Then he and Maggie bowed and together they slipped behind the black curtain, backstage.

People were slow to leave.

“Wow,” Theresa said, a hand to her chest. “That was…brutal.”

“It was great,” Dick said.

“Where to now?” Theresa asked. “Know any good shrinks?”

But Dick didn’t want to leave just yet. He had to meet this Roman Emperor.

“I was thinking we should step backstage. Let them know how wonderful that was. It’s gotta be good to hear.”

Theresa looked to the curtain as if a childhood ghost might be behind it. The thing from under the bed. The bogeyman in the closet at night.

Dick took her by the hand and led her to a back hallway. It was one of the perks of attending shows you read about in The Other: no security, no bodyguards, no fame. There was no fanfare back behind the curtain. No hangers-on. The hall was dark, but Dick saw light from a partially open door. Still dragging Theresa along, he quietly peeked inside.

Maggie was standing at the far end of the room, looking toward Roman slumped in a chair. The magician looked exhausted. He held a hand to the side of his head, as if his mind was tired.

Maggie saw Dick. He shivered when their eyes met.

“Welcome,” she said, and Dick had a strange idea that a fog was rising around her, that specks of dirt showed on her shoulder and neck.

“I just had to tell you guys,” Dick stammered, “that was amazing. The best show we’ve seen in years. Wouldn’t you say so, T?”

He gripped his wife close. As if, without doing so, Theresa might be swallowed by the dark of the hall, and he’d be left alone with these two.

“Yes,” Theresa said, peeking into the dressing room. “That was…horrifying.”

“Thank you.” Maggie smiled. “It all starts with an audience willing to believe.”

Dick and Theresa smiled. These performer types were so…right on!

“I get it,” Dick said. “But I gotta tell you…I looked for the strings…and couldn’t see anything. Like…at all.”

For the first time, Roman cocked an ear in Dick and Theresa’s direction. Then he looked over his shoulder at the couple.

“Thank God for that,” he said.

And his voice was sharp, foreign perhaps, so direct that Dick felt strangely childish in its presence.

“How is it that the whole world doesn’t know about you guys?” Dick asked.

“Dick!” Theresa said.

“You get what you’re after,” Maggie said. Roman simply stared. “What are you two after?”

“Us?” Dick asked, genuinely surprised. He looked at Theresa. “I guess a good night out.”

“And are you having one?”

“Yes, we are. A great one.”

Maggie held up empty palms and shrugged, as if to say, See?

Dick thought about it. Maybe she was just saying things to say, or maybe Roman didn’t care about fame after all.

“Where are you guys tomorrow?” he asked.

“Goblin,” Roman said.