Girl in the Shadows (Shadows 2)

"We'll be there," I told him.

"Okay. And how are you two doing?"

"Much better," I said.

"Good. Don't worry," he said.

I thanked him and hung up.

Don'tworry?

I gazed at my reflection in the kitchen window and then signed to myself: right fingers on my temple and that over-the-top grimace.

The strings that tied us all together were wobbling. I only could pray they wouldn't snap in the morning and put Echo into that limbo I had been fleeing ever since my parents died.

15 Encore

. Tyler didn't want to go right home after I told him about Mrs. Westington's surgery in the morning. We of course agreed Echo should not yet be told. In the morning I would take her to the hospital pretending it was just another visit. We decided we'd amuse her until she was tired enough to fall asleep and that way keep her from thinking about the bad things that had happened and could happen. Actually, it did the same for me.

Tyler helped me bring all Uncle Palaver's magic tricks down and carried Destiny down as well so I could perform a magic show in the living room. I returned to the motor home and brought in more of the illusions that we used in the road shows. We had Echo sit on the sofa and Tyler stood to my right and signed and explained everything I said.

I began by pretending to hypnotize a handkerchief so it would straighten up on its own in my hand. It was an easy illusion because a flattened straw was sewn in the hem of the handkerchief and I just pressed on it to make the handkerchief rise.

Using Destiny. I went through card tricks, disappearing ball tricks, and a variety of coin and mirror tricks. Tyler sat in a chair while I magically pulled a handkerchief through his head and then levitated him a few inches off his chair. Even he was amazed and impressed. I ended up with the answering pendulum trick, which was as close to real magic as anything I had seen. At the end of a string, Uncle Palaver had a small fishing weight. He then would have a member of the audience ask a question and the ball would either swing in a straight line for a yes response or swing in a circle for a no.

"How does it do that?" Tyler asked me after I had Echo ask a question. She asked if the casserole she had heated up for us was delicious. It went into a straight line. She clapped her hands and then asked if she would have any nightmares tonight and it went m' to a circle.

I shrugged. "Uncle Palaver couldn't explain it either. He said it was like an old-fashioned divining rod. Maybe it's our subconscious thoughts that influence it." I smiled. "And then again, maybe not."

Tyler nodded. He gazed at Destiny, who had her arms raised as she shook her head, and he laughed.

"I guess it wasn't all bad for you on the road with your uncle." "No, but as Mrs. Westington says, you can't stay on the road forever and run from yourself, put your head in the sand."

We saw Echo yawn.

"Time to go to sleep," I told her. I nodded at Destiny, whose eyes closed.

Echo asked Tyler if he was returning in the

morning and while he glanced at me, he told her he

would see her at the hospital because he was going to

visit her grandmother. too. That pleased her. She

asked me if I was going to sleep now as well and I

told her I would be coming up soon. I wanted to put

away my magic show. She looked at Tyler and then at

me and nodded. After she left. Tyler helped me take

the tricks and illusions out to the motor home. "Destiny stays in the house with us," I said. We then went upstairs to check on Echo and

found her asleep, embracing Mr. Panda.

"I see you have a dream catcher, too." he said.