“Dad… Bosso… thief… steal… diamond… tonight,” Leila wheezed.
“Slow down,” Mr. Vernon said, coming out from behind the counter. “Take a deep breath and start over.”
The four misfits did just that. They started with their stakeout at the pool and everything Carter and Leila had discovered in Bosso’s locked bedroom. The entire time, Mr. Vernon remained calm and collected. When they were done, he took a deep breath himself and said, “Well, that’s disappointing of Bobby.”
“Who’s Bobby?” Carter asked.
“Never mind,” Mr. Vernon said, perturbed. “Let’s focus on one thing at a time. I told you that I would never condone what you four spent the afternoon doing.”
Leila spoke up, “But I thought you said—”
“Regardless, you are armed with information that I’m sure the local law enforcement would like to know. Perhaps you should call and inform them?”
“I would but we can’t—” Leila went on.
“—Sheriff Shaw is on Bosso’s payroll—” Ridley added.
“—we saw Bosso pay him off—” Carter continued.
“—it looks like we’re on our own,” Theo finished.
“On my own? I wish!” Olly said, waving his thumb at his sister. “This one is always following me.”
“Following you?!” Izzy laughed. “I came out first! You’ve been following me around since we left Mom’s womb!”
“Olly! Izzy! Where did you come from?” Leila cried.
“We wanted to see how things turned out, so we trailed you. You took off so fast, we didn’t have a chance to ask if you liked our two-man show,” Olly said.
“Two-man show? You mean, one-woman, one-boy show,” Izzy smirked.
“I see your numbers have grown.” Mr. Vernon smiled. He seemed surprisingly calm. Maybe even too calm… “You’re practically an army now. It appears none of you are on your own. You remind me of my own friends when I was your age. We were unstoppable.”
“What are you going to do, Dad?” Leila asked.
“Me? I’m going to go watch the show, of course,” Mr. Vernon said. “It’s important for magicians to watch other magicians. That’s how we learn.”
“That’s it?!” Carter asked. “What are you going to do about the diamond?”
“Me?” Mr. Vernon asked. “I thought you were going to do something about it.”
“We are,” Ridley said. “We have a plan!”
“You do? Pray tell.”
“Well, I think the four of us—” Ridley started.
“Six of us,” Olly and Izzy interrupted.
“Fine! The six of us will stop Bosso. As for the how…” Ridley paused. Her chest sank, as if she were suddenly losing steam. “Well… I guess we only have the concept of an idea of a plan.”
“Well, a well-executed show must be well thought out well ahead of time.” Mr. Vernon grinned. “Plan carefully. No one likes a sloppy show. Feel free to use whatever you want from the shop, of course. What is mine is Leila’s, and what is Leila’s is yours.”
“But aren’t you going to help us?” Carter asked, shocked by Mr. Vernon’s carelessness.
“I will be helping in my own way. After all, I trust that you six have things well in hand,” Mr. Vernon said, picking up his top hat and cape. “There are leftovers in the fridge. Help yourselves. I’m going to head out for an early dinner with the Other Mr. Vernon at the hotel and then have a polite conversation with an old friend. Let’s hope for the best. Either way, I suspect we’ll all see a truly amazing show tonight.”
Mr. Vernon turned the sign on the shop door from OPEN to CLOSED, COME AGAIN SOON. “Leila, make sure to lock up when you leave! Ta-ta for now.” Then, with a flourish of his cape, he disappeared, and the door closed all by itself.
“Hrmph,” Ridley said. “I was expecting him to be a little more… helpful.”
“Me too,” Carter whispered.
“This is an awful situation to be placed in,” Theo said. “We’re just kids. What can we do?”
“We can do magic,” Leila said.
“So can Bosso,” Ridley reminded her. “And his tricks seem real.”
“But we have one another,” Leila added.
“And Bosso has a whole gang of Sideshowers and Pock-Pickets and frown clowns,” Carter replied. “We’re just a bunch of… of…”
“Misfits!” the parrot squawked.
“Rude bird!” Leila said.
Carter shook his head. “Presto is right. The Pock-Pickets were right. We’re just a bunch of misfits. We can’t do anything.”
“Yes, we can!” Leila shouted, slamming her fist on the counter. It was the first time Carter had seen Leila truly angry. “Just because we’re misfits doesn’t mean we aren’t amazing. In fact, I think being misfits makes us more amazing. Carter, you have street smarts and fast hands. I can escape from anything. Theo can make things float. Ridley is a total brainiac. And Olly and Izzy are hilarious. Plus, they know the Grand Oak better than I do. If we work together, we can stop Bosso from stealing the Star of Africa.”
“But things could get sticky,” Carter said. “We could get into trouble—big trouble.”
“What’s life without a little risk?” Leila said firmly. “But you’re right. Everyone should have a chance to walk away right now. No hurt feelings. If anyone’s scared or doesn’t want to go up against Bosso or has homework, now’s the time to say something.”
The gang of misfits looked at one another in silence.
Carter thought of the past few days. He had spent his life minding his own business, letting Uncle Sly get away with all sorts of bad things. But now he had a chance to do something—not to help himself, but to help others.
“I’m in,” Carter said. “I’ve got nothing to lose.”
Theo smiled. “I have everything to lose, but this sounds like a challenge that I cannot miss.”
“No one steals from me and gets away with it,” Ridley said. “What about you two? You don’t have a beef with Bosso.”
Olly narrowed his eyes. “Bosso is a jerk and that’s enough beef for me.”
“We went up to try to talk to him after the show,” Izzy explained, “since we’re showbiz people too, you know? All he said was, ‘Shoo, flies.’ Then that Walrus guy pushed Olly.”
Olly and Izzy both shook their heads in disgust.
“The only thing we hate more than a thief—” started Olly.
“—is tomatoes,” finished Izzy.
Olly glared at his sister.
“What?” cried Izzy. “We hate tomatoes!”
“And jerks!” said Olly.
Izzy bobbed her head. “Oh yeah. That’s what I was going to say. We’re in.” The twins rubbed their hands together, looking like little devils, and said, “So… what are we going to do?”
“Like Dad said…” Leila smiled. “We need a plan.”
For a few seconds, they stood in silence, allowing their minds to churn.
“We’re going to need all the breakfast leftovers in the Grand Oak kitchen,” said Olly.
“And lots of syrup!” added Izzy.
“We’re going to need to get Carter a suit with some hidden pockets,” said Ridley.
Theo added, “And some props from the backstage of the Grand Oak theater.”