Free 3 Sin City Hunter by Maddie Cochere Page A

by poking me to get up. Dad was grinning with pride, and I realized with dismay, Fitch was asking for me to come onstage!
    Oh my gosh! I wasn’t paying a ttention because of Dudley, and I had no idea what he was going to do to me. I knew I didn’t want him swiping my ring. I wanted to beg off, but I could tell Dad was so happy he would be able to tell Tom and Bitsy I ha d been called onstage, I had to go with it.
    I made my way up the steps and onto the stage. His two assistants promptly helped me into the large, colorful box. The music was so loud and the lighting so bright, I started to feel disoriented. One of the girls said something to me under her breath, but I didn’t catch it all. I only heard her say “ go through the door .” Be fore I could say anything , Fitch closed the door of the box.
    Now what? It was pitch black, and I was starting to feel claustrophobic. I thrust my hands out to feel the sides of the box, but the floor dropped out from under me . I let out a startled cry as I fell, but the music was so loud onstage, I was sure no one heard me. I landed on a large airbag and had to take a m oment to recover from the fall. It certainly didn’t hurt, but I wasn’t prepared for it ei ther. Did the girl tell me I would be falling?
    The room was white, well-lit, and fairly large. The ceiling was low, but I could easily st and up. I couldn’t believe I had agreed to do this, and I didn’t know what to do next. No one was around to tell me where to go. The girl had told me to go through the door, and the only door I could see was a plain white door set in the middle of the wall behind me. I walked to the door and opened it.
    Oh my gosh! My heart stopped beating, the blood drained from my face, and I froze in my tracks. I knew with every fiber of my being that b y opening the door, I had put my life in danger.
    My arm was wrenched, and I heard a voice say excitedly, “Come with me!”
    A cute girl in jeans and a white t-shirt had just yanked my arm hard and pulled me from the doorway and back into the white room. The door slammed shut behind me. She was out of breath and talking fast, “Hurry, hurry! We haven’t practiced this enough yet, and I lost my way coming to get you. I hope we’re not too late, and I didn’t ruin the trick.” She was nearly in tears. I was nearly in a panic. She continued to talk fast, “I’m supposed to tell you not to talk to anyone about how the trick is done. I don’t have anything for you to sign. You won’t tell, will you?” I shook my head no. “Good,” she said. “Quick, up this ladder. When you get in the box, step forward and turn around. I’ll close the trap door behind you.”
    The ladder was a few feet from t he airbag, and I scurried up with the girl right behind me. It wasn’t easy to get off of the ladder and into the box, but she helped to steady me. This trick certainly still needed some work. The music was loud again, and I couldn’t hear what she said to me as she secured the trap door . I felt disoriented and uncomfortable again. My mind was on overdrive. I wanted to scream as loudly as I could for what I had seen outside the door, but some part of my brain was enabling me to stay calm and get through this horrible trick. Maybe I was in shock. That had to be it. I remember being in s hock once before, and a certain , strange calmness came with it.
    Suddenly, there was light, but it was behind me, as was a lot of laughter. Fitch’s trick worked, but I forgot to turn around in the box, and it opened to me standing with my back to the audience. When I turned around, the lights were blinding, and I knew I was squinting and probably looked as if I had awakened from a long sleep. I could only imagine what my hair looked like after the fall to the airbag.
    Fitch shot a provoked look at me which implied , “ Really? You couldn’t even handle a few simple directions? ”
    No, Fitch. I couldn’t.
    But the audience was applauding and giving him a