Miss Mystery 4
Minor Magic
"Hello, Mike?"
There was something familiar about this voice, but Mike could not quite place where he had heard this speaker before, being over a mobile phone using the car's hand-free kit was not helping.
"Yes, I'm Mike, who am I speaking to?" he shouted, to be heard over the engine noise.
"This is Magda, I think I need some help from you and Judy."
Mike wracked his brain to remember if he know any Magdas, particularly any Magdas that might feel they could ring him out of the blue and ask for help from him and his girlfriend. Finally he gave up and asked, "Magda who?"
"You do not know me, but you do know Miss Mystery," the voice stated.
"Is this the Magda I spoke to, when I arranged for Miss Mystery to do some magic for Judy's birthday?"
"In a manner of speaking, 'yes', but not really."
"I'm confused, and I don't really like speaking on the phone and driving at the same time, so can this wait ten to twenty minutes, until I get to work, or even until this evening when I get home?"
"I am in need of help soon, but I can wait a short while, if you are going to pay attention better then."
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As Mike switched off his car, the phone rang again.
Mike answered, "Hello? Is that Magda again?"
"Yes, you may call me Magda. Miss Mystery needs your help; that is, help from you and Judy."
"I thought you said that YOU needed help earlier and now you're saying Miss Mystery needs our help. What's going on?"
"Miss Mystery needs your help, but she does not want to speak to anyone at the moment, so I'm being the messenger."
"Why doesn't she want to speak to anyone?" asked Mike.
"She will not say, but she says that Mike and Judy are the only people who can help. I found your contact details on the phone Miss Mystery sometimes uses," explained Magda.
Mike felt confused. "If Miss Mystery isn't speaking to anyone, how come she is talking to you?"
There was a pause that had the feel of someone with a secret trying to find a non-lie to answer a question. The reply that eventually arrived was, "It is complicated and I must not talk about it. I need to arrange for you to meet with Miss Mystery soon, which is why I called you."
"Another meeting with Miss Mystery? That is very hard to resist. Will there be magic?"
"I do not know; she will not tell me. I hope there will be magic for you, because Miss Mystery is always happier when there is magic. I think she needs something to do with magic from you, but she will not say. Can you and Judy come and visit her; perhaps this evening?"
"I don't know. We were planning to go to the cinema for a late screening. Can I talk to Judy and let you know?"
"That sounds as if it is as good as I will get at the moment. Please text what time you can make it, so I can let you know where to meet Miss Mystery."
Before Mike could reply the line went dead.
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When Mike met Judy for their morning break, he told Judy about the phone calls and did his best to summarise them.
"So, if I've got this right, Miss Mystery needs our help with something she can't tell anyone else about, perhaps because it is magic related." Mike nodded that this was his understanding of the situation. "And we can meet Miss Mystery this evening before we go to the cinema, if you send a text saying when we can be there, right?" Mike nodded again. "What are you waiting for? We can go home and have a snack and leave my place any time after seven, say, and so long as we can get to the cinema for ten-fifty it shouldn't be a problem."
Mike pulled out his phone and set about composing a text.
"This has got me wondering," mused Judy. "What kind of problem can a magician have that only people like us can help with? And who is this Magda character, that she can phone on Miss Mystery's behalf, but can't help her?"
"I guess we'll have to wait until we meet her (Miss Mystery I mean) to find out how we can help a magician; assuming we can, of course. As to Magda, she was the person who answered Miss Mystery's phone when I first rang her to arrange your birthday treat; she was pretty positive that she wasn't Miss Mystery, but I did not hear the phone being transferred to someone else, but then again it was quite noisy the other end. I suppose Magda might be a friend who has not been told that the magic is real, but is close enough to be asked to call us. Trying to put it into words makes me think how implausible it all sounds; but there must be some normal explanation, but then there's the magic, so who knows?"
Mike held up his phone and Judy nodded her approval of the message displayed there. Mike tapped the send icon. "I'll let you know what happens, when I know. But I'd better get back to work; we're palletising that big order that has been causing all that overtime that I haven't been getting."
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The text they got back said, "Roundabout by McDonalds, 08:30. Judy will know what to wear."
This confused Mike, because he had been expecting to return to Cookham Road, but the timing seemed right for seeing if they could help and perhaps see a piece of magic before departing for the cinema. The location seemed a bit vague too, but he hoped that once they got there, it would obvious.
Judy's reaction was to ask how was she supposed to know what Miss Mystery wanted her to wear. Mike said that whatever she chose, Miss Mystery would approve of it. Judy wondered whether something good for Miss Mystery would be cinema-appropriate.
Mike suggested that they go to McDonalds for a meal, so that they would be there on time, but Judy objected that she did not to run the risk of getting ketchup on whatever she was going to wear.
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After work at Judy's flat, they had scrambled eggs on toast, once Mike got there from collecting the clothes he planned to wear to the cinema.
"Would you like to help me chose what to wear to visit Miss Mystery?" asked Judy flirtatiously.
"You know I would love to, but the text said YOU would know what to wear, so you don't need me influencing you. I'll change into my outfit, then I can help you get into your chosen outfit, if you like."
Mike headed for the bathroom with his change of clothes and Judy headed for the bedroom. In the bedroom she opened her wardrobe doors seeking inspiration for what to wear.
As she looked along the row of outfits (dresses, skirts and tops) she wondered how she was going to select something that Miss Mystery would approve of; then, if the magician she was asking for help, why was Judy putting so much effort into pleasing her? Judy shrugged and put her hand into the wardrobe and pulled out the first thing that she touched. She laid it on the bed and felt pleased with her selection. She stripped off her work clothes and pulled on a fresh pair of panties and a silky dressing gown, before sitting at the dressing table to work on her face.
Mike soon arrived in a mid-brown suit that had seen better days and a boldly patterned tie in subdued colours. "Wow! That looks fancy, have I seen it before?"
"Only if you were at the 'Come as a movie character' party they had at work couple of summers back."
"So, who did you go as?"
"Red backless dress with lots of sequins; isn't it obvious?"
"No."
"I went as Jessica Rabbit."
"I bet you looked great, but what's that clear plastic strap at the top for?"
"That is to stop it slipping down. My tits aren't as impressive as the original's, so I needed something to prevent the top from sliding down and showing everyone everything." Judy stood from the dressing table.
"Your tits are great; the best I've ever felt," said Mike as drew Judy into a hug.
"I should hope so too," Judy responded.
"But your shoulders and back will be exposed," observed Mike.
"Is that a problem?"
"No, you have lovely shoulders, but it will probably be quite cool by the time we leave the cinema. Maybe you should take a coat."
"Good point, but a coat would not be right with this dress. There are a couple of shawls and shoulder wraps in the bottom drawer down there. Have a rummage and pick one out for me, would you?"
Mike opened the drawer and soon selected a scarlet shawl which also had some sparkle to it.
"Will this one be ok?" he asked as he turned to see Judy dive through the skirt of the dress and emerged only needing the tuck her head through the plastic halter strap and adjust her breasts. "You look great; you must have been the hit of that party."
"Several of the men said I look lovely and I did notice some jealous looks from some of their wives and girlfriends. Oh, and that shawl will be perfect. I just need to zip up the back; you can do that, then I can adjust myself and get the right shoes. On second thoughts, bending down in this may not be the wisest move, you can find my shoes and then we can be off."
Mike helped Judy finish getting ready and they went to his car. The journey to McDonalds did not take long, but it was not obvious where to meet Miss Mystery, so they pulled into the car park and walked back out to the roundabout.
"I don't remember seeing that there, before," commented Judy. "I feel sure I'd have noticed."
"Noticed what?" asked Mike looking around in the hope of spotting whatever Judy had noticed before she told him.
Judy pointed and Mike followed the direction of the finger and found a tent pitched among the bushes on the roundabout's island. The tent seemed familiar.
"How did that get there?" said Mike. "It wasn't there when we went round the roundabout a few minutes ago."
"Are you sure, you weren't swearing at some idiot in an expensive car acting like he had exclusive rights to the road," countered Judy.
"Ok, I could have not noticed it, but how do we get to it?"
"We walk. Come on!"
Judy took Mike's hand and stepped into the traffic. The traffic seemed to freeze as they walked towards the island and as they stepped onto the island it resumed as if it had not noticed being paused.
Not sure that he should mention what had just happened, Mike said, "That was a bit strange."
Judy considered this for a moment, then replied, "Miss Mystery must really need our help if she stops traffic for us; I wonder what we can do, that she can't ask anyone else to do."
"I suppose we had better go and find out."
At the entrance to the tent was a note pinned to the tent flap. It read, "Mike and Judy: Knock and come straight in."
While Mike was thinking that knocking on a tent flap is pointless, Judy tapped her knuckles against the fabric, with the expected lack of audible result, and then grabbed Mike's hand and dragged him into the tent.
The interior was much as Mike remembered it; fabric walls illuminated dull red by sourceless light reflected from crimson cloth, but this time the cloth was not laid across a table, it was the upholstery of a chaise-longue. Near the wall sat Miss Mystery, dressed in her full gypsy/fortune teller costume and veil. "Thank you for coming," she greeted them. "Please take a seat." Her green eyes sparkled with their former playful gleam, but the visible skin around them seemed to be at odds with this by showing wrinkles that indicated stress.
The couple sat on the chaise and Mike noticed how quiet it was, despite the near constant flow of traffic mere yards from the tent's entrance.
"I apologise for calling you out of the blue," began Miss Mystery in her eastern European accent. "But I could not think of anyone else who could help me that might be willing to help me."
Mike and Judy exchanged glances. "Well, we're here. What can people like us help a person like you with? And what happens if we say 'No'?" asked Mike.
"If you say 'No' it just does not happen, but I very much want it to happen, so I am asking you to help me, so that it can happen." Miss Mystery's tone remained soft and even, but her eyes glittered appealingly.
Judy decided to get straight to the point, "So, Miss Mystery, what do you want from us?"
"I want your help?"
"We know you want our help; you've gone to a lot of trouble to get us here; you've, even, involved Magda, whoever she is. But you are being vague about what help you want, so spit it out! What help do you want from us? Because I don't understand what help we can give you. You are a magician and magicians can do anything, so what help can a magician want?"
"I need an assistant and a helper and you are the only people I can ask."
"Ok, I think." Judy felt a little confused; if Miss Mystery just wanted an assistant to do some magic, why not just ask? "But I thought you could perform magic on anyone, so why us?"
"Yes, I can perform magic on anyone, but for what I want to happen to actually happen, I need an assistant and a helper who know and accept that the magic is real."
Mike intervened, "I'm sorry, but I'm not getting this."
Judy added, "I'm confused too. Maybe, if you started at the beginning, we'd understand what you want to happen? Why? And what our part in this might be?"
Miss Mystery seemed taken aback by Judy's directness and took a short while to compose herself and her answer.
"You know that I was at the show, where we first met, raising funds for a charity. Well, a week or so back they came back to me asking if I was willing to do something similar. I said, 'Yes,' without asking for more details; assuming that it would be another pitch at another show or a festival. I only found out yesterday that they booked a 'dark day' at the Maidens Theatre." Miss Mystery stopped there as if that completely described her problem.
Mike was first to ask a question. "What is a 'dark day'?"
"I gather that a 'dark day' is the time between runs of shows in a theatre because the stage is dark in the evening, or something like that," replied Miss Mystery.
"More to the point," said Judy, "What is the problem? You plan a show and perform it for whoever turns up. You'll be a hit."
"But I have never performed magic for an audience and I don't know that I can."
"Of course, you have. I was there when Judy had her head spiked and when we beheaded her for her birthday."
"But, you were not just watching; you helped; you were a participant. Maybe a better way of putting it is; I have only ever done magic with people, not for them."
"So you're nervous that you you'll suffer from stage fright and waste the charities investment?" concluded Judy.
"If stage fright was a problem, I would not be able to do my day job. I'm worried that the magic might not happen, because it is being watched not directly felt."
"You've got a day job?" interjected Mike.
"Mike, be quiet!" said Judy. "We need to focus on what's important. What do you mean, 'the magic might not happen'?"
"That's part of the problem; I don't know. It might be that there will be no magic, so the small tricks fail and any of the more physical tricks, like when we first met, would be positive harmful. On the other hand it might just hide itself; it would happen for the participants, but the audience would not see it; or, I don't know if this is worse, it might seem fake. Magic is a serious business; it must not be laughed at."
"Or it could happen. So how can we help make it happen?" said Judy, trying to sound positive.
"Somehow (don't ask me how!), I feel confident that if I have people who have experienced my magic, it will be alright. If I don't have the support, I fear it will be worse than a disaster, it might be the end of Miss Mystery; then what would I do?"
"Ok, but why us?" queried Judy. "Surely, we aren't the only people you've ever performed magic with?"
"In short, because you are the only people to ever come back."
"So?" challenged Judy.
"So, you not only believed in it, but you like it; that means you are my best prospect for finding an assistant and a helper."
Mike spoke. "Let me get this straight; Judy is the only person you have perform magic with more than once?"
"No, of course not; I have a few friends who will allow me to do magic with them, but none of them seek it out; I have to persuade them each time."
"I don't understand."
"I guess, it doesn't excite them in the way it seems to excite you."
Mike and Judy looked at each other and said, "What would we need to do?" in unison. Each felt that the other was on the verge of saying, 'We'll do it," but did not want to commit the other without giving them the chance to say 'no'.
"What I hope for is that Judy will be my assistant for those tricks I need another person to be victim for. (Sorry, but I can't think of a better term.) And, Mike, you'd be my backstage helper; moving equipment and helping where needed in the bigger illusions; if you wanted, you could be victim of a trick too; but you wouldn't have to."
"Ok, the most important thing is 'when is it?'" said Judy, "because if it's at a time when we can't make it we'd have to miss out on it or juggle our plans and the sooner that starts the easier it will be."
"The date is the 16th, not of next month but the one after. Is that ok?"
"That's great!" said Judy, "the only thing we can't readily rearrange is our holiday to Spain the month after that."
"What about our visit to see my mum?" asked Mike.
"That's on the 18th, two days after, so no clash there." Judy knew their schedule without the use of a diary of the kind Mike wished he kept; he had to rely on being perceptive enough to pick up the hints of impending events that were not part of his regular weekly plan.
Before Miss Mystery could say more than 'thank you', Judy was asking about rehearsal schedules, costume fittings and what tricks the magician was planning to perform. Miss Mystery admitted that she had delayed thinking about those things, until she was certain that there was anything to plan.
Mike proposed that they organise those by email, then added "What about a bit of magic to say 'thank you' and fill the time before we need to leave for the cinema?"
"I was hoping that I could do some magic with you, mostly because I feel I need to do some magic."
"Ok, what are we going to do?" asked Judy.
"Well, I had two possibilities lined up, but we'll do the one that takes advantage of the wonderful backless dress you chose to wear; and, as it happens, it's one I wouldn't want to present to an audience, but I know you'll keep it private and that shawl will help keep it so."
"So, I picked the right outfit?" Judy asked.
"Yes, the dress is just right."
"I can't take all the credit. It was Mike's idea to have the shawl; so I didn't get cold later."
Miss Mystery raised a surprised eyebrow that Judy was sharing the credit for her costume choice. Inside she was pleased that the couple were together in that way; it enhanced the chances of them still being together when the show arrived and afterwards, and the chance that Mike might offer up his work-toned body for some magic of his own.
From the dark space behind her throne Miss Mystery pulled a piece of metal resembling a shield, about 14 inches wide at the top and 12 inches tall. The top edge had two curved indentations and the bottom was rounded.
Both Mike and Judy looked at this item and thought that they had never seen anything like it in any of the many illusions they had seen.
"I want you to put this down the front of you dress, Judy." In response to the questioning look Judy gave her, she added, "It will protect your dress, but if you don't mind damaging your dress (and I would if it were mine) just hold it against your front as you lie face down on the chaise."
Judy turned to Mike and told him to face the wall. Mike seemed to be about to object that she seemed only too happy to allow him to help her dress, but Judy said, "What happens in private stays private, but when there are other people present, we should behave like civilised people."
With Mike's back turned Judy accepted the curved metal plate from Miss Mystery and slipped the plastic halter strap over her head. It took a little fiddling to get the shield-shaped plate into place; it fitted quite comfortably under her breasts as she replaced the halter strap. "You want to me to lie face down on the sofa thing?"
"I did say that, yes. Lie down with your arms by your sides! You'll probably find it most comfortable if you rest your head sideways on the cushion at that end."
Judy moved to get herself into the position that Miss Mystery demanded. Mike turned back from the wall of the tent and watched the magician pull something else from the dark place behind her seat. The thing was a tube about ten inches long and six inches diameter. She beckoned him towards her and handed him the cylinder.
This cylinder was hollow; at one end there was a pair of projections on opposite sides; the other end was serrated.
"I want you to put that on Judy's back with the toothy end downward, so that the top edge is a little above the bottom of her ribs. Please do it carefully, because I am not protecting you with the magic, now and we don't want to hurt Judy."
Mike showed Judy the tool he had been given before placing it gently on Judy's exposed back. She felt a small prickling as the teeth made contact. Mike tried to let go, but Judy's back sloped and the tube would have fallen over if he had.
"Now turn it clockwise," instructed Miss Mystery.
Mike had a moment of crisis when he could not remember which way was clockwise, but a quick glance at his watch reminded him. Using the handles he turned the tube, applying no pressure beyond the weight of the metal. Judy felt a circular set of prickles where the tube had been placed and then could follow the progress of the tube as it sank into her flesh. After the first full turn the teeth could not be seen.
"Are you ok, Judy," asked Mike.
Judy replied, "Do you hear me screaming?"
Mike acknowledged with an 'Ok' and continued turning the hollow cylinder, which continued to sink into Judy. She felt a little thrilled and a bit odd as she sensed that the saw's edge penetrate the muscles of her back and bite into the bones of her spine. She had a moment where she wondered about the consequences of such a spinal injury, but felt she could dismiss this, because this was magic and if she could survive being beheaded for an evening, a gap in her spine should present as little difficulty. She felt a twitch in her legs as her spinal cord was severed in two places, it had the feel of the glitch that occurs when a backup system is brought into operation.
Mike continued to turn the round saw as it went deeper into Judy's back. She could feel the serrations nibbling at her vital organs; Liver, kidneys and intestines were all cut into.
Mike lost count of how many times he had turned the tube before there was a scraping noise of metal against metal.
"One more turn then stop," advised Miss Mystery.
Mike turned the tube one final turn. He looked into the upper end of the tubular saw. The furrow of Judy's backbone was at an angle within the circle of the saw.
"Now, pull it out! I know you will be careful to pull it out straight, because you don't want to scratch Judy with the teeth on the way out."
Judy felt the edges of the saw teeth as the tube was withdrawn, but it was more like the brush of fingernails against bare skin.
The tube was now full of Judy's flesh and she had a cylindrical hole through her upper abdomen.
"If you give me back the plate, it will probably be time for you to be heading off to the cinema," suggested Miss Mystery.
Judy stood back up and turned her back on Mike. He could not make out much of the hole he had just made, because the lighting was too dim. Judy ducked her head and pulled the halter strap of her dress over it. She allowed the front of her dress to fall as she pulled the metal shield out. Mike was shocked to see the wall of the opposite side of the tent revealed through the six inch diameter hole in Judy's torso. It was soon hidden again when Judy refitted the top of her dress.
"You'll need a bag to take that home with you," observed Miss Mystery. She held out a small bag with long straps, so that Mike could lay the metal tube containing the cylinder of Judy's body. Miss Mystery handed the bag to Judy. "Keep it safe, my child. After all it contains a part of you. When you're ready, push it back in and turn it clockwise until you feel it click and pull the sawing tube back out. I'll have the bag and the saw back when I next see you. Have a lovely night."
There was a pop and a puff of smoke that enveloped the chair on which Miss Mystery sat. The smoke cleared rapidly but not before Miss Mystery was gone.
"I think we need to go, Mike," said Judy, as she made for the exit of the tent.
"Don't forget you shawl. It'll not only keep your shoulders from getting cold, but it'll make it less obvious you've got a hole through your middle."
"Of course," muttered Judy. She picked up the shawl from the chaise and threw it at Mike. Mike caught it and draped it over Judy's shoulders.
Getting off the roundabout island was more challenging that getting to it, but the traffic had eased in the time they had spent in the tent, so it took less than five minutes to find a gap.
Once in the car, Mike checked the time. "We'd better get going; that took a lot longer that it felt like it took." As they left the McDonalds car park, there was no sign of the tent on the roundabout.
Their journey to the cinema took less time than anticipated, but they were nearly late for the movie, because they got caught up in a promotional event, where someone in charge thought they had deliberately come as Jessica Rabbit and Eddie Valiant. This confusion earned them a voucher for more tickets to the cinema, a large box of popcorn each and their pictures in the entertainment section of the local newspaper the following week.
Once in the darkened auditorium, they found their seats. Mike leaning in to Judy and draped his arm over Judy's shoulders. Soon Judy complained that he was leaning too hard and the sparkly bits on her shawl were prickling her. Mike was not particularly satisfied, because he could not get his hand to rest comfortably on Judy's breast, because the plastic halter-strap was in the way.
Mike suggested that Judy lean forward for a moment. When she sat back, she could feel something touch the inside of the hole through her body. As she reached upright she felt a bit of resistance from Mike's upper arm against her back, then she felt Mike's hand between the inside of her dress and her body. She gave a muted squeak of surprise and then began to purr as his hand began to stroke the underside of her breasts. They both enjoyed the film, but remembered the occasion more for the concealed fondling they had done.
As they fell asleep in Judy's bed, Judy cradled against Mike's body, they both wondered what they would be doing in Miss Mystery's first magic show for an audience and if they would ever meet Miss Mystery's equally mysterious friend, Magda.