by Trudi Jaye
“It’s nothing we can’t handle. Whatever power Simon might have, he’s still a young boy who needs us,” Garth said, frowning over at Rilla.
“I’m not your father. I’m not asking you to defend him. Simon stays with us.”
Garth leaned back, holding his hand to his forehead, rubbing it gently. “Sorry. It feels like all I’ve been doing lately is defending him. It’s become a habit.”
“We’re back now, and Jack and I know how important he is to you. We won’t let anything happen to him.” She looked back over the ice. “I wish I could say the same for Blago.”
“I guess I should have known there was no way you’d stay in Vegas while Blago was missing.”
“I wouldn’t make Jack do that. Blago’s still recovering from his heart attack.”
Garth looked over at her sharply. “Have you heard anything from him?”
“Nothing. Jack’s beside himself.”
His features softened. “Do you think Hugo is somewhere nearby?”
Rilla nodded. “He has to be. At least we know Blago’s still alive. And for all her talk, I don’t think Lucietta would let Hugo hurt Blago.”
“What are the plans, then?”
“Jack’s taken Henry and Frankie to go search a few of the local motels, bars, that kind of thing.”
Garth nodded. “Missy’s gone with them, I think.”
Rilla inhaled a big breath. “I need you to talk to Simon,” she said.
Garth glanced at Rilla abruptly. “What about?”
“I need you to ask him about his father, whether he’s made contact.”
“Maddy said there was more chance of his memory coming back if we let him remember on his own.” Garth winced. He knew it was also his own fear of telling Simon the truth.
“I don’t think we have that luxury anymore, Garth. We need every advantage we can get. We need Simon on our side, not his father’s.”
Garth heaved a sigh. “I don’t think it’s that easy. That kind of thing isn’t black or white.”
“Nothing is ever black or white. But if we’re going to survive this encounter with Hugo Blue, we need to use everything we have at our disposal.”
He nodded. Fair enough. Blago’s life was at stake. The old man might be full of bullshit and bluster, but so were half the people in the Carnival. It was practically a prerequisite.
He’d been putting off the inevitable anyway. Hadn’t he already decided he needed to talk to Simon, tell him the truth before Hugo could tint it with his own blue-hued version of events?
***
“Simon, we need to talk.”
Simon looked up guiltily from his phone. Probably texting with the lovely Alathea. “Uh. Sure. Can we go for a drive and talk?” he asked. “Just so I can get out of the house for a while?”
Garth shrugged. It might be a good way to ensure their privacy. “Sure, why not?”
He found his keys and helped Simon with his crutches. Soon, they were driving down the driveway toward the gate. “Anywhere in particular?”
“Uh.” Simon glanced at his phone. “Over toward the forest, maybe?”
Garth nodded. “That’s a good drive.” He changed gears, and the small elephant that Maddy had given him rocked gently back and forth in its place on the dashboard. A shimmer of energy spilled through the car, and Garth shivered. It felt like someone had walked over his grave.
They drove in silence for a while longer, Garth trying to figure out how to start the conversation and Simon fiddling with the stereo. He soon had a station pumping out the latest hits and sat back, flicking his fingers around his jacket zipper. “I like this song,” he said, looking out the window.
Garth nodded absently. It was too loud, but it had a good beat. He wasn’t going to start a discussion on the merits of Simon’s taste in music. “Simon, we need to discuss something.”
“I know. You want to talk about kicking me out.” His voice was soft, but Garth could hear his hurt.
“No!” He scowled at Simon. “Don’t ever think that. I know my stupid father said some stuff, and you were unlucky enough to overhear it, but the old goat has no power to remove you from the Carnival. You’re staying.” He didn’t feel bad stealing Missy’s description of his dad. It seemed to suit him perfectly.
Simon glanced over at Garth. “But he said he would kick me out himself.”
“We talked about this, Simon. I’m the Giftmaster and Rilla is the Ringmaster. We both say you stay, and that’s the way it’s going to be.” Garth found himself having to take deep breaths, concentrating on keeping calm. Hearing the hurt in Simon’s voice made his anger at his father rise to the surface again.
Simon just nodded, his face not betraying anything. “Then you want to talk about my powers?” he asked.
Garth glanced at him, surprised. “You know about your powers?”
Simon shook his head. “Only that I’m supposed to be powerful. I don’t know what I can do.” He gazed back out the car window.
“You’ve got a while yet before you have to worry about your powers coming in. It usually doesn’t happen until you’re sixteen or so. And even then, it’s only partial for a couple more years.”
“So I wouldn’t be able to do anything to make the Carnival more powerful for years yet?”
Garth frowned. What was on Simon’s mind? “The Carnival isn’t about one individual giving out their strength. Our power comes from our combined efforts, how well we work together. One powerful person doesn’t necessarily mean the Carnival will be more powerful.”
Simon flicked his gaze back to Garth, his eyes wide. He swallowed. “Who hurt me?” he whispered.
Garth took a breath. It was a terrible time to tell him about Hugo. Simon was clearly upset over the possibility of being thrown out, as well as his gathering powers, and the last thing he needed to be told was the one person he thought he could trust had gone nuts and wounded him.
But would there ever be a right time? He glanced guiltily at Simon and saw the boy’s eyes widen slightly. What did Simon think had happened?
He shook his head and glanced at the road ahead, narrowing his eyes at a spot in the distance. There appeared to be something on the road. He slowed the car, trying to decipher what it was.
“What is it?” asked Simon. “Why are you slowing down?” His voice rose on the end of the question, and Garth frowned over at him. He sounded frightened.
“It’s fine. It’s probably just a tree over the road. Don’t worry.”
Simon nodded, his eyes staring straight ahead, his face white. He mumbled something under his breath.
“What was that?” asked Garth, half of his attention on stopping his car behind the stationary vehicles in front of him.
“I said I’m sorry,” said Simon.
“Huh?” Garth half turned to Simon, then back at the other two cars on the road.
A tall man with dark-brown hair got out of the big blue truck, pointing a shotgun straight at Garth.
“Get out of the car right now.” The voice was high-pitched, exhilarated, but still managed to sound like he was in the middle of a performance.
Hugo Blue.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The small square of paper in Maddy’s hand seemed to flicker and move of its own volition as she folded yet another animal. She was caught up in a frenzy of motion, unable to stop, unable to understand.
She blinked, trying to keep her eyes closed to stop this manic behavior, but the same compulsion that had been driving her all morning made her open her eyes again and continue folding and twisting the paper into the same shape she’d made time and time again.
Everything around her was blue—she’d used almost every single piece of blue paper she owned—and now there were almost one hundred tiny elephants in various stages of motion on the desk in front of her.
It was official. She was truly in over her head. Off her rocker.
She pushed herself back from the desk and stood. Pacing up and down the room a couple of
times, Maddy glanced back at the desk. She could feel the magic shimmering around her, and she tried to shake it off. She’d come to accept that the others at the Compound had some kind of power. She had even felt a part of it when she was on the Carousel. But this was different. It felt like there was something inside her causing this, making her gaze longingly at the next piece of blue paper on her desk. Her fingers burned to return to folding, but instead, she rubbed them together, trying to get rid of the itch.
Glancing at her watch, Maddy stopped pacing. She’d promised she would go back out to the Compound this morning and talk to Simon. Garth might even be there, and she could check to make sure he’d soothed the young boy’s fears.
Maybe she’d ask Garth what it meant when someone started compulsively making blue origami elephants. She looked down at the elephants and then gently swept them into her backpack. What could it hurt to take them with her? Simon might like them.
Swinging her backpack over her shoulder, she strode out of her office. She’d come here thinking she might do some work, catch up with the research that was once her only preoccupation in life.
But her new distraction, the people she’d discovered just down the road, had pushed its way into her head again. There was no point in being here when she could be there instead.
Maddy shook her head. She even sounded strange in her head.
She jumped onto her bike and revved the engine. The noise was soothing, as was the rumble of the motor beneath her body as she swung out onto the road. Letting it rip, she raced toward the Compound, her sense of urgency increasing with each mile the bike ate up. By the time she arrived at the gate, her heart was pounding and her knuckles white from clenching the handlebars.
Something was very wrong.
She didn’t know how, she didn’t know why, but if Garth could have all-black eyes and visions of Rilla getting shot, then she could sure as hell know all was not as it should be. She keyed in the code at the gate and sped up the drive, sliding to a stop outside Garth’s house.
It looked normal, sitting quietly among the trees. The house wasn’t burning down and there were no sounds of yelling or screaming coming from inside.
Taking a deep breath, Maddy forced herself to calm down. It was nothing, a stupid fear that turned out to be wrong. Everything was fine.
She climbed the stairs and knocked on the front door. There was a cold bite to the air, and Maddy put her hands in the pockets of her jacket while she waited. The minutes ticked by, and her feeling of unease returned. She peered through the window, trying to catch a glimpse of someone inside—nothing.
They could have gone anywhere. The practice ring or into town. She should have phoned first.
Pulling out her mobile phone, Maddy dialed Garth’s number.
It rang once. And again. After the third time, it was abruptly cut off. No voice messaging, no one answering.
Where the hell was he? Why had he shut off the phone mid-ring? A pang of hurt fluttered about in her stomach. He’d hung up on her.
Shaking her head to clear it, Maddy tried to understand what was happening. She didn’t really think Garth would hang up on her. They hadn’t quite deteriorated to that level, despite her anger with him.
She pushed at the door and it swung open. That wasn’t unusual; she hadn’t seen Garth lock it even once in all the times she’d visited. Peering through the doorway, Maddy tried to find evidence that they’d been around this morning.
“Garth? Simon? Are you here?” she called down the hall.
No answer.
***
Garth put one hand to his head and felt warm liquid soak his fingers.
Blood.
He’d tried to fight Hugo at first, thinking he could get away, maybe with a little help from Simon. But he’d underestimated Hugo—and his power over Simon and Lucietta. They’d both helped Hugo, and the knock to his head from the butt of the gun had seemed to come out of nowhere.
Garth glanced around the small motel room. It showed signs that they’d been living here for a couple days—dirty towels, used cups and saucers. Simon’s blue baseball cap was hanging on one of the chairs.
Simon.
He’d left it too late to talk to the boy about his father, and Hugo had gotten there first. If he’d been paying attention, he might have realized what was happening by the expression on Simon’s face as they approached the roadblock.
Simon hadn’t really been sure he was doing the right thing, but his father was everything to him, especially since he still didn’t remember what his father had done to him.
Garth cursed. He’d known that, but because of his own stupid arrogance, he’d convinced himself Simon would choose him over Hugo. Why had he thought a young boy would know his own father had gone crackers and he should trust a stranger he’d only just met over the man who raised him? It seemed so crazy now.
It was his own fault. He shook his head and then groaned as pain sliced through his head. He took a deep breath. He was going to need every ounce of his brainpower to work his way out of this one—and to save Simon at the same time.
***
Maddy looked around the whole house, going in and out of every room. They weren’t there. She stood in the kitchen, studying the counter. There were coffee cups in the sink and plates on the side, waiting to be washed. The kettle was still warm.
They hadn’t been gone long.
Who should she go to? Not Milton. She didn’t know where he was, but he wasn’t on Garth’s side as far as she was concerned. Viktor? Maybe. Missy? Even better. The young woman was a little intense, but she always seemed to have Garth’s best interests at heart. Perhaps she would believe in Maddy’s increasingly strong intuition that Simon and Garth were in trouble.
She raced out the door and leaped on her bike, riding it down to the main village. She stopped outside the practice ring and went inside. Garth had mentioned several times that Missy was a workaholic. It seemed a sensible place to start.
Up on the trapeze, there she was. As Missy’s body flowed gracefully through the air, Maddy paused for a moment, her heart in her mouth. Missy spun through the air and was caught by a man on a matching bar. It was such a dangerous thing to do, but they all seemed to take it in their stride.
“Maddy!”
Maddy’s gaze came back down to earth, trying to recognize the unfamiliar voice.
A woman with short black hair came toward her, a smile on her face and her arm in a sling.
Rilla.
Maddy felt relief wash through her. Rilla would be able to help.
“It’s good to see you. I’m not sure where Garth is.” Rilla glanced around as if expecting him to pop out from behind one of the props in the clown ring.
Maddy shook her head. “I need your help, Rilla. I think something’s wrong.”
Rilla frowned. “What’s the matter? Is it Simon?”
“I don’t know. I’ve just got a really bad feeling about Garth and Simon, and I can’t find them.”
“They’ve probably just gone for a drive into town.” Rilla put a hand on Maddy’s arm. “He was going to tell him about his father. It wouldn’t be an easy conversation.”
That made Maddy pause for a moment. How was Simon going to react to that? She didn’t know, and if they’d asked her about it, she’d have advised them to give the boy more time. He was already suffering after what he’d overheard the night before. Would Simon do something to put them both in danger? “I just know something bad has happened and it involves Garth and Simon. I don’t know how I know it. I just do.”
Rilla stopped and stared at Maddy for a moment. She tipped her head to one side. “Garth was right. You do have some kind of power. I can see it pulsing around you right now.”
Maddy frowned in impatience. Rilla wasn’t taking her seriously. “I don’t know where or how, but something is wrong. I know I’m right about this.”
Rilla seemed to snap to attention and nodded her head. “Okay, I’ll get as many of the Nine together
as I can find, and we’ll talk this through, decide on some action.” Rilla looked up to where Missy was swinging on the trapeze bar by her knees and gave a loud whistle. Missy glanced down at them, and Rilla waved at her to come down. “Come on. We’ll get Jack and Viktor and see what they think.”
Maddy followed Rilla as she strode out of the practice area and into the chilly winter sunshine outside, her agitated thoughts trying to make sense of what Rilla had said. They’d talked about her having some kind of power? She held out her hand in front of her as she walked. How could it be pulsing around her? Her hand looked just the same to her.
But she thought back to the shimmering feeling she’d had when she was making the elephants. It had tingled across her skin like a dancer, making her light-headed and giddy. Maddy shivered. She didn’t know if she would be able to cope with this new idea. Magic in others was one thing; magic in her own body was a whole other concept.
Rilla was heading straight up the road and turned onto a path that led upward and farther into the forest. Maddy barely had time to get an impression of lush green trees before they turned into a dark-stained wooden pole building.
“Jack!” Rilla called out. “Viktor!” She poked her head into several of the rooms until she found the two men poring over plans in a room at the front of the building. The large office had a wide window that looked down over the whole of the Compound and then farther out over the frozen lake. Maddy might have been impressed if she hadn’t been so afraid for Garth.
“We have a situation. Maddy’s concerned about Garth and Simon.”
Maddy didn’t miss the significant glance the three of them gave each other. “I’m not crazy,” she said. “I just know something’s wrong. Look.” She pulled her backpack off her back and tipped the origami elephants onto the desk, watching as they scattered over the surface. All blue, light and dark, patterned and plain. It almost hurt to look at them because all she could think of was Garth and how his face had looked when she’d given him the small elephant she’d made for him.
