by Liz Long
As Jarvis unknotted himself, the other clowns did various things—one sat on the fire truck and read the paper; another dumped a bucket of water on someone’s head; and Bobby would run around with an ax, have Antonio light the wooden handle part and run around in fright. The audience always reacted to this since they were worried Bobby would actually catch fire. Once he put the fire out and threw the ax aside, he ran to place himself around the window to catch Eli.
Jarvis ran over to the burning house and I turned the hose on for the water. Antonio sent a giant burst of flames through the window but Eli hadn’t jumped yet. I only had a second to look at Keegan in confusion—“Where’s Eli?” he mouthed—until I heard Jarvis yelp. We both looked over to see him shaking the hose, but no water gushed out. Horror crossed his clownish face.
Antonio let his obligatory second wave of flames hit and there was a giant explosion of fire. The flames licked the edge of the ring, knocking several clowns over in their scrambled attempts to get out of the way. Henry ran for the exit, yelping with his tail tucked between his legs in terror. Several audience members screamed their surprise. This wasn’t right. The hose was supposed to release water, soak all the clowns and put the fire out. Antonio, on the opposite side of the house, still hadn’t seen the hose malfunction and continued to let the house burn.
I realized we had bigger problems. Where the hell was Eli? Then I heard a muffled scream from inside the house.
We had to think fast. “Jade!” I yelled. She looked at me with a shocked expression.
“Where’s Eli? Get him out of there!” I screamed at her.
Jade blinked in confusion and then took in what I said. She stood completely still, focused her thoughts on Eli. After a moment, she turned to me. “I can’t see him; there’s too much fire around him. I don’t think I can move him without shoving him into the flames and catching fire!”
Keegan yelled to Bobby: “Get Eli! Go in there and get him!”
Bobby didn’t hesitate; he ran in and stayed for maybe ten seconds, perhaps the longest ten seconds I’d ever known. The clowns ran around, tripping over their giant shoes in their attempts to do something to save Eli. Unable to get too close to the flames, they yelled at each other.
“Turn the hose on!”
“No, the hose isn’t working. Do something else!”
“What the hell is going on?”
“Turn off the lights then!”
“We can’t! We won’t be able to see Eli or Bobby!”
Then there was a crash through the front door: Bobby and Eli. The door splintered open when Bobby burst through. They were both on fire. As they fell hard to the ground, Bobby immediately started putting out the flames on Eli’s costume. Antonio finally saw everything going horribly wrong, so he stepped up beside the house and tried to lower the flames. It still wasn’t working. He threw us a panicked look. I could see the sweat and exhaustion on his face from where I stood. He didn’t have the strength to contain it.
In fact, his fear did the exact opposite. The fire seemed to grow larger, licked the edges of the ring and started to extend dangerously close to the acrobats’ wires. The whole damn tent would go down if we didn’t put a stop to it. I saw several audience members grow alarmed. Pandemonium would ensue soon if we didn’t do something.
I couldn’t stand there any longer. I darted out to the ring, despite Jade’s screaming protests and Keegan’s cursing. It was clear I wasn’t a clown, but at least I was in a uniform. Red hair flying in my face, I passed a screaming Gary and headed straight to the house.
Rather than send out heat waves as I had done my first day in the field, I would bring all the flames off the house and onto myself. I sprinted past Bobby and Eli, who still lay coughing on the ground. I ran to the closest area I could reach and slapped my hand firmly onto the side of the wall. I started to concentrate and realized my mistake too late—I should’ve gone inside the house so the audience wouldn’t see this. Son of a bitch.
It was too late now as I wasn’t talented enough to multitask, with no time to waste. I pulled the heat down to my palm; it took more energy than I anticipated and for a second, I wasn’t sure I could handle it. I’d only succeeded once, years ago during practice with Dad, but I had to do something.
I gasped as my head ached. My arm began to shake as the fire melted off the roof. It took over my arm then began to spread quickly to my neck, torso and finally my entire body. It probably terrified the crowd—they thought I would die. I really should’ve run into the house. But I took another deep breath and pushed my mind harder.
My whole body hurt. It even felt like my insides hurt; they burned with my effort to keep all the fire on me. Heat bubbled in my throat and I gagged a little. Just as I worried my throat would close up and I would choke, it worked. The house, while badly burned, was no longer in danger and I again resembled the Human Torch. I heard a huge gasp from the crowd, until I held my breath and let the fire quickly sizzle off my skin. People were going to freak out on us.
After I made sure the fire was out on all sides (including on me), I saw Sheffield motion to the light crew to turn the lights off. I caught a glimpse of my crew: Keegan screamed at Bobby, Jarvis yelled at the clowns and motioned at me, and people in the audience stared at me in amazement. Then everything went pitch black.
Sheffield quickly shifted back to his ringmaster act. “Laaaadies and gentlemen, the Donovan Circus clowns! And now for the amaaaazing Jim Taaaaylor and his performing tigerrrssss!”
The crowd went wild. They had no idea they had just witnessed a terrible mistake.
Chapter 14
As we hustled to get the clowns, props, and the mess out of the ring, I could hear the audience:
“That was amazing!”
“I thought we were in trouble there for a second! They sure let that one toe the line.”
“I know. I could feel the heat near me! Incredible!”
“Yeah, but did you see that girl? She was on fire!”
“How’d she do that? Is that supposed to happen?”
“I don’t know, but it was awesome. That’s some trick.”
“Maybe the fire wasn’t real at all then. You could see her face and hair and she was fine. Maybe they fooled us.”
“No idea, but I’m sure impressed. Well worth the ticket, I’d come back to see her again. That was amazing.”
I carried part of the hose with Jarvis, who threw angry looks at me the entire time. As we all stumbled outside the Big Top and tossed everything to the side to make way for the animal acts, I heard the clowns mutter to one another. Keegan and Jade rushed over to join us.
Sheffield walked outside to where we stood by the performers’ entrance. He turned to Bobby, who held Eli up.
“You okay, son?” Sheffield asked Eli.
Eli nodded weakly. “I don’t understand what happened. Everything was fine. I ran in the house to get the rest of the costume on, but I couldn’t find my vest that’s supposed to be in the top floor where I jump out. I guess I lost track of time trying to find it; next thing I knew, fire surrounded me and I couldn’t get out.”
Sheffield nodded. “I’m at fault for not approving a different act. I should’ve cut that to save us time and had you do another skit. And Bobby, congratulations, you’re the new screaming woman in the house if we ever do that again. We should’ve done that in the first place.”
Sheffield then turned to the five Firestarters. “Any of you got an explanation as to what happened out there with that damn fire? ’Cause I’m pretty sure that was a little excessive.”
Antonio shrugged. “I was on the other side of the house doing what I was supposed to.”
“You didn’t, Antonio,” Sheffield snarled. “You were doing everything based on timing, rather than actually watching Eli to make sure he got out before you set him on fire. Leave timing to the acrobats and high wires. Next time, try being a part of the act rather than an observer. Eli could’ve been killed due to your daydreaming.”
He turned to Bobby. “Thank you being where you should’ve been. You saved Eli’s life. You did good.”
Then Sheffield faced me. “And you. I don’t even know where to start. I’m both pleased and extremely annoyed. On the one hand you saved the audience, whereas on the other, you ran out in the ring and revealed something quite strange to what I’m sure was an entirely human crowd. I’m torn.”
I could feel the heat rush to my face. “I’m sorry, Sheffield. I should’ve let someone else run in to help, but I couldn’t stand by and watch. I didn’t want Eli to end up like…” I trailed off as we all thought of Marty.
“Sounds like something Lenny would’ve done. He’d be proud of you, kid. Clown or no, you probably saved some of the audience’s eyebrows tonight. Not to mention a few lawsuits,” Sheffield responded.
“I find it suspicious that she handed me the hose and turned it on and nothing came out,” Jarvis spat out. He traded me a dirty look for my shocked one.
“Hey, fuck you, Jarvis, she saved all your asses,” Keegan snarled.
“That ain’t right, man, she didn’t do nothin’,” Bobby began, but Sheffield put up a hand to silence him.
“That’s a heavy accusation, Jarvis,” Sheffield said. “Do you have any proof?”
I squeaked in protest. Proof? I didn’t need proof for something I didn’t do!
Jarvis looked down and shifted his feet. “Well, nah, but I mean, she had every opportunity. She had the hose and turned it on. She’s a Firestarter who had her moment in the sun saving everyone. She’s a newbie for cryin’ out loud. People are saying she might’ve killed Marty!”
“I will not tolerate you insulting other members of this troupe, Jarvis,” Sheffield said in a sharp tone.
Jarvis kept his eyes on his feet and mumbled, “I got it, Sheffield, but she’s got a lot of marks against her. People talk.”
“And do you understand the consequences of pushing this rumor forward?” Sheffield asked.
Jarvis, now in humiliated silence, shook his head.
“It means that you’re out, Jarvis, if I hear any more nonsense about one of our own hurting others,” Sheffield said coldly. “The same respect goes for everyone here. I understand that Lucy is new and that it takes time to build trust. But no one will be able to trust anyone else in this group if we’re all accusing one another of terrible actions. Like it or not, she’s one of us. I will vouch for her, as will several other people here, I’m sure.”
Keegan, Nikolas, Jade, and Bobby all nodded vigorously, glaring at the top of Jarvis’ head. The other clowns all looked uncomfortable, but a few directed a nod at me in agreement. My body shook with anger at the accusations.
“Let’s chalk this up to an error. I’ll have Miss Nance order a new hose,” Sheffield said abruptly. He lit a cigarette and glared at the Big Top.
“It was my fault,” a clown spoke up. “It was my idea for Eli to be up there since he’s so fast. I don’t know why I didn’t think to put Bobby up there in the first place—”
“It’s over now,” Sheffield responded. “Let’s get ready for the next act, folks. Go do your thing.”
Everyone broke out of their stupor and started moving, but Sheffield turned to me. “Lucy, see me after the show in my trailer.”
My heart dropped, but I nodded and he walked back into the tent. Keegan was the only one remaining when I turned from the canvas entryway.
“It’s going to be okay, Lucy,” he said when he saw my face.
“How do you think it’s going to be okay? Honestly? I’m enemy number one thanks to this stupid gift,” I choked out.
Keegan took the three steps towards me and put his arms around me.
“Our gifts are not stupid,” he said in a soft voice. “I know it’s difficult right now, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get through it. You’ve got a lot of support to back you up.”
“I don’t want you or Nikolas supporting me just because Firestarters stick together,” I said. My face was smushed against his chest and my plea came out muffled.
“That’s not fair to you or to us, Luce.” He took a step back and put his hands on my shoulders so I had to look up at him.
“We don’t support you because we have the same gift. We support you because we believe you didn’t do this. I don’t think you’re capable.”
“You’re right, I’m not. I don’t understand. I can’t believe it was anyone in the troupe, but why would a townie go to all this trouble? Surely they could let what happened go. It wasn’t a pretty fight, but I think they understood the consequences.”
“The more I think about it, the less likely I think it’s one of those townies,” he admitted. “Marty’s murder would be difficult enough for a normal person, but now tonight…there’s no physical way a stranger got back behind the ring to tamper with the hose. There are too many of us back there and someone would notice an outsider. I won’t accept that for a logical answer.”
“You think it’s someone inside the troupe? Are you crazy? Did you not hear what Sheffield said?” I asked.
“I heard him loud and clear. I’m not going to accuse anyone and I don’t have any ideas about the guilty party. But I’ve thought about it since I heard you were on the most wanted list after Marty’s death,” he said. “What if someone’s trying to set you up?”
“Set me up?” I practically yelped. “I’ve only been here like three weeks! Why would someone want to set me up?”
“It might not be personal. What if it’s someone who wanted to do this anyways and made you a prime suspect because you arrived at the right time?” he asked.
“You really think someone could be capable of killing for the fun of it?”
“Not necessarily, no. There might be a reason that we can’t even imagine until we have proof. All we know right now is what’s happened in the last few days.”
“You really think someone is using me as a target? What happens if I get kicked out?”
He shrugged. “You won’t get kicked out. Look at what happened. Sheffield vouched for you in such a way that no one will dare say anything against you now, no matter what happens.”
“But that means that whoever it is can keep killing and making it look like I did it. If I stay, they’ll keep hurting people. If I leave, then they could stop and I’d still be blamed and we’d never know—”
“If you leave, then they’ll probably find another scapegoat,” Keegan interrupted. “They could put it on me or Nikolas if they wanted to stay with the Firestarter route. If they’re intent on weeding people out, then it won’t matter if you stay or go. They’ll find someone else to pin it on. Don’t leave.”
Keegan had a point. Even if I left, it didn’t guarantee it would stop. They could hurt people another way or blame another Firestarter. That thought in particular horrified me. Firestarters already had so much blame put upon them. I didn’t want the accusations to simply transfer to one of them.
“No matter what happens, you should stay with a partner at all times. Don’t let anyone think that you or Nikolas or the others could be blamed. I don’t want Firestarters getting roped any further into this,” I said. I pulled away to look up at his face to make sure he knew I was serious.
“Lucy, I’m not scared of anyone blaming me. I’ve been here forever; they know me. No one will accuse me.”
“You might be surprised,” I muttered. “I can’t stand the thought of someone here doing it.”
“I certainly don’t like the idea of it. But it’s the most logical theory I’ve got—it feels too close to us, ya know? I won’t share it with anyone else but I wanted you to be careful.”
“I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to protect my name or prove that I didn’t do it, or won’t do it in the future.”
“Maybe you try that partner thing you mentioned. Maybe I could be your partner,” he suggested.
“That’s nice of you and all, but you have an actual act plus a million things to do around the grounds. We can’t be
together at all times.”
He took a step in towards me and his voice got quiet. “Maybe I can make it work. I don’t want anything happening to you, Lucy.”
“Well, I don’t want anything happening to you either.”
“I think you’re great.”
“Oh. Well…thanks. I think you’re great, too.”
“You don’t get it, do you?” He broke his quiet manner and rolled his eyes. “I like you. I think you’re funny and smart and you have no idea how cute you are. You’re incredibly talented and make me push myself. I never really thought about wanting more from my gift until you showed up. I’ll never be your equal in skill, but I want to try.”
“Those are incredibly nice things to say, but you hardly know me.”
“I guess I want to change that.”
“I hope you realize it’s only an act. I’m not really that cool.” I gave him a weak smile.
“I never said you were cool,” he teased. The corners of his mouth turned up.
“Yeah, but you think I’m cute, so that makes up for it.”
“I guess I did admit that, huh? Well, I wasn’t lying.” He smiled and leaned in so that we were only a few inches apart.
“I sure hope you’re about to kiss me,” I whispered.
“And if I didn’t?”
“Well, I’d be very disappointed. I’d probably hold it against you for a while.”
“I guess I better then. At least with me you don’t have to worry about catching me on fire.”
I had but a second to laugh before Keegan leaned in and kissed me. His lips were soft and warm, his hands gentle on my hip and face. It was tender and sweet, with a little bit of promise behind it—exactly what I needed.
And then Jonah’s Law hit again. There was a cough near us, and as Keegan jerked his head away, I looked over to find Gabriel with a grin on his face. Naturally.