Before the next auction, Verity went round her former assistants, who were acting as waitresses for this evening of charity debauchery. Each of the first four she told that it was time to act as helpers and that they should remember to act as if they are waitresses who did not know her. The fifth and final waitress was Chloe, who was also reminded that she was to react as if she was a put upon waitress, but assured that what she would be expected to do would help raise some funds for the that charity that she was not in a financial position to donate herself.
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As the clock touched the bottom of the clock for the third time since the evening had begun, Verity called attention to the performance area, where the previous auctions had taken place. Up for auction this time was a amber pendant with an embedded mosquito; a replica of the walking stick handle from Jurassic Park. She was surprised and gratified that this trinket did not tax her skills as auctioneer, because it seemed after the first flurry of bids it came down to a competition between two women who really seemed to want it. In the end the necklace sold for thousand times what the original must have cost to make and twenty times what someone might be able to buy a similar item for on Ebay.
The magician smiled at the tall losing bidder and asked her if she would like to take part in the next magical segment. The woman indicated that she did not wish to participate, but seemed willing to donate to have a substitute found.
“In that case, let's get the waitresses involved. Could you capture some waitresses and get them to come here, I think five should do.”
The next few minutes were mild chaos as several waitresses were rounded up by the audience and guided to the performance area. Verity was surprised to see that one of the five was not a former assistant, but one of the venue's regular waitress/barmaids.
She had the waitresses line up and introduce themselves; along the line was Sandra, Chloe, Debora, Tiff, and Ann. Tiff was looking more scared than the others, as she had no idea what was going on. During these introductions Verity took the chance to whisper to Tiff that she was purely here to help and to play along.
Apart from the minor height differences the helpers made a uniform line of black dresses with white frills and small aprons tied at the waist.
“Good, now that we have the formalities out of the way, I need four helpers and a volunteer assistant. Would someone step forward, please.” At that the waitresses took a step backwards, except Chloe; Tiff was prompted by helpful tugs from the assistants either side of her. “Good we have a volunteer.” Chloe did her best to look confused as she discovered that the line of other waitresses was a good-sized step behind her. She changed her expression to miffed, that she had not thought to step back at the same time as the others, then to resigned that she would be the volunteer in the illusion rather than a helper outside it. Inside, she was excited to experience the feelings that she remembered from the brief six months when she was one of Verity's assistants.
'I hope this is the illusion that I was featured in,' she thought. She remembered the feelings of being strapped to a thin board by audience members and covered. The box with her in it was then lifted over a bed a spikes and clamped into position, before the spikes were raised through the box and her within it. She recalled having to act shocked, when the audience members opened the side hatches of the covering box, and delighted in the memory of the shock transferred to the audience members when the box covers were removed (to allow the rest of the audience a better look) and then the spikes were dropped from within her body, allowing her stand up and display the damage done to her costume by what had happened.
“Don't worry, I shan't be cutting you into pieces; that would be a waste of a waitress. I will be asking you to take part in a costume change challenge.”
Chloe tried to look relieved, rather than disappointed, as she had hoped to be involved in something more that a costume change act similar to the one that had been a segment of the act about an hour before. Her smile broadened, when she recollected that Verity would make each of her shows unique by performing an seemingly random illusion on a random assistant, but dress it up as some sort of challenge to test the assistant selected. The only instruction the assistants got for this act was, “let whatever happens happen and try to enjoy yourself.”
“That doesn't seem so hard,” Chloe commented. “So what's the challenge bit? I saw you change the lady in the skeleton costume into a mummy costume just by raising a curtain around her.”
“Inside that ring of cloth, Briony had plenty of space to undo the handcuffs, change costumes and then put the handcuffs back on again.” Both magician, assistant and Briony (who was watching in her skeletal form) knew that the statement about the space available within that hooped tube of cloth was true, but that was not what had happened. “Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, will be to change costumes in a much smaller space.”
“You think I have the option? Would I be working as a waitress if I had the hundred and some needed to buy my way out of participating in this magic or whatever it is?” This line had been part of the discussion when Verity had first talked to the assistants about this event. Verity hoped that it would encourage more of the charity's patrons to buy their way out of being subjected to the magic and give the assistants-acting-as-waitresses more opportunity to re-experience the magic, while raising more funds for the charity.
“Let's show the Courageous Chloe what she will be facing this evening. Sandra and Debora, go that side and bring back what you find and Ann, you take Tiff to help you bring what you find on that side. While they're collecting the apparatus together, Chloe, do you have any idea what we're going to have you do?”
“Well, you said that it would be a costume change in a small space, so I guess you'll want me to get into a box and give me something to change into, then expect me to escape with the costume, change into it and then get back into the box while wearing it.”
“Yes that's exactly it, except for the escape and return bit in the middle. And here comes Sandra with the box you will be in and Debra with the choice of costumes for you to change into.”
The two assistants came from their missions one pushing a low box on a wheel platform, the other dragging a hanging rail with a number of coloured dress bags dangling from it. The box seemed very small, even relative to the petite Chloe.
“Let's select you a costume to change into. I'll let you choose unless someone is about make a large donation to take the choice from you. We have here a devil costume, Tinkerbell, a wedding dress, a witch and Alice in Wonderland.” she indicated in turn the red, green, white, black and blue dress bags. “The set-up is quite simple, you choose a choose a costume and we lay it in the bottom of the box, then you kneel on top of it and scrunge down so that we can put the top part of the box back on (that clips into place, so you can't accidentally knock it off). After that there is a bit of a wait, while you swap into your chosen costume. And after that when you indicate that you as changed, we open the box again and you emerge, like a butterfly in you new costume.”
“That's all great in theory, but that box looks really small; no elbow room what-so-ever. Am I going to escape?”
“No, you'll be in there the whole time; I've even provided some holes so that you don't die of asphyxiation while you're in there.”
“Ladies, if you could open the box, please. While we decide what Chloe will be attempting to change into.”
There followed some discussion, but no-one seemed to be willing to put any money behind their suggested choices, until some sympathetic soul bid fifty for the waitress to get to choose. Chloe went to the rail and chose the white dress bag; as Verity had expected.
Before laying the bag in the bottom of the opened box, Chloe commented on the holes in the bottom of the box, knowing that this detail would otherwise be lost on the audience and guessing that it might be important later; this made Verity wish she had been able to retain Chloe as an assistant. The dress bag was lain in the base of the box, but before Chloe stepped in after it to kneel on it she remained her flat shoes.
With Chloe kneeling on top of the costume she was supposed to be changing into, Verity asked her to hunker down. She then asked the two helpers present to lower the top half of the box over Chloe so that she could do up the catches that would hold the whole thing shut. Unfortunately, it seemed that despite Chloe's petite stature the box was too small to contain her.
“Sandra, would you go and get the extension section, it will be next to where you found the box,” requested the magician.
While Sandra went on her errand, there was a rumbling from the other entrance to the performance area from backstage. Debra and Tiff soon appeared dragging a large tank of water; the tank was on wheels, but it still took a lot of effort to keep it moving. Soon the magician and her three helpers onstage were positioning it behind the box that Chloe was still kneeling in.
“What's that for?” she asked.
“You seemed to be concerned that you needed to escape, so to prevent that possibility, we will be lower the box into the tank.”
“Ok, but won't the water leak in through the breathing holes?”
“That's not going to be a problem, we'll do something about that once you are in the box and we'll use the opportunity to raise some more money for the charity,too.”
“Ok, I think,” said Chloe, trying to sound doubtful, but inside she was excited to find out how this 'problem' would be 'solved'. She suspected that there would be some of her favourite magic involved.
“Let's get you packed up, so you can start doing your costume change. Don't worry about water leaking in; we'll take care of that once you are boxed up.”
Sandra returned carrying something rectangular. “Is this the thing you wanted?” she asked. “There was something else there too, but I didn't think you wanted it just yet, but I moved it closer, just in case.” She caught Chloe's eye and winked at her; Sandra was the only one of the assistants that had been with Verity at the same time as Chloe had and was aware of her preferences in illusions.
“Yes, thank you, this is exactly what I wanted. Could you help fit it over the Chloe and get the box completed, then bring out the other things you found. While we're doing that, could the rest of you ladies slide the lid off the water tank; it'll save a bit of time later.”
Between them Sandra and Verity lowered the rectangular tube over Chloe and then clipped it the box base that she was kneeling in. Next came the top of the box, forcing Chloe to scrunch down a bit as that was clipped down too, completely encasing the erstwhile waitress.
While Sandra went off to fetch to other items she had discovered. This allowed the audience to see the box properly constructed for the first time. It was obvious that Chloe was still inside because the section that extended the box was clear; so those watching could see Chloe's torso pressed down on the tops of her thighs with the edge of her white apron poking out from between, and a swatch of the waitress' blonde hair at the opposite end to where the satin of her skirt was pulled tight over her buttocks.
With Chloe trapped and almost unable to move in her tight confinement, Sandra returned from backstage, wheeling a rack of swords. “Great, Sandra, bring them here and we can start bunging up the holes that might let water in. I think Tiff should be the first. Meanwhile Debora, would you mind getting the other bit of equipment that was near where you found the tank?”
Verity drew a sword from the rack and handed it to Tiff.
“What am I meant to do with this?” asked the non-assistant waitress.
“All you need to do is pick a hole in the side of the box and push the rod through; this will bung up the hole and stop water leaking in.”
“So, being skewered is better than getting a bit wet?”
“This is a magic act, so yes, of course it is.” As the magician said this she was guiding the tip of the sword towards the hole nearest the top left corner above the visible blonde tresses. When the tip was located, she added, “Don't worry about missing the hole on the other side, the hole has a build guide.”
“That's not what I'm worried about; what about Chloe?”
“I'm sure she'll enjoy it.” Verity's word seemed to have the sincerity of truth, so Tiff pushed on the sword handle.
Initially, the spike slid in with no resistance, then it stopped against something hard. “It stopped.” the waitress stated.
The magician reached over to feel the nature of the obstruction by giving a slight tug. “You must have found Chloe's skull bone,” Verity suggested. “Skull bones can be tough. Allow me to help!” Tiff stood back, glad to be relieved of the responsibility of skewering her co-worker's head. The magicienne stepped to the end of the sword, squatted slightly and tapped the end of the handle with her hip. There was a squeak from the box that Verity was happy about, because she recognised the pleasure in the sound. “There you go, Tiff. You can complete pushing the rod in; there may be a another tough bit getting out of Chloe's head, but now you know how to deal with that.”
While Tiff accumulated to courage to finish the job she had been given, Verity took another sword from the rack and called on Ann to be the next helper, but then gave the appearance of having had an idea. “Hold up, Ann. Maybe some of the audience want to help out, by filling a hole with a rod; for a fee, of course.” Verity was not surprised to see hands going into handbags and purses to pull out fifties and wads of twenties. “So, on second thoughts, Ann, you go and find me up to fifteen paying volunteers to push rods through this box with Chloe in it!”
Soon the magician had a line of fifteen spectators willing to pay for the privilege of pushing a rod through the box that visibly contained the hapless waitress-assistant. Each of them were handed a sword and asked to select a hole and push the point in until the handle met the outside. Chloe tried to react to each new penetration, which was no chore as she was enjoying what for her had been the best part of being a magician's assistant.
With the box thoroughly transfixed, the magician asked the Chloe how she was doing, while Ann and Sandra herded the transfixers from the performance area.
“I think I'm ok, but I can't fathom how you expect me to change into the costume, when I'm squeezed into a box I barely fit in, I've been skewered (by was it fifteen rods?) and I can't even move enough to reach the zip of the dress bag.”
“That's perfectly fine; you'll find a way. In the meantime we'll be getting you into the water tank and filling in the last holes in the top and the bottom of the box; we don't want to get the costume wet, do we?”
On cue, Debra returned from the backstage area pushing a bed of upward-pointing spikes on casters and carrying two long poles. Verity had the spikes parked in front of Chloe's box and the poles fed through brackets on the side of the box to act as handles to lift the box. An assistant was assigned to each end of a pole and lifted the box and its contents. The box was then tipped to give the audience a view of the holes in the top and bottom of the box that matched the pattern of the inch diameter spikes thrusting up from the bed.
It proved a delicate operation to raise the box over the spikes, so that the spikes located in the holes in the bottom of the box. The box rested on the points of the spikes, as if the dress bag was preventing the tips from pushing any further into Chloe's container. The magicienne had the assistants remove the lifting poles and fit them to the brackets on the uprights at the corners of the spike-bed.
While the assistants were changing the lifting poles about, Verity fetched a stepladder from backstage and climbed it. She then stepped from the top of the ladder onto the top of the box, which began to slowly sink down the spikes until the box stopped with the tips of the spikes emerging an inch from the top of the box, when she lightly jumped off. Several of the spikes were visible through the transparent section of the box, their silvery steel standing out against the black of Chloe's waitress outfit. Under the magician's supervision, the team of waitress-assistants lifted the box by the spikes and lowered it into the tank of water.
As the transparent section was entering the water, Verity asked the trapped victim whether she had any words for the audience before the box went completely under.
“Yes! If I get out of this, there had better be some good tips waiting!” Any further words were cut off by the box being fully submerged.
“Let's complete Chloe's predicament, ladies. Slide the lid back on the tank; we don't want the floor getting wet if Chloe's struggles get energetic.”
The lid of the box was shown to be a single plate with a six inch hole at the centre. Then slid into place. There seemed no point in adding the padlocks to hold it in place, but it was done.
Verity observed the feeble struggles. “It looks like Chloe might take a while to do her costume change, so I had better keep you entertained in the meantime.” To that end, she dismissed Debra and Sandra back to waitressing duties, then performed a cut and restored rope routine with Tiff and Ann holding the ends of the rope throughout.
After the rope routine was completed, the magicienne drew the audience's attention to the girl in the box in the water tank. Many were surprised to see that they could not see the waitress' black dress, the section that they could see was now clad in a white bra and panties.
“Chloe seems to be making progress, but quite slowly. And given her vulnerable state of undress, maybe we should cover the tank to give her a little privacy.” Verity produced a cloth large enough to cover the top two thirds of the tank and with the cooperation of Ann and Tiff covered it.
To fill the time until something more happened with Chloe's predicament, Verity assisted by Ann performed a head chopper routine with Tiff as the hapless victim; who was even more afraid of the consequences of being put in the stocks and having a blade passed through her neck, because she had seen what had happened to Verity's first volunteer and did not want to follow in her headless footsteps, although on the couple of times she had delivered snacks to the beheaded gypsy-fortune-teller, she had seemed happy with her unusual situation.
Verity failed to behead Tiff in turn with a sword, a blade mounted in a handle, and sheet of steel that seemed to filled the area of the clear plastic stocks that the magician had used to hold the moderately unwilling waitress in place. As Tiff was released and allowed to return to her more usual duties, it was observed that there was a lump under the cloth that covered the tank.
When the magician pulled the cloth from the tank, the lump turned out to be Chloe's head with her neck through the hole in the lid. Putting on an expression of perplexity, she asked, “How do you get like that?”
“How should I know?” Chloe counter-asked. “I think I may be a bit stuck. There is no way I'm going to get out through this hole because it's too small; In fact, I don't know how I got my head through either, because it's too small to pull my head back through, as well; not that I want to, because that would mean getting my head wet.”
“You do seem to have got yourself in a predicament, don't you. I think, I'll have to resort to a magician's default solution to this kind of thing.”
“What's that?” asked the trapped assistant. She seemed to be kneeling low inside the box with her bare midriff showing through the transparent section of the box.
“Cover you up and hope things turn out for the best.” Chloe did not look happy with the answer.
With a swing of the cloth the assistant's head and the top part of the tank were re-covered. Almost immediately the lump under the cloth began to move and grow, until the cloth slid away to reveal Chloe standing on top of the tank's lid in a flowing white dress, tiara and sparkling silver shoes. It seemed to take the assistant a few moments to notice that she was not just in her underwear. With some help from the magician, she dismounted from the tank. She commented on how beautiful she felt in the dress.
“You're getting married soon, right?”
“Yes, but how did you know?”
Verity tapped her finger against the side of her nose, in a gesture of 'I just know'. “You can keep the dress, but I reckon that we ought to get your waitress uniform back, because it would be a shame if anything happened to you new wedding dress.”
Chloe looked back at the box in the tank, but Verity was heading for a lady in the front row of the audience, who was carrying a slim clutch purse and wearing a bikini. “Would you mind opening you purse, please?”
The surprised woman held out the purse that seemed to have little room for a small amount of cash and a couple of credit cards. The magician undid the clasp and dipped her fingertips into the small space within. She was soon pulling out Chloe's black with white trim waitress dress that should have caused the purse to bulge if it had been inside before the purse was opened.
Verity thanked the lady for 'holding on to Chloe's dress', then handed it over to the waitress-assistant. “I'll see you for the finale. And I'll see the rest of you in about fifteen minutes for the next auction.”