Free Prelude to Magic: The Prequel to Moonlight and Illusions by Diane Wylie Page A

The
almanac had said rain was coming, so he wanted to make sure he had
enough magical power. After his experience with Doctor Walker,
Stephen had made sure the gate to the back yard was locked, no one
was lurking in the bushes, and the new curtains Ruby had made were
fully drawn. Only after these precautions were completed did he
fully disrobe and expose the Mayan charm and himself to the
moonlight’s power. Stephen preferred to perform the process naked
because his body didn’t heat up as much, cooled faster, and
absorbed more energy.
    He steered the shiny machine around a corner.
Restoring himself totally nude had all the earmarks of a sexual
pagan experience. Ruby knew the effect of his lunar encounters.
Inevitably, Stephen would wake in the workshop as randy as a
stallion. When he recovered and staggered up to bed, she was always
there to offer comfort.
    Occupied with these thoughts, Stephen prepared to
turn onto a busy street, heading for the shops. A pretty little
bauble might help improve his wife’s mood of late.
    In front, a man driving a horse-drawn wagon full of
lumber headed around the bend. A group of children lingered in
front of the sweet shop on the corner, looking in the window at the
colorful display. The wagon took the turn too fast. First one
eight-foot length shifted then suddenly the whole stack teetered.
The horse shrieked. Stephen reacted.
    The woman with the children faced the horror as the
event unfolded. Her expression would end up staying with Stephen
for years.
    Instinctively braking hard, he reached toward the
falling load. Green light beams shot from his fingertips. The
boards froze in mid-air feet from the children.
    Slamming the auto into neutral and pulling the
parking brake lever with his free hand, Stephen jumped out and
focused both hands on the heavy wood. By now people were screaming.
The wagon overturned with a loud grinding groan. The driver jumped
clear, landing in a heap on the dirt road. Someone sprinted over to
lend the driver aid.
    The woman and her three children froze, staring up
at the suspended load. Expressions of disbelief etched on all four
faces.
    “Get out of the way!” Stephen’s muscles quivered
under the strain.
    His voice snapped her out of her stunned trance and
she quickly shepherded the little ones a safe distance away.
    Struggling for control, Stephen tried to ease the
pine boards to the ground, but the weight was more than he had ever
handled. The lumber crashed to the boardwalk in a cloud of debris,
some of the wood splintering into pieces.
    Thank God! Those children could have been
killed!
    He stood for a moment, laboring for air. The rush of
air in and out of his lungs was the only sound. Everything went
still. Beyond the pile of shattered wood men, women, and children
stared at him. Some wore expressions of shock, others fear, and
still others looked horrified.
    “Who are you?” one man called out.
    “How did you do that?” said another.
    “It’s unnatural!” a woman in a big flowered hat
shrieked.
    Stephen held his hands up in a gesture of surrender.
Several people cried out when he moved. “It’s all right, folks. I
just wanted to help, that’s all.” He took a step backward then
slowly turned to his Tin Lizzie, which was still idling behind
him.
    As he climbed into the driver’s seat, the crowd
murmured among themselves. The driver of the lumber wagon stood
among them, looking dazed. Then the man pointed to Stephen.
    “That’s the magician, ‘The Illusionist’,” he yelled.
“He made my wagon overturn!”
    “No!” Stephen shook his head. “I didn’t. You were
driving too fast.”
    “Stop him!” Several men stepped around the lumber
and began advancing, their faces now masks of anger.
    Quickly putting the car in reverse, Stephen backed
away at high speed, wrenched the wheel around, shifted gears, and
sped away in the direction he had come.
    * * *
    Nausea churned in his stomach. No time to be sick.
Rifling through his desk,