Chapter 31 Charlotte #2
‘Wait a minute,’ he said, counting out the cards one by one.
‘Look, fifty-one. Your card must have gone for a walk somewhere. They can do that sometimes, you know. Playing cards have a long history. There’s a lot of meaning behind them, and so your card must have gone somewhere it was most needed.
’ He looked around the room, his gaze moving among the teachers, coming to a stop on Charlotte.
‘Ah … Ms. Harding, isn’t it?’
Charlotte felt the gaze of the whole room on her. ‘Yes?’
‘Could you check in your trouser pocket for me?’
‘I don’t think….’ But as she shifted, she felt it, pressing into her thigh. She slipped a hand into her pocket and pulled out a playing card.
‘Can you hold it up for everyone to see?’
Charlotte turned it over. The Queen of Hearts. She held it up, and the little boy began to jump up and down with excitement.
‘Is this your card?’
‘Yes, yes!’
The kids went wild. Charlotte stared at the card in shock, as behind her, Old Don Jones muttered, ‘Now how the hell did he do that?’
James performed a couple more tricks, made some balloon animals, pulled a thirty-foot rope out of an envelope, then asked for one last volunteer. This time almost every hand went up.
‘You, boy at the back,’ James said, indicating Billy Toad, who looked stunned to have been chosen. ‘Come here.’
The boy made his way to the stage. Despite a slow transformation taking place, Billy was still not the most popular of kids and picked up a few snide remarks on the way to the front. Charlotte glared at the perpetrators, making a mental note of the names for a quiet word later.
‘Sit down, young man,’ James said. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Billy.’
‘Billy what?’
‘Billy Toad.’
James looked momentarily off guard. ‘That’s a name one could consider quite unique,’ James said. ‘That marks you out as a special boy, does it not?’
Billy just shrugged.
‘Hold this.’
James lifted up a wide wooden box with a black felt blanket over the top.
‘My box of treasures,’ James said, tilting it to reveal two dark holes in the felt over the top. ‘Two holes: one of great pleasure, one of horror. And a magic box, one that knows the hand that approaches. Tell me, Billy, what would you like for Christmas?’
Billy frowned. He glanced at James, who appeared to mouth something to him.
‘Ah, just some Lego,’ Billy said.
‘Is that right? What every boy wants. And have you been a good boy this year?’ As Billy opened his mouth to answer, James put up a hand. ‘Now is not the time to lie, young man. Now is the time to tell the truth. For this is a box which knows all your secrets.’
Billy looked around the crowd. Charlotte could see him squirming, and had an overwhelming urge to run to him and pull him off the stage.
‘Yes,’ Billy croaked, to a few jeers from the back.
‘Then choose,’ James said, ‘And we’ll see if the box agrees.’
Billy stared at the two holes. The crowd was so quiet you could hear Mr. Wilson scratching his chin. With James looking on, slowly nodding, Billy stuck a tentative hand into the left hole.
‘You have chosen—’
Billy let out a sudden squeal of horror, jerking his hand back out. Tears streamed down his face. Charlotte took a step forward, but Old Don Jones put a hand on her arm.
‘It’s part of the act!’ he hissed.
James lifted up the left-hand side of the black sheet, to reveal a glass front to the box. Behind the glass, a large brown toad ambled about.
James put an arm around Billy’s shoulders. ‘It’s all right, young man. All is not lost. You have time now to confess.’
‘I put a worm in Ms. Harding’s drawer,’ he sobbed. ‘And I told Robert he was a dick. And I … I … I said to Katie and Teagan that I hate my mum because she made my dad leave—’
‘That’s enough,’ James said, looking genuinely uncomfortable. ‘Let’s try the second hole, shall we?’
James guided Billy’s hand into the second hole. This time, Billy’s eyebrows lifted, despite the tears that still streamed down his face.
‘The power of magic,’ James said. ‘Show them.’
Billy withdrew his hand to reveal a shiny box of Lego. He forced a smile, wiping his eyes.
‘The power of magic,’ James said again, pushing the box at Billy, ushering him off the stage.
As the boy returned to his place, James jumped to his feet, hands waving.
Bangers went off, and streamers arched out over the kids, spraying them with coloured paper.
He spun around, and a cascade of tiny keyrings, each with a plastic character figure that was clearly supposed to be James scattered across the crowd.
‘One for everyone,’ James intoned, even as a couple of kids cried out in pain as the hard lumps of plastic hit them in the face.
‘See me afterwards if you didn’t get one.
I thank you for being my audience today, and hope to see you at a show sometime soon. ’
The teachers instructed the kids to file out. Charlotte told hers to go back to class, then went looking for James. She found him behind the partition wall, talking to Mr. Wilson.
‘I’m so sorry about that,’ James said. ‘I hope the boy is all right. I just picked him out because he looked a little shabby. I thought he could do with a Christmas present. Who on earth ever heard of a surname like Toad? What a horrible coincidence.’
Mr. Wilson still appeared starstruck. ‘You couldn’t have planned it better,’ he said.
James looked at Charlotte. ‘It wasn’t planned,’ he said, his face distraught.
‘I mean, it’s not a real toad. It’s a lifelike model made of soft plastic.
If you’d like me to show it to the boy …
honestly, I wasn’t sure this would be a good idea.
I just hoped to road test a couple of ideas before the Christmas festival next week. ’
Mr. Wilson patted him on the arm. ‘I’m sure it’ll be okay. Billy Toad’s a tough little character, isn’t he? You have to be with a name like that.’
‘I’ll talk to him,’ Charlotte said.
‘Really, I’m so sorry,’ James said, shaking his head. ‘I feel terrible.’
Charlotte found herself reaching for his arm. She managed to stop herself just in time, but their eyes met, lingering for a moment before James looked away.
‘Come and have a cup of coffee in the office,’ Mr. Wilson said, before Charlotte could say anything. ‘Ms. Harding has to look after her class.’
Charlotte wanted to say something more, but Mr. Wilson was right, and the look in his eyes told her that he expected to be obeyed. She headed back to her classroom, where the kids were getting ready to leave. ‘Where’s Billy?’ she asked a couple of boys as they pulled on their coats.
‘He’s already gone,’ one said.
‘Is he going to after school club?’
‘No, he said he was going to his mum’s work.’
Charlotte nodded. She could call Jacob later and see how Billy was feeling. She ushered the rest of the children out, waiting in the playground until they had caught their buses or otherwise headed for home, then went back to her classroom to tidy up.
You could tell them a million times; you could keep them after school as punishment even, but Charlotte was yet to find a magic button to make little children tidy up.
Tables and chairs were all over the place, coats forgotten despite the cold, bits of stationery left scattered across the floor.
She moved between the tables, picking things up, shifting furniture back into position, adjusting overflowing pots of pens, markers, and Pritt Sticks, reattaching posters that had been ripped or come unstuck.
In the corner, the bin was tilting on its side, threatening to fall over completely, spilling its contents.
Charlotte hurried over to pick it up, and there, amongst some crumpled paper near the top, was a little blue box.
She fished it out, staring in dismay at the little Lego kit Billy had received from James.
The box had been damaged, as though the boy had bashed it against something hard.
What had made him do such a thing? The trick hadn’t gone quite as James had planned, but Billy had still won a little prize, and ought to have been pleased. Charlotte dusted it off and slipped it into her desk drawer to give to Billy at a later time.
Back in the staffroom, she found Mr. Wilson and several other teachers standing around in a circle.
James stood in the centre, performing a series of neat tricks with items of stationery.
A pen disappeared up his sleeve, only to change colour, then become two pens.
Even Old Don Jones was clapping, although on the outside of the circle, Amy Clairmont and Jennifer Stevens looked less amused, as they watched with arms folded.
Charlotte waited until James had finished and the teachers had dispersed, before calling him over.
‘Thank you again for coming,’ she said.
‘A pleasure,’ he said. ‘And it was lovely to see you again too. I know things may not have worked out between us … but if you would like to get a coffee sometime—just as friends—that would be a great delight for me.’
Charlotte almost said yes. Not because she wanted to, but because there was something about the smoothness of his tone that made it impossible to refuse. Some kind of hypnosis perhaps. She shook her head, then smiled, then nodded, then tried to think of something appropriate to say.
‘Ah, maybe. I’ll see. This season, you know? We’re so busy at school, and now we have to perform at the Christmas festival, of course, and then there’s getting ready for Christmas, and with—’
He leaned closer. ‘Father Christmas,’ he said. ‘Don’t forget about him. He’s sure to come this year, isn’t he?’
‘Yes, yes, of course.’
‘He should be making an appearance at the festival.’ He rubbed his hands together. ‘I can’t wait for that. I do love Christmas. It’s the most magical time of all. Oh … by the way, I almost forgot.’
‘What is it?’
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little jewellery box. Charlotte’s breath caught and she opened her mouth to refuse, but there was something in James’s eyes which made it impossible.
‘Forgive me if I’m out of line. I had planned to give this to you at the end of our last date, but things …
took a turn, and I forgot. It’s a simple thing, nothing much.
It belonged to my mother. She always loved to wear it at Christmas, and since she’s gone, it’s just collected dust. Please don’t take it the wrong way, it can be a symbol of our friendship, that’s all.
And if you get the chance to get some use out of it, maybe wear it over Christmas a little, I’m sure my mother—wherever she is—would be pleased. ’
‘James, I’m not sure I can accept this.’
‘Please.’ He pressed the little box into her palm. ‘Even if there is nothing between us … it would make me happy.’
What could she say? She forced a smile, nodded. ‘Thank you again for coming,’ she said. ‘And thank you so much for your gift. I’ll try to wear it over Christmas sometime.’
‘That would be wonderful. And again, today was my pleasure.’
He reached for the suitcase at his feet. Charlotte went to help him, their hands briefly brushing. James smiled and shook his head.
‘You’re busy,’ he said. ‘I’ll see myself out. I hope to see you at a show sometime,’ he said. ‘And don’t forget about coffee.’ He smiled, and it was hard for Charlotte not to immediately agree. ‘Anytime, anywhere.’
Along with Mr. Wilson and Maud, she did walk him as far as the school entrance, where she waved him off and watched as he walked back across the playground.
‘What a legend,’ Mr. Wilson said.
‘And so handsome,’ Maud agreed. ‘A wonder he has so many lawsuits hanging over his head. I bet half the women in the country wish he was the father of their children.’
‘I don’t wish that level of fame on anyone,’ Mr. Wilson said. ‘Can you imagine having to deal with obsessive fans on a daily basis? When all you want to do is make people happy?’
Charlotte said nothing. She thought about the little box in her pocket, and the way James had behaved compared to during their previous meetings.
Was she overthinking everything? Was James really as bad as Jacob claimed?
Jacob had nothing good to say about his stepbrother at all, but while perhaps there was some truth to it all, it might have been embellished a little.
James’s behaviour, once the mask slipped a little, was pretty good, after all.
Was Jacob just jealous?
After all, he rode a bicycle to work, whereas James rode in a Mercedes, a Rolls Royce and helicopters. Jacob made the minimum wage serving tea and cakes, while James raked in millions with sold out theatre tours and specials on Netflix.
She pulled out her phone and Googled James Steamblack, court case. Apart from the current two in progress, and one from three years ago, again a woman claiming paternity, which had been settled out of court, there was nothing else.
Could it be possible that Jacob had lied to her?
She went back to the teachers’ room and gathered her things. Several other teachers were still there, checking work, planning for tomorrow. Amy Clairmont was systematically sharpening a box of blunt pencil crayons, one after the other.
‘Has Paul Daniels gone?’
Charlotte couldn’t help but smile. ‘I just had to help him fit Wizbit into the car. The crows kept pecking him, thinking he was cheese.’
Amy grinned. ‘Honestly, don’t you find him slimy?’
Charlotte just shrugged, unsure what to say. At the back of the room, the door to the photocopying room opened and Jennifer emerged, a grin on her face.
‘Amy has a point,’ she said. ‘He just offered me a backstage tour.’
Charlotte glanced at Amy. ‘You don’t look so pleased about that.’
Amy scowled. ‘He didn’t offer one to me.’