by Sarah Noffke
The question hung mysteriously in the air, but Oliver didn’t have to wonder long. Ian would have sensed that Oliver wanted to have his future read. And if Ian was reluctant to share it then it meant his future included tragedy. “I think so,” Oliver said, suddenly feeling small looking up at the overburdened eyes of the man in front of him.
“You need to be certain, because you can’t unknow your future. And if you think you can do something to avoid it, then that will surely be the act that causes it.” With a humorless laugh Ian then said, “The universe plays games, but not by the rules.”
Oliver wanted to shiver from the look in Ian’s eyes. The man had always been strange to him. He was burly in his features, but had the demeanor of a koala bear. However, now he seemed brimming with a craziness, like it was scratching to escape him.
“How about you not tell me my future. Really what I need to know…the thing is… I need to make a decision…” Oliver ran his hand over his Mohawk, making it go flatter.
“And you want me to tell you what decision to make?” Ian said, that hint of sensitivity always in his voice, just partnered with madness now. “To stay or leave? Is that right? The answer to that is easy, Oliver. You must stay. Everyone must. But let’s talk about what sparked the idea in the first place. You want to leave because you don’t know how to exist at the circus with her.”
The her was obviously Padmal. Oliver had tried to break up with her, but she’d sensed it. Made threats about how she’d make his life hell if he abandoned her after everything she’d been through. He wasn’t sure if he could believe the threats but something told him that Padmal was crazy enough to do a lot of unthinkable things. And now she had someone like Knight to encourage her bad behavior. There would be no repercussions. So Oliver had played with the idea of leaving Vagabond Circus to rid himself of her. But this had been the only place he’d ever called home. He consoled himself by thinking he could find a job as a magician at another circus. Not as successful as Vagabond Circus, but still he’d be free.
“My advice to you is to break things off with her, but not quite yet,” Ian said. “You’ll have to endure her a little longer. And when you do break things off, you have to break her spirits in order to stay safe.”
“And then she won’t retaliate?” Oliver said.
“Oh, she will, but it will backfire on her,” Ian said, and his eyes lost focus, like he was studying something in his mind. It was almost the look of a blind person.
“And I’ll be safe? Her brothers will be? She won’t do anything to punish us?”
“She won’t be able to,” Ian said.
Oliver considered this strange bit of information. It was always like this with Ian, but he was never wrong. “Okay, so when do I do it?”
“When you absolutely can’t put up with her anymore, because you need to be properly motivated to deliver the final blow.”
“How will I know when that is?” Oliver said, realizing there would be a riddle of sorts to Ian’s instructions.
“You know how right now you can grit and bear it when she says disrespectful things?”
Oliver nodded.
“Well, you won’t have that restraint. It will rocket out of you.”
“What will?”
“The secret I’m about to tell you.” And Ian leaned down and whispered three sentences in Oliver’s ear.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Hey, fortune teller!” It was Sunshine calling to Ian from her table. She waved him and Oliver over to their area. The girl sensed now that Ian knew about the cause of the ringmaster’s death. She could feel it in him and so much more. However, Sunshine was going to figure out exactly what was going on at Vagabond Circus before she made any plans, which would involve bringing down the people responsible for Dave’s death.
Ian strode over to the table, Oliver behind him.
“Hello, Sunshine,” Ian said, not quite meeting the girl’s eyes. They’d been at Vagabond Circus the same number of years, ten. They’d politely avoided each other as their skills intimidated the other. Sunshine never wanted to know the future and Ian didn’t like that Sunshine could feel the burden and pain he harbored.
“You notice that your crew is in a rare, despicable state?” Sunshine said, pointing at the people behind him.
Ian turned and studied the crew members, who were all looking to still be drunk. One grabbed for Zuma as she strode through the crowd. Ian flinched but soon his fears were relieved when Jasmine stepped in. In a quick movement the tall girl had the guy pinned to the wall of the food truck with barely three fingers. Jasmine whispered something in the man’s ear and then turned and joined her friend, who didn’t look startled, only a little frustrated. Zuma stared around at the crew members all adorning large bags under their eyes and irritated expressions as though the normal sounds of Vagabond Circus were deafening to them.
Ian turned back to the table and caught the crazed look of worry on Finley’s face. The acrobat had raced forward at the first sign that Zuma was in trouble and he now stood on the other side of the table. Ian smiled at him. Nodded in approval. “I think she’s safe,” he said to Finley, just to him. “I don’t see any future where Zuma is endangered for a little while.”
“A little while?” Finley said, irritation in his voice.
Ian tilted his head to the side with an expression that said “what do you expect?”
“Thanks. I’ll sleep so much better now,” Finley said and took his seat again next to Sunshine. He was intent on forcing the breakfast down his throat one way or another.
Ian turned his attention back on Sunshine. “I have, in fact, noticed my crew isn’t acting up to the standards I’ve usually held them to.”
“Well, aren’t you going to do something about it? Punish them for getting drunk? Tell Knight not to get them intoxicated?” Sunshine asked incredulously.
Ian swung his gaze over his shoulder at his crew. Twenty men and women who he respected and had worked alongside for years sat in various states of disarray. He blinked back to the present, letting the flashes of their futures fade away. Then he turned back to Sunshine. “You know, I’m not going to do a damn thing about it.”
“But why? If you don’t then things aren’t going to get done. Things are going to go to hell,” Sunshine said, her face suddenly flaming red.
“You know as well as I do that only those who have been through hell know how to withstand fire, Sunshine,” he said and then winked at her. “No pun intended.”
“Ian, you’ve obviously seen a future connected to the crew,” Haady said in his pleasant peace-making voice. “Can you shine a light on this situation for us?”
“He’s just going to give us some dumb puzzle that hardly helps and only confuses us,” Sunshine said, tying her arms across her chest, all emotions suddenly rising to the surface as she realized how complex this was going to be.
Ian didn’t look at her with offense, but rather a sensitive thoughtfulness. “I can guarantee what I tell you all will help, even if it’s also confusing.”
“Ian, don’t you get there’s no guarantees,” Sunshine said, suddenly standing and pressing both hands into the table top. She leaned forward in Ian’s direction, menace in her stance. No one attempted to calm her, especially not Finley, who had his eyes locked on Zuma, a quiet wanting radiating in the gaze.
Zuma looked just then and caught Finley’s stare, his undeniable expression. She threw him a look of contempt before stabbing a potato with vengeance. Then she turned to pretend to give all her attention to Jasmine.
“You’re right, Sunshine,” Ian said. “No guarantees, but there’s certain things I can rely on. Unfortunately, I see the complex arrangements that create futures. In most cases, I know exactly what will produce a future, but I also know that giving you all the information is more detrimental than helpful. However, I know three things that I can share with you all.”
Everyone, including Padmal, who had been looking bored, perked up and gave their full
attention to the fortune teller.
“The first is that things aren’t getting better. Not before they get a whole lot worse,” Ian said.
“What? Well, tell us how to change that,” Sunshine said, still standing and looking like she was about to hurl fire across the table at Ian.
“There are no options to create that future,” Ian said with a defeated shrug. His shoulders were the size of a linebacker’s and therefore the gesture carried much movement with it. “I’ve tried. It appears that tragedy is necessary to bring the Vagabond Circus back to a place of peace. Not even peace, but to a higher place than it’s ever been. I’ve seen it for a while now.”
“That’s why you allowed Dave to die,” Sunshine said, her tone on fire with anger.
“Yes,” Ian said matter-of-factly.
“And that’s why you’re standing idly by while your crew sabotages the circus?” And it was Finley who said this. But there was no anger in his voice; rather a calculated tone, like he was piecing this all together in his strategic mind.
“Yes, avoiding chaos usually only puts us on a quicker train to that destination,” Ian said.
“Again with the damn riddles,” Sunshine said, slamming her palm onto the table top.
“Remember when you asked me why I hadn’t confronted my crew about their behavior?” Ian said.
“Yes,” she said with a growl.
“Well, the second thing I know is why be the bad guy when I can let that man be it,” Ian said and angled his head over his shoulder at the crowd behind them. It was parting like oil being poured into water. High above other people’s heads a tall bald figure could be seen moving forward. Everyone at the table turned and watched as Knight stalked until he was standing right in front of the crew, all hunched over at several tables. He stood appraising the crew members, some aware of his presence and others too absorbed in their headaches or quenching their thirsts.
“What in the hell is going on here?” Knight said in a voice so quiet the table by Ian could hardly hear him. “The big top is still UP!” he said, screaming out the last word, startling people all around.
Zuma remained cool, Finley noticed. And she spied the change coming in Knight’s vocal cords.
“I do something nice to celebrate the first show and what do you all do?” Knight said. “You get wasted and take us off schedule. This is unacceptable.”
What everyone knew and no one was saying was Knight kept betting crew members that they couldn’t down another drink. And when they did, he flicked them a devilish smile and commented on how impressed he was. Now all the people who he said impressed him the most had eyes more bloodshot than all the rest.
“You will all have the big top down by noon,” Knight said. “I don’t care if you have to kill yourself to do it. Every crew member’s pay has been docked for one week, and if you don’t have the big top loaded and on the road by noon then it’s another week. If you want to increase your wages tenfold then you will be a part of this circus, but as long as you derail our schedule then you will get nothing. Is that clear?”
No one answered. They were all too stunned by the punishment which seemed strange and fitting, and also so different from the kind of treatment they were used to. However, in Dave’s day there was no drinking. Things always ran smoothly.
“I’ll repeat that one more time since you all appear to be deaf,” Knight said in a quiet voice. “Is that CLEAR?”
The crew all nodded their heads. Some answered with a short “Yes sir.”
Knight did not greet anyone else or offer compliments on the performance the night before to the acrobats. He just turned and strode off, Gwendolyn and Sebastian at his back.
Ian faced the freaks again, his face neutral. “It’s a shame, but these things must happen.”
“Why? Why do we have to go through hell to get to some other fate?” Sunshine said.
“Because the alternative is that we all stay imprisoned in hell,” Ian said, and those words were like cold beats being played down everyone’s spines.
“So you said you knew three things,” Nabhi said to Ian. “Bad things have to happen,” he said, holding up a finger and thinking before holding up another one. “And that we should allow Knight to be the bad guy, not us. And then what else?”
Ian nodded, giving Nabhi a look of pride. “Yes, the third is the most important and the one I know with absolute certainty. No matter how bad things get you all can’t leave Vagabond Circus. No one can. If any of you leave then things will grow exponentially worse for everyone Vagabond Circus touches. You all are keeping the balance, but leave and the evil he promotes will reign.”
“But how are we supposed to stay, knowing that things will get worse?” It was Oliver’s raspy voice asking the question this time.
“If you stay, if you weather the storm, then I can guarantee Knight will leave,” Ian said.
They all stared at Ian in awe, hope surfacing in their faces for the first time all morning. However, it was only Zuma, who had been listening from her table, who knew Ian was lying. She’d spied it even from that sideways angle in his micro-expressions. But now she’d have to wait to find out why.
Chapter Thirty
The crew worked faster than ever, some putting their fatigued and dehydrated bodies under incredible stress. There were multiple crew members with strained muscles, two with fractured bones and several who sustained injuries in the process of taking down the big top at record speed. Fanny would have a long line of patients once the caravan stopped to set up camp in the new location. And still the crew wouldn’t have long to break since they were expected to work through the night to have the big top up by morning. That wouldn’t normally be too big a problem since they could dream travel to put up the big top, but these tired and drained bodies needed good old-fashioned sleep and that wasn’t in the cards for the crew.
The newspapers hit the press just as the Vagabond Circus trailers pulled on to the I-5, heading out of town. The circus would be set up and ready for three shows a day by the time the Mail Tribune was dispersed in Medford, Oregon.
Lots of Changes for Vagabond Circus
For at least a decade I’ve been sitting front row at Vagabond Circus when it comes to town. I was a little disappointed when almost all the shows were canceled in Medford except for one. Apparently the circus had an accident involving one of my favorite performers. I was worried that losing Jack Fuller from the cast would change the show I’ve grown to look forward to all year. Still I did everything I could to ensure I saw the circus. And the show has changed. However, I cannot confirm the change is due to the loss of this beloved trapeze artist. For one, the infamous Dave Raydon, the ringmaster for Vagabond Circus, has been replaced. I suspect this is only temporary, since no press release has crossed my desk about it. However, because of casting changes or other changes it appears the entire tone of the circus has shifted from dreamy to more nightmarish. The Vagabond Circus shows in Seattle and Portland all sold out before coming to Southern Oregon and I wondered what the change had been. The critics stated there was a new acrobat, a Finley Anders, but again there’s more than a few role changes that have affected the feel of this show.
Now I love the fantastical dreamy tone of the old show. However, as a young girl I was banned from watching scary movies, and now I feel like I’ve been given the opportunity to sit front row on the set of a horror film. Was this the same show I used to watch on my father’s knee and dream about? No. But it’s just as good and has stayed with me in different ways. I left that show feeling something creepy lurking behind me, like I was being watched. And days later I still find myself waking up in the middle of the night, worried that there’s something hiding under my bed. However, the few times I’ve made myself peer under my bed, I just see vivid flashes of the scenes from that show. It takes something incredible to linger in the backs of our minds after the circus has long rolled out of town. I will definitely be in the crowd again the next time Vagabond Circus comes through Medford,
but this time I won’t be in the front row, for fear of being eaten or burned alive.
Chapter Thirty-One
Once Zuma had her trailer parked in the new Vagabond Circus grounds in Redding, California, she hesitated at the door. Usually she’d spring out after arriving in a new place to check that everyone else at Vagabond Circus had made the journey safely. The trip had carried less exhilaration in comparison to most of the journeys between locations. Two of Knight’s black semis led the long caravan and two brought up the end. It didn’t feel like they were accompanying the circus, as much as guarding it with their solid black exteriors and dark tinted cab windows. Zuma had only caught a glimpse of one of the drivers, an older man. She guessed this was one of the supervisors Finley had told her about. They were people with no power useful to Knight, but they followed his orders and kept the kids in line. Now Zuma was beginning to understand Knight’s power and how his influence worked. She’d watched as he managed the crew members at the after-party. She wanted to stop them from drinking, but before she could Jasmine had intervened. Her speech had been cut short by the same headache that hit Zuma when she first confronted Knight about murdering Dave.
How would the people of Vagabond Circus overthrow a man who could kill them with a headache for their incompliance? The key was in something Ian had said. He didn’t want the circus members to leave, but he lied about his guarantee. Zuma would have to confront the lead crew member, but not right then. He would have his workload full trying to get the big top up in time for tomorrow’s shows.
Zuma’s hand had been hovering above her door handle for over a minute. This fear was ridiculous. She was safe during the day, and it was midafternoon. She opened the door to find the sky gray and an autumn wind seeking to bury itself inside her chest. Zuma zipped up her jacket and pulled her sleeves over her hands as she shivered from the sudden cold.
“Congrats, girl,” Bill, the circus chef, called to Zuma as he passed carrying a crate of carrots.