The Sultan, however, was most certainly expecting his arrival and when, like the goblins, a somewhat dishevelled Prince Kalman was suddenly catapulted out of the mirror into the middle of the stage, he merely waved his hand and a spell transformed him into a gorgeously-robed Turkish prince.
Sir James clapped furiously, the audience did likewise and a rather stunned Prince Kalman bowed with regal grace and then gawped in a most un-princely fashion at the sight of his own father sitting at the right-hand side of the Turkish Sultan, Sulaiman the Red. The look of relief that crossed his face when he realized that his father was alive was, however, fleeting. His brain, working with the speed of light, swiftly told him that the Sultan must not only have held him prisoner for countless years but also seemed to have succeeded in making him his vassal. Memories of that last, dreadful scene at Ardray, when the Sultan had taken his crown back, were still fresh in his mind and as his anger boiled anew, he glared furiously at the Sultan.
The Grand Vizier who, by this time, was now positively thriving on the totally unexpected, nipped smartly out of the way as another chair materialized beside the Sultan’s throne. He hadn’t a clue what was happening but as every theatrical instinct in his body was geared to keeping the show going at all costs, he stepped forward with a flourish, bowed deeply to the young prince and escorted him to the dais.
The Sultan rose from his throne, held his hands out in welcome and gestured to the empty chair beside him.
In the audience, Sir James sat rigid and hastily breathed a silent prayer for, in a matter of seconds, Prince Kalman’s expression had changed from blank astonishment to blind fury. Neil and Clara, standing like statues on either side of the dais, hoped fervently that he wouldn’t recognize them and turned their heads away slightly while Casimir, who wanted more than anything to hug his son, gripped the arms of his chair in anxiety but did not dare intervene. Such was the crackling tension in the atmosphere that even the Grand Vizier stepped back, his eyes looking warily from Prince Kalman to the Sultan and back again. Indeed, Kalman’s arrogance in the face of the Sultan’s power was nothing short of mind-boggling. The Sultan could have hexed him there and then but Kalman was consumed by a black rage that made him fearless.
“How can you sit there, father?” he snarled. “The vassal of Sulaiman the Red!”
Casimir made to rise but the Sultan stepped forward. “Come Prince Kalman,” he said sincerely. “You are as welcome as your father to my court. Let there be peace among us as there was in times long gone.”
“Never!” Kalman almost spat the word out. His blue eyes blazed in fury as his glance swept the scene — and rested inevitably on Neil and Clara.
That did it. The Sultan knew it, Sir James knew it and so did Casimir although he hadn’t a clue as to why the sight of two children should send his son through the roof in a towering rage.
There was, in fact, nothing that could have been better designed to send Kalman’s temper rocketing skywards than the sight of Neil and Clara. “You!” the prince snarled, with a ferocity that sent the Grand Vizier’s eyebrows snapping together in alarm. “So you are here as well, are you?” he hissed, venomously. “Many’s the time I’ve longed to have you in my power!” Clara wilted under the unrelieved fury of his gaze and as Neil stepped forward to protect her, Kalman grabbed each of their arms and, muttering the words of a hex under his breath, the three of them vanished in a cloud of smoke.
Casimir leapt from his chair, screaming in horror as his son disappeared; the Sultan, hiding his fury, pursed his lips impassively; Sir James looked thunderstruck and tears sprang to Lewis’s eyes. He knew how badly Casimir had wanted to find his son and now look what had happened!
As Casimir wailed and wept, the Sultan looked round and decided that as far as he was concerned, the pantomime had more than served its purpose. He met Matt Lafferty’s sharp, brown eyes with a glint of amused appreciation in his troubled smile, lifted his arm and cast a spell that not only replaced his own undoubted majesty with the body of the original Sultan, but also brought the pantomime back to the point when the genie appeared.
So, once again, Alec Johnston made his magnificent leap onto the stage. This time there was no Casimir to spoil it and the applause was deafening. It was only the Grand Vizier, Lewis and Sir James who noticed that neither Neil nor Clara stood guard at either side of the Sultan’s throne.
26. Smoking Kills
Murdo and Tammy Souter didn’t stand a chance.
A black beetle couldn’t have left the Assembly Hall that night without being thoroughly scrutinized! There were policemen everywhere and it wasn’t at all surprising that Murdo and Tammy were caught fair and square when they tried to leave the theatre with the audience.