Illusion

Darcy Barlow was eight years old the first time she remembered seeing Becky Owens. The older, pale, woman fussed over the rusty orange Halloween dress, her mother, Elizabeth bought her daughter the week before while Darcy hid behind, her father, Caleb’s leg. Caleb did not like Darcy talking to strangers, not since that man gave her a rose when she was just four. However, on this particular day, Darcy’s orange dress matched the rusty orange rose one of the magicians passed along to Becky. To hear Becky tell it though, that rose came from her secret magic man.

“Look!” The older blond pressed her crumb riddle hand against Darcy’s flowing hem line. “It’s such a beautiful color!”

“Yes,” Caleb agreed and squeezed his daughter’s hand. The little girl with wild curls emerged from behind her father. Her sparkling eyes took in the strange gleam of the older woman’s enchanted forest eyes. Caleb’s slow, goofy grin made its way onto his daughter’s mouth as she bowed to smell the flower.

“We want children you know!” Becky nodded forcefully before she turned back to Caleb’s dark eyes. He knew where this was going. “Would you like to hear a story?” Becky asked as she patted the space on the cold metal bench beside her. Caleb shook his head, but Darcy plopped down and pulled her dress beneath the bare backs of her legs. He should have insisted on the leggings she refused to wear that morning.

“It started when I was just about your age…”

Rebecca Owens ran through the park with her older sister. She just had her tenth birthday party two months before, and her new favorite dress flared out around her as the wind caught the hem. When she turned to see if her sister was still on her trail she realized she lost her sister.

“Elsie!” Rebecca screamed. No one answered.

She bumped into a strange man in a black suit. He had bright diamond shaped aqua eyes and olive skin. His cheeks were rosy from the cold wind that whipped through the park. He offered Rebecca a warm smile and a single white rose. It smelled of cinnamon rather than the pretty fragrance of a real rose, but its petals felt like silk beneath her fingers.

“Are you lost?” the man asked. His eyes wandered from her for a moment, not seeing anyone with the little girl before him.

“My sister was right behind me!” She felt her lip quiver beneath his gaze. “Elsie was supposed to be right here.” Her finger pointed to the ground next to her stomping foot.

“Let me help you look for her…” the man trailed off with a smile that made her heart race. Rebecca hadn’t noticed any of the boys in her class, but this man with the aqua eyes made her want to stay with him.

“Okay,” she said with a curt nod.

“We searched all over the park that day, you see,” Rebecca whispered, “But we never found Elsie.”

“How did you get home?” Darcy asked. Her feet swung back and forth, never quite touching the sidewalk beneath them. Caleb watched the interest in his daughter’s eyes; that same interest crawled inside his bones and lurked on the surface of his skin.

“The Carnival security called the police. My Magic man promised me he’d come back for me. He left me sitting here on this bench before the officers came to get me.”

“Did he come back?”

“Darcy-Girl! That’s not polite,” Caleb scolded as he took his daughter in his arms. “We really should get going, Becky. Lizzy will be waiting for us.”

“Did he come back?” Darcy repeated over her father’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, Cay.” Becky reassured him. She stood to look into the little girl’s eyes. “No, Sweetie, my magic man did not come back yet, but he will.”

“How do you know?” the little girl questioned.

“Why do you think he’ll be back?” Caleb asked. His curiosity brimmed, getting the better of his politeness.

“Because he promised me…” Becky trailed off before she shook Darcy’s hand. “And you never break a promise, right, Little One?”

“Right!” Darcy replied. She giggled as Becky tickled her fingers before she dropped her hand.

“He looked me in my eye and told me he wouldn’t let me be alone. You know, Mama is really sick. When she goes I’ll be all alone, and I know he won’t let that happen…”

“Because he promised,” Caleb finished for her.

“That’s romantic,” Darcy said before letting out a sigh.

Caleb burst out laughing as a grin spread over Becky’s face. The little girl bounced on her father’s side as he finished his gut wrenching laugh. “Where did you learn romance, Darcy-Girl!”

“Mama told me she wished you would be more romantic like the men in her black and white movies,” Darcy responded. She didn’t miss a beat as she continued, “more romantic like Ms. Becky’s magic man.”

“That’s right!” Becky tapped Darcy’s nose. “Wait for a real romantic like my magic man, and he will come for you. He will always come for you.” Becky’s grin spread into a smile that could compete with the sun. She poured a few crumbs into Darcy’s little hand as a dove flew by. “Make a wish.” She ordered.

“I wish your magic man would come already.” Darcy laughed and flung the bread crumbs, wiping a few on the back of Caleb’s white shirt.

“Come one, Kid, we’re going to be late for dinner if we don’t get a move on,” Caleb said. He smiled at Becky. “Thanks for the story.”

“Anytime,” she said as she sat back on her bench. The dove landed at her feet. “I hope her wish comes true, sooner or later I’m sure it will. Here’s to hoping for sooner.”

“Good luck, Becky.” Caleb nodded at his former class mate as he took his little girl back to the car.

The memory of the name Elsie Owens hit him hard. She was too much older than him to remember her from school, but he remembered the name from his scouring the old news clippings in the library. Elsie Owens was one of the first women to die in a series over the years.

The masked magician, the one that gave Darcy the rose, waved goodbye to her. Caleb missed the small action, but he felt his daughter wave over his shoulder. He put her down to get into the car on her own as he turned to see who she waved to, but his eye caught no one out of place. Something deep in the pit of Caleb Barlow’s stomach was afraid to question his daughter’s actions.

“You’d tell me if you met a magic man in the park wouldn’t you?” Caleb teased as he climbed into the driver’s seat. Darcy slammed the door before she buckled herself into her child safety seat.

“Daddy!” She giggled. “You’re always with me! How can I meet a magic man?”

Caleb chuckled at his daughter’s naivety. “I won’t be by your side forever, kiddo, but I will certainly be here to meet anyone you decide to wait on a bench for.”

Darcy Barlow smiled in the back seat of her father’s four door sedan as they made the fifteen minute drive home. She dreamed of a story like Becky’s. Would someone promise to come for her? If they did, would they be sure to keep that promise? Darcy let out a sigh.

“Daddy, I think I want a magic man.”