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‘Billy Toad.’
James looked momentarily off guard. ‘That’s a name one could consider quite unique,’ James said. ‘That marks you out as a special boy, does it not?’
Billy just shrugged.
‘Hold this.’
James lifted up a wide wooden box with a black felt blanket over the top.
‘My box of treasures,’ James said, tilting it to reveal two dark holes in the felt over the top. ‘Two holes: one of great pleasure, one of horror. And a magic box, one that knows the hand that approaches. Tell me, Billy, what would you like for Christmas?’
Billy frowned. He glanced at James, who appeared to mouth something to him.
‘Ah, just some Lego,’ Billy said.
‘Is that right? What every boy wants. And have you been a good boy this year?’ As Billy opened his mouth to answer, James put up a hand. ‘Now is not the time to lie, young man. Now is the time to tell the truth. For this is a box which knows all your secrets.’
Billy looked around the crowd. Charlotte could see him squirming, and had an overwhelming urge to run to him and pull him off the stage.
‘Yes,’ Billy croaked, to a few jeers from the back.
‘Then choose,’ James said, ‘And we’ll see if the box agrees.’
Billy stared at the two holes. The crowd was so quiet you could hear Mr. Wilson scratching his chin. With James looking on, slowly nodding, Billy stuck a tentative hand into the left hole.
‘You have chosen—’
Billy let out a sudden squeal of horror, jerking his hand back out. Tears streamed down his face. Charlotte took a step forward, but Old Don Jones put a hand on her arm.
‘It’s part of the act!’ he hissed.
James lifted up the left-hand side of the black sheet, to reveal a glass front to the box. Behind the glass, a large brown toad ambled about.
James put an arm around Billy’s shoulders. ‘It’s all right, young man. All is not lost. You have time now to confess.’
‘I put a worm in Ms. Harding’s drawer,’ he sobbed. ‘And I told Robert he was a dick. And I … I … I said to Katie and Teagan that I hate my mum because she made my dad leave—’
‘That’s enough,’ James said, looking genuinely uncomfortable. ‘Let’s try the second hole, shall we?’
James guided Billy’s hand into the second hole. This time, Billy’s eyebrows lifted, despite the tears that still streamed down his face.
‘The power of magic,’ James said. ‘Show them.’
Billy withdrew his hand to reveal a shiny box of Lego. He forced a smile, wiping his eyes.
‘The power of magic,’ James said again, pushing the box at Billy, ushering him off the stage. As the boy returned to his place, James jumped to his feet, hands waving. Bangers went off, and streamers arched out over the kids, spraying them with coloured paper. He spun around, and a cascade of tiny keyrings, each with a plastic character figure that was clearly supposed to be James scattered across the crowd. ‘One for everyone,’ James intoned, even as a couple of kids cried out in pain as the hard lumps of plastic hit them in the face. ‘See me afterwards if you didn’t get one. I thank you for being my audience today, and hope to see you at a show sometime soon.’
The teachers instructed the kids to file out. Charlotte told hers to go back to class, then went looking for James. She found him behind the partition wall, talking to Mr. Wilson.
‘I’m so sorry about that,’ James said. ‘I hope the boy is all right. I just picked him out because he looked a little shabby. I thought he could do with a Christmas present. Who on earth ever heard of a surname like Toad? What a horrible coincidence.’
Mr. Wilson still appeared starstruck. ‘You couldn’t have planned it better,’ he said.
James looked at Charlotte. ‘It wasn’t planned,’ he said, his face distraught. ‘I mean, it’s not a real toad. It’s a lifelike model made of soft plastic. If you’d like me to show it to the boy … honestly, I wasn’t sure this would be a good idea. I just hoped to road test a couple of ideas before the Christmas festival next week.’
Mr. Wilson patted him on the arm. ‘I’m sure it’ll be okay. Billy Toad’s a tough little character, isn’t he? You have to be with a name like that.’
‘I’ll talk to him,’ Charlotte said.
