Magician's Fire by Simon Nicholson Page B

else would be able to pull off a trick like making an old man disappear from his dressing room in a puff of smoke? A magician, and a sinister one at that . Those memories flickered again, of Herbie’s fear, of those telltale trembling signs. Harry kept staring at the snake, noticing how it curled around the sword. That wisp of smoke had curled too, in a way that was every bit as unnerving. But most unnerving of all had been that face, with its glittering eyes and its long, thin nose—long and thin as the blade of a knife…
    â€œEr, Harry?”
    Harry looked up. Perhaps his friends were also thinking troubling thoughts. Their eyes were wide open, their faces even a little pale.
    â€œI think we’ve discovered something else about that guy you saw, Harry,” whispered Billie, pointing a finger down the corridor.
    â€œWhat?” Harry turned…
    â€œHe’s standing right there!”

Chapter 8
    The sinister magician. The shadowy shape of the bulky figure could just be seen, framed in the doorway at the corridor’s far end. A scrawny library assistant hovered next to him, which only made the magician seem more enormous. A black cape swept down from his bulky shoulders, two huge fists hung at his sides, and those eyes glittered in the corridor’s gloom. But so far, he hadn’t looked down the corridor. He was too busy, stooped over the librarian and muttering. There was still time.
    No sudden moves . A panicky leap would cause that huge head to swivel, those eyes to glint. Harry glanced at his friends on either side of him and decided not to take any chances. His hands shot out, and he grabbed Arthur and Billie. With a single, well-judged step, he pulled them silently back into the shadows behind them, which were just dark enough to provide cover. Just like a trick . Arthur gaped, and Billie sputtered as if about to say something. Harry’s hands rose again, covering his friends’ mouths. He kept moving, guiding his friends stealthily back through the shadows until they reached the doorway at the other end of the corridor.
    â€œWill that be all, Mr. Zell?”
    So that was his name. After the librarian’s nervous mutter drifted through the gloom, Harry peered back through the doorway. But only by the tiniest amount, because Zell was moving down the corridor now. Dismissing the librarian with a wave of his hand, the huge magician strode toward the table at the corridor’s side where Harry and his friends had been working. He reached it and picked up one of the books that lay there, open at the page with the drawing of the snake and the sword. The magician’s eyes stared at it, then flicked about the corridor even more keenly.
    Billie pushed Harry’s hand away from her mouth. “What’s he doing here?”
    â€œIt just doesn’t make sense!” A muffled hiss from Arthur.
    â€œWe only bumped into him for a second, didn’t we?”
    â€œSo how come he knows we’re here?”
    â€œI don’t know…” whispered Harry. “I don’t… Watch out ! ”
    Zell had heard them talking. The huge head snapped around, those eyes glittering straight at the doorway. Harry grabbed his friends’ arms, tugging them off down the corridor so fast that the books on the shelves blurred into one brown smear. Together, they slammed into a spiral staircase, corkscrewed up it, and slanted down another corridor, racing through the gloom.
    â€œHe’ll head for the main entrance,” Harry gasped. “That’s the obvious way to get out. He’ll wait for us there, so we need to get out someplace else—any ideas, Artie?”
    â€œNot really. I know the library pretty well, but I’ve never tried to escape from it before—”
    â€œA door that leads outside! A window, anything! There’s got to be one!”
    â€œHang on…” Arthur scratched his head as they raced along. “I think I might