The Magicain

Tonight's new trick was a Water Torture Escape. The Great Oshin liked to do a new trick each weekend at The Pier, his nightclub. The first run of the trick at nine o'clock on Friday night was almost always a sellout.

The Great Oshin was in a small tight green bathing suit. He was proud of his fit form. He was checked by a police officer who was in the audience. He had nothing.

He said, "Maggy, do I get a good luck kiss?"

The audience laughed. She smiled, and when they kissed, she passed a pick to him.

Then she said, "Today, the Great Oshin will shoot for personal best and try to beat his fastest time of Fifty-Two seconds to escape."

There was polite applause. First, Oshin lay on a table. Then, his beautiful and shapely assistants put the iron shackles on his feet. Using a chain hoist to lift him upside down, he was left hanging. Next, the girls put him headfirst in the modified water torture trap. The front of the tank was enlarged for better viewing. The sides did not go back very far, just enough for a body. The girl on the right side of the stage smiled as she closed and padlocked her steel grate.

However, the girl on the left side of the stage frowned as she had to pop her grate to get it to close. After that, the locks on top were set. Starting the timer when his head neared the bottom of the tank, the girls stood by the tank smiling. He looked calm as the light in the tank was darkened, and you could only see his dim silhouette. Twelve seconds ticked by on the display. The sexy girls smiling with their arms outstretched were looking great in their tight shiny costumes.

As the Great Oshin reached down and took the clear tube into his mouth, he shook the shackles on his feet. The noise of the chains rattling against the shatterproof glass was startling. You could not help yourself from looking. Twenty-Three seconds the display read.

In the dim light, it looked like he was just thrashing about. The airline left no bubbles in the water. His breathing was slow and practiced. He bent up and unlocked the tank cover, then the shackle holding him in place. He had to rest and relaxed back to hanging. Forty-Three seconds

It was a feat of strength to bend up and hold his body in such a position. Now by flipping his feet in a well-made move, he unhooked them. Next, he tucked into a ball and undid the restraints on his feet. Forty-Eight seconds.

He unlocked and opened the right side of the water trap. He unlocked and started to open the top of the left side of the trap, but it jammed. It stopped moving. He pushed and pulled, but the top would not budge. One minute Three seconds. There was not a sound in the theater, just a quiet splash of water. The smile on the girls was not as sure.

He needed both sides open to get out. The first side would not move as he pushed and struggled. Some air escaped his mouth. Some in the audience gasped at the sound of bubbles in the water. One minute eighteen seconds. The girls looked at each other.

Oshin wedged himself with his hands and arms against the front and the back of the trap. With a huge thrust, he pushed on the top with his feet, the grate held firm. You could just make out his silhouette struggling in the tank. One minute Twenty-Four seconds. You could not hear even the sound of anyone breathing. The girls dropped their hands and tried to see into the tank.

Oshin gave it a massive impact with his powerful legs and the grate broke with a dreadfully loud snap. It landed to the side with a metallic clank. One minute thirty-six seconds, and he burst up, taking a great breath. The girls looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. The Great Oshin climbed out, and they all bowed. The audience let out a collective sigh of relief. Then broke into applause.

When the curtain fell, the Great Oshin took the towel that was handed to him and said, "That was pretty good this time, girls, only next time don't stand in front of the glass. Stand to the side more so the audience can struggle to see into the now darker tank."

It was Friday night, nine o'clock, and time for the new trick at the Pier. The Great Oshin opened the backdoor on the stage wall and led in his Prize bull El Jefe. On his secret hand signal, the bull bellowed a low note rattling the silverware and plates. He was led to the middle of the stage.

From overhead came a box that fits over the frame of the more than a ton of steaming meat. At the bottom, the center of the structure is a pair of delicate, whimsical wheels that just touched the floor. On cue, the bull snorted when two gorgeous girls fastened the boxy frame on the middle of the bull.

The Great Oshin took a heavy metal plate and shoved it through the slot in the frame around El Jefe, and the bull snorted. Once more, the Great Oshin quickly shoved a heavy metal plate through the bull. Only this time, the bull bellowed.

Oshin smiled, signaled his assistants, and they all undid a latch. The bull was separated at the junction. Only the bull looked dead. It was not breathing. Its eyes were fixed. Drool dripped from its mouth.

The half-ton of stud bull was on a wheel for a fancy dessert cart. Your mind could not accept the view. A warning that something was not right kept going off, but there it was.

In between the still halves, the Great Oshin pulled a deck of cards out of his mouth. Then another and another, but there was more and more. An incredible amount of cards were on the floor, and Oshin added more. And more. Still more until there were thousands of cards on the floor, he kicked them, and a grunch flew like leaves. He picked them up and threw a hand full into the audience.

Then, he snapped his fingers, and they all disappeared. Only the cards he threw into the audience were left. And the bull haves did not move. He and his girls rejoined the bull, and it snorted. The stiff metal plates were removed, as was the cover, and it was lifted back into the overhead.

As Oshin led the bull back out the rear door, El Jefe bellowed.

Two older women at a table had been drinking a few.

Sipping a Martini, one woman said, "Oh, Oshin is so handsome in his dark green tux."

The other was drinking a White Russian, "No, it's his way with his beasts. He is a master. You can hear him whisper to them, and they respond."

"Oh, you know he would be such a sensitive lover." She took another little sip of the gin.

Sipping the White Russian, the other said, "I'd try him out, just to see, you know."

"Yeah then, you would post all over facelook. I know you, sweetheart. Did you know, I saw in one of his ads, he is a Romanian. He can trace his lineage all the way back to old Drack himself."

"Think that it is true about the curse?" The White Russian was done, and she waved at the waitress.

The rest of the Martini was downed as the waitress made her way to them, "Two more, girls?"

"Sure, we're not driving." The one with the empty White Russian glass passed it to the waitress.

"What curse?"

The waitress took the other empty glass.

"You know, he used a curse on one of the magicians that kept stealing his tricks."

"Yeah, right, and there's a flying pig. Ha Ha Ha Ha."

"No, the very next day after he posted the ancient ceremony on the net, Dark Star died. It was gruesome. There was an investigation, but they couldn't prove anything."

"Oh yeah, I didn't hear anything. It couldn't have been that big."

"They wanted to use spectral evidence. The whole thing about could a threat made on another plane that is monitored by us be admitted into court."

"What? That is ridiculous. I have never heard such hogwash. Are we going to sue the church for breach of contract because they did not do the blessing right, and so your life sucks? Will the Hindu get religious equality in America?"

The waitress put the drinks on napkins, "Twenty-Five sixteen, cash or charge?"

The one drinking White Russians said, "I got it." She threw three crisp Tens down on the tray, "Keep the change, Honey."

"No, it was how he died. He was doing one of Oshin's tricks. An escape from a burning fuse. Oshin made an appearance in a flash on Dark Star's stage.

He said, "You perform at your peril. Steal from me, and you shall pay."

"Everyone there saw him, yet he was street performing at the same time. He was seen by several independent people who swear he was floating down the street."

"An obvious trick."

"Yeah, some trick, he was seen floating down the road by the mayor's wife. Guess who won."

Just then, Oshin walked by.

The one-woman drinking the White Russian said, "Hey Oshin, I got some magic I can show you."

He looked at them and smiled, "I can't use that kind of magic on my stage."

The other giggled and said, "Maybe, but each bit of our magic is unique. Each has its mystery. None is better, none worse, just different. When the opportunity to increase your experience is declined, you are the one cheated out of enrichment."

Oshin looked up and said into a device hidden in his ear, "VW, see that a new IPA ale is hooked to the Pier's draft keg cooler. Now ladies, may I sit down and buy you some drinks? Let's talk of Magic ..."

#

Oshin walked into the area where the animals were being taken care of at. He gave a package to his assistant. Klaws watched Cyrix Sayten as he took the fresh bloody meat and he cut holes in it. Then he stuffed some pills in those holes. Klaws' tail twitched as she paced in her cage, anticipating. Next, Cy, as he was known to his friends, poured a small amount of oil from a brown bottle on it. Klaws roared.

"Just a minute, their girl."

Cy put the meat into a microwave and heated it just enough to be not cold but warm. He thought that the meat just smelled more appetizing, too. Klaws rubbed the bars on the side of her cage as she smelled the meat.

"Thank you, Cy."

Oshin took the meat from Cy, walked over, opened the cage, and gave Klaws her meal. One of the things that Oshin insisted on was that the animals were fed on schedule.

"Oshin, you do not have any shows scheduled for six weeks. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know, Cy, work on my new trick."

"Your new trick? You being locked in a box and dropped from an airplane sounds awfully risky."

"Oh, I can escape the box in time and land the parachute where I want. It's just who wants to wait around while I get locked in an iron box, then for me to take off, climb to altitude, then get shoved out of the airplane, then the exciting part, I land and get unhooked if the parachute doesn't pull me off stage. I got to think about this and find a way to make it work. Maybe I'll go to the beach and take some time to think this thing over. If I disappear for a while, don't be alarmed. See you in a few weeks."

As Oshin walked back to his flat, he tried to think of something to take up time while he was being taken to altitude in an airplane. He could have his assistants do something. No, that's dumb, and what is to stop me from escaping the box on the way up? Something better.

He was barely aware of his surroundings when a big man came up from behind him and shoved him into a car. He fell through an open door, it was closed, and the car drove off.

Oshin sat in the car. He looked at the man who sat across from him, who had pushed him in the car, then pulled the door closed.

Oshin said, "What do you want?"

The man said nothing. Oshin opened up the wallet he had in his hand and took out the Id card.

"So, you're Mr. Sregits. Your address is 5634 W. Hopdown lane. You have two master cards, a visa card, 240 dollars in cash, and a cheap Rolex."

The man looked at Oshin and said, "How did you get my wallet and watch?" He pointed the gun at him and said, "Give me my stuff back now."

Oshin refused and said, "What do you want?"

"It's not what I want. It's what Senor Hielo wants."

"And what does Mr. Ice want?"

"He wants to talk to you."

"Well, I don't want to talk to him."

There was a flash of light and puff of smoke, but Oshin remained in the car.

"We were expecting that trick. It will take more than that."

"I guess I will hear your offer."

"I will take you to Senor Hielo. May I have my stuff back, please."

I returned the items. After a few minutes, we came to the hotel Carton. I was escorted to the fifth floor, where Senor Hielo had several rooms. I was taken to one and told to wait. After a few minutes, a large man and three assistants came into the room. The large man sat down.

"Mr. Oshin, I understand you can escape any locked room or imprisonment."

"Yes, I can, but this is not about that, is it?"

"Well, in a way, it is. I want you to free my twenty-three-year-old daughter, Monica. A very evil drug lord is holding her. Senor Siracha has held her for six days, and he says he will not release her. He uses her as a blackmail weapon against me to quit my market. He is trying to become the number one drug importer into the US."

"If I refuse."

"Then who knows, one of your tricks could go bad like Dark Star. Maybe you fail to escape death. Yours is a hazardous profession."

"Aren't you afraid I'll put a curse on you?"

"A curse by you? I've been cursed by men that keep the walking dead as pets. Why should I fear you? Besides, my gratitude is well known. You would be privileged to know me."

"I don't do drugs. I have plenty of money. What could you have that I would want?"

"I understand that you like old things, my friend. George, show him the case."

One of the men brought up a small case and set it on the table. He popped the latches and opened the top to reveal an Incan golden statue. With gloved hands, he took it out and set it on the table. It had two red rubies surrounded by green emeralds for eyes. It was holding a meticulously carved crystal skull.

"Okay, Senor Hielo, where did you get that?"

"In a valley in Peru, where I have one of my best plantations. There is a series of high plateaus along a volcano. They are tough to reach. There is only one trail in and one trail out. Most of the land is set up for cultivation, but there is an ancient Incan city along the edges.

The city is believed to be a place of great evil and haunted. The locals will not go there and have left it untouched since a disaster struck it down in its prime. My archeologist says, to him, it looks like one day the volcano belched a cloud of bad gas and killed everybody where they stood in the city. He has found totems around the city to keep the evil gods in their place and to keep man out. There are great riches there."

"Senor Hielo, I want to see the site."

"Mr. Oshin, you free my daughter unharmed, and we shall see what happens."

"Where is she?"

"This is the compound in Columbia where Senor Siracha holds his captives. We think that she should be there. This man is a fiend. Get my Miah away from him."

There was a package of photos and maps placed on the table in front of me. I looked at the picture of the building. There was a fence with razor wire and a guard tower. The building held twenty-four cells on two floors of twelve cells.

"And, how do I get Monica out of Columbia?"

"Oshin, you come to Peru. I will get you to Columbia. I'll supply you with everything you need."

"Well then, Senor Hielo, all you must do is get any payment objects to my flat here in New York, without any problems."

"Oshin, you free my daughter, and I will be your friend. Don't get her hurt."

"Mr. Oshin, do I have your word you will do your best?"

"Yes, Senor Hielo, you have my word."

"Save my Miah, please. Also, I want you to take Fernando. He will make sure that everything goes well."

"You do realize I prefer to work alone, and I am not responsible for him?"

"Yes, Yes, Mr. Oshin, we have an understanding."

"Very well, Senor Hielo, it seems we have a deal."

"Mr. Oshin, I'll take you to Peru. From there, we will get you where you need to be at."

The two men stood up and shook hands.

Oshin did his prep work. First, he set up his mimic, a device that, when he talked, made his voice sound like recordings of Senor Siracha. Next, using a special latex 3d printer, he made the pieces into a face mask he would use. Then, he packed the pieces into a make-up kit. Last, he packed the tricks he would be taking. The ones that always seemed to stun everyone and get him out of the most trouble.

All too soon, they found themselves outside the holding building in Columbia. Oshin, in his disguise, followed Fernando in a locally procured uniform, a nasty scar placed on his right cheek, and he was made to look bald as they both walked into the installation. When they walked in, everybody snapped to attention."

All eyes were focused on Oshin when he said in a low voice, "Tráigame la hija. (bring me the daughter.)."

People spoke to people, and they moved quickly into the building. A girl was brought before the two of them, and Fernando was unsure it was her for a second. She was no longer fat. She was so thin. He grabbed the girl, and we started to the door.

A guard shouted, "Alto! Usted debe firmar los papeles (Stop! You must sign the papers.)"

Fernando looked at the guard and said, "Papel, Papel, en Siracha va a meter el papel eran el sol no brillar

(Paper, Paper Siracha will cram the paper where the sun does not shine.)."

We got into the limo, and we left. We drove to the point where the trade the cars was at, and we got out of our disguises, and Monica was given hers. Having recognized Fernando, was cooperative we cleaned her up the best we could and put her in a dress and hat. The dress did not fit as she had lost much weight during her four weeks of captivity. She was now a bombshell. Fernando said she was called the gato gordo, the fat cat at home. No one is going to call her that today. We drove to the helicopter that was waiting.

We went down the road. A pair of tourists in a white Cadillac with a short-haired driver. A jeep with three men came at us from the other side of the road. They pulled across the two lanes and stopped us. They asked for our papers. One man to stay in the Jeep by the radio. One man to ask questions. One man to look menacing.

"So, you are Dr. and Mrs. Williams. You have a tourist visa for a month, and you have three more weeks. You have an export license for any small samples you may find in the jungle. What makes you think you'll find anything in three weeks?"

"Why officer, I have ten satellite scans of promising sites near the road that we are checking. We take only more detailed scans at certain key points, checking for those key points before we release our paper on Pre-Columbian civilizations. We are after soil samples to prove cultivation was key to civilization. By tracing nitrogen concentrations levels, we can track the use throughout the whole cycle. Giving us the evidence we need. It is a fascinating use of the Hybose theorem. Which states that..."

"Yes, yes, Dr. Williams, I'm quite sure. Look, I'm busy right now. If you'll excuse me."

"Officer, I'll be glad to give a lecture if you like. Officer?"

Everybody ignored Dr. Williams, got in their jeep, and went back down the road.

We went to the helicopter and took off to Senor. Hielo's compound. As it turned out, Senor Hielo was quite the friend to know. I got to see the ancient city. The Incan God with its' skull is in my flat in New York. I am looking forward to going back and exploring the city next summer.