“It’s okay. Don’t lose any sleep over it.”
“I won’t.”
Before we got out the door I said, “Wait a sec,” and I walked to the bathroom. Bob-O and Davester were still there washing their now baby-pink hands.
“Good news fellows, the emergency is over.”
“We can stop?”
“Yep. And good job, too, by the way.”
Davester looked at his hands and said, “My fingers are pruned.”
“And I appreciate the sacrifice,” I said.
They dried their hands and Bob-O said, “Did you have a chance…”
“Your auditions.” They nodded. “It’s set. Go to the meeting room when you leave here and they’ll take you right in.”
They shook my hand and said, “Thank you so much, Professor.”
I said, “You fellows came through in a pinch for me. It’s the least I can do. Now, go into that meeting room and knock them dead.”
We walked out together and Bob-O and Davester saw Hondo. They waved, and Bob-O said, “Hi Professor Johnson!”
“Take care, fellows,” I said, and walked over to join Hondo as they made a beeline for Colleen.
Hondo said, “What did you do, tie them up in the bathroom until we finished?”
“No such thing. We just talked a little, that’s all.”
“How come their hands are so pink?”
I pushed open the door and said, “Beats me.”
The next day we made so many phone calls I thought my ear was going to fall off. I turned it toward Hondo and said, “Do I have wrestler’s ear? Is it cauliflowered?”
“No, you have elf ears.”
“Hey!”
“They are. They’re pointy on top.”
I felt of them, “Not that pointy.”
Hondo said, “Don’t worry, Legolas. It’s not that noticeable.”
“Very funny,” I leaned back in my chair and said, “So what now?”
“All we can do is wait for something to break. We’ve got everybody looking so it’s just a matter of time.”
“So be patient.”
“I know it’s hard for you, but yes.”
And that was what we did. The police had a lookout and warrant for John Wesley, and we still hadn’t been able to locate Magilla. In addition, Atticus and his loony cousins hadn’t gotten back to us with anything, including my cell phone. So we goofed around, looked for auditions, went to the beach, drank coffee, went out to eat, took naps, and worked out in Archie’s gym.
Then we got the call, or rather Archie did. He came over as we rode stationary bikes for our cool down and said, “You got them.”