Woe knew his sister was right. But he couldn’t help but imagine himself winning the game. ‘What’s the prize?’ he asked before he could stop himself.
The game attendant smiled at them. Woe noticed that the man was missing quite a few of his teeth.
‘Three free meals at the Crumpled Curtain.’
68
In which they try their luck for free meals
Three free meals! Woe looked at his sister. He felt his stomach grumble at the thought of a decent meal. The can of baked beans he had found and eaten at home had barely touched the sides of his hunger.
Whimsy saw Woe’s eyes light up. Three free meals at the Crumpled Curtain seemed too good to be true but she knew that there would be no point in convincing her brother not to try. And maybe they might win? The game operator did say it was the easiest game at the festival. ‘Markus?’ Whimsy asked.
Markus peered at the game attendant before turning towards the siblings. ‘My grandfather was very good at these games,’ he said in a hushed whisper. ‘If we all play, we might have a shot.’
‘What do we need to do?’ Woe asked the game attendant.
The man with missing teeth waved them over to the game booth behind him. In front of them stood a bench with three red circles on it.
‘All you have to do is cover your red dot with these discs,’ said the game operator. He pulled five circular metal discs out of his pocket, each much smaller than the red dots. The game attendant expertly placed the discs so that they overlapped each other and covered one of the red dots. ‘See how easy it is?’
Markus studied the red dots and metal circles closely. He watched as the game attendant took away the discs and then placed them once more over the red dot, covering it entirely.
Whimsy looked suspiciously at the game in front of her. It seemed incredibly simple. Was it too simple? She looked up at the game attendant who continued to smile at them. Then she remembered the children running past them with orange tickets. Tickets which were purchased with money that they didn’t have.
‘Why don’t you all have a try? The first game is free,’ said the game attendant. He moved his discs off the bench and motioned towards the three empty red circles in front of him.
Woe couldn’t believe that all they had to do was cover the red dot. And that the first round was free! He could already taste the delicious meal in his mouth.
Confident, Whimsy, Woe and Markus stepped up to one red circle each. The attendant placed five metal discs in front of each of them.
Woe went first. Picking up one of his discs, he placed it gently on the red circle, just like he had seen the game attendant do. Then he picked up another and placed it half on top of the first disc, covering the top part of the red circle. He did the same with the third disc but just as he placed it down, it slid off, causing the other two discs he had already placed on to slide off the red circle too. Woe quickly pushed them back onto the red circle and tried to put his remaining two discs over the bottom of the circle but they slid off too, causing all off them to come off. It was over. Woe had lost.
‘H-how . . .’ began Woe, confused.
‘Unlucky,’ said the game attendant with a smile. He used his stick to swipe along the bench, pushing the discs from Woe’s circle into a bucket below. ‘Next!’
‘Unlucky.’
Whimsy tried a different approach. Rather than having her discs touch one another too much and slide off, she decided to carefully place them next to each other instead. She placed each of her discs over the circle one at a time. By the time she reached the bottom of the circle, there was still a section of red that was uncovered but she had run out of discs!
‘So close,’ said the game attendant, still smiling. Then, like he did with Woe’s, he swiped Whimsy’s discs from the bench. ‘Next!’
After Whimsy’s failed attempt, Woe couldn’t help but think the ‘cover the spot’ game was some kind of trick. But he had seen the game attendant do it so easily. Woe desperately willed Markus to succeed.
Whimsy didn’t think the game was very easy at all. It wasn’t possible to completely cover the red circle, was it? She looked over at Markus. He was their last hope.
Markus picked up his first disc but instead of sliding it onto the circle he dropped it from a small height above it. Then he did it again and they didn’t slip off one another. He dropped another disc and another until all of them were used and the entire red spot was covered.
Whimsy and Woe couldn’t believe it. Markus had done it! Woe cheered and jumped up into the air. Whimsy hugged Markus who was smiling from ear to ear. The three of them looked up at the game attendant expectantly. But the man’s smile was gone. In the place of his gap-filled grin was a deathly scowl.
‘Cheat!’ the game attendant yelled out, outraged.
69
In which they win fair and square
The game attendant pointed accusingly at Markus with his stick. ‘Cheater!’
Whimsy, Woe and Markus took a step back in alarm.
‘I think you are mistaken,’ said Whimsy, not understanding.
‘I didn’t cheat,’ said Markus. He held his hands up gesturing innocence. ‘You were watching me the whole time.’
The game attendant shook his head angrily. ‘Nobody wins this game on the first go, it’s impossible!’ he said. ‘Where are your parents? Who owns these children?’ he shouted into the crowd. ‘I’ll have you thrown out of the festival.’
Thrown out of the festival! thought Whimsy. She realised that their small turn at playing a Favian Festival game was steadily getting out of hand. Whimsy needed to save their situation. But how? They couldn’t be thrown out of Whitby City. Not now. She had to think fast.
‘Out of the festival?’ echoed Markus, disbelievingly.
‘But he won fair and square,’ said Woe adamantly. He tried to keep control of the anger he felt. He couldn’t believe that the game attendant would accuse Markus of cheating. Woe saw their chance of three free meals at the Crumpled Curtain quickly start to slip away.
‘Fair? Square?’ repeated the operator. He leaned in close to Woe. Whimsy eyed the stick in the man’s hand worriedly. ‘This is a festival, not a fair and this is a circle, not a square.’
Woe wasn’t sure how to respond but he found that he didn’t have to as the game attendant quickly stepped out of the booth and grabbed Markus roughly by the shirt collar. Markus tried to squirm out of his grasp.
‘Hey!’ said Woe grabbing onto the game attendant’s arm.
Whimsy noticed that people in the crowded street around them had started to look questioningly in their direction. An audience. She had to do something. Quickly. Then she remembered Constance’s story from her time at the Benton Brothers Circus. Roland. She took a deep breath and set her face into a firm and confident expression like she had done on the train to Cleeth Bay. She was going to act their way out of trouble. Again.
‘Let g-go,’ she said. In the scuffle over Markus, nobody heard her. ‘Let go of him!’ she said again, louder. This time the game attendant, Markus and Woe stopped and whirled around to gaze at her. So did the group of festival-goers and game attendants who were watching them.
‘Don’t you know who he is?’ asked Whimsy, motioning to Markus.
The attendant looked questioningly down at the boy whose collar he still held in one hand.
Woe wasn’t sure what his sister was trying to do. Was she going to tell the game attendant that Markus was a Montgomery? He wasn’t sure the game attendant would listen.
‘That,’ Whimsy continued, ‘is Roland.’
Immediately the game attendant’s eyes widened in fear and he dropped his hold on Markus.
Roland? thought Woe. Had his sister gone mad?
Whimsy hid a smile. She had received the reaction she had hoped for from the game attendant. Her brother, however, was looking at her as though she had just sprouted three heads.
‘But . . . h-how do you . . .’ stumbled the game attendant.
<
br /> ‘The Game Whisperer,’ said Whimsy, menacingly.
Woe tried to think. The name Whimsy had used seemed familiar to him. Then he remembered. Constance. She had told them a story once about a boy called Roland from her time in the Benton Brothers Circus. There were many games at the circus and all of them were very difficult to win. The Benton brothers praised themselves on being able to go years without a single winner on any of their games. They were able to keep their stuffed teddy bears and their wooden toys on show without ever needing to replace them. Until one day, a child by the name of Roland visited the circus. He moved from one game to the next, winning them as he went. The attendants panicked as they ran out of prizes. The Benton brothers didn’t know what to do. They were amazed and outraged at the same time. How could a child win their unwinnable games? The name Roland soon spread from one circus to the next and the Benton Brothers Circus became packed with people hoping to get a glimpse of the legendary Roland. But he never returned. Soon he became known as the Game Whisperer amongst festival and circus folk.
Woe realised what Whimsy was doing. She was using Constance’s story from the circus to save Markus. Immediately Woe whirled around to the game attendant. ‘You just manhandled the Game Whisperer,’ he said, turning his face into one of shock.
‘I-I didn’t mean to,’ said the game attendant quickly. This time it was he who held his hands up innocently.
A few game attendants made their way towards them. Whimsy saw them approach. She had to hurry. ‘I’m going to have to report you to the festival board of directors,’ she said crossing her arms. Whimsy wasn’t sure if there was a festival board of directors but she took a chance that there might be.
‘No, please,’ said the game attendant. ‘Here,’ he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small card. He handed it to Woe quickly. It was for three free meals at the Crumpled Curtain. ‘Please, I don’t want any trouble.’ The game attendant promptly turned around and went back to his game booth.
‘Thank you,’ said Whimsy. ‘Let’s go, Roland.’ Then she stepped away from the game booth and back into the festival crowd. Woe and Markus followed her, amazed.
‘What just happened?’ asked Markus. Whimsy saw that he looked more confused than ever.
‘You’re a genius, Whimsy,’ said Woe holding up the meal card. At last. Food.
Whimsy forced a smile. She was pleased that her idea had worked and she had saved Markus but she did not feel happy about having lied to the game attendant. But it had to be done, didn’t it? They couldn’t be thrown out of the festival. She remembered the story of Favian and tried to push aside the feeling that she had tricked someone into believing something that wasn’t true.
‘Get your programs!’ came a voice from the crowd. ‘Six of the very best troupes! Who will win? Who won’t win? Who will forget their lines? Who will wear the wrong costume? Get your programs for the Thespian Competition tonight! Only minutes away!’
70
In which Whimsy and Woe return to the Broken Leg Theatre
‘I thought the Thespian Competition would be soon, but not this soon,’ said Markus.
Whimsy, Woe and Markus stood in the crowded street of Whitby City as people surged all around them, unsure of what to do. Woe looked down at the three free meals card he held in his hand and put it in his pocket. The Crumpled Curtain was going to have to wait.
Whimsy suddenly felt nervous. If Markus was right, and Vincent’s troupe was performing at the competition, then they could be seeing their parents in a matter of moments.
Woe felt the lump of sadness in his chest become replaced with eagerness.
The man in the crowd who was passing out programs walked over to them. Whimsy took one politely.
‘We have to attend the competition,’ said Woe plainly.
‘What about Detective Fry?’ Markus reminded them.
‘Do you see him anywhere?’ asked Whimsy hopefully. She agreed with her brother. They couldn’t have come all this way for nothing. But what could they do without Fry? They couldn’t stop Vincent by themselves, could they?
Markus looked around him half-heartedly. It was pointless. There were too many people and too many were in Favian masks. ‘We don’t have time to look,’ he said.
‘He might be inside the theatre already?’ suggested Whimsy.
‘And if he isn’t?’ wondered Markus.
‘Then it’s up to us,’ Woe said resolutely. Whimsy noticed her brother stand a bit taller once more.
Markus looked at Whimsy. She knew what he was thinking. Could it really be up to the three of them? It had to be. Like her brother, she straightened her shoulders and stood a bit taller.
Markus nodded determinedly. ‘Then it’s this way,’ he said, leading them past a group of baton-twirlers and through the crowd.
Soon they came to a large, round, wooden building. Across the top, on a huge white banner were the words THESPIAN COMPETITION. Whimsy and Woe stopped short at the sight of it. It was the Broken Leg Theatre. They had been there once before with their parents and it looked exactly how they remembered it.
‘We’re here,’ Whimsy breathed. As she looked up at the theatre, she felt her heart swell as the memory of the night their parents took them to see It’s a Jolly Day for Giants filled her mind. They had made it. They had made it back to them.
Woe thought about all that he and his sister had been through. Their miserable life at the Idle Slug. Their escape in a hot-air balloon. Fleeing Mr Solt. Sailing through a treacherous storm. Being held captive in a swamp prison. Chased not only by a wolf but also by their horrid aunt. It had all been leading to this. This moment. Somewhere inside, their parents were waiting for them.
The three of them were carried along with the crowd through the front doors and into the theatre foyer.
The Broken Leg Theatre
Their parents had said it was one of the most beautiful theatres in the world. And it was. The inside was a beautiful mix of old and new. Brilliant gold dripped from old wooden surfaces. Intricate crystal and gold chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Gold thespian masks and old paintings of famous thespians in elaborate frames lined the wooden walls. As they looked around them, Whimsy and Woe couldn’t help but feel their parents in all of it.
They entered the theatre through large open doors in front of them. What must have been over a hundred rows of red seats stretched to the back of the building. There were clusters of private seats hanging up high, which Whimsy noticed were already full of men and women holding small opera glasses. A large red curtain sat neatly closed on stage. As everyone shuffled forward to find the best seats in the house, Whimsy, Woe and Markus found a row of empty seats in the middle of the theatre. Woe remembered his father had always said that if you were in an audience, the middle of the room was always the best place to be in the entire theatre. The three of them sat down in the lavish red Broken Leg Theatre seats.
Looking behind him at the overwhelming number of people, Woe wondered for a split second if Vincent was somewhere in the audience. Is he watching us right now? He looked more thoroughly at the faces that stared ahead, certain that he would recognise the Puppeteer from Beatrice Ballentine’s dark sketches.
Whimsy opened the program. Her hands were clammy and shook as she turned the pages. She tried to distract herself from the nervousness that had now settled underneath her skin but found that she couldn’t read the words on the page.
A bell, which signalled that the show was about to start, rang in the foyer. As they sat in the theatre waiting for the remaining festival-goers to take their seats and the foyer doors to close, Whimsy and Woe shared an uncertain glance. Should they have waited for Fry? Were their parents backstage? What would they do when they saw their parents? Yet the incredible thought of finally seeing their parents was also tainted by uneasiness. They were unable to shake the words in Vincent’s letter to Apoline: the final act. His words filled their minds like the mist of Murky Lake.
Then the red curtain that s
at neatly closed on stage, pulled open.
71
In which the thespian competition begins
A man stepped out onto the Broken Leg Theatre stage, predictably dressed in an orange suit. His hair was curled high, also in matching orange. Whimsy looked closer and was sure the man even had orange pupils. Then near his shoes, a small compartment in the stage floor opened and a brass microphone rose up before stopping smoothly by his mouth.
‘Welcome to the annual Favian Festival Thespian Competition!’ the man said, his voice booming around the theatre. The audience erupted in excited cheers and applause. ‘For those of you who are new to the festival,’ the orange man continued, ‘I am Cyril Rowntree, and I will be your speaker.’
He gave a small bow and the audience clapped some more. ‘Six troupes have been gathered from around the land to compete on this very stage.’ He lifted a heeled shoe and dramatically stamped on the boards beneath him. Then Cyril held up a finger. ‘But only one troupe will be crowned the best.’
The slow thundering sound of drums from the orchestra pit filled the theatre. ‘The troupe that wins the Favian Festival Thespian Competition will not only receive fame and fortune, but this year, for the first time in the history of the competition, the winners will receive a once in a lifetime opportunity. Something which no amount of fame or fortune can buy.’
The audience gasped in excitement. Whimsy wondered what the prize could be. Her mind turned to Vincent. Did he know what it was? Is that why he was here? Is that why he needed their parents?
But whatever that something was, Cyril didn’t elaborate further. Instead, he grabbed the microphone from its stand and walked along the stage. ‘Tonight’s competition will be one of enchantment!’ Cyril boomed, raising a hand in the air. Suddenly his suit changed from orange to blue. There were oohs and aahs from the audience. ‘It will be one of excitement!’ There was a crack in the air and the audience looked up to find squares of orange sparkling confetti falling down on them. ‘It will be one of delightment!’ The lights that lit up the theatre around them flickered. Cyril stopped his walk along the stage mid-stride, the wide smile on his face faltering.
Whimsy and Woe Page 20