, and she had to know
how long the wagon would be empty,

She started singing "Darlin' Jenny" in her head to mark the
time, and scowled in irritation Her dislike for this job was
growing stronger every minute- Nicking a purse or pocket
watch from the swells in the High Street had never bothered
her, but she'd always hated working the markets Hungerford
was the nearest she'd had to a home since old Mother Tibb