“My favorite was Ivan the Gypsy Violinist,” Piper said.
“That was something special all right,” Phoebe agreed.
“Did you and Kristin interview him?” Piper asked.
“Yes,” Prue said.
Phoebe could tell by the way Prue was biting her lip, trying to keep the enormous grin from spreading across her face, that this Ivan had made an impact on her big sister. Phoebe suspected the whammy had happened up close and personal and was not simply based on his expertise in the ring. “And . . . ?” Phoebe said.
“And he’s very . . . interesting.”
Phoebe knew there was more to this story. “Spill, sis. I haven’t seen you blush since I don’t know when.”
Prue shook her head, grinning. “Can’t get anything by you, can I? Okay. So I liked him. He’s very charming.”
Piper and Jenny both leaned forward. “What does this charmer look like?” Piper asked. “We couldn’t see him very clearly from our seats.”
“Is he handsome?” Jenny asked. Phoebe had a feeling Piper would be relieved that Jenny was interested in a romance other than Piper and Dan’s. Talking about Ivan was an excellent distraction on a number of levels.
“ ‘Handsome’ doesn’t describe it,” Prue said, giving Jenny a smile in the rearview mirror. “But he’s also smart, levelheaded, and very interesting.”
“Is he really a Gypsy?” Phoebe asked, hoping to continue this line of conversation.
“Yes.”
“Does he know Gypsy magic?” Jenny asked. “Can he tell fortunes?”
“He doesn’t believe in that stuff,” Prue said. Phoebe couldn’t tell from Prue’s tone if Ivan didn’t believe in magic or if she wanted to keep Jenny off the tricky subject.
“He did tell me a lot of Gypsy folklore, though,” Prue added.
“Cool,” Jenny said. “Like what?”
Phoebe listened with amusement as Prue described different kinds of Gypsy love spells.
“Ooh, so he’s telling you all about love tokens,” Piper teased. “Must be so you’ll recognize them if he sends them your way.”
Prue scrunched up her face at Piper in the rearview mirror. Piper scrunched back.
“What else?” Jenny asked eagerly.
Phoebe began to relax a little. This conversation certainly occupied Jenny’s attention and as long as they were in the car, Piper was in no danger. Still, Phoebe was eager to get home so that they could get to work on preventing her horrible premonition.
“Let’s see,” Prue said, carefully threading her way through traffic. “There’s a legend about a magical jewel called the Romany ruby. Supposedly, it gives the gypsy who has it—how did he put it? Oh yes, threefold power. The story goes that it returned to the astral plane to renew its power after its last owner died. Ivan said tribes have turned against one another over this gem.”
“Wow. Sounds intense,” Piper said.
Prue stopped at a red light. “Ivan doesn’t believe the gem actually exists. In fact, the interfamily fighting over trying to recall it from the astral plane is one of the reasons Ivan’s parents turned away from Gypsy lore.”
“You’re right,” Piper said. “He does sound levelheaded.”
Phoebe began getting antsy again. Would this traffic ever let up? She used every ounce of self-control to keep from blurting out the news of her premonition. But she was grateful that all this talk of Ivan and legends kept Jenny from asking anything more about their hasty departure from the Carnival Cavalcade.
Jenny let out a sigh, a dreamy expression on her face. “It’s all so romantic. And his music is so beautiful.”
“There are even stories about his violin,” Prue continued, pulling back into traffic. “It’s been handed down through generations. And there is a belief that the violin chooses its owner.”
“How does the violin do that?” Jenny asked.
“When it’s time to pass it on, each child is allowed to play it. The violin will sing its choice.”
“It sings?” Phoebe asked. Despite her anxiety, she found herself caught up in Ivan’s colorful stories.
“Ivan doesn’t believe there’s anything supernatural at work,” Prue explained. “The way Ivan sees it, the kid with innate musical abilities is the one who gets the instrument. That way Mom and Dad aren’t subjected to all those years of torturous violin screeching. Pretty story with a basis in pragmatic fact.”
“That spoils it,” Jenny complained. “I like it better the other way.”
“Well, here we are,” Phoebe announced as Prue pulled up into the Halliwells’ driveway. She scrambled out of the car quickly. “Gotta hurry, girls,” she ordered. “Don’t want to miss out on the best tire deals!”
“Thanks for a great day! I’ll see you tomorrow.” Jenny hugged Piper. “Have fun tire shopping.”
The three Halliwells waved at Jenny as the twelve-year-old dashed toward her house.
“Okay, Phoebe,” Piper demanded, a smile still plastered on her face. “What did you see?”
Jenny turned, waved, and popped into her house. Piper, Prue, and Phoebe spun on their heels and raced up the walk.
Prue unlocked the door. “You had a vision, right? That’s what caused this sudden need for tires?”
“Affirmative,” Phoebe said, hurrying inside. She was so relieved to have the chance finally to say what had been bottled up inside her that she had nervous energy to spare. She charged into the living room, whirled around, and pointed at Piper. “Piper. Getting strangled.”
Piper sank onto the couch. “Oooh-kay. By whom?”
Phoebe paced around the living room. “No one I’d ever seen before.”
“Demon? Warlock?” Prue pressed.
Phoebe shook her head. “He looked human. Filled with demonic fury, maybe, but a man.”
“That narrows it down,” Piper muttered. “Stay away from men. Actually, that would make my life a lot simpler anyway.”
“Good-looking men,” Phoebe added.
A look of panic crossed Piper’s face. “It wasn’t Leo or Dan, was it?”
“No,” Phoebe assured her sister. “I told you—I didn’t recognize him.”
Piper leaned against the back of the couch. Prue sat down beside her. “So total trolls only,” Piper said. “Fine by me.”
“This is serious,” Phoebe scolded. “I have no clue where, when, or why this is going to happen.”
“Prue, you’ve been unnaturally silent,” Piper commented.
“I’m just wondering . . .” Prue stood up again and gazed out the window.
Piper and Phoebe exchanged a glance. “Yeah?” Phoebe said, encouraging Prue to continue.
Prue crossed her arms over her chest. “I saw someone—or something—strange by Ivan’s trailer just before the show,” she said.
“A good-looking strangler,” Piper stated.
Prue turned and looked at her sisters. She shook her head. “Good-looking this guy was not. I wondered if maybe he was a costumed performer, but when I described him, no one seemed to know who I was talking about.”
Phoebe listened as Prue described the tattered outfit and the decaying face. “That is definitely not the guy in my vision.”
“You know,” Piper said slowly. “That costume sounds like traditional Gypsy gear. I saw pictures of men dressed like that in Olga the fortune-teller’s wagon. None of them had hollow eyes and dripping flesh, though,” she added.
Phoebe noticed a glint of surprise in Prue’s blue eyes. “You met Olga?” she asked Piper.
Piper nodded and plopped a pillow onto her lap. “Jenny insisted on finding out if there was any hope for me and Dan.” She smoothed down the fabric. “Olga told me there was danger for me at the circus.” She gazed up at her sisters. “I didn’t think she had a true gift, but maybe I was wrong.”
“One thing,” Phoebe pointed out. “There was no doubt that the guy with his paws around your throat was a serious looker. That doesn’t sound at all like Prue’s Mr. Ugly.”
Piper looked at Prue. “Do you think the strange guy around Ivan’s trailer could have something to do with Phoebe’s vision?”
Prue sat down on the couch on the other side of Piper. “I don’t know. When I saw Olga she was protecting herself from the evil eye that she thought she might catch from Ivan. Maybe this strange Gypsy has something to do with that.”
“Time to check The Book of Shadows,” Phoebe declared, rising to her feet. “We should see if there’s anything on Gypsies in it. Maybe we’ll find something on the decaying guy in the bushes.”
“Of course, he could just be a weirdo creep. They have those hanging around circuses and parks, too,” Piper reminded them. She shuddered. “Maybe you were right to be creeped out by the circus,” she said to Prue.
“You two start,” Prue said. “I need to get these proofs developed. I cut out early on the first day of an assignment. I should at least show up with some great prints tomorrow.”
“We’re on it,” Phoebe said. She and Piper headed up to the attic, where they kept The Book of Shadows. The thick and beautiful book held many spells written down by previous generations of Halliwell witches. Phoebe felt certain they’d find some answers in it. She felt much better, now that she and her sisters were working on preventing her vision from coming true.
After about an hour, they still hadn’t found anything. Phoebe stretched. “Let’s quit for a bit,” she suggested. “Come back fresh. I need a snack, and I’ll bet Prue needs a break.”
Piper rubbed her face and blinked a few times. “Okay. My eyes could use a rest. Some of the writing in this book is tiny.”
They went downstairs to the darkroom Prue had set up in the basement. “Prue!” Phoebe called through the door. “Is it safe to come in?”
“Enter!” Prue said.
Piper and Phoebe stepped into the darkroom. Phoebe let her eyes adjust to the strange red glowing light. “How’s it going?”
“Pretty good,” Prue replied, swirling a pair of tongs in a tray filled with developing solution. “How’s it going with your research?”
Piper sighed. “Let’s just say we hope your pictures are developing better than the leads are.”
Prue raised an eyebrow. “That good?”
“So can we see what you’ve got?” Phoebe asked.
“I’m finishing up the last roll, but there are some fun ones of you and those clowns,” Prue said. “Over there, drying.”
Piper and Phoebe examined the photos that Prue had already finished developing. “Some of these are really excellent,” Phoebe said.
“I have to admit, the circus didn’t turn out to be all that bad,” Prue confessed.
“Gee. Could a handsome Gypsy have anything to do with that?” Piper teased. “Is he in here?” She waved at the drying photographs.
“He’s on this last roll,” Prue said, indicating the pictures in the tray in front of her. “I do have to say, after meeting Ivan, my opinion of people in the circus did change.”
“What do you mean?” Phoebe asked.
“I never realized circus performers could be so down-to-earth,” Prue explained.
“Because they spend time up on high wires and trapezes?” Phoebe asked.
“Why shouldn’t they be normal people?” Piper demanded. “I’m surprised at you, Prue. You’ve been stereotyping circus performers all this time. Well, I’m glad that Ivan helped you see that.”
“I guess he has,” Prue said.
“Okay, enough chitchat about this miracle Gypsy man,” Phoebe said. “What does the dude look like? All I could tell from where I was sitting was that he knew his way around a violin and has great legs.”
Prue smiled at a photograph she was holding up. “These actually do him justice,” she said. “Great.” She plopped it into the rinsing tray and picked up another one.
“Let me see,” Piper said. She squeezed in next to Prue and looked into the tray. “Not bad,” she murmured appraisingly.
“My turn.” Phoebe edged Piper away from the small table. She gasped.
She gripped the sides of the table to hold herself steady. She stared down into the tray, then up at her sisters.
“This guy in the photograph?” she said. She pointed down at him with a trembling finger. “This is the good-looking guy strangling Piper in my vision!”
CHAPTER
7
Prue gaped at Phoebe. “Wh-what are you talking about?”
“I’d recognize that handsome face anywhere,” Phoebe insisted. “He’s the guy with his fingers wrapped around Piper’s throat.”
Piper’s hands flew up to her neck. “Are you sure?”
“There must be some kind of mistake,” Prue protested. “Ivan doesn’t seem capable of hurting anyone. I’ve seen him with his animals—”
“Maybe he feels differently about people,” Phoebe commented.
“Or witches,” added Piper.
Prue shook her head. “You haven’t met him. I don’t know how to explain it, but he is the gentlest person I’ve ever met.”
“Demons and warlocks come in all guises,” Phoebe reminded her. “One minute a guy is as sweet as mocha-chip ice cream. Then without any warning he’s trying to zap a girl into oblivion.”
Prue bit her lip. She knew that what Phoebe was saying was true, but it was hard to put together the Ivan that she had spent the afternoon with and the Ivan in Phoebe’s vision.
“Let’s not jump to any conclusions,” Piper said. “You said that there are rumors that Ivan is cursed, right?”
Prue nodded.
“Well, maybe he really is,” Piper continued, “and this curse will lead him to become violent or compel him to hurt me.”
“Or maybe he’s spreading the rumor himself,” Phoebe countered. “It could be his alibi for any of his bad behavior.”
Prue ran over all the facts she had and realized she didn’t have very many. She had her gut instinct that Ivan didn’t have a cruel bone in his body. But her experience as a witch told her that her feelings could sometimes be manipulated, or someone’s true nature masked.
“What about that creepy Gypsy you saw near Ivan’s trailer?” Phoebe said. “Could he have something to do with this?”
“I’m sure he does.” Prue sighed. “But what?”
“Maybe it’s part of the curse,” Piper suggested. “Maybe it’s the manifestation of the evil or something.”
“Or maybe that gross guy is actually Ivan,” Phoebe suggested darkly. “He was hanging around his trailer.”
“Oh, it couldn’t be,” Prue blurted.
Phoebe gave Prue a stern look. “You don’t know that.”
Prue felt a pang. She knew Phoebe was right. She couldn’t let her attraction to Ivan get in the way of clear thinking. If she allowed her feelings to cloud her judgment she could put them all in danger.
Including Ivan, she realized. Maybe there really was a curse, and it was up to the Charmed Ones to lift it. “This could be why you had the vision,” she said to Phoebe. “Could Ivan be the innocent we’re supposed to protect? Prevent him from doing this terrible thing against his will?”
“I think it’s a lot more likely that my vision was a warning to Piper,” Phoebe said.
“Obviously, we need more information,” Prue said, rubbing the spot between her eyes. She felt a headache coming on. “We need to figure out who or what that creepy guy was. And to check out what’s really up with Ivan and why he would attack Piper.”
“We may not know why,” Phoebe declared, “but we do know who. So at least we can keep Piper away from him.”
“Phoebe’s right,” Prue said. “No more circus for you.”
Piper sighed. “That won’t work on two counts. A—if Ivan is a secret demon, we may need the Power of Three to defeat him.”
“What’s B?” Prue asked.
“Jenny begged me to take her back to the show while she’s here visiting,” Piper replied.
“Let me guess,” Prue commented. “You felt so guilty about
breaking up with Dan that you promised you’d take her.”
“You can’t!” Phoebe protested. “You were definitely on the losing side in the vision.”
Piper crossed her arms over her chest. “Look. You don’t even know where he’s supposed to attack me. It may not be at the circus at all. And I am not breaking a promise to Jenny. We hauled her out of there before she really had any fun.”
“Piper,” Prue said.
“Prue,” Piper said, mimicking Prue’s warning tone. “I just won’t do it,” she insisted. “Jenny isn’t all that thrilled to be here in the first place, and the first thing she hears when she arrives is that Dan and I broke up. I’m not going to add to that by going back on a promise.”
Prue knew her sister well enough to know that there was no point in even trying to argue with her on the subject. To Piper a promise was golden.
“I will steer clear of Ivan,” Piper said.
“And we’ll try to make sure he steers clear of you,” Phoebe said.
“I’ll cover Ivan,” Prue said.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Phoebe asked. “You seem a little, well, not exactly impartial on the subject.”
“He might open up to me,” Prue pointed out.
“Or he might open you up and eat your guts,” Phoebe grumbled.
Prue gave her sister a disgusted look. “Eew. Did you have to go there? I will be careful.” She let out a long sigh. “Just when I was beginning to actually enjoy the circus. This isn’t the greatest way to get me to change my mind.”
* * *
The next day Prue answered a knock at the door bright and early.
“Hi!” Jenny greeted her, a huge grin on her face. “Ready to go?”
Prue couldn’t help but smile. Jenny was obviously really excited about going back to the carnival. Piper had been right. Jenny would have been very disappointed if they had canceled on her.
Prue’s first official interview wasn’t until somewhat later. She was going to use her cover as photographer to poke around. Piper and Phoebe were going to see what they could find out about other performers, including what they might know of Ivan. Phoebe was also going to try to have another vision.
Charmed: The Gypsy Enchantment Page 6
