Vagabond Circus Series Boxed Set

by Sarah Noffke

  Finley’s eyes widened as he focused on her. “Zuma, don’t touch anything,” he said, his voice panicked.

  “Finley!” she said, gasping for air in a throat that was quickly tightening. Her eyes searched him. “Who are you? How could you?” She backed up a step, almost tripping on her feet.

  “No, Zuma,” Finley said in a rush. “I didn’t do this.”

  She shook her head erratically, her long hair whipping her in the face. Tears not ready, but building in her, like poison in a syringe.

  “It’s not what it looks like. I can explain,” Finley said, taking a step toward her.

  “Stay away from me,” she said and turned to run and knocked straight into Finley, who had teleported to catch her.

  He gripped her arms. Held them in front of his chest. “Zuma, you have to listen to me. I tried to stop this from happening.”

  “Did he tell you no? Is this what you do when you don’t get what you want?”

  “God no,” he said and yanked her closer to him, but she used everything in her body to pull away from him.

  “Titus!” Zuma screamed. His trailer sat beside Dave’s. It was always set up adjacent to the ringmaster’s. The creative director’s trailer was a blaze with light from within. And Zuma didn’t have to wait long before Titus tore through his door, scrambling out at the sound of Zuma’s frantic voice. Finley released Zuma at once, afraid of what the scene looked like to a worried Titus. And then behind him Jack poured out of the creative director’s trailer. The two had been discussing changes to next year’s show when or if Jasmine left Vagabond Circus. They’d bolted out of their seats at the sound of Zuma’s screams.

  Finley clasped his hands to the sides of his head. Things could not worsen in this moment. He wanted to run, but he had nowhere to go and a responsibility to these people.

  Titus raced to Zuma and clutched both his hands on her shoulders since the girl was shaking wildly, every part of her trembling.

  “What is it, Zuma?” Titus asked. Jack was at his shoulder immediately, eyes protectively on her and also watching Finley.

  “Da-da-Dave,” she said, pointing at the still open trailer door. “H-h-he’s dead.”

  Titus’s eyebrows shot up to meet his receding hairline. “What?! That’s impossible.” His head whipped in the direction of the trailer. The door was still open, but the scene inside was too dark to make out. “No-no-no,” he said in disbelief, but Titus couldn’t understand why Dave’s trailer would be dark at this hour. Why the door would be ajar. He knew the ringmaster better than anyone else and he knew that Dave’s light should have still been on.

  Jack stepped for the open door.

  “Stop,” Finley yelled. His voice drenched with panic. “Don’t go in there! Don’t touch anything!”

  Jack halted and looked at Finley, gauging him.

  And before he could respond Zuma said, “It was Finley. I found him standing over Dave. He killed him.” And now she was crying, tears gushing down her cheeks as she collapsed into Titus’s arms. The first horror she’d ever witnessed played over and over on the inside of her eyelids. She saw Dave’s dead body again and again, and she saw Finley standing over it.

  Finley shook his head erratically. Titus and Jack exchanged a look of apprehension and then the creative director indicated to Dave’s trailer with a nod of his head. “Check it out, Jack, but be careful.”

  Jack approached the trailer, his shoulders pinned back. And it was Zuma who spied the first bit of shock sprint through his body as he tensed at the sight made visible by the waning moonlight. “Oh my god,” Jack said, backing away at once, a crazed look in his eyes when he turned around. “You did this to him?!” he roared at Finley.

  Titus, who was still holding onto Zuma, shot a look of disbelief at Jack. “It’s true? Dave is…” And his voice fell away, like it was sucked up by the night, his eyes emptied like the stars had robbed him of his soul.

  Jack nodded, his eyes still on Finley. Menace covering his face.

  “Check his pulse,” Titus demanded.

  “Don’t touch him,” Finley said. “It might kill you too.”

  The three turned and stared at Finley, horror in their eyes.

  “You did this,” Jack said, spit flying out of his mouth.

  “No,” Finley said, holding up both his hands in the air in surrender. He knew Jack was considering tackling him and trying to tear him apart with his hands. Finley knew that look in Jack’s face. Had seen it on too many faces throughout his life. But Jack couldn’t catch him and they both knew it. That’s why Finley held up his hands, to show he wouldn’t fight or run. The innocent have no reason to fight or run. “It wasn’t me. I found him and I know who murdered him.”

  Zuma pulled out of Titus’s arms. “What? Did you see it happen?”

  Finley ran his hand through his hair. “No, I didn’t see it happen. But I know without a doubt who did this. It’s why I came to Vagabond Circus and took the acrobat job. I came here to protect Dave from this happening.” And Finley lowered his hands as the grief set in, pulling him deep inside himself. “But I failed,” he said in a whisper.

  “What?!” Zuma said, stepping closer to Finley. She needed to be closer to him, to see his face. Zuma needed to see if he was lying. Titus and Jack arrived on either side of her. The three faced Finley with threatening demeanors.

  Chapter Sixty-Seven

  It was clear they all were in shock and needed to grieve, but such rights aren’t granted as long as an ominous threat continues to hang in the air. And unfortunately for Finley, he was that threat until he proved otherwise.

  “Son, I think you have a lot of explaining to do right now,” Titus said, his face tight.

  Finley nodded. One of the last things he wanted in this life was to divulge the truth. It involved so many secrets he thought he could keep buried. But the very last thing he wanted was for Dave to be murdered and his failure to prevent it brought with it many curses. “Sebastian did this,” he finally said, pointing to the trailer where Dave’s dead body lay.

  “What?” Jack said, an almost laugh in his voice.

  But Zuma knew Finley was telling the truth. “Go on,” she said, no emotion in her voice.

  He slid his eyes over to her, a look of pleading in them. “I didn’t come from the street, like I told Dave. I belong, I mean I belonged, to a group run by a man named Charles Knight.”

  “Ohmygod!” Titus said in one word, his mouth hanging open.

  “Who is that?” Zuma asked, turning to him.

  “He was Dave’s first performer,” Titus said, his voice heavy, almost sounding hoarse suddenly. “And in one year Knight ripped Vagabond Circus to pieces along with Dave’s life.”

  “And you work for this guy?” Zuma said to Finley, everything about her intimidating.

  “Yes, but not anymore, so no,” Finley said.

  “But you used to work for him?” Titus said with disgust.

  “You don’t understand. No one has the choice to work or not work for Knight. I was born to work for him,” Finley said.

  Zuma blinked at him in surprise. He wasn’t lying and yet what he said didn’t make sense.

  He closed his eyes, understanding how confusing this must sound, but the truth was a series of complex stories and he wasn’t sure which parts were necessary to tell. He wanted to keep them all to himself, but that privilege was gone now.

  “How can you be born to work for someone like Knight?” Titus asked.

  “I was manufactured, in a way,” he said and paused. Real people with real families, like Zuma, wouldn’t understand. She would think he was a freak, and he was, he admitted to himself.

  “Go on,” Zuma said. “How do you manufacture people?”

  “Not just any type of people,” Finley corrected. “Specifically Knight manufactures Dream Travelers.”

  “Wait, you’re telling me there’s a man who produces Dream Travelers?” Zuma said. “How?” And that was only the first of many questions in her o
verloaded head.

  “He has surrogates he uses to create his kids. They’re all Dream Travelers and carry that gene. Then he has male Dream Traveler sperm donors. I was, as are all of Knight’s Kids, created to serve him,” Finley said, keeping his eyes on Titus, unable to look at Zuma.

  “So you’re saying that you and Sebastian worked for Knight?” Titus asked, his hand pinned to the back of his neck.

  “Yes,” Finley said.

  “So you lied to us and have been spying for Knight all this time,” Titus stated, heat building in his tone.

  “No, I came here to protect Dave,” Finley said, throwing his hands in his air. “And I realize what this looks like because I’ve lied and failed. But you have to believe me when I say I don’t work for Knight anymore. I work…” he hesitated, “I worked for Dave.”

  “I want to know why this Knight guy manufactures kids.” This time it was Jack who spoke, a hint of hostility in his voice. “Is he creating an army or something?”

  Finley’s head was exploding with the truth. He didn’t know where to start and how much to tell. What he told was up to him, and he needed to be careful only to divulge the story in the most relevant way. And still that would involve divulging too much about himself. He slid his eyes over to Zuma, whose gaze was boring into him. Finley cleared his throat and brought his focus on Jack. “Not an army, not like you think. Once we are old enough then we are released to Knight. He breaks us down like they do in the army, but he doesn’t build us back up as a team. He does things to ensure we’re weak, to keep us weak. And keep us separated. He’s the worst kind of person you can imagine. All of his kids, we’re all Dream Travelers, except that we don’t even know we have that skill. I learned it by accident. And when we come to Dream Traveler age and get our special skill he trains us. It the only thing he ever gives back.” Finley stopped, thinking he’d suffocate on his words.

  “Why? Why does he do all this?” Zuma asked.

  Finley took three hyperventilated breaths. “We’re thieves,” he said, making himself look at her. “We are, I was, one of Knight’s Kids.”

  Titus let out a gigantic sigh. “Oh man, I’d heard of them, but I thought it was rumor. And I had no idea it was actually run by Charles Knight,” he said, shaking his head. “I didn’t think they were…” He looked at Finley. “I didn’t think your group was real. But you all are associated with some hefty crimes.”

  “It’s not my group.” Finley bit on the words. “I’m not with them and none of the other kids have a choice.”

  “Okay, fair enough,” Titus said, nodding. “So you say you came here to protect Dave? Explain that.”

  “Yes,” Finley said. “I learned on accident that I could dream travel, but kept it a secret since I didn’t know how to escape physically. Knight keeps us imprisoned when we aren’t working. And when we are working he has eyes on us. I started dream traveling to spy on him and learned he had a grudge against Dr. Raydon and planned to use Sebastian to murder him. He had been planning this for a while, waiting until the perfect kid was produced with the right skill. Curious, I dream traveled to spy on Vagabond Circus. I started watching Dave and realized he was a good man.”

  Finley paused, but couldn’t bring his eyes to meet Zuma’s although he knew this talk about Dave was hurting her. And what he was about to say would make it worse, but it was important to the story. “I learned what you all have known for a long time, that Dave Raydon is…was one of the best men to ever live. He was a true inspiration and I saw that when I observed. I knew I needed to save him. It took some time to plan, but I was able to manage my escape from Knight’s compound, and I’m certain I’m the only one who has ever gotten out, thanks to my gifts. It isn’t a place people break out of. And Knight isn’t a man people can easily rebel against,” Finley said, and the look in his eyes impaled a piece of Zuma’s heart. She found that her hands had clasped her chest, almost as if trying to keep the organ inside of her from falling out.

  Aside from the obvious pain, Zuma didn’t know how she felt in that moment. Finely wasn’t who she thought he was, but she had to remind herself that she never knew who he was. This was just not who she expected. And still she looked at him and saw the affection she had for him that she couldn’t push away, not even in that moment full of pain and confusion.

  “So you have been here all this time knowing Dave was endangered and you didn’t tell him or any of us?” Jack said, his words scorched with heat.

  “I decided the best way to protect Dave was to watch over him and keep Sebastian away from him. I knew what Sebastian was doing and I kept intervening to save Dave. He should have been dead months ago but I shielded him,” Finley said, his confidence growing as he spoke. It was because of him that Dave had lived as long as he did. Then Finley shrunk in on himself. And it was because of his mistake tonight that Dave was dead.

  “But why couldn’t you have just informed us an assassination was being attempted?” Jack asked.

  “I don’t know,” Finley said, momentarily baffled by the question. That idea hadn’t occurred to him. Becoming a part of the circus and protecting Dave had always been the plan. “I knew I could protect Dave and when I could get close enough to Sebastian I’d take him out, but I had to be careful.”

  “You were going to kill a boy?” Jack asked, his voice dripping with revulsion.

  Finley shot him a frustrated look. “He’s not as young as you think. He looks young for his age. Sebastian is fifteen.”

  “What? Does he have his gift?” Titus asked.

  “Oh, yeah. He was faking not having it,” Finley said. “And he’s not an innocent little boy, he’s a murderer who does all Knight’s dirty work.”

  “Well, why didn’t you just take him out?” Jack said, his eyes narrowed at Finley. “You’ve been here for months.”

  “It’s not as easy as you’d think,” Finley said, a frustrated edge in his voice. He’d exhausted himself trying to trap Sebastian, but the boy was smart and knew how to avoid Finley. “Sebastian is dangerous and also Fanny keeps her kids guarded. I couldn’t just stroll into the trailer and take him out, not without creating a lot more problems.”

  “Is that why you kept going to see Fanny?” Zuma asked, her voice sounding strange to her.

  “It was one of the reasons,” Finley said, knowing lies wouldn’t help him. “I was trying to earn her trust, hoping she’d grant me alone time with Sebastian. I knew if I tried to go after him with the other kids around he’d use them as a hostage or shield.”

  “What was the other reason?” Zuma said, studying Finley, watching him for any hint of a lie. “You said that was only one of the reasons you visited Fanny.”

  “It doesn’t really matter,” Finley said, not looking at her. “It had nothing to do with this at all.”

  “Dave’s dead,” Titus said. “You’re the only one who supposedly has information about his murder. I think at this point, if you don’t want the blame on you then you’re obligated to fill us in on everything. We will need to decide what’s pertinent or not.”

  A growl ripped out of Finley’s mouth. I should just run, he thought. Instead he said, “I told you all that Knight keeps his kids weak. He breaks us down and doesn’t give us any way to empower ourselves. Fanny was helping me.”

  “Helping you how?” Zuma asked, all her emotions centered on these words.

  Finley grunted with frustration. He couldn’t lie or run or make this go away so he sucked in a breath and looked Zuma straight in the eyes. “I can’t read.”

  And her heart sank suddenly. It was one of the cruelest punishments she could imagine. How alienated this man made his slaves. And suddenly her eidetic memory pieced it all together. The multiple times Finley avoided reading, faked it when around her. And although she wanted to feel sorry for Finley, the weight of Dave’s murder deadened her to any sympathies.

  “How do we know what you say is true?” Jack asked.

  “It’s true,” Finley said adamantly. “Everyt
hing I’ve told you is true and Zuma knows it.” He locked her in his gaze, as only he could do. But too clearly she remembered his hands on her, his whispered words of devotion. And the memory made her feel foolish.

  “But everything about you has been an act, hasn’t it?” Zuma said, looking at him with contempt. “You acted to get your position and to keep it.” Anger flared so sharp and hot in her head she thought she’d charge Finley, knock him to the ground and assault him until he begged for mercy. If anyone could take him down, it would be Zuma. She knew how to fight him.

  “No, Zuma, no,” Finley said, his hands up in front of him, shielding him from her penetrating stare. “What I told you tonight is true. I was not acting in any way tonight. When I told—”

  “Shut up,” she said, backing away from him. “If you would have told us any of this, then Dave wouldn’t be in there dead.” Zuma pointed a shaking hand at the dark trailer, which already felt like it possessed a ghost. “You came here, made Dave think you were homeless, and never told him a boy in his circus was trying to kill him! How can you live with yourself? You allowed this to happen,” she said.

  “Zuma, I didn’t think—”

  “Don’t you say my name.” She said like it created an intimacy between them she couldn’t bear.

  “This isn’t my fault,” Finley said.

  Titus held up a hand to stop Finley, who looked more flustered than the three had ever seen him. “I’m sorry, son, but you are absolutely responsible for this. Dave took you in and gave you a job, and you owed him this information.” He shook his head in disapproval. “And now we have to figure out what to do,” he said, turning for the trailer, a new weight on his shoulders. Then he took a few steps in the direction of the RV.

  “Wait!” Finley said. “If you go in there then you can’t touch anything. Especially don’t touch Dave.”

  “Why?” Titus said, almost sounding offended.

  “Because he was poisoned but it could be anywhere. He probably didn’t ingest it, but it’s most likely on a surface that he touched.”

  “Wait. What?” Jack said.