by Kailin Gow
“Something happened before it,” I say. I know I have to tell her. I promised Thomas. “There’s a circus coming to town.”
Mom sits there, blinking up at me for a few seconds. When she speaks, her voice sounds worried. “What circus?”
I swallow. Here it comes. “The Circus of Curiosities. They say it’s the most famous circus in the whole United, but I guess that’s just the kind of thing circus people say.”
Mom lets go of her spoon so suddenly that I barely have the time to catch it. I manage it though. I guess I’m lucky I have good reflexes. I hand it back to her. She looks at me urgently, her body shaking.
“The Circus of Curiosities? Watch out for it, Leela. Watch out.” Her voice is weak as she says it, and she starts to shake even more. I put a hand to her forehead. Suddenly she’s burning up. I find a cloth and soak it in cold water. By the time I get back to her, she’s asleep. That can’t be good, can it? I put the cloth to her forehead anyway, trying to cool her down, and Mom moans in her sleep. I need to get help. I can’t just leave her like this. I can’t just leave her alone, either.
I head upstairs looking for my brother. I find Mason in his bedroom. He’s only seven, with dark hair that’s getting a little too long, so that I’ll have to cut it again soon, and big blue eyes. He’s small, even for his age, but he’s smart, too. Even now, he’s sitting at the small table he has by the bedroom’s window, working on math problems for school. His teachers say that he’s able to handle problems kids twice his age couldn’t do. I know because for the last couple of years, I’ve been the one who’s had to go talk to them when they want to speak about him. Mom can’t manage it.
“Mason,” I say.
He turns around, looking at me. He’s quiet like that.
“I need to go into town. Mom’s sicker than usual. I need to get help for her. Watch her until I get back, okay?”
“Okay,” he says, nodding and following me downstairs. I take the little money we have, hoping that I won’t need all of it for the doctor, and then head into town to find Doc Mitchell.
I have to go past Frank’s restaurant to get to his house. The sign is still up outside it. I think about the tiny amount of money in my pocket, and how sick Mom is. I think about the things they say still exist in the Center; advances in technology most people just don’t have, thanks to the Invaders. I stop next to the sign, reading the names. There are ten of them, and I know all of them. Kids I’m at school with, or I’ve seen around town. It’s the last one that really catches my eye though. Zachary Niles has signed up after all. I thought he wasn’t going to.
I thought I wasn’t going to.
I stand in front of the list for what feels like minutes, trying to think. I know Thomas thinks this is a bad idea. I know that Mom tried to warn me away from it. What else can I do though? If I get Doc Mitchell, he might help Mom for a little while. If I make it through the circus’ performances and get to the Center, I might actually be able to find a cure for her. And we need the money. We need the money a lot.
Who else is going to help our family? Mason? He’s too young. We haven’t seen Caleb since the drafters took him. Dad… they decided he was dead a couple of years back, because he’d been away so long. Maybe they thought it would let Mom find another man, someone else to help with the family. Instead she just got sick. No, I’m the only one who can do this. I write my name and sign where the form says. I’ve entered.
I’ve just done it when I feel someone standing close to me. I turn, and see the same steel grey eyes and deep black hair that I got to see up close in practically this spot yesterday. Zachary Niles is standing just a couple of feet away. He smiles, and it’s all I can do not to blush.
“You signed up too?”
“Yes,” I manage, and it’s all I can manage. It’s Zachary Niles. I can’t be cool this close to him. I can barely even think. All I can do is stare into those powerful grey eyes, with that direct stare that seems like a challenge to the whole world. He’s so unbelievably handsome that it’s hard to be this close to him, in a way. In other ways, of course, it’s a very good place to be indeed.
At least until I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around to see Thomas there. I think in that moment that if any of the girls from school were to pass by right then, they’d feel so jealous, with me standing right between two of the best looking guys in Sea Cliff. Though maybe they wouldn’t feel so lucky if they could see the expression on Thomas’ face.
“I should go,” Zachary says. “I guess I’ll see you around.”
I wave slightly in response, but Thomas is still glaring at me like I’ve done something wrong.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I ask.
“You have to ask?” Thomas demands. He sounds furious. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him angry like this before. For a moment, it’s actually frightening, but then I remember that it’s Thomas. If there’s one person who would never do anything to hurt me, it’s him.
“Thomas, I…”
“I thought you promised to talk to your mother? I thought I’d told you how dangerous the circus could be, but you’ve still signed up!”
“I had to,” I say.
Thomas shakes his head. “No, you didn’t have to. That’s the point. They can’t make people join in their sick games, so they have to have volunteers, and you’ve done it. Don’t you care what happens to you?”
“Why do you care?” I shoot back.
“Of course I care what happens to you,” Thomas replies. “I care a lot. I don’t want you to get hurt. And what if you do? Who’ll take care of your mom? Your brother? They’ll be heartbroken. Not to mention how I’ll feel.”
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I have to do this.”
I think about explaining about Mom, and about how much the circus could do for us, but Thomas knows that. We went through it on the beach. I wanted to say how I hunger for something more outside of Sea Cliff. Sick games or not, the Circus of Curiosities was a way for me out, a way for me to find a cure for my mother. Besides, I don’t get the chance, because he has other things on his mind.
“So,” he says, “Zachary Niles signed up too.”
“Yes,” I reply, and I can’t help smiling at the thought of Zachary. Thomas knows how much of a crush I have on Zachary. He knows I’ve felt that way since I was just a little girl.
“Is that what finally pushed you over the edge to sign up?” Thomas asks. “I know you like him.”
“Since I was six,” I say, and that gets a tender smile from him at the memory. I’ve known Thomas so long, he never seems to be able to stay angry at me for very long. “Are you really so angry at me for signing up? I talked to Mom like you wanted, and you said it yourself…you can’t stop me.”
“That doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Thomas says. “I think this is a lot to go through just to get Zachary Niles’ attention. You could be hurt doing this, Leela.”
I think about Mom, and about Mason. “I know, but this is what I have to do. It’s the only thing I can think of that might make things better for once. Promise you’ll cheer for me?”
The corners of his lips curl up into a smile, reluctantly. “You don’t have to ask.”
Chapter 4
The truck calling for performers is just the start. The next day, more trucks start to roll into town, heading through Sea Cliff so that people watch them out their windows as they go by. I’ve never seen so many motor vehicles in one place before, or such a variety of different vehicles. There are quiet ones that seem to be electrically powered, despite what the Invaders would do if they spotted them, and other ones with wind turbines on their roofs. There are horse drawn carts bringing up the rear, and others drawn by things that I’ve never seen before. There are people walking alongside the trucks, juggling or turning flips or simply waving as we all stare at them in their brightly colored, pieced together costumes.
When I see them, I’m on my way to school, and I follow them for a little way. They head out to
the edge of town, to an area not far from the beach where there’s open green space. It isn’t in the town, exactly, but it’s close. Everyone walks that way when they’re going down to the beach. I guess that the people who run the Circus of Curiosities want people to be able to visit. They’re already pitching tents as I watch, hammering home posts and scaffolding skeletons to wrap cloth around like the paper around a birthday present. I guess that’s an appropriate way to think of it. It certainly looks like there will be plenty of surprises within.
For now though, I have to go to school. Despite everything that has happened in the world, that’s one thing the United still insists on. We go to school until we’re eighteen, and then we either find jobs in our towns, or we have to go with the drafters when they come around. I’ve heard of a few people going off to college in the Center or other large towns, but there aren’t many people who can afford it these days.
After school, I go to work in the Cliff View as usual. Even though I’ve put my name down on the circus’ list, I can’t afford to annoy Frank by not showing up. When I get there, I tell him what I’ve done, and he smiles, pulling me into a big hug.
“One of my wait staff is going to be in the circus performing? That’s great!”
It seems like he’s the first person who’s actually excited about it, telling some of the other patrons as they come in. I just try to get on with my work. Even if it looks like it might be my last day for a while, I want to do a good job for Frank.
I’m about halfway through my shift at the restaurant when the people from the circus come in. There’s a large party of them, maybe a dozen, so that we have to push two tables together to seat them all. I can’t help staring at them as we do it. Like this, out for the evening, they look so… well, normal. Okay, so they’re all a little more muscular and athletic than the people we normally get in, and one or two have elaborate tattoos visible on their arms or necks, but for the most part they look ordinary.
Even their clothes are more normal than they were when they made their grand entrance. The bright colors and patchwork outfits are mostly gone, replaced by the simple, casual clothes of men and women who work hard in physical jobs. I look around the table, trying to guess what each of them does in the circus, what act they’re in, but it’s impossible to tell.
There’s one figure who stands out. He’s tall, with dark hair falling to his shoulders and deep green eyes that stare at me as I approach. He’s in his thirties, with strong, handsome features and broad shoulders. He isn’t wearing casual clothes. Instead, he’s dressed in a patchwork of denim, leather, plastic and other materials, covered by a long leather coat that falls almost to ankle length before he sits down. He sits at the head of the table, and the others seem to look to him every time they make a joke, or want an opinion. He’s obviously in charge, but it’s more than that. It’s like everyone there respects him, even loves him.
Yet he’s staring at me like he’s seen some kind of ghost. I don’t know why. I’m not sure I want to know. I just want to take their orders and make sure they have a good night in the restaurant. I head over to take their orders, starting with the man in the long coat.
“Hi,” I say, “I’m Leela. Are you ready to order?”
He smiles up at me from his seat, and it’s the kind of smile I can imagine in the middle of the Big Top all too easily. “I haven’t decided yet. Why don’t you go around the table, and I’ll make up my mind by the time you get back.”
I do as he suggests, but I can feel his eyes on me as I go from person to person. I’m not sure why he’s staring at me, but I try not to think about it too much, not even when the woman next to him glances at me too and whispers something that makes his smile widen. I don’t think that they’ll be trouble…it looks like they’re just here to enjoy their evening, and if they are… well, Frank will throw them out if it comes to that.
Actually, all the circus people are polite and straightforwardly friendly to me as I take their orders one by one. I guess they’re used to being visitors in other people’s towns. When they’re on the road, they probably have to be careful not to leave people with a bad impression of them.
I finally get back around to their leader, who smiles again. I don’t think he’s looked at the menu since I started going around the table, but he orders straight away.
“I’ll have the clam chowder in the bread bowl,” he says. “I hear it’s a local specialty.”
“It’s very good,” I say.
I go through to the kitchen to give Frank the orders, and he starts to put the food together. I help, partly because it’s such a large order, but mostly because there’s something about the way the guy in the coat stared at me…
“Frank, have you seen these circus people before?” I ask.
“Not that I remember. It’s been a long time since they were in Sea Cliff last, I think. Why? They aren’t giving you any trouble, are they? Trying to hit on you?”
Occasionally, a visitor to the town assumes that because I work in a place with a bar, I must be over eighteen. Even more occasionally, they assume it means that I’ll want to meet with them after work. I always put them straight. I can handle it.
“No,” I say. “It’s fine.”
To emphasize that, I start to take their meals out to them. I’ve just put their leader’s clam chowder down when he lightly touches my arm.
“Thank you,” he says. “I’m Dex Hightower, the ringmaster of our circus. You’re interested in the Circus of Curiosities, aren’t you, Leela?”
I look down, because suddenly all the eyes around the table are on me. “Yes,” I admit. “I’m interested in the circus.”
He passes me a card. It’s bare except for an image of a fluttering flag inside a circle, both picked out in gold, and a few letters underneath, spelling out the words Dr. Dex.
“Antonia tells me that you’re one of the people who signed up for our little show. Be sure to come by for the show tonight,” he says. “The card will get you in without charge. We will be announcing our new performers, and I imagine you’ll want to hear that.”
He flashes another of those megawatt smiles my way, before I leave them to get on with their meal. They eat quickly, and I guess that they have to finish in plenty of time for the performance. I have to think the same way, so an hour before the performance is due to start, I ask Frank if I can go.
“To hear if you’ve been picked? Of course you can! In fact, I might close the restaurant and come myself.”
I head home quickly, starting to get ready. Mom is still just as sick as she was, asleep in bed when I get there with Mason watching over her. He’s too young to have to do that. The sooner I can find a way to help her, the better. And for tonight, I can at least give Mason a treat he’ll enjoy.
“Come on, Mason,” I say. “Come and get ready. We’re going to the circus.”
I shower and then put on my best dress. It’s a pretty yellow chiffon sun dress that my mom bought for my last birthday and altered with delicate flower decoration, and which I love. I have sandals to go with it, which used to be plain, but I’ve decorated them with shells from the beach to make them into something unique. I come out of my bedroom and Mason is waiting for me. He pretends to wolf whistle.
“You’re far too young to do that,” I say.
“It’s what all the boys will be doing once you get there,” Mason points out.
Maybe. I have to admit it feels good to have the chance to dress up for once. There isn’t usually much of a reason to do it in Sea Cliff. I guess that’s part of the beauty of the circus coming to town. It shows up, and suddenly the whole town feels special, because there’s a reason to dress up and go out together.
I’m just getting ready to go out with Mason when there’s a knock at the door. I open it, trying to work out who it could be. It’s Thomas. He looks great tonight in a casual shirt that shows of the muscles of his upper body and dark pants.
“Thomas? What are you doing here?”
He
smiles, looking very good as he does it. He looks me up and down, his eyes lingering on me. “I figured that you wouldn’t be able to keep away from the circus.” He looks a little more serious now. “I don’t like that you signed up, but I’m not just going to abandon you. And honestly, I’d like to see what goes on there. I want to know what you’re getting yourself into.”
“Plus it should be fun,” Mason adds, coming into the hallway, ready to go out.
“That too,” Thomas admits. “You look amazing tonight, Leela. Really. That dress really suits you. Come on, we can walk over together.”
I nod. Thomas might have tried to stop me from signing up for the circus, and he might have threatened to tell my mother, but he’s still my closest friend in Sea Cliff. Plus, it will be fun, going to the circus not just with my brother, but also with a good looking guy who’ll be sure to attract attention. “I’d like that.”
Chapter 5
It doesn’t take long to walk over to the Circus of Curiosities. The main tent is huge, easily bigger than any house, and covered in bright red cloth. Around it, there are wagons and trucks of all descriptions, smaller tents that people obviously sleep in and caravans that don’t seem to have anyone in them at the moment.
Thomas leads the way into the tent. A large man on the door, dressed in clothes cut from glittering silver cloth and wearing a strange kind of half mask, takes money from us for Thomas and Mason. It isn’t much. Just a dollar each. It’s hard to see how the circus can make much money like that. Especially when I get in free for showing the card Dr. Dex gave me.
When I get inside, I understand. At the center of the tent, there is a large, open ring surrounded by clear plastic screens. Beyond those are rows of benches, and on those benches is practically everyone in town. Everyone, packed in close so that there’s barely any room for the three of us. We find a spot on one of the front benches together, with me sitting between Thomas and my brother. The benches are packed tight enough that I have to press close to Thomas, feeling the strength of him as he sits there.