Church of Marvels by Parry Leslie

Author:Parry, Leslie [Parry, Leslie]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780062367556
Publisher: Ecco
Published: 2015-05-05T04:00:00+00:00

FOURTEEN

THERE WAS A STORY ODILE REMEMBERED, A STORY THEIR mother used to tell. Once, long ago, in Punxsutawney before the war, Friendship’s brother had taken her to see a traveling magic show. It was the first time Friendship had seen anything other than Christmas vespers at the hotel bar, where her uncle, crippled in a mining accident, poured steins of beer for the traveling businessmen. She and her brother had run down the hill from the house; their mother had taken to bed with a spell and their aunties were busy bundling goose feathers in the kitchen. They snuck in behind the miners and toughs and big German families who spoke no English, huddled in a town hall that had seen dances and auctions and even a human dissection by the local doctor. The magician had come all the way from Pittsburgh. When he stepped out from behind the curtain—his hair molded, his moustache waxed, his spectacles gleaming in the footlights—he was holding a large, brilliantly green reptile. Friendship had never seen anything like it before: the medieval, spiny back, the armored wattle, the pink tongue and wizened face. Is that a dragon? she whispered to her brother. But her brother, who knew everything, could only stare at the stage in wonder, unable to answer. Some people in the audience screamed; a few ran for the door. The magician stepped forward and asked for a brave volunteer. Friendship’s brother elbowed her hard, shoving her into the aisle. The magician turned, squinting through the motes of light, shielding his eyes with his white-gloved hand. Then he pointed down and said: Yes. You. And so Friendship walked slowly, apprehensively down the aisle, heads turning to watch her pass. Everything was silent, except for the wooden steps that squeaked on her way up to the stage. She was embarrassed at first, in her hand-me-down dress that smelled like the noosed, oily goose in the smoke shack. But she wanted to get closer to the dragon—nestled there in the man’s arms, claws gripping at his sleeve, the striped, molting tail sticking out like a shoot. Her skin tingled as she stepped under the lights. With a whoosh, the magician spun away from the audience, his back to the spotlight, and instructed Friendship to tug twice at his coattails. She did, baffled and giggling, a little afraid. He hopped up and down, then turned back to the crowd. The animal had transformed in his hands—no longer scaly and serpentine, but orange and furred, yawning in his cupped hands. A kitten. Friendship gasped. The magician took a step forward and held it out to her, but she backed away. Go on, he said as the audience laughed. Tell them it’s real. And so Friendship reached out, trembling, and lifted the kitten into her arms. Folded ears and white whiskers. A pink nose that left cold, itchy dots on her neck. She nodded, stunned. That’s your prize, said the magician. Ladies and gentlemen, my lovely assistant! There was a crackle of applause from the crowd, echoing all the way up to the balcony.

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