Magic in the City Read online

  “What do you mean?” said Jake.

  “If it works the way I think it does,” said Hannah, “as long as we take a picture of here with us, we can come back whenever we want.”

  “We don’t have a picture of here,” said Jake.

  “Yes, we do!” Hannah took the map out of her pocket. On the front was a photograph of the White Drawing Room.

  “I guess we could try it,” said Jake uncertainly.

  “Why not? We can come back later, when the coast is clear.”

  Voices were approaching along the corridor. “Quickly!” said Hannah. “They’re coming.” She put the camera to her eye and aimed the black cross at the painting. “Ready?” she said.

  Jake linked his arm in hers. “Ready!”

  Hannah pressed the button, and everything went black.

  CHAPTER 13

  TIME IS MONEY

  The more they talked, the more Simon and the queen found they had in common. They both loved watching television on Saturday mornings, and they both loved dogs, ice cream and magic tricks. The queen told Simon about her horses and her corgis, and Simon told the queen all about his mother and Jake and their house in Canada.

  “What about your father?” said the queen. “Where is he?”

  “In prison,” said Simon.

  “Dear me!” exclaimed the queen.

  Simon explained that they were staying with their aunt Helen and uncle Robert because their house had been repossessed by the bank.

  “How awful!” said the queen.

  “The worst thing,” said Simon, “was leaving Monty behind.”

  “Who’s Monty?”

  “Our dog. Our neighbors have him now. They take him walking on a leash.”

  The Queen looked sad. “It’s funny, isn’t it? Your mother needs more money and I need more time. And people say that time is money — pfft!” She was thoughtful for a while, and in the pause they heard a voice calling from the far side of the garden: “Your Majesty …! Your Majesty …!”

  “You see what I mean?” said the queen. “Never a moment to myself. I wonder what the problem is now?”

  “There you are!” gasped Johnson, hurrying toward them. “I must ask that you come inside, ma’am.”

  “Whatever for?”

  “Security has been breached, Your Majesty. Two children are running riot in your private quarters.” Johnson glanced suspiciously at Simon, who busied himself with the ice-cream sundae.

  “Surely children don’t pose much of a threat, Johnson?” said the queen. “Can’t we finish our ice cream while you deal with them?”

  “I’m afraid not, ma’am.”

  The queen sighed. “Very well,” she said. “Come along, Simon.” She got to her feet and took Simon by the hand. Then suddenly she shouted, “Goodness! What’s that?”

  Johnson looked. While his back was turned, the queen picked up the stopwatch from the table. “Time is motion!” she said, and pressed the button.

  Instantly, everything was still. The birds were silent, the breeze died and Johnson was frozen in position. The queen let go of Simon’s hand and they sat back down again.

  “Two children!” said the queen. “I wonder who they are?”

  “It’s probably Jake and Hannah,” Simon said.

  The queen looked at Simon in surprise. “Your brother? And your cousin? Dear me! Do you think we ought to go and find them?”

  “No,” said Simon, popping another cherry into his mouth. “We can do it later.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” said the queen. “After all, they won’t be going anywhere, will they?”

  “Nope,” said Simon. “Not until the stopwatch gets to zero.”

  They both laughed.

  CHAPTER 14

  ALL ABOARD THE FALCON

  In the darkness the floor seemed to tilt, and when Hannah released the button, she and Jake found themselves sprawled across the wooden deck of the Falcon. They scrambled to their feet. A bright, strong wind was blowing, and the air was loud with flapping sails and crashing waves. As far as they could see in every direction there was nothing but the heaving ocean. Buckingham Palace suddenly seemed impossibly remote. It was clear that they had made a terrible mistake, and as though to prove it, a wave crashed up over the bulwark, drenching them both.

  “Let’s go back!” shouted Hannah.

  Jake nodded.

  Hannah got the map out of her pocket. It snapped and cracked in the wind like a live thing.

  “Give it here,” said Jake.

  But just as Hannah was passing it, the wind snatched the map right out of her hands.

  “No!” yelled Jake. “No!”

  They stumbled after it, but the map blew over the forecastle and out to sea. There was nothing they could do but watch as the wind carried it up, up and away like a kite without a string. Soon it was just a speck in the sky.

  They were still looking at it when a shout went up: “Stowaways!”

  The children looked around. To their alarm, they saw the crew of the Falcon rushing toward them from all directions. In no time, they were surrounded by grubby sailors wearing felt hats, britches and billowing white shirts. Two of them were pointing muskets.

  “Put your hands up!” said one of the men.

  “Watch out!” said another. “This one has a gun.”

  “It’s not a gun,” said Hannah. “It’s a camera.”

  But the men paid no attention. They snatched the camera and rummaged in the pockets of Hannah’s robe.

  “Ahoy!” said a sailor, finding the potato. “What’s this?”

  “It’s a potato,” said Hannah miserably.

  “A what?”

  Before Hannah could explain, another man appeared. He had a pointy little beard and a feather in his cap. “What’s going on here?” he demanded.

  “Pirates, Sir Walter,” said one of the sailors.

  Sir Walter Raleigh put his hands on his hips and looked the children up and down. His eyes widened when he saw Hannah’s monster-feet slippers.

  “Please, sir, we aren’t pirates,” said Hannah. “We lost our map. If you could —”

  “Take them below!” barked Sir Walter.

  ***

  In a tiny cabin behind the galley, Horatio lay groaning in his bunk. He had already been sick so many times that he had nothing left inside him, but he still felt like throwing up. How long would he have to spend in this creaky old tub before they reached the promised lands of the New World? Weeks? Months? He would probably die before they got there. In fact, he felt so ill he didn’t care if he did die.

  Horatio was sorry he’d ever volunteered to be a cabin boy on the Falcon. All he’d wanted was to be an explorer, like his hero, Sir Walter Raleigh. But life at sea was not at all like he’d imagined. The biscuits were full of maggots, and the sailors were nasty, dirty men with terrible manners. Worst of all, the ceaseless tilt and roll of the ship made Horatio seasick. The only tolerable job on board the Falcon was keeping a lookout from the crow’s nest. Up there, with the wind in his hair and his arms outstretched, Horatio had felt as if he were flying. But after he had vomited onto a group of sailors scrubbing the decks, he hadn’t been allowed to keep watch again. Now they only let him scrub the decks and empty chamber pots.

  Just then, Horatio’s thoughts were interrupted by raised voices in the corridor. He sat up. What was going on? Were they under attack by pirates? Had they spied land? Horatio rolled out of his bunk and struggled into his hat and jacket. He opened the door just as several sailors went past. “What’s happening?” he said.

  “Stowaways!” said one of the sailors.

  “Pirates, I reckon!” said another.

  “Oh,” said Horatio, disappointed. “I thought we were nearly there.”

  The sailors laughed. “Feeling a little peaky, a
re we?” said one. He put his finger down his throat and made gagging noises.

  Horatio gave the sailor a withering look. He waited until they had passed then ventured along the corridor to the Great Cabin. The door was ajar, and Horatio could hear the voices of Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Reverend Bull within.

  “Do you really think they’re pirates?” came Sir Humphrey’s voice.

  “They don’t look much like pirates to me,” replied Sir Walter. “Did you see what the girl has on her feet?”

  “I did,” said Sir Humphrey. “I’ve never seen the like in all my travels.”

  “Nor I,” said Sir Walter. “Do you think it’s possible that they’re from the New World?”

  “Well, if they are,” said Reverend Bull, “I don’t see how they came aboard. There isn’t a ship in sight.”

  “They claim,” said Sir Walter, “that this contraption is their means of transport. But I can’t see how it works.”

  Horatio put his head around the door and saw the men examining something with a single glass eye and a long strap.

  “It looks like some sort of optical instrument,” said Sir Humphrey. “But it seems to make everything smaller.”

  “It’s a portable firearm,” said Reverend Bull. “Look. It says Canon, right here.”

  “And what about that curiosity?” said Sir Humphrey, pointing at the potato.

  “It’s a serpent’s egg,” said Reverend Bull.

  “That’s no egg,” said Sir Walter. “It’s a tuber.”

  “Here,” said Reverend Bull, “I’ll cut it open with my — oops!”

  The potato fell to the floor. It bounced twice and went rolling first to one side of the cabin, then the other, as the ship pitched. Then it disappeared under a cabinet and stayed there. The men got down on their knees.

  “You fool!” said Sir Walter. “It’s gone right to the back.”

  “I can’t quite …”

  “Stop! You’ll push it farther in!”

  While they were trying to retrieve the potato, Horatio tiptoed into the room, picked up the camera and peered into the lens. His own pale face was reflected back at him. Now was his chance. His ticket to the New World was right here, in his hands! But he would have to act quickly. With a thumping heart, he clutched the camera to his chest, slipped out of the room and hurried back along the corridor.

  CHAPTER 15

  ABANDON SHIP

  Hannah and Jake were locked in a cabin containing nothing but a writing desk and a chair. There was a tiny latticed window through which they glimpsed the ocean one minute and the sky the next, as the ship pitched. The battering of the waves upon the hull sounded like thunder.

  “I think I’m going to be sick,” groaned Hannah.

  “Look at the horizon, then,” said Jake.

  Hannah went to the window. How strange it was to think that somewhere out there, in the future, the police would be searching for them in Buckingham Palace. Only moments ago, being found by the police had felt like the worst thing that could happen. But how happy she would be to be found by the police now! Tears sprang to Hannah’s eyes as she thought of her parents appearing on the news, making an appeal for information. Yet no matter how hard they searched, nobody would ever find them here.

  “My mother was right,” said Hannah tearfully. “She said you were trouble.”

  Jake, who was sitting at the desk with his head in his hands, looked up. “That’s rich,” he said. “You’re the one who got us into trouble.”

  “Me?”

  “You’re the one who wanted to go into the picture. I don’t know why I listened to you. In fact, I should never have let you come with us in the first place.”

  Hannah flushed. She had forgotten that the ship had been her idea. “You’re right,” she said. “I’m sorry. It was a stupid thing to do.”

  Jake sighed. “It’s my fault, too,” he admitted. “If I hadn’t been going to rob the Bank of England, none of this would have happened.”

  Hannah stared at him. “You were going to rob the Bank of England?”

  “Just a couple of gold bars.”

  “But that’s stealing!” said Hannah, shocked. She suddenly remembered the jewelry store. “You were going to take one of those necklaces, too, weren’t you?”

  Jake said nothing.

  “And that’s why you were asking my father about the Crown Jewels, wasn’t it?”

  Jake was silent.

  “That’s all you care about!” cried Hannah. “Money! What do you need it for, anyway?”

  “It’s not for me,” said Jake.

  “Who, then?”

  “My mom.”

  All at once, Hannah understood. Jake wanted to give Aunt Rachel the money so that she could buy their house. Then they wouldn’t have to move or give Monty away or change schools. And they’d still be able to visit their father.

  “I was only trying to help,” said Jake. “But now I’ll never see them again.” He folded his arms on the table and buried his face. His shoulders began to shake. Hannah began sobbing, too. Soon they were blubbering so loudly that neither of them heard someone slip quietly into the room and lock the door.

  “Ahem!” said a voice.

  Startled, they turned and saw a gangly youth wearing grubby white leggings and a jacket with puffed sleeves. He removed his hat and bowed low. “Horatio Montague,” he said. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

  Jake quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve. “I’m Jake,” he said.

  “And I’m Hannah,” said Hannah.

  Horatio glanced at Hannah’s robe and monster-feet slippers. “Is it true?” he said. “Are you really from the New World?”

  “You could say that,” said Jake.

  Horatio’s face lit up. “I knew it! How far away are we?”

  “About five hundred years,” said Jake, glumly.

  Horatio’s face fell. “Impossible! If it’s so far away, how did you get here?”

  “We had a magic camera,” said Jake, “but they confiscated it.”

  Horatio opened his jacket. “Is this it?”

  “Yes!” Jake reached for the camera, but Horatio quickly closed his jacket.

  “Not so fast!” Horatio said. “I’ll return it … on one condition.”

  “What’s that?” said Jake.

  “You must take me back with you.”

  “The trouble is,” said Hannah, tearfully, “the camera won’t work on its own. We also need a picture of the place we want to go to. We had one, but it blew away.”

  “Can’t you draw another?” said Horatio, pointing to the quill pen on the desk.

  For a moment, Hannah and Jake both stared at the pen. Then Jake snatched it up, seized a piece of parchment and began sketching.

  “Do you think the camera will recognize it?” said Hannah eagerly.

  “I don’t know.” Jake wiped away a large wet blot, smudging it across the paper. “How does the entrance go?”

  “I think it’s bigger than that. No, wider. And aren’t there some columns?”

  “Please hurry,” said Horatio. “We haven’t got much time.”

  Jake scratched a few more lines, then threw down the quill. “It’s no good,” he said. “It looks more like the White House than Buckingham Palace. I can’t do it.”

  “Draw somewhere else, then,” said Hannah. “Somewhere you do know. Anywhere!”

  Jake turned the parchment over and began again. The others looked on as, slowly, the building acquired windows, a front door and a chimney. There were pine trees surrounding it and a large FOR SALE sign stuck in the lawn.

  “It’s your house!” said Hannah.

  Jake was just drawing the front steps when the cabin door rattled. A voice said, “They’ve locked themselves in!”

  “Quick! G
ive me the camera,” hissed Jake.

  “NO!” said Horatio. “I’ll do it.”

  The rattling turned to banging, followed by heavy blows.

  “All right, all right!” said Jake impatiently. “Aim the cross here. Then press the button.”

  Horatio put his eye to the viewfinder, and Jake and Hannah linked their arms in his. All three of them shuffled first to the left, and then to the right, as the ship rolled.

  “Hurry!” cried Hannah.

  The door burst open and Sir Walter Raleigh strode into the room, followed closely by Sir Humphrey and Reverend Bull. “Horatio!” said Sir Walter in surprise. “What are you —?”

  Horatio pressed the button, and everything went black.

  CHAPTER 16

  AUNT RACHEL’S HOUSE

  Hannah, Jake and Horatio found themselves standing arm in arm on the lawn in front of Aunt Rachel’s house. A crow at the top of a pine tree flew off, cawing, surprised at their sudden appearance.

  “It worked!” cried Hannah joyfully.

  Jake extracted his arm from Horatio’s, ran up the path, got the key out from under the mat and let himself in. The others followed him.

  Now that it was empty, the house felt strange. The pictures had been removed from the walls. There were no coats hanging on the pegs in the hall. The kitchen cupboards were empty, and cardboard boxes were stacked on the counters with PLATES or SPICES written on them in black marker pen. Even the plants seemed to have stopped growing in Aunt Rachel’s absence.

  Jake went to the window and stood looking out across the garden to the path that led down to the river.

  “Now what?” said Hannah, coming up behind him.

  Jake shrugged. “Go back to London, I guess.”

  “How?”

  Without answering, Jake turned and headed for the stairs. Hannah followed, and Horatio, who’d been flicking the light switch on and off, flicked it one last time and then hurried after them.