Roger's tight smile relaxes a bit when Isabella plays along, and he gives her a grateful look. The kids gasp in delight. One boy calls out, "How'd he do that! He didn't even get close to her!"
"Didn't I tell you? It's magic! Just like it's magic how little girls with dirty ears and lose things in them…" He crouches down by the girl Isabella pointed out, and smiles as he pulls another shiny coin out of thin air. The girl stares at him with her jaw open, and the kids around her shriek in delight. One boy nearby even starts digging furiously at his own ear, checking if there's anything in there.
The clapping and laughing is interrupted as a bell rings out from the church nearby, and everyone starts milling around and talking amongst themselves. The mothers gather their kids up, even as they whine and complain about wanting to see more magic. One mom comes up to Roger and Isabella, smiling big with a baby against one hip, and her daughter clinging to her other hand and hiding shyly behind her mom.
"Thank you so much for the show! Annie loved it, and if Joshua had been awake for it, I'm sure he would have loved it too." She cradles the sleeping baby's head against her shoulder. Roger smiles and shrugs modestly, hands going in his pockets.
"Aw, happy to do it, ma'am. I'm just glad you all enjoyed it."
"Will you both be staying long?" she asks, biting her lip and looking between Roger and Isabella.
"No longer than we're welcome," Roger says with a chuckle, "Though we've yet to find a place to lay our heads."