01 - The Last Day of Magic

November, 1775

New York city was buzzing with anticipation.  For weeks heralds had announced the coming of the next, and greatest, in spectacles from the magic act had captured the imagination of the burgeoning metropolis.  Magician Nicholas Fischer had announced that the star of his show, Charlotte Rose, was to perform an act called "The Vortex." The location of the show was secret until the day of the show when the heralds finally announced that the performance would take place on Long Island, across the East River, in a remote inlet just north of Red Hook.

People from across the city, from merchants to fishermen, seamstresses to maids, boarded ferry's and made their way across the frigid New York bay.  They shuffled into a clearing where freshly felled trees were now arranged in long benches which created an amphitheater surrounding an inlet.  The sun began to set and everyone's attention turned towards the inlet. The water of the inlet was partially frozen which created a sort of ice floe.  A warm eastward breeze accompanied by thick fog rolled in off the river.  It was through this curtain of fog that the magician and his assistant stepped onto the icy stage that was the inlet.

The performance was nothing short of spectacular.  The theatrics exceeded even the duos reputation.  Charlotte Rose was suspended aloft in a swirling vortex above an floating chuck of ice.  She seemed to dance in the air for several long seconds as if the vortex were her partner; the both of them moving as one in thin air.

After taking their bows the pair of performer took a brief rest and then returned to greet their audience in the outdoor evening festival that had sprung up around the clearing.  Just as the evening was winding down the magician was approached by a young Bostonian bookseller. His name was Henry Knox and he was on a expedition to fetch and deliver 60 pieces of artillery to Boston from the recently captured Fort Ticonderoga on the border of New York and Quebec.  Knox was impressed with the magician's performance and had read about the use of practical magic.  Knox believed that a practical magician was just the thing his expedition needed to succeed.

After thinking on it for a short while Nicholas Fisher and Charlotte Rose both agreed to accompany the bookseller on his expedition for a handsome fee.  The expedition was set to leave New York in a matter of days.  If all went well the pair would be back in New York in 4 weeks time; just in time for the New Year.