Show Stealer

by Hayley Barker

  Ezekiel’s intake of breath, a gasp of wonder, makes me open my eyes.

  There she is. My Hoshi. Not in my imagination any more, not in my memory, but there, right in front of me, the same images as before. Across the city, a hundred other Hoshis mirror her: free and fluid and fantastic.

  It’s beautiful. It’s like a poem. It’s like a miracle.

  And then, above me, to the left of me, behind me, everywhere: her voice.

  We are all flesh and blood. We all feel. We are all human.

  My eyes don’t move from her. They drink her in as she jumps, tumbles and tumbles and tumbles through the sky and lands, perfectly, right in front of Silvio and my mother, whose mouths both hang open in shock at this lovely, lovely vision; braver, better, brighter than they could ever hope to be.

  I don’t know who did this, and I don’t know how, but, my God, it’s phenomenal.

  Ezekiel reaches out an incredulous hand towards her, pulling it back when it grasps at nothing. I know how he feels.

  I wish she was real. I wish I could touch her.

  Her words ring out like bells pealing across London, loud, proud and true.

  There is another truth. Vote for what is right. Vote for change.

  HOSHIKO

  The car drops me at the edge of the slums and I push my way through the fence. Sprinting as fast as I can, I head down the labyrinth of winding paths.

  Coming towards me, out of nowhere, is Greta.

  She sees me at the same time and we run towards each other while poor Bojo scrambles out of the way with an indignant chatter.

  I pull back, crouching down low so that we’re level, and scan her for any signs of injury.

  “What did they do to you?”

  “I’m OK,” she says. “They were nice to me. Well, they just ignored me most of the time, but they did let me have some of my cake.”

  “You sure? You sure no one touched you?”

  “No, honestly. They were really busy.” She looks at me with a strange excitement in her eyes. “They locked me in a room, but I listened at the door. There was a keyhole, and when I looked through it, I could see them. Felix was there for a while, with a load of other guys. I heard them talking.”

  She glances over her shoulder, cups her hand to my ear and whispers into it. “It was the Brotherhood, Hoshi, Felix has already joined them. They’re storming the Cirque. Tonight! Kadir knows about it! He was giving them guns, loads of them!”

  My heart freezes. “They’re going into the Cirque tonight? Oh my God. Greta, this is bad. This is really bad.”

  She looks puzzled. “Why? I thought you’d be pleased. You can’t want it to open!”

  “Because the Brotherhood are ruthless!” I say. “If they raid the circus, Ben’s going to be in even more danger than he is already!”

  “Why? They’re going to free the performers! They’re going to get everyone out. That’s all they kept saying – that they were going to turn the tables, show the Pures what it was really like to be in there. They don’t want to hurt any Dregs.”

  “Ben isn’t a Dreg though, is he? He’s a Pure. The Brotherhood hate all Pures. He’s Vivian Baines’s son! He’s leverage!”

  “But Ben’s one of us now.”

  “Not to them. They’ll just look at him and see his mother. If they get their hands on him, they’ll hurt him just to spite her.” I shiver. “He’ll be a prime target!”

  She gasps. “What shall we do?”

  “I don’t know. We have to get him out.” I pause for a second. “Surely, they’ll fail; I don’t even understand how they think it’s possible to storm a place like that. There’s so much security. How the hell do they think they’re going to get in there?”

  “They’ve got a government van and security passes,” she says. “Laura Minton has given them to them. They’re all official.”

  “Laura Minton knows about this?”

  “They’ve promised to keep her name out of it, but she’s in on the whole thing.”

  I feel so shocked. Laura Minton is the face of respectability. And yet … she’s allied with a slumlord. She’s facilitating terrorism. She’s playing a dangerous game.

  Laura. Kadir. The Brotherhood. Are they really that different from each other? They’re all prepared to use subterfuge and violence to get what they want. They all think the end justifies the means.

  Are they right?

  Maybe they are. Maybe what Felix said is true: how is it different from what we did when we escaped? I’d have used that gun if I’d had to, I know I would. If I hadn’t blown up the arena I’d have been captured. Greta and I would be dead.

  I take Greta’s hand and we walk to the little stretch of patchy wasteland right on the edges of the slums. I look around. It’s quieter here; I don’t think anyone can hear us.

  “Right,” I say to Greta. “Tell me exactly what you heard them say, every last detail.”

  “They’ve got passes and a van … they’ve got weapons … and they’re storming some building called Arcadia. They know the timings: they said that all the Dregs and all the Pures are going to be in there at the same time for the opening ceremony. Felix has been doing undercover work for them – it’s how he’s earned his place in the group. He’s been going in with a work permit, meeting his brother and reporting back to the Brotherhood.”

  Poor Rosie. Felix has spoken to his brother and he didn’t even tell her. And now he’s a fully-fledged member of the Brotherhood. He’s going to break the law, commit violent crimes maybe. If he gets caught, they’ll hang him. Why would he risk everything like that?

  Because he wants to save his brother. Because his life isn’t worth living anyway.

  Suddenly, the sky ahead fills with tiny black dots, way up high. Out of each one, a beam of light, and then an image.

  Greta’s jaw drops open.

  “Hoshi! It’s you!”

  She’s right. It is me. I’m everywhere.

  The biggest drone of all is hovering directly over the PowerHouse. There, for all to see, the country’s most wanted criminal is somersaulting on the head of the gold statue of the government headquarters, calling out for change.

  On the other side of London, I’m there too, dancing in the circus.

  I wonder if Ben can see me. I wonder what he thinks.

  Greta gazes up with a huge grin of amazement on her face.

  “Isn’t it brilliant!”

  People are already coming out on to the streets. Crowds gathering here and all over the city, pointing up at the sky.

  I look at the images again and my heart plummets like a stone. Vivian Baines will see them. If they do what they’re intended to – if they steal her thunder and weaken her campaign – she’ll be really angry. She’ll be desperate to get her revenge.

  What if her hatred for me is bigger than her love for Ben? No, love’s the wrong word. Someone like her, someone with stone for a heart, isn’t capable of loving anyone. How does she feel by now, about her wayward son? She gave up her chance of catching me to make sure he didn’t kill himself. Why? What for, if it wasn’t love? She’ll be after an apology from him, I guess. She’ll be after remorse. What if he’s already made it clear to her that he won’t change?

  I know Ben. Not the Ben she thinks she knows; not the confused and uncertain boy who struggled for a while to work out right from wrong. I know the real Ben. Ben as he is now. Brave, strong, loyal. If she’s spoken to him he’ll have told her exactly where to go.

  Silvio killed Amina to get at me. Kadir kidnapped Greta so I’d do what he wanted.

  Vivian Baines can’t hurt me while I’m on the run.

  She can hurt him though. What if she decides the best way to punish me is to finish him off once and for all?

  “Greta, is there anything else you can remember? Anything at all.” I’m gripping her arm too tightly, but I can’t help it.

  Greta’s brow furrows. “That’s it, I think. Oh yeah, pickup time’s at dusk. Meet at the agreed rendezvous, w
hatever that means.”

  I look to the west. The sun is already low in the sky.

  I start running.

  “Where are you going?” asks Greta, dashing along next to me.

  “I’m going to find Felix. I’m going to follow him.” I look down at her. “I’m going with them. I’m going into the Cirque.”

  BEN

  Once Hoshi finally vanishes, everyone stays still for a moment. Fixed in position. Numbed. Awestruck.

  Eventually, I feel Ezekiel squeeze my hand and he grins up at me.

  “That was like real magic wasn’t it?”

  I nod.

  “It was real magic. Only Hoshi can make magic like that.”

  I walk towards my mother and Silvio, my smile wide, my heart swelling.

  “What do you reckon? Amazing, wasn’t it?”

  My mother’s face is so pale it’s nearly as white as Silvio’s.

  “I should have told them to shoot you all when I had the chance!” she spits at me. “The biggest mistake I ever made was allowing you to survive and letting her run off again! Correction, second biggest mistake. The first was giving birth to you in the first place!”

  I keep on smiling. “I can see why you’re angry. Talk about stealing the show! You may as well give up now; you’ll never compete with that!”

  For just a second, I have the upper hand. For just a second, she’s panicking, but then a new expression settles on her face. Her eyes meet mine and she’s victorious again: self-assured, smug, in control.

  “Ah, Benedict. You never did know when to keep your mouth shut. You’re right, in a way. She’s upped the ante, your girlfriend – only something truly dramatic can compete with that. Fortunately, this evening’s performance provides the very opportunity.”

  She turns from me to Silvio.

  “I’ve changed my mind. What you suggested before, we’ll do it. I was wrong to listen to my husband; wrong to hold on to maternal feelings which should have long been dead and buried.”

  She turns back to me, musingly. “I don’t know why I resisted: the advantages are threefold. Firstly, any limelight surrounding your girlfriend’s little acrobatic display will be mercifully short-lived. Secondly, it will finally end your Bonnie and Clyde scenario once and for all. Thirdly, I get to dispose of an embarrassing problem.”

  She reaches out a hand and pats me on the head.

  “Sometimes the apple really does fall far from the tree. Ringmaster, you may go ahead with your plans. Goodbye, Benedict, goodnight and God bless.”

  As she walks away, Silvio claps his hands with delight.

  “Oh my! I never even really dared hope that your mother would say yes to my little request! You know, Baines, tonight was always going to be fantastic, but with you in the starring role it’s going to be just spellbinding!”

  HOSHIKO

  I wait round the corner from Rosie and Felix’s while Greta creeps up to peek inside; she’s smaller than I am and less likely to be seen.

  “He’s in there,” she says when she comes back. “As soon as he comes out, we can follow him.”

  She thinks I’m taking her with me. “Greta,” I say, softly. “You have to stay here.”

  “No!” she cries. “No way! I’m not letting you go without me! We work as a team, we always have!”

  I look at her, my beautiful Greta. Last time she was held captive, she stole a gun and came and rescued me; this time she’s managed to uncover top secret plans to raid the Cirque.

  Silvio, Kadir, the Brotherhood, they’re all the same. They all underestimate her because she’s tiny and because she’s a girl. What fools they are!

  I tilt her chin up and look into her eyes.

  “Greta, I need you out here. I need someone who knows what’s going on, to tell Jack and Rosie if things don’t go to plan.”

  “We should tell Jack now! He could come with us!”

  “He’ll try and stop us. He’s been absolutely worried sick about you; I’ve never seen him so upset. He won’t let us do it.”

  “That’s because it’s a stupid idea! It’s dangerous, Hoshi, and it won’t work! How can we take on the Brotherhood? Take on the circus? It’s silly to think we could!” She crumples into me and starts to cry. “I don’t want you to leave me again!”

  I hold her tight.

  “I know,” I whisper into her hair. “And I don’t want to go, but I’ve got to do it, Greta. I’ve got to try and get Ben out of there. I need you to be strong. I need you to cover for me with Jack and Rosie. Tell them I’m with Nila and Nihal.”

  “What if you don’t come back?” She gulps the words out through convulsive sobs.

  “If you haven’t heard from me by tomorrow, you can tell Jack the truth,” I say. “But you will. I’ll come back, I promise and this time, I’ll have Ben with me.”

  There’s a movement from outside the shack. It’s Felix, hood pulled over his head, slinking off down the road.

  “I’ve got to go.” I hug her one more time.

  “I love you, Hoshi.”

  “I love you too,” I whisper back, and then I follow after Felix, leaving her there, crying in the shadows.

  BEN

  Once my mother has gone, Silvio looks me up and down, like he’s assessing my worth.

  “Hmm. We should be OK; you’re about the same size as the boy the wolves finished off last night. There might need to be some minor adjustments though – I want everything tonight to be absolutely perfect! Come with me!”

  He ushers me away from Ezekiel, right through the courtyard and into Arcadia. I keep my eyes focused ahead of me. I will not be impressed with anything this place has to offer.

  He takes me backstage, opening a door to reveal a giant wardrobe, crammed full of costumes hanging up on racks. Rifling through, he pulls one from the back of the rail.

  “Now, this was originally intended for wolf boy, but you’re far more suited to the role. I think the outfit will fit, and the life you used to lead, the life you turned your back on, should have prepared you perfectly!”

  He holds the costume up in front of me.

  I look at it. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this. I start laughing and, once I start, I can’t stop.

  “You want me to dress in that?”

  “Benedict!” He looks really offended. “This is the costume of a god! Tonight, you will become Pan, ruler of all Arcadia! Things could not have worked out better!”

  I don’t believe it: he’s being serious.

  “Well,” he barks. “Put it on!”

  “Now?”

  “Yes! I need to check it fits.” He lifts his cane up and waves it in my face. “And do it quickly!”

  I take the costume off the rack, pull my rags over my head and wriggle my way into it. All the while he’s watching me with that creepy grin on his face.

  The costume is incredibly uncomfortable. The trousers are tight and itchy and it’s hard to stand up properly in the hooved shoes, but Silvio seems more than satisfied.

  “Oh my!” he gushes. “Your Pure blood shines through no matter how much you seek to deny it, Benedict! You look far more handsome and godly in it than the Dreg boy would have done! Far more regal! Oh, that reminds me.” He goes to a big plastic box at the side of the room and rifles around inside. “How could I forget?” he cries, and places a crown on my head.

  “And there we have it,” he beams. “The illusion is complete!” He wheels over a full-length mirror and then twirls his hands forward and bends low in an extravagant bow. “Welcome to Arcadia, your Greatness!”

  I look into the mirror. Just when I thought nothing about this place could surprise me any more, he’s turned me into this. I’m dressed as a goat. A goat wearing a golden, jewel-encrusted crown.

  HOSHIKO

  Felix heads quickly away down the winding alleys of the slums. I follow close behind, always ready to duck back if he looks around, but he never does. When he reaches the fences, he slips through a gap and out into No Man�
�s Land.

  I creep softly after him. He walks for another minute or two before turning off into a big car park.

  It’s empty, except for a van, right in the far corner. Even from this distance, I can see the government crest on it. I shiver; it reminds me of Ben’s mother.

  Felix crosses the car park and heads over to it.

  I stay on the outskirts. If I step out into the open, they’ll see me straight away.

  I hear voices and spring back into a doorway. Two more men walk past, both dressed in dark clothes, both with shifty looks on their faces, both carrying large bags. Brotherhood: you can spot a mile off that they’re up to no good. They cross the road and head towards the van.

  I run as quickly as I can around the perimeter of the car park, skirting around it, so that I end up coming in from the opposite side and duck down behind the straggly, ugly bushes separating the car park from the street. I can hear the low murmur of voices and see the back doors of the van, tantalizingly close.

  After a few minutes, a man comes round and opens up the door. He lifts up the bags, looking around quickly before loading stuff from them into the back of the van. Guns, just like Greta said.

  My heart beats faster.

  “Carlos,” someone says. “Get round here a minute.” He chucks the last bag in and disappears to the front, leaving the back doors of the van open.

  This is my only chance.

  I creep out from the bushes and jump into the van, crouching down at the back as low as I can.

  I can hear voices clearly now.

  “OK. We’ve got all the paperwork, we just need to stay calm and confident and we should get in no problem. Everyone set for this? Felix? We don’t want any first-time nerves giving the game away.”

  “I’m ready,” Felix’s voice answers.

  “You sure you’re committed?”

  “One hundred per cent. I’ve been waiting years for this.”

  “Good. When we get there, I’m in charge. You wait for my command. Right?”