by Diane Zahler
Like Ahmad, Mattie dropped to her knees, struck by both the force of the wave and the enormous feeling of relief it brought. It was her talent, her power, her self flowing over her and into her. He’d really done it. Master Morogh had given her self back to her. For a long moment she knelt there, as the hole in her center filled slowly with joy.
“Mattie!” Bell said, helping her to her feet. “Are you okay?”
“I’m good,” Mattie said. “I’m good!”
Hasha and Hadi had turned away from Master Morogh. It was obvious that he was no concern of theirs anymore. They nuzzled Ahmad almost like housecats would, and he put a hand on each of their heads. He closed his eyes and smiled, the first time Mattie had ever seen him smile.
“Am I free to leave?” Master Morogh said. He tried to make the words sound casual as he picked his gloves up from the floor.
“Get out,” Ahmad said. The tigers ignored the ringmaster as he made his way toward the door and turned the knob.
“And where do you think you’re going, then?” It was Da’s voice. The wagon door swung open, but darkness had fallen outside, and Mattie couldn’t see anything.
“Da!” Mattie called out, and Bell aimed the flashlight toward the door. There was their father, holding the gun that Bell had tossed out the window, and next to him was Maya, her black hair wild. Behind them were the other members of the circus—every last one of them, it looked like. The Bellamys and the Silvas, Dee and the clowns, all the rousties, crowding around the steps that led to the wagon door.
“What on earth is going on?” Maya exclaimed.
Da held up his own flashlight and shone it inside. It was a lot more powerful than Bell’s. Everything—Master Morogh, the two tigers, the broken lamp, Ahmad and Bell and Mattie—showed in its glow. Maya let out a strangled cry.
“The tigers!” she shouted. “Get away from the tigers!”
Mattie ran to the door. “It’s okay, Maya,” she said. “We’re
safe. We’re fine. We just …” Then she stopped. It was a little hard to explain what had happened.
“What are you up to, Morogh?” Da demanded.
Master Morogh blinked in the light. “I was just leaving,” he said.
“Wait a minute—,” Da said.
“No, let him go, Da,” Mattie interrupted. “We got it all back. He’s given us back what he stole. He’s going—for good.”
“Going? Going where? What’s happening here? Mattie—”
“It doesn’t matter where,” Mattie told him. “It’s over. He’s done. Let him go.”
Something in her tone convinced him, and he stepped aside. Master Morogh started down the stairs, pulling on his gloves. He didn’t seem tall and threatening, the way he had in the big top. He didn’t have the old ringmaster’s presence now, or any of the skills and powers he’d taken from people over the years. He was just a short, round little man in a funny outfit. He didn’t look at anyone. Mattie could tell that he wanted to seem jaunty and untroubled, but his beard trembled and he almost tripped. The others moved to let him by. In silence they gazed after him as he walked away.
A sliver of moon peeked through the clouds. Mattie watched Master Morogh stumble down the midway to the gate at the entrance of the circus lot. He passed under the sign. Then she couldn’t see him anymore.
CHAPTER 18
“Marvelwood!”
Mattie turned. It was Mr. Silva, Selena beside him.
“What’ll we do now?” Mr. Silva asked. “The audience is waiting!”
The audience. Mattie shook her head hard, trying to bring herself back to the present. There was a tent full of people. There was no ringmaster, no one to introduce the acts. And they couldn’t possibly send everyone away. It would be a disaster. Word would get out, and it would be the ruin of the circus.
Da and Mr. Silva conferred as the others ran toward the big top to get their acts ready.
“Did it work?” Selena cried, throwing her arms around Mattie. “Are you all right? What happened?”
With her touch Mattie felt worry. Fear. Love. She could read her friend. Oh, it was so wonderful!
“It worked,” she said. “He’s gone. And I’m back.” Selena stepped back quickly, then grinned and gave Mattie another hug.
“You can read me all you want,” she said. “I’m just so glad for you!”
“Selena!” Mr. Silva said. “Run to our wagon and get my cutaway from the closet. Hurry!”
“You mean that fancy jacket?” Selena said. “But we don’t use that one in this act.”
“It’s for Simon,” Mr. Silva said. “He’ll be ringmaster tonight.”
Mattie stared at Da, and he smiled at her. “I’ll stick a few illusions in,” he said. “The audience won’t miss Morogh one bit.”
“Simon, that is too dangerous!” Maya protested. “Illusions, in front of so many? You’ll be found out!”
“Nonsense,” Da said. “They’ll all think it’s a trick. Mirrors or some such. None of them has a big enough imagination to suspect the truth.”
Maya shook her head doubtfully, but it was clear to Mattie that it would be Da’s show. He put on the jacket that Selena brought a moment later, and though they all laughed at the sequins and jeweled buttons that covered it, Mattie thought he looked pretty impressive.
Mattie, Bell, Tibby, and Maya entered the big top through the front, while the Silvas and Da went in through the back. When they’d found places to sit in the straw, Mattie looked around.
On the bleachers she saw Audra and her grandchildren, there for a second time, and not far from Audra sat the kids Mattie had insulted in the diner. Mattie waved to Audra, and then to the kids. Audra gave her a big smile. The boys ignored her, but after a minute the girl raised her hand in a tiny acknowledgement.
Then the lights went down, and the show began.
Da was great. It was like he’d been born to be a ringmaster. He announced each act with a little illusion of it—a wavering vision of the clowns on their unicycles, the Silvas bowing, Pinga lifting her trunk. And the artistes gave what Mattie was sure were their best performances ever. Selena, her grace back, somersaulted through the air not once but twice, and both were perfect. Mattie clapped until her hands were sore, and so did the rest of the audience.
When the show was over, the artistes stood in two rows, and the audience passed between them, congratulating them and shaking their hands. Audra stopped in front of Mattie, holding a little boy and girl by the hand. They had her curly hair and bright eyes.
“Your daddy did a fine job in there!” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Those hologram things were just beautiful. I hope y’all come back next summer. You’ve been great for business!”
Mattie smiled but didn’t answer.
“Give us a hug, honey,” Audra said, and she pulled Mattie to her with strong, soft arms. Mattie flinched, but the thoughts she read at Audra’s touch were full of kindness. “Y’all have a good winter, now!” Audra told her.
“You, too,” Mattie said. Audra and her grandchildren joined a group of other white-haired women and they headed out the gate. I hope y’all come back next summer. Mattie sighed.
When the audience had dispersed and all the cars were gone from the lot, the dust settled slowly and the rousties and artistes began the pull-down—the dismantling of the circus. It didn’t take nearly as long as Mattie had thought it would. Before midnight, everything was packed in wagons, ready to leave in the morning. Da said they would be heading west—maybe all the way to California, if the truck could make it. The rest of the circus was going south.
Though it was late, the rousties built one last bonfire. There was no dancing; all the instruments had been packed, and everyone was exhausted. Mattie huddled close to Bell, looking around at the people they’d grown so close to in such a short time. She could tell that they all knew exactly what had happened, and she wondered how. They’d only been there for the last moments. But then Selena came over to Mattie and said, �
�I told people what went on in Master Morogh’s wagon. Or, anyway, I told some of it. And Ahmad told the rest.”
“What did they say?” Mattie asked.
Selena squinched her face up, remembering. “Let’s see … Oto said, ‘She’s a brave one, that Mattie!’ And Dee danced around with the dogs until Blanch got dizzy and fell over. And Bub threw Winston up in the air and scared him so badly he pooped on Solomon’s head.”
Mattie had to laugh. “So they’re all glad Master Morogh’s gone?” She didn’t even like to say his name.
“Nobody liked him,” Selena said. “He was creepy and horrible and a thief.”
“And a bampot,” Tibby muttered, and Selena laughed, too.
“Yes, the worst bampot ever!” Selena agreed.
Stewie handed around sausages roasted on sticks, and Mattie ate hungrily. As she chewed, Mr. Silva stood up in front of the fire and clapped his hands to get people’s attention.
“Things have changed for the Circus of Wonders,” he said. “Morogh is gone—gone for good, I’m pretty sure.” There was a cheer, and the dogs, sitting next to Stewie in the hope of snatching a sausage, started barking.
“He left all his account books, and I’ve taken a quick look over the numbers. They’re not in terrible shape. It doesn’t seem like it would be an impossibility for us to buy him out.”
“You mean buy the circus ourselves?” Maso Bellamy said. “We’d be the owners?”
“All of us,” Mr. Silva replied. “We’d each put in what we could, and we’d own that percentage of it. It would be ours legally.”
“What about Morogh?” Dee asked. “What if he refused?”
“We’d use lawyers. I found his lawyer’s name in his papers. Wherever he’s gone, I’m sure they could get in touch with him. We’d pay what the circus was worth. I’m willing to bet he won’t object, considering … everything.”
Everyone started talking at once. The general sense Mattie got was that people liked this idea a lot. But it was kind of hard to tell.
“Hey,” Dee said, then yelled, “Hey!” The troupe quieted down. “We’re not the most organized group. Maybe we could have a president? Or a leader, anyway? Silva, will you do it?”
People clapped and shouted, and the dogs barked some more. Mr. Silva accepted the job. Then Ahmad spoke up in his lilting voice. Everyone quieted to hear him.
“I cannot stay. I must get back to my family. And my cats must go as well.”
“That’ll be a real loss,” Mr. Silva said. “The audience loves those cats.”
Ahmad was silent, and Mr. Silva sighed. “Of course you have to go. But how are you going to get the tigers back? The airlines probably won’t let them on.” He was joking, but Ahmad’s face was somber.
“I cannot see a way to get them back. They have to stay here. But they must be free.”
“Stay here?” Mrs. Silva said. “In South Carolina?”
Mattie remembered what Ahmad had told her about letting the tigers out, and she said, “It’s a lot like where they come from, right, Ahmad?”
“Yes,” he said. “The woodland here”—he swung his arm, indicating the trees on the other side of the wooden fence outside—“it is swamp forest, just like our forest at home, with the same sort of prey they are used to. They could do well here.”
“But if anyone ever saw them …,” Oto mused. Mattie shuddered, imagining the terror people would feel, the frantic hunt through the swamp for the cats.
“I have spoken to them,” Ahmad said. “They know the dangers. They will take care.”
“You’ve spoken to them?” Mr. Silva repeated. He shook his head and laughed, and for the second time Mattie saw Ahmad smile.
“And Hasha is too old now to have cubs. So there will not be more. They will be the only ones.”
“That’s sad,” Selena said. “They’ll be all alone.”
Mattie remembered the images Hasha had shown her of cubs frolicking, and nodded. “But it’s better that way. If there was a whole family of tigers, people would definitely notice.”
Ahmad agreed. “With only two, it will be far safer. And there is no animal better at not being noticed than a tiger, if that is what it wants.”
“Do it,” Dee said. “Set them free. None of us will say anything. We’ll find an act to replace them.”
“How about a human cannonball?” Oto suggested. Tibby’s mouth dropped open, her bicolored eyes round.
“Or a fire-eater?” said Negyed.
“A contortionist!” cried Maso.
“Knife throwers!” That was Harma.
“Jugglers!” added Elso.
The clowns were offended. “Hey, we juggle,” Chaz protested.
“But badly,” Oto said, grinning, and Chaz lunged for him as Winston flapped off his shoulder and squawked, “Behave, gentlemen!”
“And you, Ahmad, how will you get back?” Mr. Silva asked, once they’d settled down again.
“Morogh and the tigers and I came by cargo ship,” Ahmad said. “We arrived secretly, by night. I will go to Charleston and try to find passage back the same way.”
“I know a guy at the shipyards,” Bub said. “I’ll give you his name, and he’ll set you up.”
Ahmad bowed his head. “I would be grateful,” he said.
“And what about Pinga?” Mr. Silva asked. “Should we let her go as well?”
Dee shook her head. “Pinga’s old, and all she’s ever known is the circus. I think she likes it with us.”
“I know she does,” Mattie assured her, remembering what she’d seen when she touched the elephant. “She’s happy here—as long as she doesn’t have to give too many people rides.”
“Maybe I should retire her,” Dee said with a sigh. “She’s earned a rest. But if I do, I’ll definitely have to get more dogs!”
“There’s one other thing,” Mr. Silva said. He looked at Maya and Da. “We’d like you Marvelwoods to stay on.”
Mattie drew in a sharp breath. Da didn’t look surprised at all, though Maya, sitting across the table, did. Alarm, anxiety, and fear chased each other across her face. But there was something else there, too. A sort of … longing?
“We think you’d be a wonderful addition to the circus,” Mrs. Silva said gently to Maya, patting her shoulder. Maya winced at the touch but didn’t shy away. “We’d love to have you stay.”
Maya bit her lip. Mattie wondered if she was thinking about Odelle, who’d been a friend, too, and betrayed her so terribly. She understood now how scary it was for Maya to trust someone.
“Maya love,” Da said, reaching across the table for her hand, “it would be good for all of us, I think. We could settle down for a bit.”
Maya looked at her family for a long moment. It was obvious what Mattie and Bell felt. And Tibby bounced up and down on the bench and cried, “Let’s stay with the circus! Let’s stay with the dogs and Pinga and all five twins!”
“Well,” Maya said at last, careful as always, “we could try it. We could see how it goes.”
Selena gave a great hoot of delight and sprang up, and Mattie jumped up, too, and threw her arms around her friend. Selena’s thoughts were pure joy, and Mattie’s were, too. The others all crowded around, shaking hands and whacking the Marvelwoods on the back. Bell was so happy he disappeared without even meaning to and reappeared a moment later looking surprised at himself. Dee was the only one who noticed, and she laughed until she had to hold her stomach.
“You Marvelwoods!” she cried. “Oh, we’ll have a circus like no other!”
“Hey,” Sal the roustie said, “I hate to interrupt all this sweetness and light, but if we’re gonna make it even halfway to Florida tomorrow we’ve got to get some rest.”
“Florida?” Mattie said to Selena.
“The season’s over, silly,” Selena told her. “It’s September. We winter in Gibsonton. We get little jobs there, weekend gigs sometimes. But that’s where we live, all of us. That’s where the beach is, and our house, and my school.�
�
School. Mattie’s face must have looked just like Maya’s had, because Selena squeezed her arm. “Don’t fret about that, pilgrim,’” she said in a gravelly voice. It was another of her John Wayne lines. “You’ll be with me. We’ll be brilliant together.”
Mattie took a deep breath. She’d wanted to go to school forever. How much scarier than facing down Master Morogh could it be?
She thought about what Audra had said that afternoon at the diner. We just have to try for gratitude. To realize when we have enough. The circus, Selena, a house in Florida. Her family. That was more than enough. She could be grateful for those things. She’d work on being grateful for school later.
In the morning, before they left Frog Creek, they freed the tigers. The entire troupe, rousties and all, walked to their wagon. Everyone stood well back as Ahmad urged the cats out. Hadi came first, proud and sleek, and Hasha after him, her tail twitching and her ears turning this way and that like little radars. People shrank away from them still, but Mattie knew they wouldn’t hurt anyone.
The troupe walked out the front gate of the lot and around the fence to the place where the forest started. “It goes for miles and miles,” Ahmad said. “They’ll have plenty of room to get lost—and stay lost.”
Then he called Mattie over. “I have said my farewells already. But will you say good-bye, Mattie?”
“Mattie …,” Maya said anxiously, but Mattie ignored her mother. She walked forward.
When she got near the tigers, she knelt down. Hadi took no notice of her, but Hasha padded over. She lowered her head, and Mattie placed her hand on the soft fur between the tiger’s ears. She could feel a warm pulse beat beneath her palm. She saw the same images she’d seen when she touched Hasha before: sunny glades and pools of water, trees and vines, a sense of peace.
“Yes,” Mattie whispered to the tiger, gazing into her amber eyes. “It can be like that, if you’re careful. Be careful. Be safe. Good-bye!”
Then the tigers crouched at the edge of the woods, and Ahmad spoke. They were off like a shot. Almost instantly their striped coats vanished into the forest’s stripes of sun and shade. Ahmad lifted his hand to his face. His back was to Mattie, and she thought maybe he was wiping away tears. When he turned around again, though, his eyes were shining with gladness.
