by Tony Verna

Created on: December 02, 2009

When we left our story, Jancy had been warned that women are always being deceived and that men move on, while women stay behind-so it seems almost fitting that Jancy has a chance to deepen her powers.

* * * * *

The Professor laid a calming hand on Tonio's arm and spoke to him in Italian. "It makes no sense to destroy the mansion until it is completed. Besides, we need the delay to have time to copy O'Halloran's papers and to investigate his business practices."

Tonio didn't want logic. He wanted action. Jancy wondered out loud. "Isn't there a faster way?"

Chester had a suggestion. "How about lynching? It's a popular sport down south, and if we gave it a chance, it could catch on here."

The Professor tried to make Tonio understand and reverted back to speaking to him in Italian. "Remember this, O'Halloran owns many buildings, but none is as valuable as his good name. We must attack his reputation, his social standing, the very worthiness of his life. By the time we have done that, the mansion will be ready to be destroyed."

Lady Green lit a cigarette and blew the smoke out of her nostrils as she said, "The mansion must be completed by July 4th. It is his birthday present to himself."

The Professor thought the date over. "Then we are three holidays away. We must orchestrate our actions in three parts: Saint Patrick's Day for the Parade, Easter for the annual regatta, and July 4th for the completion of the O'Halloran mansion.

The Professor reached for Tonio's sketchbook and began to page through it. "First we must give O'Halloran enough faith in Jancy's powers to deepen his confidence in her. We need an illusion attractive enough to lure him into wondering how her powers will eventually help him."

The Professor found what he was looking for in the sketchbook and presented Tonio with the illusion he had singled out. Tonio looked puzzled. Then he smiled and put his arm around Jancy and startled her when he said, "You become Buffalo."

- - - - -

Saint Patrick's Day came on Tuesday, the seventeenth of March 1863, and with it came the greetings of Tommy O'Halloran to every noisy Irishman who waved something green.

One bleak block away from the holiday grandstand, Jancy and Tonio found the closest bald spot in the grass large enough to use as a staging area to set up an empty animal cage.

Nearby was the gentle presence of a large, live buffalo, which Tonio had wagoned into the city from its home on the leafy edges of the city. The zoo was happy to lease the large animal

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