Page 21 of All My Witches
Landon followed my gaze. “Who is that? Do you recognizehim?”
I shook my head. “No, but I sense something is about tohappen.”
“Why?”
“Because his jumpsuit is a different color and he’s on astage.”
“Oh, well, go ahead and belogical.”
The man on the stage raised his hand for everyone’s attention. I spared a glance for Teddy and found his face had gonewhite.
“I am Flynn Warfield,” the manannounced.
“I thought you were Flynn Warfield,” Thistle challenged herfather.
“I … um … .” Teddy was at a loss forwords.
“I am Flynn Warfield,” the man at the front of the room repeated. “I was your second-in-command for twenty years until that man claimed to be me.” He extended a knobby finger in Teddy’s direction. “He said I was in an accident and needed reconstructive surgery. That was alie!
“He locked me in a dungeon room in my own family’s facility, but I escaped and am back,” he continued. “I am the real Flynn Warfield, and I’m taking back my kingdom. All usurpers should beware. I’m not taking anyprisoners.”
“Oh, well, that sounds ominous.” Landon turned so he could scan the room again. “Do you think they have a restaurant here? I’mstarving.”
* * *
Iwassad when your great-uncle died. I was lonely. Do you know what saved me? Knowing there were worse things out there … like evil twins, back-from-the-dead psychopaths and aliens that were allowed to hang out with little girls without being considered creepy. That’s why soap operasrule.
– Aunt Tillie explaining the joys of soapoperas
Six
“Idon’t understand.”Landon’s pragmatic mind was having real trouble with a fake soap opera world. “How could one guy pretend to be the other guy and no one notice thedifference?”
“You would be surprised how often that happens on soaps,” I said. “A lot of times it happens because the original actor quit and they needed to recast. They often explain the change with an accident that required plastic surgery. Other times they simply ignoreit.
“Then, when the original actor comes back, they do this sort of switch thing where they either pretend the facial reconstruction didn’t happen or create a never-before-seen twin,” I continued. “I think every soap has trotted this out a time ortwo.”
“Max onOne Life to Live,” Clovevolunteered.
“Todd onOne Life to Live,” Thistleadded.
“It sounds like there’s more than one life to live on that soap,” Landon grumbled. “It looks like the red shirt is going to speak again. I can’t wait to hear the rest ofthis.”
“Zeton was built as a place for peace and happiness,” Flynn continued. “That’s what I envisioned when I set out to establish the community. I still believe in it, despite the fact that I was held in the basement for three years and no one noticed this imposter sullying my goodname!”
He roared the final words as he pointed at Teddy. For his part, Thistle’s father looked as if he’d rather be in a different hole in theground.
“Does anyone else feel as if we’re stuck in a high school Shakespeare production and the knives and poison are about to start flying?” Marcusasked.
Sadly, that felt like an apt comparison. “We need to get out ofhere.”
“We need the diamond first,” Landon argued. “We have to stick to the storyline. If it’s one thing I’ve learned about Aunt Tillie’s little magical lessons, if we don’t stick to the storyline we’ll be worseoff.”
“I’m not sure how it could get worse than this,” Thistle noted, her eyes zeroing in on the rather impressive … um, package … on display thanks to the man standing next to her. Apparently underwear and boxer shorts were a no-no in Zeton, even though they desperately needed them thanks to the tight jumpsuits. “Seriously, it’s like being trapped in a really weird pornmovie.”
“Hey!” Marcus snapped his fingers in front of Thistle’s face to get her attention. “Don’t look atthat.”
“Oh, it’s not so funny now, is it?” Landon chortled. “When Bay’s butt was getting pinched, everyone told me to suck it up. Now that Thistle has roaming eyes we need to get out of this mess. That’stypical.”
