Free India Dark by Kirsty Murray Page A

giggling. The boys sat on the edge of the steps scuffing their feet in the dust and we girls flopped on benches, fanning ourselves with our hands.
    It was almost too hot to talk. I wandered across the verandah and stood behind Charlie and Lionel, watching over their shoulders. They were doing a trick with a shiny silver coin. Charlie had it in one hand and then, as if by magic, it passed through the skin of that hand and into the other.
    â€˜See, it’s easy,’ said Charlie, handing the coin to Lionel. ‘You have a go.’
    â€˜I still can’t see how you do it. You’re not showing me properly,’ said Lionel, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He glanced up at me. ‘You should go away, Poesy. Magicians can’t let other people see their magic.’
    â€˜But Charlie’s letting you watch. He’s teaching you and you’re not a magician.’
    â€˜That’s different. He’s my brother.’
    â€˜Please, Charlie,’ I said, jumping down from the verandah to stand in front of the boys. ‘Show me too.’
    â€˜Lionel can show you. Go on, Leo – give it a go.’
    Lionel scowled as he fiddled with the coin, passing it clumsily from one hand to the other until finally he lost control altogether and it slipped out of his hand and landed in the dirt with a plop. The sun bounced off the image of the King’s head and I picked it up.
    â€˜Can I try?’ I asked.
    â€˜No,’ said Lionel. ‘Girls don’t do magic.’
    â€˜It’s all right,’ said Charlie. ‘She probably won’t be able to work it out.’
    The coin was slippery with boy-sweat, and warm from Lionel’s hand. I shut my eyes, picturing the movements that Charlie had made. In my mind’s eye I could see exactly what he had done.
    I took a deep breath and laid the coin on the palm of my left hand and then ran my right palm over it. The first time, the coin stayed there, but on the second try I managed to ‘palm’ the coin away so my left hand was empty. I looked up at the boys for approval. Charlie smiled, but Lionel’s face grew dark. He scowled at Charlie.
    â€˜You’ve showed her that before, haven’t you? You two are trying to make me feel stupid. I don’t have to stand for that.’ He turned away from us both and stomped into the darkness of the hotel foyer.
    â€˜Now look what you’ve done,’ said Charlie.
    â€˜You can hardly say that’s my fault!’ I said, handing back the coin.
    â€˜Don’t be cross, Poesy. Lionel was right. Girls aren’t supposed to learn magic. It’s against the magicians’ code.’
    He looked both serious and stupid in equal measure. I couldn’t help but laugh. Suddenly, he laughed too. ‘That’s the last time I let you close to me when I’m doing a trick.’ Then he reached up behind my ear, and when he drew his hand away he was holding a coin.
    â€˜That was clever,’ I said.
    â€˜I’ve been practising. Mr Arthur said that if I get really good, maybe I can do a magic act next time we stage a revue.’
    â€˜Tilly says we’ll never do a revue again. Not after what happened in Surabaya.’
    Charlie shrugged. He was funny like that. He never liked to talk about anything that he thought was gossip or start an argument, not even with Lionel. Not like the Kreutz brothers. Mr Arthur was always having to pull Freddie off Max or Max off Freddie. They were like two bears that set upon each other without the least provocation.
    As we waited outside the hotel, Max and Freddie began to shove each other restlessly. The little girls began to whine. Why weren’t we allowed inside?
    Mr Arthur strode out onto the verandah looking haggard and called all the grown-ups into the hotel foyer. A few minutes later, Miss Thrupp scurried out and began flapping her arms, shrilly rounding up children and making us march into the street. Everybody