Le Cirque Navire

by Chele Cooke

  For a moment she was still and unyielding but inch by inch she relaxed until she had cradled herself in against his side. He held her a little tighter against him, smiling as her hand slid across the small of his back. She settled the tips of her fingers against his tattoo and a shudder ran through him that felt both exhilarating, and like the drowning desperation of guilt.

  It wasn’t right. He was still reeling from Annalise’s death and Hadley had too much to worry about. Not to mention that, if everything went right, she would stay on Corapolvo without him. Yet, as she lifted her head to look at him, her cheek brushing against his shoulder, he wanted to lean down. He wanted to find his way around her as easily as she settled into him.

  The buzz of activity rose around them. Children weaved their way around people’s legs, bumping and shrieking. Parents moved through the crowd, trying to keep their children in sight and calling after them when they failed. Friends found each other and talked excitedly about their plans for the evening and the events of the day. Jack stayed with Hadley, keeping his head down and holding their silence.

  The chatter rippled and fell to a reverent hush. Jack looked up just long enough to see Hatliffe striding through the rising mist that spread over the cirque grounds. He was dressed as impeccably as ever, not a single ruffle that might have given away that things were not going according to his plan. It was the sight of him looking so perfect that boiled Jack’s blood. He was now certain that Cole Hatliffe had planned everything, that he had given his name and information to the coalition. Perhaps he’d even known that Annalise would not be leaving Corapolvo with them.

  “I’ve not seen it from this side of the gates for years,” he said quietly to Hadley who, despite everything, smiled up at him.

  “It’s exciting,” she whispered. Her smile faltered. “Or, at least, it was yesterday.”

  The Ringmaster walked forwards and stopped in front of the gates. He swept his top hat from his head and bowed low, a great beaming smile on his lips as he straightened.

  “Greetings ladies, gentleman, and wonderful children.”

  He replaced his hat and clasped his hands before him.

  “By now I am sure that you have heard the most enticing of tales as to the wonders you will find beyond these gates.”

  Another ripple of murmurs went through the crowd. Jack couldn’t take his gaze from the ringmaster and the effortless charm in which he carried himself. He gritted his teeth and held tighter to Hadley. She clung to him with equal fervour.

  “Tonight, our gates will close at the stroke of midnight. Should you still be within our grounds after that time, you may just find yourself whisked off to another planet with us.”

  Jack had seen the performance many times. Annalise liked to see the crowds before they entered, claiming that she liked to see the excitement on the children’s faces. Sometimes he came out with her and crouched behind tents where he could see the gathering crowd. Every time Cole Hatliffe spoke to the waiting crowd he gained the same reaction. Excited whispers and nervous giggles followed his every word.

  Tonight it was confusion that whispered through the crowd. Jack gritted his teeth and glanced around to see how the news that the cirque would close a good half-dozen hours early would be received. Some looked disappointed and a few even looked angry. Those who hadn’t been before were hastily whispering to their friends and loved ones about the performances they absolutely had to see.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Le Cirque Navire.”

  The ringmaster spread his arms and the gates swung open. Townsfolk rushed forward, desperate to see as much as possible. The midway was immediately flooded with performers, far more than usual. He knew the tricks, he knew they were hiding, ready to burst into life at the right moment. Tonight, however, there were easily twice as many performers as usual. They were everywhere. At the first intersection he saw the top arc of Yao’s German Wheel, already starting to spin.

  Once a large portion of the crowd had pushed their way through the gates, Jack glanced down at Hadley and nodded.

  “Are you ready?” he asked.

  She trembled against him but nodded just the same.

  “He said the cirque was closing early. What does that mean?”

  Jack held her against him as they walked. He could feel her fingers shaking against his back until she twisted them into the material of his shirt, clinging on. She gazed up at him, filled with concern and curiosity, and once again he longed to lie to her. He wanted to tell her that the second night always closed early, giving them time to pack up. He wanted to keep her feeling confident. She had enough to worry about.

  He ran his fingers through her hair, pushing it back from her face and gave her a small smile that barely covered the fear he felt. He looked away from her, focusing on a juggler they were passing.

  “It means they’re making a run for it no matter what happens,” he said. “It means the coalition are coming.”

  “You’re meant to look like you’re having fun,” Jack whispered in her ear as they weaved their way through the crowds of customers and performers.

  Jack had led them off the main track of the midway to another of the smaller paths. He had said he hoped that they’d be able to get through faster. With the number of people around them, getting anywhere quickly was impossible. Everywhere she looked there was a performer of some sort. He’d already pointed out Yao and his great hooped device at the intersection. They’d passed the fiery battle of the poi swingers. Jugglers, sword and fire eaters, acrobats, and every other type of entertainment she could imagine were everywhere she looked.

  “We need to get through,” she urged him.

  “I know,” he whispered. “And we will, just try to look like you’re enjoying yourself.”

  Hadley gave him a small nod, faked a smile, and forced him into a quicker step, slipping past a man spinning three plates on poles.

  She wanted to pay attention to the performances, to feign enjoyment, but everything looked grey. The cirque of the night before had been draped in heavy shadows.

  It was another few hundred yards before they’d reach the loading dock into the ship. From there, Jack had said, they would be able to slip into the back corridors where they could begin looking for Lachlan. He knew a few good places to start and it would be best if they went to those while Mr. Hatliffe, the ringmaster, was busy starting off the main show.

  Hadley’s heart thumped painfully in her chest each time a different scenario popped into her head. Lachlan in pain, Lachlan drugged and unconscious, Lachlan dead.

  Jack led her around the edge of the intersection and for the first time since stepping through the gates, she was able to forget for a moment. On a raised platform in the centre of the intersection, three women curved around each other, twisting their bodies further than Hadley would have thought possible. Each wore a flesh coloured leotard that covered them from neck to ankle, giving the illusion that they were completely naked. The three looked so similar that she assumed they had to be sisters. One was laid on her stomach, her legs bent back so far that she could place her feet on either side of her head. Her sisters balanced on her thighs. Each had one leg stretched up, their toes wiggling in the night air whilst they clasped hands, leaning out so far that Hadley thought they might slip.

  Ever so slowly, the two women began to move, revolving, twisting around each other. They both smiled blandly as their gazes scanned the crowd. Hadley stared at them, they were almost looking at her.

  Jack’s lips were impossibly warm as they brushed suddenly against hers. Hadley jolted beneath him as he held her close, winding his arm around her waist and pressing her against his chest. She closed her eyes. She couldn’t have breathed if she’d tried.

  He didn’t move against her, he just held her still, his fingers buried in her hair and the warm exhilarating pressure of his lips. He tasted of the cordial he’d drank at the house, sweet crisp apples and honey. Hadley stood, her head tipped up to him, clinging to his shirt as her
thoughts threatened to topple her as easily as gravity threatened the contortionists.

  The grey shadows splintered and cracked, letting light flood in through the gaps. The cheers of the crowd for the different performances melted out through the shadows. Everything, even her fear, held its breath.

  A whisper of breeze swept between them as he pulled away. Hadley opened her eyes to find he was staring down at her. His eyelashes were blond but she could see every one of them so clearly that she could have counted them where they framed his bright brown eyes. Breath as warm as his lips washed over her skin and his chest heaved as he gulped in a mouthful of air.

  Hadley couldn’t think to say anything. He glanced over his shoulder and took her hand, pulling her past the intersection and down another thin pathway. Cool evening air whipped past her skin and as they hurried along, Hadley couldn’t help but wonder if it had even happened. The first look into the future had hit her when she wasn’t expecting it, maybe this was how it would be. Had she just imagined Jack kissing her, or had she seen it in their future? She watched the back of his head, thoughts jumping and twisting.

  When they turned onto another thin path, thankfully less crowded, Jack finally turned back to look at her.

  “Sorry about that,” he mumbled. “I didn’t want them to see us.”

  He looked anything but apologetic. In fact, with that small cheeky smile and the light in his eyes, she thought he looked rather pleased with himself. At least it answered one question, she hadn’t imagined it.

  “It’s alright,” she said, though her heart sank a few inches in her chest. For all the reasons a man wanted to kiss her, a distraction was not the one she’d been hoping for.

  Hadley couldn’t meet his gaze. She looked straight past him, searching the tents and stalls, looking for a way through to the ship. They’d need to move over to the next path in order to get to the loading dock but it looked like a relatively straight path.

  That was when she saw him.

  At first, she thought it might just be her desperate imagination. Lots of men were tall with dark hair. Then he turned. His blue eyes flashed in the lights above him, his nostrils flaring at the bottom of a wide tipped nose, a nose just like their father’s. Hadley gasped and lurched forwards.

  “What?”

  “Lachlan!” she breathed, pointing to her brother.

  He disappeared around the corner of one of the tents, leading back to the main path through the midway.

  “Are you sure?” Jack asked as she hurried after her brother, dragging him along by the hand.

  “Yes!”

  Jack didn’t ask again, though when she glanced back at him his expression was twisted in scepticism. He followed her none the less, letting her lead him to the mint and forest green striped tent Lachlan had disappeared around.

  Her gaze flickered to every person they passed, looking, searching. Lachlan had to be around here. Maybe it had all been a mistake. He wasn’t missing, he had been scouting the cirque. He was looking for a way in for the troops. Now he was here to make sure they knew their paths through the midway. He’d not had his litcom, he wouldn’t have seen the alerts. Her heart bounced.

  They raced through the crowds, pushing people out of the way when they couldn’t slip past unnoticed. A slew of obscenities echoed after them as Hadley knocked a woman into the side of the tent. Still Lachlan walked, weaving in and out of the crowds. Occasionally he glanced over his shoulder just long enough for Hadley to try calling out, but each time he disappeared behind another person, or around another tent or stall.

  Hadley cried in frustration, releasing Jack’s hand and breaking into a run. A large intersection stood up ahead, rings and bursts of flames spewing in every direction. All of the fire performers seemed to have begun congregating there, trying to outdo the others and earn the praise of the crowd. A ring had gathered around them, blocking off the entire intersection. Coins jingled and bounced across the ground as citizens tossed money to their favourites. Jack kept pace at her side, ten steps behind Lachlan, eight, five. She raced towards him as he slipped through the ring of people and she lost him in the bright flames. Hadley pushed her way through the crowd.

  Jack grabbed her around the middle as a fiery arc swung down in front of her. He hauled her back a step as her momentum bent her over his arm. The crowd leapt back behind them. A ball of flames whipped to either side of them, blocking them in. Hadley pressed herself back against Jack’s chest. The roar of flames came thundering from all around them. Heat pressed in from all sides. Jack staggered backwards and glanced over his shoulder a second too late. A female fire breather sprayed flames through the air at the backs, pushing them forwards. Fire lit the air above their heads and then down by their feet.

  Hadley screamed as the very ground around them burst into flames.

  “GASOLINE!” Jack roared over the roar.

  The fire rose in a perfect circle around the two of them. Hadley crushed herself against Jack’s chest. Smoke burned her eyes. The ground waved and rolled through the heat. The flames rose higher and higher, cocooning them in a burning cage. She flung her arm over her face.

  “Jack?” she screamed. “Jack, what do we do?”

  Jack’s cheeks glowed as gold as his hair under the heat of the fire. He wrapped both arms around her, crushing her back against his chest, keeping them in the centre of the inferno.

  Hadley uncovered her eyes, searching desperately. Above them, a star blinked innocently in the expanse of black. The flames were retreating, burning themselves out. All around them, through the flames, Hadley could see the audience whoop and cheer. Children jumped up and down, screaming for more.

  In the middle of the crowd, a man with long red hair smirked at her. She recognised him. It was the illusionist, the man who’d smiled at her during his performance. She’d seen through his tricks and he’d found her in the audience. The illusionist lifted his hand and pressed his finger to his lips.

  As hands grabbed her arms, wrenching her away from Jack and through the receding flames, Hadley saw Lachlan standing in the crowd. He stared on as if nothing had ever bothered him in his life. When the illusionist gave her a wicked smile and winked, Lachlan vanished in front of her eyes.

  The tumblers were in the ring, cheers rising from the crowd with every spin and jump. Like the horses, the tumblers could have disastrous falls if the ring wasn’t sanded properly, and Cole liked to be there to watch each first run to make sure everything ran smoothly.

  People had packed into the ring early and he knew that a number had been turned back into the midway until the next run. They’d only be able to do two tonight instead of the usual three. Whilst usually they would allow for people to keep their seats for as long as they chose, tonight he had instructed that at the end of the first run the entire ring was to be cleared, allowing for as many people to get at least one viewing.

  Elizabeth backed towards him down the gap out towards backstage, raising her hands into the air. She waited, holding her hand to her ear and raising the cheers from the crowd to a deafening roar before she sprinted across the ring. She leapt, graceful as ever, landing squarely in the centre of the launching pad and made two loops before landing on the top of the pyramid made of the other tumblers. When she lifted her hands into the air in triumph, a scream of approval practically shook the ship. Cole smiled and released the curtains, letting them fall back into place, cutting off his view.

  “Mr. Hatliffe.”

  He would have snapped at people for shouting in the staging area, but with the screams and cheers still reverberating through the ship, he was sure that the shout wouldn’t have been heard anyway. Cole turned and walked away from the curtains, smiling at the sight before him.

  Marcus walked in front of them, a broad triumphant smirk on his face. Behind him, two roustabouts kept a tight hold on Hadley Tack and Jack Western. He approached them, taking off his hat and turning it in his hands.

  “Well done, Marcus,” he said. “I assume it was a
n interesting show.”

  “I’m thinking we should make it a regular thing,” Marcus laughed, glancing back at his prize. “The groundlings loved it.”

  “Good, well, why don’t you go get ready for your actual performance?”

  Marcus nodded and shooed the roustabouts back out of the staging area. The three men barely looked back as they disappeared into the fray.

  Jack stared back at him, his expression stony. At least, Cole thought, he was keeping his mouth shut for the moment. The young man most likely knew that there was nowhere to run though, from the way he glanced at the girl beside him, Cole had to wonder if he was staying for her benefit. He had gone to the girl after all.

  The girl, on the other hand, was not looking at him at all. She stared at Solaris the elephant with wide-eyed wonder, her lips parted in a silent gasp. Her gaze travelled up Solaris’ long trunk and over his massive ears before trailing back over his mammoth body.

  “Have you not seen an elephant before, my dear?”

  She snapped her attention back to him and bristled.

  “Where’s my brother?” she asked.

  Cole beamed back at her and stepped closer, reaching for her hand. She stepped back away from him, holding his gaze if not his hand.

  “We’ve not yet been properly introduced,” he said. “I know now that we met last night, however briefly, but let me introduce myself properly. My name is Cole Hatliffe. I own Le Cirque Navire.”

  “I know who you are,” she hissed. “Jack told me everything.”

  Chuckling, he reached out and clapped Jack on the shoulder, drawing the man closer to him.

  “Oh, my dearest Hadley, I highly doubt that is the case, though that is a discussion for another time.”

  She straightened as he kept his tight grasp on Jack’s shoulder. The young man didn’t try to move away from him, nor did he speak, which Cole was grateful for. Her gaze shifted between them and for a heartbeat he thought he might have seen suspicious concern cross her eyes. She was worried, he could feel it slipping through his veins like melted metal. However, instead of concern for her brother, her sense of betrayal went to the man before her. She was worried that Jack’s actions had all been a ploy to get her here. Cole glanced at the man beside him, curious as to what, exactly, the young advance man had done to gain her trust.