Samantha's bright blue-green eyes danced as she checked her appearance in the hallway mirror. Her pale face was framed by short blond hair styled in a bob cut. She reached inside the neck of her blouse and pulled out a medallion that was on a thin gold chain around her neck. She kissed the front of the medallion which showed a man carrying another across a river. This was rumoured to be St Christopher. Samantha turned the medallion over and kissed the reverse; this was her ritual before all her journeys. The reverse of the medallion contained an owl and a helmet; these were the symbols of the Greek goddess Athena. The medallion was given to Samantha by her priest when she was confirmed into the Roman Catholic faith. Someday, Samantha would seek out her priest to talk about it, but she feared the confessional.The New Year of 2010 had found Samantha nervously preening in the hall mirror. She left her home in Littleton at 5am and took on the dense traffic of the M6 going south. After a 3 hour drive she arrived at K3 in Milton.During lunch, Samantha met an American called Theodor Green; he preferred to be called Teddy. During their short chat, Samantha discovered they had both chosen the same bed and breakfast, known as 'The Barn', and agreed to meet up after they had settled in.They were watching the TV in the coffee lounge when Merlin came in. Merlin offered them tickets to his show at the local nightclub, 'the Star', later that evening. Samantha declined saying she was too tired. Teddy accepted the tickets saying Samantha would be fine after a short nap. Teddy and Samantha arrived at the Star Nightclub at 10.30.The nightclub was a professional theatre that had fallen on hard times. The seating area had been ripped out. The auditorium was a single floor space with bars along the edges. The main space was filled with students sat at tables arranged in a horseshoe. A central performance area was lit by spotlights. Samantha and Teddy were directed to a reserved table.At 11pm, Merlin stepped into the spotlight. Large double doors at the back of the room were opened and a hospital ultrasound scanner and bed were wheeled in. Merlin introduced a very beautiful Latina lady as his assistant; her name was Angel.With great flamboyance, Merlin changed a dove into a baby within Angel's womb. Angel's pregnancy was displayed by the medical scanner onto huge screens around the walls of the club. Merlin advanced the pregnancy to six months. To the amazement of all, Angel got off the scanner bed and walked freely amongst the audience. Angel allowed some shameful groping. At the end of the evening, Angel's pregnancy was reversed and the dove released. Angel was no longer pregnant. The show was over.The whole performance had bugged Samantha and disrupted her next working day. After an early evening meal, Samantha went to the lounge and was surprised to find Angel waiting for her. Samantha asked Angel how the trick was done."it was real magic; I was really pregnant!" Angel exclaimed as she presented Samantha with a ticket. "I can't go tonight. Please volunteer."Samantha needed a couple of drinks before the show started. The act began when a male student stepped into the spotlight; a large fluorescent hoop floated into view above the male; a translucent curtain dropped from the ring and a backlight showed the male in silhouette. There was a great hush as the silhouette changed from male to female. The ring and curtain dropped to the floor revealing the burlesque figure of an excited young woman. Merlin called her 'Fey'.Merlin asked Samantha to verify that Fey was 'all woman'. Samantha stepped forward to do a customs style body search."Come on don't be shy" Fey goaded Samantha.Samantha completed her task and went to the bar to bury her embarrassment in another pint. Her befuddled brain was trying to wrestle with the thoughts 'this is impossible', 'how is this possible' and 'is this real magic'?