Brother Boswell ducked and tried to hide. But one of the audience members recognised him by his hair that was burned by hair cream when he dosed off on his seat during his trip to Sunrise Avenue.

“There he is!” The audience pointed as Brother Boswell quickly hid himself backstage.

The magician took a deep breath and grinned. “Now for my real final act of the day.” He gulped again and pointed a bony finger to the crowd. “Now whom shall I choose to come up to the stage.”

Some children shouted out “me!” as they raised their hands in the air. Others bit their finger-nails in anticipation. While others sunk their heads between their shoulders, hoping the magician wouldn’t point them. Mary-Anne stood up and pointed at Lindiwe, who was laughing next to Mark.

“Hey pick my friend here!” She screamed with a hint of a smirk.

The magician’s shoulders ebbed. He waved his wand around and forced a smile, “come over to the stage.”

Beads of sweat had washed away some of the make up on his face.

“Let’s hear a big cheer for this brave little girl.”

The audience cheered. “And what’s your name little one?” The magician bent over.

“Lindiwe.”

“Beautiful. Let’s begin.”

He rubbed his hands together and observed that the cloth he was carrying wasn’t enough to cover her body. He then looked around at his cape and tried to remove it, but it wouldn’t go loose. He tried to add more pressure but the pin sticking out pricked him.

The children laughed at the magician’s misfortunes. He called for a curtain backstage. He clapped his hands and sang a tune to distract the crowd as he waited for a bigger cloth or curtain.

Finaly, one of the workers emerged with a table cloth.

“This is what I could find.”

“This will do . . . I hope”, the magician said under his breath. He covered her body and the audience went silent.

“You better not stuff this up or else I’ll have your fingers on a platter.” Brother Boswell could be heard seething backstage.

“Abracadabra-Alakazam!”

Then boom, a cloud of smoke and the cloth fell to the stage’s wooden floor. The audience clapped. The magician’s eyes darted around. The sun suddenly disappeared and the sky was shrouded by dark clouds. Crows squawked from a distance.

“And now to bring her back.” He waved his wand around and recited his spell again. But nothing. He tried again, still nothing.

“Exactly what is supposed to happen?” One drunken audience member yelled.

“Hey, where is my daughter?” Lindiwe’s father asked as he stammered to his feet.

The audience went silent.

The cello voice got louder, “Where is my daughter?”

The magician stood still, wide-eyed, shell shocked. He was lost for words.