The Likes of Us (35 page)

‘You do look lovely, Mummy.'

‘Yes, I'm not wearing too badly, love. I can still make their heads turn.' She glanced down at her legs. ‘A few pints and a look at them and Leonard can get away with murder.'

The flippancy of her remark compensated for that silly twinge of guilt. There was nothing brazen in what she did. And Brian didn't care, anyway. His face was impassive as his gaze ran briefly over her then switched back to the television screen. She reached for her skirt and finished getting ready to go.

 

By nine-thirty ‘Leonardo' had run through the first part of his act – the routine with coloured silks and steel rings which mysteriously linked themselves and came apart again – and, timing the audience's patience for this run-of-the-mill conjuring to a nicety, culminated in producing Joyce from the interior of a dolls' house which he had just demonstrated as being empty. Now he came to his speciality, in which the audience would participate through identification with one or more of its members. Occasionally people quizzed Joyce about the secrets of Leonardo's act, ending, when she refused to be drawn, with the exclamation: ‘Oh, well, we know they're all tricks'. Of course they were tricks! It was the skill with which he hid the trickery which made the routine. All that was, except the hypnotism. That was proved to be genuine every time he did it. Joyce had seen him put half the people in a room under, their fingers locked foolishly behind their necks until he released them. She herself had never seen her part of the routine they did together and could only believe it when, during their first rehearsals, he had taken a photograph and shown it to her afterwards. She'd not been able to suppress all feeling of uneasiness, but tried to cover it with a little laugh. ‘There's no knowing what you could get me doing when I'm under,' she said. ‘Oh, basically the subject won't do anything against his nature,' Leonard explained. ‘On the other hand, who knows what urges are bottled up inside people? I once had a young woman on stage who showed an irresistible desire to take all her clothes off. I had to snap her out of that pretty quickly, or we'd have all been in trouble.'

‘And now, ladies and gentlemen, for the next part of our performance, which is a demonstration of the power of mind over matter, I need the assistance of a volunteer from the audience. A muscular young man... Have we a handsome specimen of British manhood who is willing to come forward and help me?'

There was a stir in the audience as people looked at their neighbours. Joyce picked out a table down front at which a young woman was nudging her companion with her elbow while he made grimaces of resistance. Leonard had spotted them too.

‘Do I see someone down there trying to make up his mind? Come along, sir. Don't be shy.'

He turned his head and nodded to Joyce, who went down off stage to a greeting of shouts and whistles and held out her hand with a smile to the young man. The girl put both hands on his back and pushed. ‘Go on with yer. What yer scared of?'

The boy shrugged in an elaborate attempt at casualness and let Joyce lead him up off the floor of the hall, Leonard starting a round of applause as, still held by Joyce's hand, he followed her onto the stage. She eyed him discreetly as he faced Leonard; not tall, but broad-shouldered and deep-chested: no waster.

‘Now, sir,' Leonard began, ‘let me first of all assure you that you'll be perfectly safe up here with us. Tell me, have you ever been hypnotised?'

‘Not by a feller,' the boy said, and Leonard responded with his quick stage grin.

‘Quite so. But have you any objection to my hypnotising you now?'

‘Not if you can.'

‘You don't think I can? By the way, will you tell me your name?'

‘Ted.'

‘Right, Ted. You say you don't think I can put you under hypnosis.'

‘Yes. I mean, no.'

‘That's a pity. Hypnotism, you know, does rely a great deal on the willing cooperation of the subject. However, we'll do our best.' Leonard raised his right hand, the forefinger extended. There was a thimble on the end of it which flashed brilliantly in the lights. ‘Would you keep your eyes fixed on the charm, Ted. I shall count to six. On the count of six I want you to close your eyes. I shall continue counting to twelve. On the count of twelve you will be under my influence. You will be able to hear what I say and acknowledge by nodding your head. Keep your eye on the charm...'

Ted's eyes closed on six and at twelve, when Leonard asked him if he could hear what he said, his head dutifully nodded.

‘I want you to put your hands on top of your head and link your fingers.' As Ted obeyed Leonard turned away from him. ‘I think he'll be quiet till we need him again.'

He waited till the laughter subsided. ‘Now, ladies and gentlemen, to demonstrate further the marvellous power of mind over matter I am going to put my assistant, the charming Joyce, into a trance…'

She went under easily and, at Leonard's bidding, walked to where three straight chairs stood in a row and lay down across them. Leonard made sure that her head and heels were in position.

‘I am now going to remove the middle chair but you will remain supported in the same position.'

There was applause as Leonard took out the middle chair, leaving Joyce stretched rigid, supported only by her heels and the back of her head.

‘We can leave her for a moment, ladies and gentlemen. I assure you she is quite comfortable and can rest
like that indefinitely. Now back to our young friend.' He stood before Ted. ‘On the count of three you will wake up but you will not be able to unlock your hands. One – two – three.'

Ted blinked as he came awake. He tried to lower his arms, but he couldn't. ‘Here, what you done?'

‘Can't you unlock your fingers?'

‘No, I can't.'

‘When I snap my fingers twice you will be able to.'

The girl Ted had left at the table laughed delightedly as he was released.

‘Now,' Leonard said, ‘I want you to observe my assistant.'

‘Any time.'

‘Yes, I know what you mean. Observe her, balanced between those chairs, supported only by her head and her heels. Do you think you could rest like that?'

‘I expect you could make me.'

‘I see we have a convert here, ladies and gentlemen. Tell me, Ted, how much do you weigh?'

‘Thirteen and a half stone.'

‘Do you think Joyce could support such a weight in the position she's in?'

‘No, she'd collapse.'

‘Shall we try it?'

‘You mean me?'

‘Yes, Ted, you.'

‘I don't want to hurt her.'

‘I can assure you that I'll take full responsibility... Ladies and gentlemen, such is the nature of the trance I've imposed on my assistant she can do things she would not normally be capable of. This is the power of the prepared mind over the inadequacies of the body. Our friend tells me he weighs thirteen and a half stone. I shall now demonstrate that, under my influence, Joyce can support this weight. Now, Ted, come along with me. I want you to sit on Joyce.' Ted looked at Joyce then Leonard. ‘It's all right; don't be shy. Give me your hands. Now, gently down onto her midriff... There. Are you comfortable?'

‘More or less.'

‘You won't fall over if I let go of your hands?'

‘No.'

‘Righto, then. When I let go of you I want you to lift your feet slowly off the floor until your full weight is resting on Joyce. All right.'

He released Ted's hands and the boy uneasily raised his feet.

‘No wires and no invisible aids, ladies and gentlemen. Joyce is now carrying thirteen and a half stone on her unsupported body. Try it when you get home, ladies and gentlemen. But put some cushions on the floor first... Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, Ted. A round of applause for Joyce, ladies and gentlemen, as I free her from her trance.'

He replaced the third chair and snapped his fingers. Joyce opened her eyes and sat up, swinging round to stand on her feet. Ted said something to Leonard, who stepped closer to him and listened.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, our young volunteer has asked me if I can stop him smoking. Do you really want to stop?'

‘Yes, I do.'

‘And have you tried to do it for yourself?'

‘I've had one or two goes.'

‘But without success?'

‘The trouble is, I like it too much.'

‘Ah, yes, quite so. Well, since you've helped me so splendidly this evening I'll see what I can do. I shall put you under my influence first. Please look closely at the charm again. Again, when I've counted to six you will close your eyes. At the count of twelve you will be under my control…' Leonardo put him under and glanced at his watch. ‘At ten-fifteen you will light a cigarette. That cigarette will taste revolting and you will put it out. Cigarettes will continue to taste revolting and you will lose all desire to smoke them. Now when I snap my fingers twice you will awake. You will not remember what I've said but you will act upon my commands.'

‘Is that it?' Ted asked a moment later.

‘That's all, sir. Thank you very much. A big hand for a good sport, ladies and gentlemen.'

A man in the passage lurched into Joyce's path as they went down off the stage. ‘That was lovely, darlin'. Just lovely.' Her reaction as his hands fell on her shoulders was to push him away so hard that he lost his balance and reeled back against the wall.

‘That's not part of the act, mister.'

The man blinked his eyes several times in something like surprise. ‘My sincere apologies, darlin'. No offence meant. Absolutely not.' He straightened up and walked towards the door, still talking. ‘Wouldn't dream of it…'

‘Stupid devil,' Joyce said. She turned to see the sardonic amusement in Leonard's eyes.

‘You don't give them much change, do you?'

‘Ah, you show them your legs and they think they can maul you.'

‘You're a little puritan. I've told you before.'

‘Maybe I am. It's my privilege, though.'

He smiled. ‘Go and get your clothes on and we'll go round for a drink.

 

‘“... the little girl was very frightened as she went along the dark corridor. Then suddenly she turned a corner and saw a light coming through a doorway. She made her way towards it and, lo and behold, there she found herself looking into a magnificent room. There was an enormous polished floor, paintings on the walls, and beautiful silk curtains at the windows. And all this splendour was lit by the light from six huge blazing crystal chandeliers which hung from the painted ceiling. The little girl gasped at the wonder of it all. Where could she possibly be? And who could this magnificent room belong to?
”
'

Brian closed the book. ‘Do you know who it belonged to?'

‘No,' Gloria said.

‘Well, we'll find out tomorrow night.'

‘Oh, Daddy, read me a bit more.'

‘No. If it was on the telly you'd have to wait to find out, wouldn't you? And it's long past your bedtime. You'll be too tired to go to school in the morning.'

‘Mrs Miles lets me stop up.'

‘Well, she ought to know better.'

‘What time will Mummy be coming home?'

‘Not for a while yet.'

‘Will you ask her to come and tuck me up?'

‘I'll tell her. But if you're not asleep by then I shall be cross with you.'

‘She's a lovely mummy, my mummy is.'

‘Yes.'

She reached up and encircled his neck with her arms. ‘And you're a lovely daddy as well.'

‘I'm glad you think so. Now snuggle down and shut your eyes. I want you to be asleep in five minutes.'

 

Leonard glanced at his watch when he'd ordered the drinks. He touched Joyce's elbow as they stood at the long bar and indicated Ted sitting at his table. The boy took out a packet of cigarettes and said something to the girl he was with as he became aware of her and the people round them watching him. He lit a cigarette and took one pull before making a face and reaching for the ashtray. There was audible laughter from those sitting nearest to him and when the girl had spoken to him Ted looked over to where Leonard was standing and grinned, lifting his hand in a thumbs-up sign. Leonard acknowledged him and the small ripple of applause with a nod of the head and a slight smile as the club's entertainments secretary, a stocky grey-haired man with scarred thick-fingered hands, came to them.

‘On the house, Mr... er…' he said as the barman placed their drinks on the counter.

‘Thank you.' Leonard poured tonic water into Joyce's gin and added water to his own scotch.

‘That was very good,' the secretary said. ‘Very successful, I thought.' He handed Leonard an envelope. ‘I think you'll find that right.'

Leonard took the envelope with some distaste at being paid in public and pocketed it without looking inside. ‘Thank you.'

‘They don't usually go for conjurors and suchlike,' the man said.

‘I'm a hypnotist and illusionist,' Leonard said.

‘Eh? Well, you know what I mean. And the young lady helped a lot. They all understand that kind of thing.'

‘I know what you mean,' Leonard said. ‘Any bunch of lads with a couple of guitars and a lot of cheek can hold them better than I can. It's too much trouble for them to watch a real artiste at work.'

‘We're very selective in our bookings, y'know. We don't engage rubbish.'

‘You certainly haven't in my case. Quality is still quality, even in these days when we seem to have less and less sense of real values.'

The man was beginning to look flustered. ‘Yes, I'm sure we all appreciate
–
'

‘No, I'm sorry,' Leonard said, ‘but I don't think you do. What you've had tonight is as good as you'll get in the profession. I have a reputation, built up carefully over the years, and I'm proud of it. I don't care to expose it to those people who can't appreciate what they're seeing. Perhaps you've never heard of the W.C.M.?'