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a hedgehog, all right.’
    The hedgehog gave a sneeze, trotted straight between the bars of the cage and rolled up into a ball near Clifford’s foot. Clifford bowed and the faded purple curtains swung shut. Only Stuart and April clapped; the rest of the audience left rather quickly, everyone (apart from the small boy) hurrying past a money box labelled:

    â€˜Come
on
!’ called the boy’s sister. He dropped something into the money box and ran out after her.
    Stuart glanced at April, who was sitting with the notebook and pencil on her lap. ‘What on earth are you going to write in the review?’ he asked.
    â€˜I have no idea,’ she said slowly. ‘That was the worst act I’ve ever seen in my entire life, and that includes watching my dad come last in a karaoke competition at my school in front of me and all my friends.’
    A door opened at the side of the stage, and Clifford came through, still dressed in his silver suit. He waved at them nervously. ‘Well?’ he asked. ‘What do you think?’
    Stuart opened and shut his mouth a couple of times, but no sound came out.
    â€˜Interesting,’ said April in an unconvincing squeak. ‘Unusual.’
    â€˜I was completely stumped for a finale until I found that little fellow crouched by the side of the road the other day, and I thought,
I’ve never seen a hedgehog in a magic act – I wonder why no one else has ever thought of it
? Brilliant idea, wasn’t it?’
    â€˜Mmm,’ said Stuart, nodding vigorously.
    â€˜So, is there anything I should change for the next performance?’ asked Clifford.
    â€˜The
next
one?’ echoed Stuart.
    â€˜I’ve booked the hall again for Thursday – I need the experience. I’m serious, you see – being a magician is all I’ve ever wanted to do. I have to keep
trying
.’
    â€˜Right.’
    â€˜So should I change anything, do you think? The order of the tricks? The costume? The music?’
    While Stuart was still working out what to say, an answer came in a small shy voice from the other side of the hall.
    â€˜The lighting.’
    It was the electrician. She was kneeling beside the door, a pair of wire-cutters in one hand.
    â€˜Why? Wasn’t it bright enough?’ asked Clifford.
    â€˜Too bright,’ she said. ‘Much too bright.’
    â€˜But don’t you want to see what’s going on?’
    â€˜Not if it’s awf—’ She bit her lip. ‘I mean … I didn’t mean …’
    There was a horrible silence.
    Clifford went rather pale, and then turned back to Stuart and April. ‘Was it awful?’ he asked quietly. ‘Please tell me the truth this time.’
    They looked at each other, and then back at Clifford.
    â€˜Yes,’ they said.
    â€˜Really awful?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜Even the hedgehog?’
    There was a pause.
    â€˜
Especially
the hedgehog,’ said April. ‘The audience was hoping to see a gorilla or something, so it was a bit of a disappointment. Sorry.’
    Clifford nodded sadly. He walked over to the money box by the exit, flipped open the lid, took out a dusty, half-sucked gobstopper and stared at it for a while. ‘Yes,’ he murmured. ‘It’s true. I was awful,’ and then he turned to the electrician, who was still kneeling by her bag. ‘Thank you for being honest when nobody else was,’ he said. ‘I see now that I’m just fooling myself. Jeannie was wrong about most things, but she was right to keep failing me on Grade Two Basic Magic Skills. I’ll go back to selling carpets – I was quite good at that.’
    â€˜No!’ The electrician stood up, her face scarlet. ‘I didn’t say it to be horrible. I meant it about the lighting – there was no mystery. You can do wonderful things with lights. You can change everything – turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, the awful into