Books : Ruby Lu, Brave and True : Excerpts

Chapter 2: Ruby's Magic Madness

One day, when Ruby was busy, Oscar spoke.

"See," he peeped. "Seeeeeeee."

His words were glass-noodle clear.

Ruby froze.

"See," Oscar repeated. "Seeeeee." He pointed at Ruby's sleeve where she had hidden her coin for Ruby's Vanishing Quarter trick.

Ruby could not remember what she was doing. Clink! A shiny quarter fell out of her sleeve and rolled away.

Everyone laughed. Ruby's audience thought Oscar was very funny. Oscar clapped and blew bubbles through his lips. Everyone laughed again.

Almost everyone, that is. Ruby did not laugh.

Ruby moved on to her next trick, Magnetic Ruby, in which a spoon sticks to Ruby's hand as though she is magnetic.

"See," Oscar said. "Seeeeee Bee!" "Bee" was Oscar's second word (He could not quite say "Ruby."). And he pointed right at where she was holding the spoon.

The crowd roared. Plums dropped from the tree. Oscar clapped. He was very clever. Now everyone could see that "Bee's" finger was secretly bent around the spoon.

Ruby closed her eyes. She wished with all her magical powers that she could make Oscar disappear.

But when she opened her eyes, he was still there.

The next day Ruby did her tricks faster. And trickier. She sprinkled magic dust. And she said the magic Cantonese words, "Sic faan! Sic faan!" -- which means "Eat rice! Eat rice!" Ruby couldn't think of any Cantonese or English words more magical than that. She waved her arms. She flapped her cape.

Ruby held her breath. The tree held its plums. It was so quiet, you could hear someone's TV through an open window. Everyone turned to look at Oscar. But Oscar was holding his breath too, his cheeks inflated like balloons.

Everyone clapped for Ruby, who was again truly amazing on 20th Avenue South. Ruby was so pleased she gave an encore, performing her very special Knot in Hand trick. Everyone was mesmerized. Everyone that is, except Oscar.

"See Bee," Oscar peeped. He made a fist like Ruby's, then pointed at it with his other hand to show where the knot was. Oscar smiled sweetly.

"More!" Wally shouted.

"More!" Tiger stomped.

"Os-car! Os-car! Os-car!" they all chanted, giving Ruby's baby brother a stomping ovation.

A hard, green plum fell smack on Ruby's head. Ouch! Ruby was mad. If only Oscar would babble and act like the baby that he was, everything would be right again on 20th Avenue South. Why did Oscar have to talk so much?

Now Ruby was no longer truly amazing on 20th Avenue South. Oscar was. And Ruby felt all her love for him drying up like spilled soda on a hot sidewalk.

Ruby's Magic Madness was closed the next day. Instead of performing, Ruby put her elbows on the back of their sofa and sighed heavily and watched the clouds drift past their window. She'd seen her father do this whenever he had lost at Scrabble. Oscar put his elbows on the sofa too, and he watched Ruby and sighed too.

Just when Ruby thought she'd never do magic again, she had an idea.

A great idea!

What if Oscar stayed in the house during Ruby's show? He could be as clever as he wanted, as long as no one could see him. Yes! There was even something magical about it.

So Oscar stayed indoors. Only Ruby knew that the black tufts moving silently back and forth across the bottom of their window was the top of Oscar's head.

Ruby's Magic Madness went on once again. And because magicians never tell their secrets, no matter how much the audience begs, Ruby was once again truly amazing on 20th Avenue South.

Until...Emma made her announcement.

"Sam can walk," Emma bragged. "Sam can talk. Sam knows his colors. Sam knows his shapes." Then the big sister of all announcements: "Sam even knows magic tricks."

Ruby could see that Sam could walk...when he wasn't crawling. Sam could talk...if you considered baby babble talking. Sam knew his colors...except for orange and purple. And his shapes...well, he knew squares. But magic tricks? No way! Sam showed Ruby his Mummy Finger in a Box. He pushed his finger through a hole in the bottom of a little box. He opened the box. Ta-da! There was his finger! He wiggled his finger across the cotton in the box, phh-phh. He closed the box. He opened the box again. His little finger went phh-phh. Now you see it, and now you see it again. Sure was cute. But everyone could see that it was not magic.

Ruby couldn't stand it.

She ran straight into her house and grabbed Oscar from behind the sofa.

In less time than it takes for Tiger to make a friend, Ruby reappeared. She was no ordinary magician. She had a baby brother assistant who could walk fast, talk even faster, and now he knew real magic tricks. She taught him how to blow a half-dollar into a standing position, just like that. (A secret wire attached to the back of the coin and falling through a crack in the table let Oscar pull it upright.)

It beat the Mummy Finger in a Box any day.

Ruby's Magic Madness was never the same again. It became Ruby's Magic Madness, Featuring the Amazing Oscar. It was famous on 20th Avenue South, where Ruby was truly amazing and Oscar was pretty clever too. But most important of all, Ruby loved Oscar and Oscar loved Ruby, and they loved being together...at least for now.