The three girls turned around to see who was calling them. A blonde woman in her mid-forties was on the approach. "Jem, Katrina?" she asked. "Have you seen Megan anywhere?"
"Oh my God!" Megan whispered. "It's Mom! She'll go crazy if she sees me like this!"
"Calm down, Meg," Jem whispered, "We'll handle this. Just keep your back turned and act like you don't know us."
Katrina stepped in front of Megan's mom and waved hello. "Megan?" she asked. "No, I haven't seen her for a couple of days. Why do you ask?"
"I called her apartment last night and got no answer," Megan's Mom replied. "It's important that I talk to her, so I tried contacting a few other places that I thought she'd be, but I haven't been able to find her anywhere."
"Sorry, Ms. Wilder," Katrina replied. "I don't know where she is, and I've been hanging out with Jem all day."
Ms. Wilder breathed in a deep sigh and was about to say goodbye when she saw something strange waving behind Katrina. "What's that?" she asked.
"This?" Katrina asked, pointing at her tail. "Can't you tell?"
"It looks like a cat's tail."
"That's exactly what it is! Isn't it great?"
Ms. Wilder gave it a questioning look. "Is it fake or...?"
Jem jumped in before Katrina said too much. "It's just a mechanized fake," she blurted. "Katrina lost a bet with our boss, so she has to wear that tail for a while."
"Ah. So where are you girls working?"
"We're assistants at Nicholas Traderna's magic show," Katrina replied.
"Oh! That sounds interesting."
At that moment, the conversation was interrupted as Nicholas pulled up in his car. "Hi, girls," he said. "Glad to see you in ahead of me."
"Hi, Nicholas," Jem replied. "We were just talking with a mother of one of our friends."
"Oh really?" Nicholas replied. He turned to Ms. Wilder. "Well, have you seen my show yet?"
"No, I'm afraid not," Ms. Wilder replied. She watched the cloaked figure that had been with Jem hastily walk into the theater. "Who's that mysterious hooded figure?"
"That's Megan," Nicholas replied. "One of my assistants."
Jem and Katrina slapped their foreheads as Ms. Wilder panicked. "MEGAN! That's my daughter! I've been looking all over for her!"
"I'm sorry about that," Nicholas apologized. "I've had Megan work some awfully late nights as part of her training. She's told me that she's wanted to talk to you, but she hasn't had the time lately."
"Well, the least she could have done is tell me that she had gotten a job!" Ms. Wilder complained.
"Allow me to make it up to you," Nicholas replied. "Here's a free pass to today's performance." Waving his hand in the air, he materialized a pass with a seat number at front and center. "You'll have the best view in the house, I assure you!"
"Can't I talk to Megan now?" Ms. Wilder asked. "It's important."
"You can, after the performance, Ms...?"
"Wilder. Hillary Wilder," she replied.
"OK, then, Hillary. Here you go." Nicholas handed her the pass and began escorting Jem and Katrina inside. "I'll look forward to seeing you at the performance!"
Sat Nov 30 14:42:00 2002