by Leanne Leeds
Again, Mark shook his head no.
“Okay, I need to find out where we are. I wish I could do something for you right now, but I don’t have hands,” I told him as I held up my see-through fingers and wiggled them. “Once I figure out where this is, we will come and get you. I promise. Will you be okay until I get back here?”
“Do I have an alternative?” Mark responded, smiling wearily.
“Man, I really wish you did. Okay, just… stay strong. We’ll get you out. I promise.”
Mark nodded. “Good luck, Ringmaster.”
I sailed toward the wall behind Mark and went through it, out into the night.
8
I don’t know what I expected when I crossed through the wall and out into the night, but I could barely contain my shock when I realized I was at a circus. As a centaur clopped down the path in front of me, I felt sick as I understood there was only one circus this could be.
I was at the Makepeace Circus.
If the Magical Midway was an old-fashioned fair, the Makepeace Circus was an entirely modern carnival with the latest rides and a sleek, high tech midway. Everywhere I looked, there were gleaming, brilliantly lit attractions and exquisitely constructed caravans, trailers, and houses. Humanoid staff in fresh, pressed uniforms walked hastily from one direction or another looking intent on their tasks. A loud shout came from the west.
“Now calm down, everyone!”
I advanced toward the voice, drifting into the backyard of the Makepeace residential area. Log cabins surrounded a center clearing filled with picnic tables and benches. Dancing torch flames lit up the packed space as Roland Makepeace stood upon a stage and addressed the gathered throng.
“We have heard nothing from the Magical Midway or the Witches’ Council since they have been engaged in this latest brouhaha. I tell you, there is no reason to think this involves us at all.” Behind Roland Makepeace, Gunther sat staring out over the crowd, his face tense.
“My cousin told me that someone stole one of their humans! Kidnapping? Now we can be plucked from the circus?” A large man with a handlebar mustache shouted at Roland. Standing up, the big man pointed at Gunther. “They will come for us next because of him!” Gunther flinched, but his gaze remained steady, and his head held high.
“Stop that! It is the Magical Midway’s problem. It did not happen to us, and we have been assured by the Witches’ Council that despite their move against the Magical Midway, they will not move against us in the same way. We have nothing to do with what is taking place over there, for good or ill,” Roland answered, waving off the man’s concerns.
I discerned no deceit at all from Roland Makepeace. It seemed, though, that what he said was shaded by an overpowering desire to believe what he said was true. The ringmaster was unsettled.
Worried, profoundly, about Gunther.
“We are supposed to be protected here,” a small woman called to him from the front. “Has that changed, Roland? We only put up with your garbage because we need your shelter. You assured us you had an arrangement with the Witches’ Council. That we were all safe here. If we are not protected, the bond is not worth the continual harping we put up with from you. And when they come for your half-breed offspring there, we may all be doomed!”
Half-breed?
I looked at Gunther as his face flamed hot and his eyes slid to the floor of the stage. Silence descended as Roland turned to glance at his son. As if he felt his father's eyes upon him, Gunther looked up. For a moment, the two men looked at one another. The younger man straightened himself in his chair, and the older man bowed. Turning slowly, he glared with a simmering fury at the cluster of angry people below him.
“Take care of your tongue, Meltanay,” Roland told her as he struck his cane on the dais. The crowd murmured softly. “Recall who you are speaking to and deliver your next words thoughtfully. Whatever else he is, he is my son. Challenge me at your peril.”
The small woman stood up. “The Witches’ Council was here and at the Magical Midway. Your ‘heir’ is partly human, and they are threatening the very survival of the Magical Midway based on their humans. This concerns us all, old man!” The woman raised her hand and jabbed it toward Gunther’s father.
Holy unicorn horns.
Gunther was half-human. The shock of that revelation coursed through me as if I had a body.
“Get back to work! All of you! Now! Get out! Go!” Even in my unseen, intangible state, I started at Roland’s furious explosion. He stomped and rumbled, brandishing his cane in the air as he shooed the members of the circus away. “Question me no more! You have pushed me to my limit! You are here at my pleasure and only that! Leave now before I exile you all! Or worse!”
Some scattered immediately, rushing away from Roland’s howl. Others walked rapidly, but without a sense of panic. A few rolled their eyes and ambled away as if this was just another day and another explosion at the Makepeace Circus.
“Dad, you shouldn’t—”
“Shut up, boy,” Roland snapped at Gunther. “You are the last person I want to hear from at the moment. I warned you. I told you! Your obsession with that girl may very well have brought disaster down upon us all.”
Father and son glared at one another, locked in silence. After a few moments, Roland turned aside from Gunther and marched down the stairs, retreating into the night.
Gunther sat on the stage alone. Seconds passed, then minutes. Gunther was... sad. Frustrated. Hopeless. If I had arms attached I would have run over and given him a hug.
“It’s starting, you know. The prophecy.”
The old woman that spoke was sitting in a chair at the center of the clearing, but I could have sworn everyone had left. Gunther looked up at her and smiled wistfully, acknowledging her.
“Maybe,” he responded.
Wait—what prophecy?
“It is. You listen to old Ethel, boy. Tonight was marked. It is being witnessed even as we speak here now,” The old woman said as she stood up and shuffled toward Gunther. Halfway to the stage, she spun and stared straight at me.
I froze, afraid to breathe. It seemed that the old woman's eyes looked directly into mine. But that was ludicrous. Wasn't it? She smirked and dropped down her head in my direction, then shifted back toward Gunther. “It is the beginning.”
“Of course it was witnessed. I bet the adjacent town heard my father yelling.”
“They’ll be here as the sun rises,” she informed him.
“Who?”
“Don’t be too upset at your father, Gunther. Everything is as it should be. You’ll see.”
“Ms. Elkins, you always make me feel better, but I never know why,” Gunther told her, standing up and walking toward the edge of the stage. “I also never know what you’re talking about.” Gunther hopped off and walked toward the old woman.
“You will,” Ms. Elkins cackled. “One half of you can sense it. The other half will come along soon. It is the prophecy of the 13th Witch. It will change everything.”
“Like I said, no idea what you’re talking about. Can I help you back to your cabin?”
“Yes, yes, do that,” she smiled and held out her elbow. Gunther took it gently, and the pair walked toward where I hovered. Invisible.
I hoped.
Ms. Elkins clear eyes looked at me again as the two shuffled slowly, and I could not look away. I knew the old woman saw me, and I knew the fact that she could was dangerous. It should frighten me. Though, it didn’t.
“We should hurry on now,” she said, nodding at me. “Nothing more to find out here, eh? We all need to get home, and then we all need to come back. Like a rubber band, we bounce and bounce, push and pull, hmmm?” The old woman laughed.
What the heck? I closed my eyes and rubber-banded back to my circus. Despite having found Mark and gotten a few clues, I was more mystified about what was going on than when I arrived. One thing rang in my head repeatedly above all else, though.
Gunther is half-human.
I
t was daybreak when I returned to the Magical Midway, and the usual suspects gathered to hear my report of what I found. My body was ravenous, and I jammed my face full of a sandwich as I revealed all I had learned.
Serena was reassured about Mark, but the group was dumbfounded to learn Gunther’s origins.
“Okay, wait a minute, back up. Are half-human half-witch children that unheard of? I can’t believe in the history of the paranormal world that cross-creature pairings are that out of the ordinary.”
“Your people, Charlotte, are a cluster of creaturist, elitist jerks. It’s happened in the past. There’s a reason so many humans run around outside paranormal towns waving crystals at the sun and flipping over tarot cards,” Fiona said. “But a paranormal that falls in love with a human can’t remain in a paranormal town. They take off, they live as humans. Eventually, they forget. The Witches’ Council doesn’t pay attention to much because they just… go elsewhere.”
“They go away because the Council makes it too difficult for them to stay,” Serena pointed out.
“The problem solves itself with their absence because there is an absence of their progeny,” Ningul said. “If two paranormals get together, the offspring will be one or the other. Not both, and not half. When… if Fiona and I marry and have children, they will be centaurs or kelpies. They will not be half-and-half.”
Fiona blushed.
“Witch and human pairings produce mixed offspring,” Uncle Phil said. “It is the only pairing that does. The Witches’ Council is against that taking place. They believe it dilutes witch magic.”
“That’s absurd! I’ve seen Gunther do magic. There’s nothing diluted about what he does,” I pointed out. “I never would have known he wasn’t a full witch. Heck, I’m more human than he is. There’s nothing human about him. I just… I never would’ve known. Seriously.”
“You would have if you and he tried to go visit a paranormal town,” Ningul pointed out.
“What you mean?”
“He would have twinkled as brightly as a light bulb. It’s an enchantment on the towns to ensure that all human-paranormals are detectable.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“That’s the enchantment.” Ningul shrugged.
“If that’s true, how did we not know this? Gunther went to a paranormal school, didn’t he?”
“He went to the Imperial Academy,” Uncle Phil said. “That’s for children of the Witches’ Council only. They don’t even allow those children out on the town. It would not be hard at all to obscure his origins from all except the Council and their offspring.”
“There is a reason many of us dislike witches, present company excluded,” Fiona told me. “They claim the enchantment is there for the safety of the half-witch, to let people know they are more ‘delicate’ and easily damaged.”
“That’s a bundle of malarkey,” Uncle Phil scoffed. “It’s there to make them feel like outcasts. Hard to feel comfortable when you’re putting off enough light to make a city block glow.”
“But he doesn’t glow here.”
“The Witches’ Council does not command us, Charlotte.”
“Not that they don’t wake up every morning and devise ways to try, eh?” Fiona said.
“While this is all quite fascinating, I would like to formally request the recovery of my mate, Ringmaster,” Serena said in a manner that was not precisely a request.
“Serena’s right. I need to go get Mark, and I need to talk to Gunther.”
In three months, I had not physically left the safety of the Magical Midway. But it was time.
I needed to grab Mark and bring him back, but I also needed to talk to Roland and Gunther Makepeace. There was no doubt in my mind that if the Magical Midway fell, the Witches’ Council would turn on the Makepeace Circus and Gunther next.
“We also need to get Roland Makepeace to work with us. If we’re each fighting this independently, we won’t achieve as much. We may even undermine each other without realizing.”
“You’re going to travel to Makepeace alone?” Uncle Phil looked shocked. “How do we know Roland wasn’t part of the conspiracy to kidnap Mark?”
“Yes, I am, and I don’t think he was. I don’t know why, but I don’t. He’s afraid of what’s going on, too.” I stood up. “Look, the ringmasters have been too insular, and every one of them has fallen. It’s just us left. If one of us can find a solution, it will work for both. Divided, I think we’re both in trouble.”
“It’s lunch, so you only have about six hours before dusk,” Uncle Phil explained as I changed behind my room divider. “Before the sun sets, get back here. The sky cannot transition from moon to sun or sun to moon with you someplace else.”
And I cannot go with you, Samson said. I must remain here to fasten your tie to the Magical Midway. We cannot interact while you are at the Makepeace Circus.
“Be back by sundown, can’t talk to Samson. Got it.” I nodded as I snatched my bag and raced out. “How do I get back?”
“Just close your eyes and ask to be returned to the Magical Midway. You will be teleported to the spot you left instantaneously, like a rubber band snapping back.”
Rubber band symbolism was used a lot more in magic than I would have expected.
I will ensure that when you teleport to the Makepeace Circus, you arrive at the gate. Once you have visited more, you’ll be able to visualize for yourself where on the grounds you wish to appear if they allow it. The gate is proper for your first physical visit. I nodded.
“Is there any protocol or diplomatic greeting or something I should know about?”
You will be unwelcome no matter what you say.
“Fantastic,” I muttered.
“Charlotte, just keep in mind their circus is not run the same as ours. They have their own regulations, their own customs. Their own justice.”
“Am I in any danger?”
“Not specifically,” Uncle Phil responded. “Your substantial defensive protection will travel with you, but you cannot influence anything with the ringmaster power there. You will have words and whatever witchcraft you can perform.”
“Got it.”
I threw a few more things in my bag. At the last second, I tossed a couple of bottles of water in there. With no real idea of what I was wandering into, the vulnerability I had to poison crossed my mind.
Not that I expected anyone at the Makepeace Circus wanted to kill me.
Well, at least not yet.
“Can I bring anyone with me?”
“Only one person. But if you do that, you’ll not be able to return with Mark. You must go back and forth, and that could be dangerous for whoever you leave. They could work to explicitly block you.”
“Can I change that?”
No, Samson replied.
Another day, another addendum to my superpower.
“Ok, I think I’m ready,” I said as I dropped my bag to the chair and checked myself in the mirror. I looked at my boots, jeans, utility belt, and work shirt. I carried a knife and a canteen besides the two bottles of water in my bag. If my head was shaved, I would have looked a little bit like Anya. I looked kind of tough, actually.
“Enough preening. Close your eyes and request to be brought to the Makepeace Circus, and remember—you must return by sundown.” Uncle Phil handed me my bag. I blushed and took it from him.
“Oh, yeah, about that. What happens if I don’t?”
“You cannot return until sunrise, and if the Magical Midway is attacked, there will be no ringmaster here to defend it.”
I gulped. “Can I change that?”
Uncle Phil shook his head no.
I rolled my eyes, closed them, and then asked to visit the Makepeace Circus. The familiar whoosh echoed in my ears, and my skin tingled. The odor in the air changed, and I opened my eyes.
9
Everything was gray.
The sky looked threatening, and I heard thunder roll in the distance. The ticket counters to my right were clos
ed and shuttered. No humans moved within the central thoroughfare I could see.
With no lights, no visitors, and the ugly weather overhead my early impression of the Makepeace Circus without the glowing spirit energy was not a good one. I felt a sense of foreboding.
“Who you?”
A creature I had never seen before stomped toward me, grunting his query. His body was silvery with a sheen of malleable stone, and his face was grim. Razor sharp teeth jutted from his slobbering mouth while his eyes gleamed crimson.
“I am Charlotte Astley, ringmaster of the Magical Midway. I am here to speak to the Makepeaces.” I was glad my words sounded calm. The creature was at least twice my height, and he was watching me like he wanted to bite me.
I prayed my uncle was correct about my defenses being sufficient here. I suspected this thing was about to test that certainty.
“They say nothing ‘bout you!” The creature crouched and adjusted his weapon in front of my face. “How I know you ringmaster? You could be bad witch! Are you evil witch? Don’t like bad witches.”
“I am not an evil witch,” I declared to him. “I'm a good witch, I promise.” Granted, Gunther may want to dispute my witch performance being classed as good. “I only want to talk to Gunther and Roland. If you could be so kind as to let them know I am here, that would be wonderful.”
The slobbering stone creature tilted his head as he contemplated my words. Behind him, I saw two new creatures just as ugly and sinister-looking as he was. Their swords were drawn, and their eyes blazed more brilliantly as they stalked closer. “She says she ringmaster. Want to talk to boss and half-breed.”
I grimaced at the classification of Gunther as a half-breed.
“Yes, could one of you gentlemen please let them know I’m here?” I requested again as I leaned around the animated, slobbering statue. The first creature sprang to life and howled, drawing his blade back as I gawked at him in shock. With a grunt, he sliced toward me with it, and I froze, readied for impact.
The colossal broadsword bounced off me with a clink.
