by Kailin Gow
Around us, the excitement is building. People are murmuring. What will the circus be like? What will the acts involve? What will happen?
We get an answer when clowns make their way into the ring. I say clowns, because they have the red noses, and they’re dressed in those bright harlequin costumes pieced together from other things so that they look like shining Christmas tree baubles as they move. Yet they’re more like acrobats, really. They flip and they spin as they move into the ring, each one of them as graceful and muscular as a highly trained athlete. One of the women among them runs at the toughened plastic around the tent, leaps up onto it, and then springs for a rope suspended above the crowd. She runs along it as though it is a wide road and then starts scaling one of the supports holding the tent up. She climbs and she climbs, clinging on as it arcs out over the ring.
Meanwhile the other “clowns” have started to build a kind of human pyramid, laughing and joking as they do it, stretching up towards the highest point of the roof. A point that the woman has reached by now, climbing quicker than I could have believed so that she hangs by her hands from the very center of the tent’s roof.
She drops, and everyone gasps at once. She turns a perfect somersault in the air, then lands precisely on top of the human pyramid. We all cheer and clap, because it seems so impossible that someone could do something like that.
After the clowns, there are fire eaters. They’re as acrobatic as the clowns were, jumping and rolling, all the time whirling flaming sticks. Every so often, one puts the stick to their mouth, blowing out a gout of flame into the air. Often it’s into the spot that one of the other fire eaters has just left with a spin and a jump. It’s almost like they’re dancing with the flames, and when they’re done, they swallow the fire, literally putting the flaming torches in their mouths to douse them.
A dark haired young woman comes out next. She can’t be more than a year or two older than me, and she moves lithely, wearing all black and carrying a long whip, which she cracks above her head. Something shuffles out into the circus tent after her.
It’s one of the creatures that has mutated out in the wilds. My teachers say that there are things out there that have never lived before, twisted and changed by the fallout from the coming of the Invaders and the ongoing war. I’ve always known it in theory, but this is the first changed creature I’ve seen. It’s grey and slow moving, the size of a small elephant but more like a sloth in appearance, with dull fur and long limbs ending in wicked looking claws. It looks like it could rip the young woman to pieces if it wanted.
Yet it doesn’t. She cracks the whip again, and it starts to dance, rearing up on its hind legs and shuffling as music plays through the tent. She has it balance on balls and turn in graceful circles, keeping control of it the whole time. When they’re done, she even has the creature take a kind of bow, before making it shuffle back out of the ring.
A familiar voice booms out then, as the man from beside the truck steps into the ring, walking like he owns it. He has a top hat in one hand and a cane in the other, both of which seem strange against his patchwork clothing. I can’t take my eyes off him.
“Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! I am Dr. Dex. I hope you have enjoyed my Circus of Curiosities so far!”
That gets a roar of approval from everyone around me. I join in. It has been spectacular so far.
“Well,” Dr. Dex says with a wide smile, “I’m glad you liked it, but it will get better still. Because some of you have agreed to join us.”
I feel Thomas’ hand fold over mine in that moment. Firmly. Protectively. In what seems like the same instant, Dr. Dex’s eyes seem to lock onto me for a moment. Even from where I am, I can feel the intensity of them.
“Not everyone is meant to be a performer,” he continues. “That is why we will test you and train the young men and women who have signed up. Those who find that they are cut out for the ways of the performer will have the chance to show what they have learned in a series of live performances in front of you, their friends and families. The ones who do best might just make it through to join our troupe for the performances we have planned back in the Center!”
Just the mention of the Center is enough to get a round of applause.
“Now, where’s that list?”
Even that is done with style. The young woman who dropped from the roof comes cartwheeling out to put it in Dr. Dex’s hand without stopping. He stares at the list for a second, then looks around the crowd again.
“When I call your name, please stand up. I want to get a look at you.”
He starts to call names, and each time he calls one, a boy or girl around my age stands up to applause from the crowd. Dr. Dex does what he said he would and looks each one over from where he stands, like he’s judging them. If he’s working through the list from top to bottom, then I’ll be the last person called.
“Zachary Niles,” Dr. Dex calls out. I see Zachary stand on the other side of the ring, looking confident and handsome. I can see several of the girls in the tent looking at him in obvious admiration.
“Leela Sinclair.”
Thomas’ hand is tight on mine, and for a moment I think he might hold me in place, but I manage to stand up. Dr. Dex looks at me like all the others.
“Please stay standing, all of you,” he says, and he slips past the plastic screening to walk into the audience. He stops beside the first person whose name he called out, a young man with dark hair who looks strong and heavy, talking to him for a minute or so. After he’s done talking, Dr. Dex shakes his head, and the young man sits back down, looking disappointed.
I hadn’t thought about that. What if he rejects me too? No, I can’t think like that. I’m going to get through, and I’m going to make it all the way to the Center. I keep watching as Dr. Dex makes his way around the tent, sitting some of the people he talks to back down and sending others to the center of the ring.
He makes it to Zachary and it seems like something in Dr. Dex’s expression changes for a moment. He looks… confused. They talk, but not for long, before he sends Zachary to stand in the ring with the others. I’m the only one left standing in the audience.
Dr. Dex makes his way around to me and smiles. “So you want something more exciting than the Cliff View Restaurant?”
I’m surprised he remembers me. “I’m here to make it to your national performances.”
“Why? Why give up your life here to enter our circus and the tournament, as we call it?”
“You go to the Center. I need to get to the Center.”
Dr. Dex raises an eyebrow. “Why? What’s at the Center you need, Leela Sinclair?”
I don’t know why it matters to him, but I answer anyway. “Physicians to help my mother.”
He stops, looking surprised. “What’s wrong with Kinley? You are her daughter, right?”
He knows my mother? I nod.
“She’s my mother,” I say, “and no one knows what’s wrong with her. Maybe they’ll know in the Center. I have to try.”
“You should go home, Leela,” he says. “This isn’t a place for you.”
“My mom needs me to do this. My whole family needs me to do this,” I say. “Please, don’t make me beg.”
He hesitates for a second, maybe two. Then he nods. “All right. Go to the center of the ring and wait for instructions.”
He moves off. Beside me, Thomas grabs my hand again.
“You could still back out,” he says.
Doesn’t he understand? I lean down to kiss the top of his head. “I could, but I won’t. You’re a good friend, Thomas. Mason, you need to take care of Mom while I do this. I know it won’t be easy, but I’ll try to get back when I can, and Thomas will be there to help, right Thomas?”
Thomas stands, brushing back my hair. For a moment, he’s so close to me. “I’d do anything you needed, Leela. Even taking your place here, if you ask. Let me do this, and you can stay with your family.”
It’s hard not to be shocked by
that offer. Thomas would really do that for me? But no, I can’t accept. This is for me too. I want to be part of this. Something bigger than just life in Sea Cliff. I lean forward and kiss Thomas on the lips, quickly, impulsively. At least, that’s what I intend it to be, but when Thomas’ lips meet mine, it feels like more than that. His hands spring up to cup my face while he kisses me back. It’s sudden and unexpected, but he pulls back while I try to catch my breath.
Dr. Dex is announcing the names of the people he’s selected now, calling them out from the center of the circus ring. I run down to join him, and find myself standing next to Zachary Niles, so close that we’re almost touching. Dr. Dex calls his name, and people applaud.
“And our final performer, who has joined us because only the Center can provide the medical help her mother needs. I think you’ll all agree that’s a touching story, and she’s that pretty girl you’ve all seen at school, around town. Now she’s in the greatest show on Earth. I give you… Leela Sinclair!”
There’s more applause. Zachary leans over to me during it, whispering. “You’re here because your mother’s ill? I was wondering why you’d do it. I’m sorry to hear that.”
I nod. It’s still hard to talk to him, because I can feel the familiar blush starting around him. “Thank you.”
I try to figure out why he’s here. It can’t be for the money. Yes, the daily rate is enough to feed a family for a week, but his parents run the biggest store in town. They have money. It must be something else. Whatever it is, I guess it doesn’t matter right now though. What matters is that I’m in. I’m a part of the Circus of Curiosities.
Chapter 6
Zachary
I stand in the center of the Circus of Curiosities’ ring, staring up at the people in the crowd. There are so many of them there. People I know and people I don’t, so that it seems like almost everyone from Sea Cliff is here, looking at the few of us who have been chosen. They stare down and they clap, like we’re already heroes just for having signed up. Or maybe it’s for getting sent down into the ring when almost half of the people on the list don’t make it even that far. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t been one of them.
It’s hard to believe just how mesmerized everyone is by the circus. I guess it’s because there isn’t much entertainment around Sea Cliff. Circuses, fun fairs and things like that pass through occasionally, but most of the time, we have to come up with our own entertainment. That means things like watching the school sports teams, or the town fairs that run every couple of months. Simple things like that. I’ve heard that in other places, there are more complex entertainments. TVs and radios, words half remembered from the past. My parents are some of the wealthiest in Sea Cliff thanks to their store, but even they don’t have anything like that.
We have stories instead. We’ve always told each other stories. My grandfather used to tell stories about the Circus of Curiosities, and the time it came through the town years ago. He didn’t describe everything he saw there, but he described plenty. Maybe it’s because of Grandpa’s old stories that caused me to see this place in my dreams, and my nightmares. I see the ring. I see the performances…
I see Dr. Dex. I recognized him the moment I first saw him. I’ve seen that figure in the top hat and long coat so many times. I’ve seen that face so many times. This is where I’m meant to be. Right here, in this ring. I knew it the moment I set foot in the place. I think Dr. Dex knew it too, because he barely asked me anything before sending me down to stand here.
I’m not alone. All the others are here. I know some of them. Banford and Ellis are two hefty guys from the football team. Banford plays defense, while Ellis is on the offensive line. At practice, that means they spend a lot of their time crashing into one another. On Banford, it shows. He’s maybe six two, massively built, but his face already has that kind of squashed look that comes from getting hit too many times. Ellis is still baby faced and handsome, with features that seem almost too young for him, on a body that’s even taller and broader than Banford’s.
There’s a thin guy I don’t recognize. He’s as tall as Ellis, but he’s stick thin, without much real muscle. He’s dressed in what look like old clothes, or maybe they’re just the best he can afford. I’d write him off as just a wannabe who isn’t going to get very far, except that I can see his expression. There’s a kind of determination and intelligence there that says he isn’t going to give up or stop, no matter what he has to do in the circus.
There’s a girl who’s easily the same size as any of the guys. I recognize her from my class. I don’t really know her. She sits at the back of the class like she’s trying to make sure that nobody notices her. She isn’t fat, she’s just muscular, though she also looks as feminine as any of the other girls there. She wears her red hair long, spilling in a ponytail over one shoulder, and she’s wearing casual jeans and a t-shirt.
There’s another girl, whose name I don’t know again. She looks younger than the rest of us. In fact, I think I recognize her as a girl from a couple of grades below me in school. She’s kind of sweet and pretty looking, with pixie cut blonde hair and blue eyes. She doesn’t look old enough or strong enough to be here. Except that she looks every bit as determined as everyone else. I guess I’m not going to be the one to try to tell her that she shouldn’t be here.
There are two more guys, who look kind of ordinary. One has short brown hair, the other blond hair, and they joke with one another like they know each other. I don’t know them. I don’t even think I’ve seen them before. Maybe they live outside the town, on one of the farms there, or maybe they’ve come over from the next town to take part. The same goes for the athletic looking girl standing near them. She has short dark hair and a very serious expression, but otherwise she looks as ordinary as the other two. Maybe that’s why she’s here. Maybe she wants the chance to be extraordinary.
Maybe that’s why they’re all here. They must have reasons. For some of them it will be the money. For some it will be the kind of local fame that comes from getting a place in the circus, and maybe the chance at more than that if we get through to the next stages. Or maybe it’s just that this is somewhere they can fit in. I guess a lot of the kids here are ones who don’t really fit in at school, and the circus… well, it’s a chance for people to finally see them as something more.
Does that include Leela Sinclair? She’s standing right next to me, and she looks amazing in the delicate yellow dress she’s wearing, with those dainty sandals on her feet. Everything about her is beautiful. Her name. Her face. Her hair. Her body. Even her scent, which carries to me this close, smelling of jasmine and gardenias.
I’ve seen her around. Of course I have. It’s impossible not to notice a girl that beautiful, even if she doesn’t seem to realize just how beautiful she is. I’ve seen her at school, at my parents’ store, walking around town, at that restaurant she works at…
And I’ve seen her by the beach. I’ve seen her stand at the top of the cliffs in just a bathing suit, and not been able to stop myself from staring. With a body like that, I had to stare. And when she dove off… I thought she was mad, until I rushed over to the cliff and saw her swimming happily below. That was an incredible dive. I’ve seen her swimming out over the beds where there are oysters and clams too, diving for them as easily as if she were just swimming lengths.
I’m surprised to see her here, but I think I can understand her reasons. She needs what the Center has. Her mother needs it. To her, this probably looks like the only way to get there and get what she needs to help her family. And I have to admit, knowing that actually makes me think even more of her. There aren’t many people who are prepared to do so much for the people they love.
Plus there’s something else about her…a determination in her large green eyes, the color of sea form. I’ve dated plenty of girls. Ashley Wheaton, who has decided that we’re dating at the moment, is up in the stands. She’s sitting with her parents, wearing a baby blue dress that suits her
a lot, but I don’t look at her for long. She’s most of the things Leela is. She’s good looking, she’s smart, she’s athletic and most of the time she’s kind to the people around her. She’s been willing to do a lot with me too. She’s a lot of fun like that. Yet I can’t imagine her down here, ready to take part in the circus, whatever it takes. She doesn’t have that fire to her. That intense, burning desire to get what she needs.
Some days, I think she’s only dating me because her parents have told her that it would be a good idea to end up with the boy who’ll own the local store one day. Although now, she probably likes the idea of dating someone who has been picked to take part in the Circus of Curiosities. I guess her friends are going to be pretty impressed by that one.
If it weren’t for Ashley, I think I would have asked Leela out on a date yesterday, when I saw her checking out the notice board. I would have asked her, and the best part is that I don’t even know for sure whether she would have said yes. I mean, she has a boyfriend already. At least, I assume he’s her boyfriend. Thomas Tattenbaum certainly acts like he is whenever he’s around her. And he always seems to be around her. Somehow, that idea makes my stomach clinch.
I look up into the stands, spotting him. He doesn’t look happy about Leela being here. He’s probably the only one who isn’t, but I can’t blame him. If I were going out with Leela, I wouldn’t want her caught up in the circus either. It’s a dangerous place. In fact, just standing here next to her, picking up the scent of her and seeing the way she looks, a possessiveness comes over me. I want to tell her to go back to the stands. To get away. I want to try to keep her safe. I don’t know why. It isn’t like I’m anything to her, or she’s anything to me, but I feel it anyway.
Dr. Dex comes around, shaking the hand of each kid accepted into the circus. When he gets to me, I feel that intense sense of familiarity again, and I feel something pressing into my palm. I take it, glancing down to see a folded piece of paper in the center of my palm. The ringmaster of the Circus of Curiosities has passed me a note? Why? I won’t know until I look at it, and I know that if he has to slip it to me secretly like this, I can’t look at it while I’m here.