Read Magickeepers: The Eternal Hourglass for Free Online Page B

clear. Inside it, two men dressed in what were clearly old-fashioned clothes began speaking. Nick leaned closer. Tools, gears, and hundreds of clocks in various states of repair (or disrepair) littered the walls and long wooden tables. Clearly, this was a watchmaker's shop.
     

     
    Tours, France, 1824
    “But tell me, Monsieur Houdin,” the man said, his accent thick with a Russian edge. “How does it work?”
    The watchmaker, Jean Houdin, smiled enigmatically, his hair slightly askew and wild looking. “Magic.”
    “But tell me.” The man's eyes were a pale, almost translucent blue, and he wore an elegant black suit. The buttons and cuff links were glittering rubies.
    “The watch stops time itself. Its spell, my magical friend, will give you approximately thirty seconds. Thirty precious seconds of time, while everyone around you is frozen, with no memory of time stopping. None. Think ofthe illusions you could do. Think of them. You will be the toast of Paris. Your entire clan will be hailed throughout Europe.”
    The man shook his head. “We do not seek notoriety. We do not seek fame. We seek only to develop our art.”
    “But I have heard,” Houdin whispered, “that you are favored by Tsar Alexander. That you travel with the royal family. That your own quarters in the palace are beyond the imaginings of a simple watchmaker like me. Velvet and satin, jewels and gold-encrusted plates. I have heard that Tsar Alexander relies on you, on your crystal balls.”
    The man with the ruby cuff links grew somber, almost menacing. “Do not believe all that you hear, watchmaker.”
    “Just once, I would like to gaze into a ball. To see what… you can see.”
    “Only those of the bloodline can.” The man took the watch—a pocket watch made of pure gold—from Houdin and turned it over and over in his palm. “I will make you a deal, Houdin.”
    “Yes?”
    “I will trade you. My hourglass…for your watch.” The man in the cape lifted a handsome leather trunk onto the table where the watchmaker was displaying the watch. The Russian unlocked the trunk and withdrew a large hourglass with writing around its rim. “I wish to join modern times.
    It's 1824! I wish to have a watch, not an hourglass. That is what I want.”
    Houdin leaned close to the hourglass. “The sand… it looks like it is gold.”
    “Indeed it is. This hourglass is priceless.”
    Inside the hourglass, the golden sand swirled, like a Saharan sandstorm, spinning and moving, endlessly shifting shape.
    “It is magnificent!” Houdin touched the engraved rim. “Look how the sand moves as if wind stirs within the glass! The magic of it. The craftsmanship...”
    The Russian smiled. “Do we have a deal?”
    Houdin was mesmerized by the swirling sand. “I don’t know.”
    The Russian withdrew a small velvet sack from his pants pocket. “Look within.”
    Houdin opened the bag and peered inside. He gasped aloud. “That diamond is the size of a quail's egg.”
    “Do we have a deal then?”
    Houdin nodded.
    “Tell me how to cast its spell.”
    Houdin leaned in close and whispered in the man's ear.
    The Russian smiled. He opened the watch. He pulled on its fob, stopping the motion of the second hand. Then he said, “ Je suis le roi de temps. ”
    Houdin instantly froze. He appeared to not move or blink— or even breathe. The Russian smiled and collected his diamond. He left the hourglass on the table and laughed out loud at his own trickery. He exited the shop, whistling to himself, and entered the busy street as a horse-drawn carriage rushed past him.
    A few moments later, Houdin moved again. He shook his head and yawned. Then he looked at the hourglass. He furrowed his brow.
    “Now how did this get here?” he asked himself. Then he squinted, a look of wonderment on his face.
    “The diamond!” he shouted aloud to only his many watches and clocks. “My pocket watch!”
    He ran out to the street, craning his head in either direction. Horses drawing