by Trudi Jaye
Missy let out a sob as she watched the big top grow closer.
It was going to be her. She was going to be the one who ruined it for everyone. She could only hope her father had hurried his small group out of the house and through the safety of the escape hole.
As she neared the entrance, she was able to slow to a brisk walk but kept moving forward like she was part of a marching band practicing her steps. Inside the door, she looked around to find Veronica, but her body knew where to go, and it propelled her to the front of the audience section. She took the last few steps reluctantly, trying to slow her legs, to turn around in any way she could. But it was no use; Veronica’s hold over her was too strong.
Soon, she was standing in front of her captor, head hanging, eyes red from tears. Next to Veronica sat Sam, his face a mask.
“Sit down next to me, Missy,” said Veronica softly, patting the chair on her other side. “You’re blocking the view of the punters behind us.”
Silently, Missy sat next to Veronica.
“Now, tell me where you’ve been.”
Missy tried to keep her mouth shut, but shards of pain lanced through her head and she couldn’t hold it in. “My parents’ house.”
“And why were you there?”
Again, Missy held off, trying to keep the words inside her head. A thousand needles pierced her body, but she couldn’t move and couldn’t cry out. Veronica had her locked down. “To say good-bye,” she whispered through gritted teeth. “To make sure they had everything organized.”
“Organized for what?”
“For their escape.” The words squeezed themselves out of Missy’s mouth.
Veronica’s eyes darkened for a moment, and the curse magic inside Missy burned harder, making her stomach curl inside out. She clenched her fists, trying to ride through the pain building across her body.
“Who is attempting to escape with your parents?” Veronica asked, her voice hard.
Tears coursed down Missy’s face. “Helena and Kitten,” she said. She was almost blacking out the pain was so intense. Maybe that would be better; if she were unconscious, she wouldn’t be able to speak.
“And how do they plan to get out?”
“There’s a hole in the fence. They’re going through it.”
Veronica stood. “You’re coming with me, Missy. I want you to witness this.” She glanced at Sam. “You can come too, in case I can’t control myself.”
***
Zeph looked up as he exited another small building and saw a figure running toward him. He stopped, unsure if he was going to have to defend himself or not. He’d never been sure about Alphonso, and the older man’s appearance here didn’t seem favorable.
“Veronica has taken Missy and Sam. I do not know where,” Alphonso said in a rush as he came closer. There were lines on his face that Zeph was sure hadn’t been there only a day before. “Whatever you are doing, Veronica has discovered it.”
Zeph’s hand clenched. “When?”
Alphonso shook his head. “Missy disappeared before our performance, and something tipped off Veronica.”
“You mean you tipped off Veronica,” said Zeph, the anger building inside him. He needed to find Missy.
“No, no. I wouldn’t do that. I am not on that woman’s side. I didn’t think I was strong enough to help you escape. I didn’t in fact want to escape. But it has gone too far.”
“And now?”
“Now, I have no choice.” Alphonso glanced behind Zeph, and his eyes widened. “You set a fire? I saw Tilly and she said you were here, but she didn’t say why.”
Zeph nodded, turning his head to see what was happening behind him. Grey smoke billowed over the original building, and the fire was spreading quickly to the other warehouses in that part of the village. “Tilly’s gone to call the fire department. Our plan was to turn on the fire alarms, but they weren’t working.” He paused. “We didn’t want anyone to get hurt.” It sounded so stupid. What had they thought would happen if they lit a fire in a dry building in windy weather? Zeph wanted to bash his hand against brick wall.
“We must evacuate the people,” said Alphonso.
Zeph nodded again. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do. But there are so many buildings on this side, and I don’t know if they’re empty or not. I’ve had to search through every one of them to make sure.”
Alphonso narrowed his eyes as he looked at the flames. “It will take less time if we do it together. You take that one. I’ll take the next.” Without waiting for a reply, Alphonso loped off, entering the low one-story building next to them.
Glancing at the billowing smoke pushing into the air, Zeph ran to the building Alphonso had indicated. Two was better than one any day of the week.
CHAPTER FORTY
Missy was gasping for breath and struggling to keep up as Veronica stormed along the road toward her parents’ house. Even in her low heels and suit, Veronica was making better time than her. She’d been fighting the urge to follow Veronica the whole way. As they went up the pathway, she tripped and fell hard onto the concrete.
Rough hands dragged her back to her feet. She didn’t even look at the two guards who pulled her up, just kept putting one foot in front of the other.
Sam strode ahead of her. She knew how disappointed he would be. At least she’d been able to keep the others out of it. Veronica had been asking the wrong questions.
For now.
Veronica turned up the path to her parents’ house and opened the door without even bothering to knock. She stormed inside, and Missy could hear her rattling around, throwing the occasional piece of furniture out of her way. By the time Missy reached her, she was standing outside, looking at the fence.
“Where are they?” she said.
“They’ve gone down the fence line a few hundred yards. That way, I think,” said Missy, her arm raised and pointing in the correct direction of its own volition.
“Come with me, Missy. Let them see who has brought this down on them.”
Missy trudged after Veronica, her legs heavy. In the distance, she could see her father and his small group. They hadn’t yet made it through the hole in the fence. Veronica lifted one hand, and suddenly Barbarina and Helene stopped. They turned around and started walking back to Veronica.
Missy watched as Christoph realized they weren’t following and shouted at them to come back. And then he saw Veronica in the distance. His shoulders slumped and he began to walk back as well, Kitten beside him. Missy saw the young girl put her hand in Christoph’s, offering him comfort.
Veronica stopped and simply waited until the small group came to her. She looked them over with a glitter in her eyes that sent shivers up Missy’s spine.
“Don’t hurt them,” she blurted. “It wasn’t their idea. They were just following my lead.”
Veronica turned and stared at Missy, her hard eyes boring into her face. Missy half expected a snake’s tongue to slip out between her lips.
“I believe I mentioned how things work around here,” she said through gritted teeth. “When you do something wrong, it’s the ones you love who suffer.”
Missy took a step forward, but one of the guards pulled her back. “Don’t you dare touch them,” she said, trying to shake off the large hand of the guard holding her arm. He didn’t even budge.
Veronica’s smile wasn’t amused, and her anger made her face more lined than usual. “I will do whatever I want. That’s the beauty of what I’ve created here.” She flicked her hand toward Missy, and instant agony erupted through her body. Missy staggered, grateful for the first time for the rough hands holding her up. It stopped a moment later, Veronica’s point made.
“You can’t do this. It’s not right,” whispered Missy.
Veronica’s gaze moved slightly to one side of her. “What’s that? There’s smoke.” She sniffed the air.
Missy turned and looked behind her. There was smoke billowing up over the houses, somewhere in the distance. Her eyes widened. Wha
t had Zeph and Tilly done?
She looked back at Veronica but didn’t say a word.
Veronica didn’t take her eyes from the smoke. Her lips pursed. “I have to go.”
She turned to Christoph and the others. Barb whimpered and walked forward, her eyes large. Veronica smiled down at her. “Which arm was it you broke all those months ago, Barb?” she asked softly. “Your left, was it not?”
Barbarina nodded, her large doe eyes staring into Veronica’s face. She lifted her left arm.
“Don’t hurt her,” said Missy yet again, struggling. Her burning block flared up, making her gasp for breath. Her body ached all over, and she blinked, trying to get rid of the black spots in her vision. She could hardly concentrate on what was happening in front of her.
Christoph stepped forward, his face hard, the muscles in his neck bunching menacingly. “Don’t you dare hurt Barb. There’s no going back from that. I will do everything I can to make you pay.”
Veronica’s eyes glistened dangerously as she laid her fingers against Barb’s arm. The sickening sound of a bone breaking made Missy gasp. Barb screamed in agony. Christoph growled and took a step toward Veronica.
“I will do it again if you make trouble, Christoph. Stand down and go look after your wife. She needs your help.” Veronica gestured toward Barb, who had fallen to her knees, holding her broken arm and crying softly.
Christoph looked between Veronica and Barb. He hesitated, clearly torn, but chose to go to Barb, crouching beside her and pulling her into his arms, whispering softly to her. The look he sent Veronica over Barb’s head promised retribution.
Veronica ignored him and nodded at the guards. “Take Missy to my office.” She turned to the others. “If you know what’s good for you, and for Missy, you’ll go back to your homes.”
And with that, Veronica took off at an awkward half run, heading along the fence line directly toward the visible smoke.
Missy watched her go and then glanced at the big guard next to her. She struggled against his tight hold, but he didn’t even move. She couldn’t escape. She took one last desperate look at her parents, trying to let them know she would be okay and they should escape without her. It had always been the plan, with Veronica’s curse inside her.
The guards turned her around and headed off. Missy tried to walk slowly, pulling on them, but they ignored her and simply dragged her along, whether she was walking or not.
They’d only marched a few yards when, without warning, a large arm came around the neck of one of the guards. A fist punched him in the side of the face so hard it knocked him out instantly and he slid to the ground. The other guard didn’t even have time to react before Christoph punched him as well, a direct hit to the front of his face. He landed heavily on the ground next to Missy.
Missy threw her arms around her father, tears making her vision blurry. “Thanks, Dad.”
“I love you, little one,” whispered her father in her ear.
“I love you too, Dad.”
Christoph’s arms tightened momentarily around Missy, and then he let her go. “Now we better get on with it,” he said.
Missy looked behind her and saw that the small group had moved back toward her. It now included Sam, who’d simply stayed where he was when Veronica raced off.
“We keep to the same plan. Veronica will be too busy with the fire to bother with us for now. Sam, if you want, you can go with my father,” said Missy. “I have to help Zeph and Tilly get out, and then we’re good.”
Sam shook his head. “I’ll go with you, same as we planned. I want to make sure no one is hurt by our escape.” His gaze flicked to where the smoke was gathering in the distance.
Missy nodded. “Okay, fair enough.” She kissed her father’s cheek. “You take care of Mom, okay? Get around to the front, find the van, and get inside.” She glanced behind her father to where Helene and Barb—holding her arm close—were loitering, dazed expressions on their faces.
“You could come with us. You don’t need to go back in there, you know,” said her father.
Missy looked back at his familiar face, lined with concern, then at the huge plumes of smoke in the distance. “I think Veronica is right to be worried. That fire wasn’t part of the plan. I need to go back and make sure everyone’s okay.”
Her father looked like he was going to argue for a moment, and then he sighed. “Just take care of yourself. You’ve seen what she will do.”
Missy nodded and then glanced at Sam. “We have to hurry. I don’t know how much time we have.” She touched her father’s arm and then took off at a run, trying not to think about her parents or Kitten and Helene. They would be fine.
It was herself and Sam she needed to worry about. They both still had blocks on them that would send them back into Veronica’s control the moment she thought to use them. “How long do you think we have?” she asked Sam.
His face grim, Sam shook his head. “I don’t know. This isn’t exactly going to plan.”
Missy didn’t answer. She didn’t need to. They ran in silence, Missy trying to make her legs go faster every step of the way. She didn’t know what had happened to Tilly and Zeph after they’d set the fires, but now that Veronica was heading back, Zeph could end up back under the curse magic. She had to get him out of there.
They were almost to the fire when Missy heard a noise behind her. She looked back, afraid one of the guards had woken up. Instead, she saw Kitten running behind them, trying to keep up. Her heart sank.
“Kitten, what are you doing? You need to go back.”
Kitten shook her head. “It’s too late to go with them now. They’ve gone. And I need to help Marco.”
“Veronica’s brother?”
Kitten nodded, her eyes huge in her face.
Missy sighed. “You’ll have to come with us now. Let’s find your sister and Zeph.”
“We need to avoid Veronica at all costs. Both of us,” said Sam. “She’ll have gone to Marco as well. That will be her main focus.”
“We need to figure out where the others have gone.” Their plan was tumbling out of control. They’d arranged to meet at the big top once Veronica had been told of the flood in the ice rink and the fire alarms and had left to sort it out.
Now they had no idea where to find anyone.
***
Zeph wiped at the sweat beading on his forehead and took another deep breath. He’d found a few teenagers avoiding the work of the performance in the last building.
He’d shooed them outside, and they looked in horror at the fire that had established itself just down from where they’d been hiding out. It had reinforced the need to search everywhere.
As he came out of the building, he saw a flash of white running past. Veronica. He hid in the shadows of the doorway as she ran toward her offices.
Marco. She was rescuing Marco.
One less person for him to worry about. Alphonso was going through the buildings on the other side of the road, and after she’d come back from phoning the fire department, Tilly had raced off to alert the crew at The Experiment so they could evacuate the punters.
He strode out onto the footpath. A small body crashed into him, and he staggered sideways, intent on pulling the figure off him—until he realized it was Missy. He put his arms around her, and she held on tight. Behind Missy, he saw Sam and Kitten. Tilly was going to be pissed her sister was still here.
“You’re okay,” Missy said.
“Sure I am. Takes more than something like this to kill me.”
A shudder went through her body, and he moved one hand soothingly across her back.
“It’s a big fire,” she whispered. “What happened to the other plan?”
Zeph frowned, looking back to where the blaze was still growing, engulfing yet another of the big warehouse-style buildings into its hungry core. “The original plan didn’t work. So we improvised. Turns out it wasn’t a good idea. Tilly called the fire department a while back. Hopefully, they’ll be here soon. Alp
honso and I have been checking all the closest buildings, trying to make sure everyone’s out. Tilly’s gone to warn the big top.”
“Alphonso?” Missy raised her head and looked at Zeph quizzically.
“He turned up a while ago.”
“We can all help check the buildings,” said Sam. “Get ourselves out of here faster.”
Zeph nodded. “Only a couple more to go.”
“What about Veronica? Did you see her?” Missy’s voice cracked on Veronica’s name.
“She just raced past.”
“She’s gone to see Marco,” said Kitten, speaking up for the first time.
Zeph nodded. He figured as much. “Let’s do this.”
They all ran toward the next building, two down from Veronica’s offices. Before they could head inside, Zeph saw Alphonso leaving a building across the road. “Sam, can you help Alphonso? Missy, Kitten, and I will do this one, and then we’ll meet you both at the Big House.”
Sam nodded and ran off.
“We need to be fast. Veronica could call any one of us at any moment,” said Missy.
Zeph nodded and led the way into the building. “You two take that side. I’ll take the other.”
They were in and out in ten minutes and went to the building next door to Veronica’s office next. Zeph felt like tiptoeing and almost considered not going in. By Missy’s face, she felt the same way.
“We have to do it. We don’t want anyone’s death hanging over our heads,” said Zeph.
They entered the next building, all three quieter than they’d been before. Again, they found nothing. As they jogged back to the entrance, Alphonso and Sam appeared at the door. There was blood gushing out of a wound on the doctor’s head, staunched by a large towel Sam was holding in place.