Big Top Treachery

by CeeCee James

  “Interesting.” He did the same thing as I had and tossed it in the air. A low whistle emitted from his lips as he caught it. He smiled at me, a smile I didn’t like. It made me feel like I was five years old.

  “Well, now. You be more careful.” And then he strode away, taking my jewel with him.

  Shock filled me, followed by a hot wave of indignation. I couldn’t believe he just did that! Took my jewel.

  I stood there, clenching my fists, watching as he strode away. What do I do now?

  Be careful! He might yell at you. He might hurt you. Memories of stinging pain and flashing hands stopped me cold. I couldn’t get fear out of my head and helplessly watched him leave.

  Hot tears of disappointment in myself burned my eyes. I turned, head hanging, and stumbled for my cabin. There’s no way I wanted to see Jerry now, not even to tell him what happened. I was too embarrassed.

  Chapter 8

  Sally was sitting on her bunk changing her shoes when I got there. I really didn’t want to talk to anyone, and hung my head.

  “Hi, ya, toots. I didn’t see you for breakfast. How are you?” she asked.

  “Fine. Tired,” I murmured and climbed up on my bunk. I rolled over and stared at the wall.

  “Fine, huh?” I heard the bed rustle as she stood up. “I’ve had those kinds of ‘fine’ days. You want to talk about it?”

  I shook my head. “No.” A lump grew in my throat. Sometimes I wished I was different. Bolder. Less sensitive.

  Less afraid.

  “You sure about that?” she pressed.

  I rolled over. My hair fell around me like a fresh bed sheet, and I peeked through the tresses.

  “Come on. You can trust me.” She smiled up at me.

  I brushed my hair from my face and took a deep breath. “Okay. Here it goes. I found something really cool, and then someone took it from me. And I was too chicken to get it back,” I blurted.

  Surprisingly, saying that made me feel better. I sat up.

  “Really?” She crossed her arms and continued to listen while I filled her in on the rest of the story.

  When I was finished, she reached into a small ice chest under her desk and brought out a soda. She handed it up to me and then took one for herself.

  I popped the can and took a quick sip before the fizz could spill over.

  Her face was sympathetic as she opened hers. “You can’t blame yourself for that. Mark’s a jerk. Everyone knows that about him. Heck, he’s even tried to intimidate me before.” She took a swig from her can. “Not that I’d let him. But I have more experience than you.”

  “I wished I’d kicked him in the lamb chop,” I said. Being validated allowed my anger to fire up.

  She snorted and her eyes brightened at the thought. Then her forehead creased into a thoughtful expression. She spun the can in a circle on the desk, making a ringing sound. “Now, can you go back to the beginning of the story? What did you say this jewel looked like again?”

  I described it to her. I could almost still feel the weight in my hand. Her eyebrows lowered in a grimace, and she slumped back in the chair.

  “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” I said. “What’s wrong?”

  She rubbed her temples. “This is crazy, but it sounds like Holly’s. I don’t see how that’s possible. She’s dead.”

  Well, that was unexpected. “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “Holly. She used to be a part of the Concello family. She and Bernie were an item years ago. Like back when they were in their twenties. They sure were hot. Like two volcanoes.”

  “They were madly in love, huh?” I asked.

  “In love?” Her lips lifted into a wry smile. “I suppose they thought so, at least for a while. No, what I mean by hot is that they argued all the time. Fought really, like lava erupts. It wasn’t fun, and you didn’t want to be anywhere near them when they were bickering.”

  “So why did the red jewel remind you of Holly?”

  Sally bit her thumbnail and stared into the corner as if trapped on memory lane.

  I waited a minute to see if she’d answer. When she didn’t snap out of it, I nudged her shoulder. “Hey, earth to Sally.”

  She glanced at me, and I was surprised to see her eyes were damp.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, concern flooding through me.

  “Oh, it just was such a different time. That’s back when my son, Kenny, was little and lived here with me. Right before his dad took him away from me. We were all a big happy family.” She laughed and added, “A dysfunctional family, but we were happy.”

  “I didn’t know that. What happened?”

  “My ex got custody of Kenny. Courts said the circus wasn’t a fit place to raise a boy.” She shrugged. “Maybe they were right.”

  “It doesn’t sound like your ex did any better with him, from all the trouble Kenny’s been in.”

  She nodded and sucked in a deep breath. I could see she was rallying. “Yeah, you’re right. And not everyone’s childhood is a bed of roses. We all have to make our own choice in life. I mean, look at you. You made it.”

  I blushed, not at all sure how well I was making it yet.

  “Anyway, right around that time, Holly got into a car accident. Despite their fighting, Bernie never got over it.”

  “Was that the reason why he was always so grumpy?”

  She laughed. “Well, he was grumpy by nature, I think. But the light was gone from his eyes, if you know what I mean.”

  “So how does this ruby stone correlate with her?”

  Sally’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “I thought I told you? She was a sword swallower, as well. She had a giant red stone on the pommel for her name. Holly Berries. You described the stone perfectly.”

  “Are you serious? What happened to her sword after she died?”

  She shrugged and rubbed her neck. “It was pawned in a store in this very town. The circus hired Vincent, and we carried on. Limped on is more like it, but we all survived.”

  “This is really strange that a sword killed Bernie. And now a red stone is found.”

  “Strange? More like creepy, if you ask me.”

  “Creepy?”

  “What’s the one thing you see at Christmas time?” She answered her own question. “Holly.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying, Holly may have come back to get her revenge.”

  “Why on earth would she want revenge?” I asked, feeling a little spooked. I had been the one who’d picked up the stone, after all.

  “Because Bernie had a huge gambling problem. He’d pawned her sword to pay his debt. Of course, when she found out, they got into a terrible fight. It was horrible. He was screaming that she was cheating on him. In fact, I always believed he pawned that sword just to get back at her. Anyway, long story short, Holly was on her way to the pawn shop get it back when she got into the accident.”

  “Wow. So was she cheating?”

  Sally raised her shoulder. “That was the rumor.”

  “Who was she cheating with?”

  “No one knows,” she said. “Even worse, Bernie blamed Bullseye Pawn because they wouldn’t give her sword back.”

  “What do you mean, because she didn’t have a pawn ticket to get it back?”

  “No. I mean they wouldn’t let her pay to get it out of pawn. She ended up in a screaming match with the manager and then jumped in the car in the heat of rage. Two minutes later, she hit the light pole. After her death, Bernie buttoned up tight. We never heard about it again.”

  “And the sword?”

  “As far as I know, it stayed with the pawn shop.”

  “Bernie never went to get it back?”

  She shook her head and took another swig of the soda. “We never saw it again. He always said it was cursed. I’m certain he never went back for it.” She raised an eyebrow. “Now you know why it’s creepy. It’s almost like the sword came back for him itself.”

  Chapter 9


  Sally’s conversation left me a little shaken. I knew there was something about what she said that bothered me, but it wasn’t until I was halfway to the costume tent that I remembered the conversation I’d overheard between the chef and his staff. They’d said the sword looked familiar. And then one said it was that cursed Christmas sword.

  I got it now. They were saying it was Holly’s. I wondered how many other people were spreading that gossip.

  Thinking about the cook made me wonder how the dog was doing. I made a detour to peek into the alley where I’d seen the dog that morning. I was sort of disappointed not to see him, and a little relieved. At the same time, I couldn’t imagine where the animal had gone off to. There were no houses around us. His disappearance was as mysterious as his arrival.

  Since I missed breakfast, I snagged an apple and headed for my quiet place. Every time the circus set up, I had to find a new one. This time, it was in the Christmas forest, which was made up of trees, fake snow, twinkling lights, and little wooden elves dancing about. The flocked trees with piles of cotton batting swirled underneath were an heroic attempt to set a scene of a recent snow flurry in the Florida sunshine.

  Among the mountains of fake snow were large boxes to mimic presents, all painted red with bows. I’d found one at the rear of the forest large enough that I could crawl into, and it was here that I brought my apple to eat and think.

  There was one thing that consumed my mind. I wanted my jewel back.

  Now I needed to come up with a plan because I would be forced to see Mark again soon. He was the choreographer for a new routine we had to learn with silver hula hoops and ribbons.

  I’m sure the graceful ribbons fluttering and the flash of the hoops would be a lovely sight. The only problem was that, outside of riding Prancer, I had two left feet. I just knew I was going be the dancing hippopotamus to the other dancers’ elegant, fluid twirls and I prayed to God I didn’t end up tripping anyone.

  I leaned against the back of the box and pictured how the conversation would go with Mark. I was stumped by an imagined scathing retort he made, when the cinnamon scent of elephant ears and popcorn caught my attention. That meant the snack stands were gearing up for the crowds, which also meant there was no more delaying it. I needed to get to practice.

  I climbed out and meandered onto the path that led through the trees. At the center was a red sled, nothing fancy—really just something the carpenters threw together. It was here I found Stanley shaking out a red moth-eaten velveteen blanket to spread over the seat. He was already dressed as Santa in a suit that had also seen better times. The white fluff at the edge of the jacket was matted and the pom-pom on his hat flat as though it had been sat on.

  When he caught sight of me, he winked an eye. “Well now, Miss Trixie. Have you been a good girl? Come sit on my lap.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’m late. I’ll talk with you later.”

  “Oh! Is that how it is. Coal for you, sister!” he yelled after me, laughing.

  Out on the main path, there were the usual noises of the circus crew bustling about to set up their games. I watched Snake Eyes unpack stuffed animals out of a box and shake them to fluff them up. Over there, Annie filled plastic bowls with water and arranged them in front of a trench of ping-pong balls.

  Quit delaying! My inner voice chided. I hurried into the rehearsal tent where Mark was already scolding one of the dancers. A frown marred his attractive face. “You have to be more confident. Leap like you mean it. Think of a gazelle.”

  She blushed and nodded.

  The dancer’s partner stuck up for the woman. “We’re all a little off since Bernie was killed.”

  Mark scowled. “It served him right.”

  I cleared my throat.

  “You’re late.” He stared at me like I had toilet paper trailing off my shoe.

  “You took something from me,” I said, and then winced at how bluntly I blurted it out. Finesse, Trixie. Finesse!

  “I took something from you?” he imitated with heavy sarcasm. The dancer next to him tittered like an annoying blue jay.

  I wasn’t backing down now. “My ruby jewel. You grabbed it from my hand to look at it and accidentally kept it,” I lamely added the last words to give him a way out.

  “You stole her ruby, Mark?” the dancer asked.

  The choreographer grinned wryly. “Like taking candy from a baby.” He emphasized my short stature with a lowered hand, like he was measuring me.

  I stood there, sweating, not knowing what to do next. How should I respond if he refused to give it back? I hadn’t thought this out real well, had I?

  “Well, lass. I don’t know what you’re talking about. But I do know that you’re supposed to be in your costume getting ready to learn a new dance. So scat.” He winked at me in a way that made me want to kick him in the shin. And to use the word scat! What was I? Some raccoon on his doorstep?

  Still, I turned around and stalked off, trying to hold my head high. Behind me, I could hear the dancers—all elegant with their lean limbs and thin necks—laughing not so quietly.

  Back outside, I decided I would scat, all right. I’d scat right over to his cabin and get the jewel back myself.

  I strode through the cabins, feeling ten feet tall. It’s incredible the feeling of power that anger can give you. And boy, was I angry.

  Mark’s cabin was at the end of a long row. He liked it that way, preferring to be without a side neighbor for privacy. I could see why he favored it. It was quieter back here.

  A quiet I didn’t like. I glanced behind me, but no one was around. When his cabin was a few steps away, I started to second guess myself. What exactly was I planning here? Just to go break and enter his home?

  Well, he did steal my jewel. I’d asked for it back, and he denied taking it. I’d say I’d given him a chance. This might be my only safe opportunity to do it since he was busy at the rehearsal tent. I’d just go inside and take a quick peek. What could it hurt? And if I got caught, well I’d defend myself.

  My pulse thundered in my ears as the anger began to drain away, leaving me feeling about as tough as a plucked flower. Susannah! If you don’t stand up for yourself, who will do it?

  With my inner voice admonishing me, I marched up his cabin stairs and reached for the doorknob. After another quick look to be sure no one was around, I wrenched the door open.

  I don’t know what I expected to see inside, but the complete darkness surprised me. All the curtains were drawn tightly across the windows. I blinked to adjust my eyes and gave it a quick look around. His house appeared clean and tidy. In and out, I reminded myself. Leaving the door cracked, I walked inside.

  Chapter 10

  It was dark and gloomy in the cabin and smelled like stale aftershave lotion. In fact, a sneeze was building in my sinuses. How much of that stuff did he use anyway?

  I squinted, trying to make out the layout of the cabin. It was very similar to my own. Folded laundry covered his top bunk while the bottom was partially made by yanking up the covers.

  The light from the cracked open door was just enough to see a red glow on his table. My ruby. I snatched it up with a huge smile.

  Yes! Now it’s time to get out of here.

  I turned to go, but I couldn’t help one more curious glance around. My attention was caught by a stack of books by his bed. I held my breath to listen and then tiptoed over to read the titles.

  Murder on the Orient Express

  Tempting Taste of Danger

  Next to them was a picture frame. The frame had gold roses on the corner. Using one finger, I gently nudged it in my direction.

  It was a picture of a couple. It looked to be Mark at a younger age. He smiled in the camera, while the woman covered her mouth. I could tell by her eyes that she was smiling too, shyly. Her dark curls flipped over her shoulders, and she wore a bedazzled costume.

  I sucked in my breath. There, hanging off her belt, was a sword with a red stone. I hefted the one in my han
d. Was this Holly?

  I carried the picture over to the light and studied it. She was beautiful. Behind them was a backdrop of red. Realization struck me as I recognized exactly where they were. It was the exit from the costume tent.

  Was it just two friends posing? Or was there something more?

  I wanted desperately to take the photo to show Sally. It was apparent the picture meant something to Mark. He must look at it every night.

  I bit my lip, imagining that. What kind of emotions did this picture evoke for him?

  Whistling from outside broke me from my thoughts. What was I doing, lolly-gagging here? I had to leave immediately! Heart thumping, I set down the picture and then peeked out the door.

  Randall, one of the clowns, was walking through the cabins toward the costume tent. He whistled as he walked.

  As soon as he was out of sight, I slipped out and shut the door quietly behind me. Half-jogging, half trying to be nonchalant, I hurried down the path. It wasn’t until I was a few cabins away that I finally took a breath. My hand throbbed from clutching the ruby so tightly. I loosened my grip and wiggled my fingers as I walked to the costume tent.

  Once inside, I hid the ruby at the bottom of my wardrobe and then grabbed out my dance dress. I was giddy. No one had seen me. Smiling furiously at my success, I got dressed.

  The elf costume was cute and airy. Honestly, it was a nice change to be another character besides the World’s Smallest Lady Godiva.

  After a minute, I noticed the lace along the neckline itched my skin. I dug at it and then went to the back of the tent for some band-aids. I was covering up the seams when a voice boomed in my ear.

  “Trixie! Where’ve you been?”

  I spun around to see HopJack dramatically leaning down to get in my face. He grinned in obvious satisfaction that he’d scared me.

  “Around,” I answered, trying to sound nonchalant. I pressed the band-aid in place and started past him.

  He blocked my escape. “I hear we’re dancing together.”

  Well, that did catch me by surprise. HopJack was at least two feet taller than me. How in the world was this going to work?