“If we did, then it wouldn’t seem special anymore,” responded Billy. “Maybe once a month would be good.”
“No, I would love it every day…” Robin prattled on. Henri counted in his head as the fleas jumped into his cupped hand: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
“Ten. There are ten of you, including Sophia and Maria?’ Henri whispered into his hand.
“Right, ten of us,” Henri heard Maria say. Gently, he placed the fleas into the waiting matchbox, hoping that no one was watching him. Everyone’s eyes should be upon the sky. Henri closed the box and put it in his pocket. As he looked up to see a burst of red and blue stars, he gave Robin another nudge. She turned and beamed at him. Of course, Henri could not help but smile back.
After the fireworks display ended, the crowd on the hill lingered. Many of them were circus folk, chatting about the next day’s journey, which would take them much farther south.
Robin turned to Henri and Billy. “Look at Madame Noir,” she said. “What’s she doing?”
“Dunno,” said Billy.
Henri looked over to where Robin had pointed. Madame Noir was not chatting with anyone. Instead she was stealthily moving between trees and bushes. From time to time, her hand reached out with lightning speed and grabbed something. “Looks like she’s collecting something,” said Henri.
“Come on, let’s spy on her!” Robin jumped up, and before Henri or Billy had a chance to respond, she was moving across the grass in the direction of Madame Noir. Billy shrugged and then set off behind them while Henri reluctantly followed. They caught up to Robin, who was crouched behind a bush. They were perhaps thirty feet away from Madame Noir, who continued to glide about in search of something.
“What is it she’s picking?” asked Billy. “Maybe it’s leaves she’s going to brew into a tea for her tea leaf reading?”
“No, can’t be,” said Robin. “Why would her hand come out so fast? It’s not like a leaf is going to run away. She’s catching something—but what? I wish it weren’t so dark.”
Henri gazed at Madame Noir. Robin was right. She was catching something. And he knew what too. “She’s catching insects,” he said with shock in his voice, for Henri’s eyes were sharp and it no longer made any difference to him if it was night or day. He could see her clearly.
“Why would she catch insects?” asked Robin, but Henri didn’t answer for he had just seen something else. As Madame Noir caught the moths, crickets, and mosquitoes, she put some in the pocket of her dress, but others she popped directly into her mouth. No! That can’t be, thought Henri. At that moment, Madame Noir looked directly at the bush they were hiding behind.
In the dark, Robin and Billy could not see that Madame Noir was staring at them. Henri, though, was frozen to the spot. He stared back into the rigid, frowning face of the fortune-teller, and then he noticed her earrings. A wave of nausea hit Henri as he realized that her earrings were made of insects. Dead insects. He turned and retched. This startled both Billy and Robin.
“Henri, what’s wrong?” asked Robin in a concerned voice, completely forgetting to whisper.
“Henri, are you OK?” asked Billy.
He looked up, past their frightened faces, to where Madame Noir had stood moments ago. She was gone.
“I don’t know. I suddenly felt ill,” Henri mumbled.
“Let’s get you home,” Billy said kindly.
With Robin on one side and Billy on the other, Henri was escorted back to the flea-circus tent.
“Hope you feel better,” said Billy. “We’ve got a long journey tomorrow.”
“I’ll come and check on you in the morning,” said Robin, and then she whispered, “I know you saw something and you’re not telling.”
“Thanks. I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Henri said to them both.
The following day, Henri was packing up his bedroll when Robin burst into the tent. She was out of breath and she had tears in her eyes.
Startled, Henri said, “Robin, what’s wrong?”
“Come, come with me! You have to see!”
Together they raced across the field. No one noticed them in view of all the activity. The tents were coming down and being packed up for the long journey south. Robin led him to the wildflowers where the yellow butterflies had danced the day before. She pointed her finger toward the ground, and Henri saw the torn wings of hundreds of butterflies lying in the dirt. Robin burst into tears again.
“Who would do this, Henri? It’s so cruel and terrible.”
Henri did not answer. He called out to the field in insect language: “Who did this?” His call was met with silence. There was not a single chirp or a peep. Henri frowned.
“Madame Noir did this. I think it’s a warning.”
Plots and Plans
Once the circus locomotive started moving, Robin came back to the car where Henri sat with Maestro Antonio and Andre, the World’s Strongest Man. Henri sat, dully watching the two men play cribbage, lost in thoughts of his own. Robin signaled to him from the carriage door. He got up and went to her.
“We need to talk,” she whispered. There had been no chance to discuss the previous evening’s fireworks event or the butterfly massacre they had discovered that morning. Everyone had to pitch in when the circus moved.
“We can’t talk here,” said Henri.
“We can’t talk in my family’s carriage either. I know—let’s go to Billy and the lions.”
As the lion tamer’s assistant, Billy’s job was to travel with the lions and tigers. He had to sit by their cages and keep the big cats calm. They didn’t like train travel very much.
“I don’t know if I want to bring Billy into this,” Henri said hesitantly.
“What do you mean?” responded Robin.
“I mean, I don’t know if I want to let him know that I can speak to insects.”
“Nothing that happened last night or this morning has anything to do with that,” said Robin.
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”
They made their way through the train, past Gertrude the Fat Lady, who was gossiping with Hope and Charity, the conjoined twins; through the carriage of the elegant flying Peppiano family, the circus’s trapeze artists, until they reached Billy, all alone with the big cats. He was lying on a crate with a pillow and reading a comic book. As soon as Henri and Robin entered the car, one of the tigers let out a roar causing them to jump. Billy looked up from his reading.
“To what do I owe this honor?” he said. He looked pleased to have company.
The stink of the lions and tigers in the car was very strong. Billy carried a whiff of them wherever he went. Unlike Henri, he really was an orphan. His mother had died giving birth to him, and his father—the former lion tamer of the circus—had been killed by one of his own tigers. When Herbert Kramer joined the circus, he had agreed to raise Billy and train him to be a lion tamer. He had a lot of responsibility caring for the lions and tigers and was not as free to wander about as Henri and Robin.
Billy was a head taller than Henri. He had curly brown hair and was rather skinny. Henri couldn’t imagine one of the big, hungry cats taking a chomp out of him. He would be all bone and gristle.
“OK, Henri. Spit it out,” said Robin. “You said Madame Noir was collecting insects, but I don’t think that was all you saw. Come on, fess up.”
“Ah, well…she was catching moths, mosquitoes, some crickets. You know, the things that come out at night.”
“And…” cajoled Robin.
“Well, she was putting some in her pocket.”
“And…” Robin would not give up.
“And some she was putting in her mouth.”
“Eating them?” exclaimed Robin incredulously.
“Disgusting!” said Billy. “Are you sure, Henri? It was really dark.”
“I know what I saw.”
“Why wouldn’t she eat normal food like everyone else?” persisted Billy.
“Maybe she’s some
kind of witch,” suggested Robin.
“Or she’s the latest sideshow act! Ladies and gentlemen, I present Madame Noir, the Human Lizard Lady!” announced Henri.
“You know what?” said Robin. “I think we should start spying on her. See what the old hag is really up to. We didn’t tell you, Billy, but this morning Henri and I found hundreds of butterfly wings all torn and thrown to the ground. Henri thinks Madame
Noir did it!”
“Really?”
“I think the butterfly wings are a warning—a warning for us to stay away,” Henri replied. “Last night I’m pretty sure Madame Noir knew we were watching her. We seem to have caught her at something, although exactly what, I have no idea. If we start following her, there’ll be trouble…guaranteed.”
“Well, I’m not going to be put off so easily,” declared Robin. “I think we should start by seeing what’s in her tent.”
“What are you going to do? Go and have your tea leaves read?” said Billy with a laugh.
“No, I mean investigate when she’s not there.”
“That’ll be hard,” said Henri. “She always seems to be in her tent.”
“Well, we’ll just have to wait for our opportunity and be ready,” Robin declared.
They sat in silence, each considering what kind of opportunity was required and when that might possibly happen. At last Robin announced she should be getting back to her family. Billy looked disappointed. “Want to play some cards, Henri?” he asked.
“Sure. I’ll play a couple of hands, but then I’ll have to get back. I have a letter to write tonight.”
When Henri returned to his seat, the maestro and Andre were still playing cards. Henri took out a piece of paper and began to write.
Dear Professor Young,
Let me introduce myself. My name is Henri Bell. I recently came across your book Insect Communication, or My Life with Talking Beetles. I found it fascinating. I am an amateur entomologist with an interest in insect communication …
Henri had done his best to write the most formal letter he could in the hope that the professor would reply that he was willing to meet. He had decided not to mention outright that he could speak to insects. Nor had he told the professor that he was just ten years old.
Sometime in the middle of the night, the circus stopped at its destination. In the morning, Henri disembarked from the train and noted how warm and humid the air was. The roustabouts had been up for hours, and the tent city was already half up. Henri walked into the town and mailed his letter. The circus flyers had been posted all over town, but he noticed other posters advertising a completely different kind of show:
Henri ripped down one of these posters, folded it, and put it in his pocket. Robin had wished for another fireworks display. It wasn’t exactly the kind she had in mind, but it might work as a diversion to get Madame Noir away from her tent.
Back at the flea-circus tent, the fleas had been familiarizing the new recruits with the act and the equipment.
“All right. I’m back now,” Henri said as he walked over to the glass case. “Shall we start the audition?”
“Ready!” called Sophia. She had worked out a kind of obstacle course in which the fleas would demonstrate balance, strength, speed, jumping ability, and grace. Sophia, Maria, and Henri would be the judges evaluating each flea out of a possible ten points. As they came up one by one, Sophia announced their names.
“First up is Martha,” said Sophia. “Any time you’re ready, Martha, go ahead.”
Martha started the course and completed it in a mere ten seconds. Henri was impressed. She had balanced well and he liked her style. Henri awarded her a nine out of ten. Next up was Lucy. She was a great jumper, almost as good as Maria. Again Henri awarded her nine points. Lucy was followed by Elizabeth, Myrtle, Ethel, Louise, Susan, and Bertha, who was certainly the largest of all the fleas. As far as Henri was concerned, every one of them had been excellent. He put his hand down into the case, and Sophia and Maria jumped on. They had agreed to consult privately and pool their scores before announcing the results.
“Good job, girls!” Henri told Sophia and Maria. “You chose well. I thought everyone was fantastic! I’d like to keep them all.”
“Yes, they all did very well,” agreed Sophia.
“Did you notice something they all had in common, Henri?” asked Maria
“Hmm…What?”
“They’re all girls! I told you so. Girls are better performers.”
“Yes, you told me,” admitted Henri. “What about Bertha? She’s huge!”
The two fleas laughed. “Henri, she’s pregnant!” giggled Sophia. “When we spoke to her, she said she wanted to give her children a better life, more opportunities.”
“Well, I think that’s great. We’ll find something not too demanding for her in the beginning. We don’t want her to get hurt.” Henri rejoiced to himself. He would have no shortage of performers for quite some time.
Henri was happy that the circus had now traveled to a warmer place. He could hear the crickets singing in the field, and he was excited about the firefly show that night. It gave him another idea—maybe he could add sound and light to the show! He walked over to Robin’s tent to tell her about the fireflies. Since there was no circus performance that night, they would all be free to go and watch.
Perhaps Madame Noir would go too. This could be Henri’s opportunity to learn more about the mysterious fortune-teller.
Monstrous
Robin and her sisters had taken on the task of telling everyone about the firefly show that evening. “What are synchronous fireflies?” asked Olive, Robin’s youngest sister.
“I looked it up in a book I have,” responded Henri, “and it means the fireflies flash their lights in unison. You know, at the same time. Actually they aren’t even flies, they’re in the beetle family. Some people call them lightning bugs.” Ugh! I sound like a teacher, he thought.
“But why do they flash at the same time?” asked Olive.
“Scientists aren’t sure why, but they think that it might have to do with a mating ritual. Basically, the boys are trying to impress the girls and be the first to flash their lights. Regular fireflies just light up whenever they want. There are only two places in the whole world where these synchronous kinds are found, here and in British Malaya.”
Despite being in a tent surrounded by Robin’s family, he felt a sudden pang of loneliness. He wondered if his father or his mother had ever seen synchronous fireflies.
Word of the evening’s entertainment passed quickly among the circus folk. To make sure Madame Noir would be in attendance, Robin told her mother that she had noticed that the fortune-teller wasn’t looking well lately. Perhaps she needed a little cheering up. While not very fond of Madame Noir, Robin’s mother was a compassionate woman. She took it upon herself to personally invite her.
“Imagine if she sits with my family! Ugh! That would be terrible,” exclaimed Robin.
Billy chortled. “I don’t know why you went to the trouble, Robin. If she really is an insect eater, she’ll be there!”
He’s right, thought Henri, and he suddenly felt terrible. What if she gobbled up all the lightning bugs? It would be like stealing Christmas.
Dusk approached. Henri arrived at the reserve ahead of time with Robin and Billy. Twilight is a wonderful time when the daytime insects are heading for bed and the nocturnal ones are just beginning to rise. Henri thought he might be able to find some insects that would be willing to join the flea circus and ask them to come by the tent tomorrow if they were interested.
Luckily, the buzzing of locusts kept Billy from overhearing Henri’s conversations with passing butterflies and bounding crickets. Henri was thrilled when a passing luna moth said that he would be honored to work with the Henri Bell. In fact, every insect Henri greeted responded to him by name. He couldn’t help but marvel at how quickly he had become known in their world. By the time they reached the Green River Nature Reserve, Henri was a li
ttle worried that he might have invited too many to join the flea circus.
The plan was for Henri, Robin, and Billy to make sure that Madame Noir was there. When the fireflies began flashing and the crowd was caught up in the sparkling magic of the moment, the three of them would sneak away to investigate her tent. It was difficult to know how much time they would have. Someone would have to stand guard and be ready to warn the other two.
At about seven the first light flashed. The crowd suddenly became quiet. Slowly, more and more tiny lights appeared at each flash. The fireflies were in the air and in the trees. Sometimes they all flashed together, but on occasion the fireflies appeared as a wave of light, beginning at the top of the forest canopy and cascading to the earthen floor. When this happened, it was if they were one entity rather than millions of tiny shining beetles. Each wave of light brought sighs from the gathered spectators.
“Oh, it’s so beautiful. If I were a princess, I would ask the prince to have the fireflies perform for me every night,” gushed Robin.
“Sorry, you’d have to be a queen to make that happen,” said Billy. “Girls! Can’t you just enjoy it for what it is and not get all romantic about it?”
Henri laughed. Billy was right. Robin was mostly a tomboy, but every once in a while she got all dreamy and started talking about fairy princesses and enchanted lands.
Henri was just as entranced by the fireflies. He could have stood in the forest all night long watching them, but he felt a tug at his sleeve.
“Come on,” whispered Robin. “It’s time to go.”
Slowly, they edged away from the crowd. A handful of stray fireflies were just arriving at the scene, and impulsively, Henri invited them to join the circus. Billy heard his strange whispers and looked at him, but Henri just acted like he was clearing his throat. “Little nervous,” he said.
Once they were away from the reserve, they broke into a run until they had made some distance. As they slowed to a walk, Billy said, “You know, if Madame Noir is a fortune-teller, maybe she knows we’re about to break into her tent.”
In Search of Goliathus Hercules Page 9