love you. Xxx
â and it was signed Beba and China.
I wondered who Pedro was, whether he was a kid as the postcard made it sound. But the line I found most disturbing was: â
Itâs good to have fun once in a while
â. Was this Pedro a really serious kid, or was he âspecialâ (deformities, extra-sensory powers, pustules all over his body, the sort of thing that makes a family lock their son up in an attic so no one ever sees him)? Or was there some tragedy in hispast? A tragedy that still loomed over him, much to the regret of Beba and China?
I took the postcard with me, a damp ghost seeking the privacy of his room.
22
I FIND TREASURE
Our room was at the back of the house. From the window you could see the washing line and the small hut that served as a tool shed. Papá was wandering around, collecting wood for a barbecue. I called out to him through the window screen and asked if the people who had lent us the house had a son called Pedro. He said no, he didnât know any kid called Pedro.
The bedroom had two mismatched beds, a bedside table and a wardrobe. Otherwise it was completely empty. The drawers werenât even lined with paper. I put the postcard on the bedside table and sat down on the bed. Under the bedspread, the mattress was bare.
It was sheer frustration that prompted me to go to the wardrobe and stand on the bedside table to check a high shelf that, from what I could see, was empty. I had the bright idea of blowing hard to clear the thick layer of dust and almost blinded myself. I rubbed my eyes until they watered, but when I opened them again, it seemed to me I could see colours on the shelf that hadnât been there before.
Pedrito had left a book behind. I used the bedspread to wipe off the dirt and opened it. The proof was right there on the first page. It read â
Pedro â75
â in what was clearly a childâs handwriting.
The book didnât have many pages, but it was big and had colour illustrations on the title page. It was called
Houdini, the Escape Artist
.Inside the book were a number of colour plates printed on glossier paper than the text, and at the bottom of each photo there was a caption. The first one read: â
Harry practises his first escapes with the help of his brother Theo
â. (Houdiniâs first name was Harry.) Another caption read: â
In the asylum
â and showed Houdini in a padded cell, his arms strapped into a straitjacket. Another caption read: â
The Chinese Water Torture Cell
â and the photo was of a glass box filled with water, with Houdini inside, upside down, his wrists handcuffed.
Everything I knew about Houdini, I had seen in a TV film. Houdini was Tony Curtis. He was kind of like a magician and he escaped from all kinds of places. I remember them throwing him into a freezing lake, in a big trunk, I think. Houdini escaped from the trunk but nearly died because the lake was frozen and he couldnât find a hole in the ice to get out. He had practised in his bathroom at home, filling his bath with ice cubes. (â
Houdini on the rocks
.â)
I read the book until I felt cold; then I got dressed and went back to reading. After a while I had to turn the light on because it was getting dark.
23
HOUDINI ESCAPES â¦
This is a list of the things I found out from the book about Houdini:
Houdini was born in Budapest on 24 March 1874 â a little more than a century ago!
Houdiniâs name wasnât really Houdini, it was Erik Weisz. His father was Mayer Samuel Weisz, he was a rabbi (theyâre the ones who breathe life into the Golems) and his motherâs name was Cecilia.
Houdiniâs family emigrated to the United States when he was four years old, and they were really poor so he had to go out to work shining shoes and selling newspapers when he was still a kid. In New York, he worked as a messenger boy and cut cloth for a tailorâs called Richter & Sons. But the only job
â and it was signed Beba and China.
I wondered who Pedro was, whether he was a kid as the postcard made it sound. But the line I found most disturbing was: â
Itâs good to have fun once in a while
â. Was this Pedro a really serious kid, or was he âspecialâ (deformities, extra-sensory powers, pustules all over his body, the sort of thing that makes a family lock their son up in an attic so no one ever sees him)? Or was there some tragedy in hispast? A tragedy that still loomed over him, much to the regret of Beba and China?
I took the postcard with me, a damp ghost seeking the privacy of his room.
22
I FIND TREASURE
Our room was at the back of the house. From the window you could see the washing line and the small hut that served as a tool shed. Papá was wandering around, collecting wood for a barbecue. I called out to him through the window screen and asked if the people who had lent us the house had a son called Pedro. He said no, he didnât know any kid called Pedro.
The bedroom had two mismatched beds, a bedside table and a wardrobe. Otherwise it was completely empty. The drawers werenât even lined with paper. I put the postcard on the bedside table and sat down on the bed. Under the bedspread, the mattress was bare.
It was sheer frustration that prompted me to go to the wardrobe and stand on the bedside table to check a high shelf that, from what I could see, was empty. I had the bright idea of blowing hard to clear the thick layer of dust and almost blinded myself. I rubbed my eyes until they watered, but when I opened them again, it seemed to me I could see colours on the shelf that hadnât been there before.
Pedrito had left a book behind. I used the bedspread to wipe off the dirt and opened it. The proof was right there on the first page. It read â
Pedro â75
â in what was clearly a childâs handwriting.
The book didnât have many pages, but it was big and had colour illustrations on the title page. It was called
Houdini, the Escape Artist
.Inside the book were a number of colour plates printed on glossier paper than the text, and at the bottom of each photo there was a caption. The first one read: â
Harry practises his first escapes with the help of his brother Theo
â. (Houdiniâs first name was Harry.) Another caption read: â
In the asylum
â and showed Houdini in a padded cell, his arms strapped into a straitjacket. Another caption read: â
The Chinese Water Torture Cell
â and the photo was of a glass box filled with water, with Houdini inside, upside down, his wrists handcuffed.
Everything I knew about Houdini, I had seen in a TV film. Houdini was Tony Curtis. He was kind of like a magician and he escaped from all kinds of places. I remember them throwing him into a freezing lake, in a big trunk, I think. Houdini escaped from the trunk but nearly died because the lake was frozen and he couldnât find a hole in the ice to get out. He had practised in his bathroom at home, filling his bath with ice cubes. (â
Houdini on the rocks
.â)
I read the book until I felt cold; then I got dressed and went back to reading. After a while I had to turn the light on because it was getting dark.
23
HOUDINI ESCAPES â¦
This is a list of the things I found out from the book about Houdini:
Houdini was born in Budapest on 24 March 1874 â a little more than a century ago!
Houdiniâs name wasnât really Houdini, it was Erik Weisz. His father was Mayer Samuel Weisz, he was a rabbi (theyâre the ones who breathe life into the Golems) and his motherâs name was Cecilia.
Houdiniâs family emigrated to the United States when he was four years old, and they were really poor so he had to go out to work shining shoes and selling newspapers when he was still a kid. In New York, he worked as a messenger boy and cut cloth for a tailorâs called Richter & Sons. But the only job
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