Vagabond Circus Series

by Sarah Noffke

  Finley knew how to move using efficiency. He had the observation skills that made him an incredible detective. And he could deduce the solution to a problem with little thought. He could do all this because he’d been taught how to think by Knight. He’d been taught how to think like Knight.

  Finley stared straight ahead. And very deliberately he said, “Yes, Father.”

  “Very good,” Knight said, leaning back in his seat.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Sebastian’s gaze was focused on Finley and his master. How had he served so loyally for all these years only to be shoved to the side so easily? he wondered angrily. Finley had run away. He was always the kid to challenge Knight, and he was hardly ever punished for it. Knight seemed to find his rebellious attitude entertaining at times. He had punished him growing up, whipped him, taken away kids he got along with, but he never did what Sebastian thought was necessary. Any other kid behaving like Finley did would be cursed, or worse, Sebastian would be turned loose on them. And now Finley was Knight’s son. It deflated any hope Sebastian had for standing beside Knight as he further built his legacy. And worst of all he’d been threatened by Knight. It made his head thump with a deliberate force. Still he couldn’t go against his master’s orders. He might be angry, and feel shoved aside, but Sebastian was loyal. This, in truth, was his only redeeming quality, even if he gave that loyalty to the wrong person.

  Sebastian patrolled the perimeter as he was ordered to do, all the while keeping half his focus on his master. Different groups whispered as he walked by. Crew members exchanged opinions on the changes going on at the circus. Half were encouraged by Finley’s show of disrespect to his father. “He looked straight at him,” people whispered in awed disbelief. “He talked back to him,” others said, both excited and fearful for the acrobat. And then there was the other half of the circus who thought that it was only a matter of time before Finley switched sides and became a sadist like his evil father. Then most would have to ignore Ian’s orders and finally abandon the circus.

  “You still think this piece of shit circus is worth wasting your time on?” Padmal said to Oliver. She was flexing and stretching her hands, getting ready to practice her juggling act with her brothers.

  Nabhi and Haady stood close, pretending not to hear her insults. The brothers were practiced at ignoring her.

  “Yes, Padmal,” Oliver said, keeping his eyes low as he studied Finley sitting next to Knight. “Don’t you see that Finley stands a chance of helping us rid the circus of Knight? He obviously hates the guy, probably more than we do. Did you hear what Knight did to him when he was a baby?”

  “He tried to suffocate him, thinking he was Dave’s child. Yeah, I heard the rumor,” Padmal said. Then she smiled, but there was no happiness to the gesture, just demented lust. “I would totally suffocate that damn dead man’s baby too. It would serve him right for enslaving us kids.”

  Oliver’s eyes widened with repulsed shock. Nabhi and Haady even turned to stare at their sister with disgust.

  “You can’t be serious,” Oliver said.

  “Of course I am,” Padmal said. “And it’s too bad Knight wasn’t successful. The last thing we need is people with Dave’s DNA running around. Even if Finley is only Dave’s nephew he should be dead. Even Knight should be dead. Anyone related to that horrible, slave-driving, manipulative man who ruined my life should be dead.” She then laughed. “You know I wish I would have been there to watch Dave die. That would make me feel better about him keeping the secret of my mother’s death from me.”

  “That’s the worst thing you could ever say. Dave was a good man,” Oliver said.

  “Dave wasn’t a man at all,” Padmal said. “He was a pompous ass and anyone who followed him is a manipulated dumbass. Is that you, Oliver? Are you a dumbass? Or can you actually think for yourself? Because more and more you act like a sheep who will cower to the wolf.”

  Heat overwhelmed Oliver’s head. He had the urge to slap Padmal, but he had restraint and he was not that type of boy. However, he was certain he couldn’t take any more of her bitchy behavior. And he had something better than an assault using his hands to punish her with. He looked straight at her and said, “Dave didn’t enslave you. He rescued you.”

  An abrupt laugh. “You are an out of touch idiot,” she said.

  Oliver suddenly felt full, like a vacuum that had sucked up enough hair and dirt and couldn’t hold anything else. He could finally take no more. “Padmal, you and I are through,” Oliver said, slicing his hand through the air.

  Nabhi and Haady were doing a poor job of pretending their attention wasn’t on the fighting couple.

  “No,” she said, in one long word, her voice rising an octave, “we aren’t. You don’t get to make that call, Oliver. I tell you when we’re done.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  “Oliver, you can’t leave me.”

  He turned, putting his back to her. “Oh, but I can.”

  “Do it and I will make your life hell,” Padmal said, her eyes on the place between his shoulder blades.

  Oliver turned back to her, a sadistic grin on his usually sweet face. “You already do.”

  “How dare you,” Padmal said and raised her hand to slap him. But behind her Nabhi caught it in mid-slap using his telekinesis. “What the hell. Let me go, Nabhi,” she almost screamed, feeling her brother’s energy restrict her. The triplets were attuned to each other’s specific energy related to their telekinesis, having worked together all these years. Nabhi’s energy felt like charcoal. Haady’s had the sensation of sand against ones skin. And Padmal’s was sharp like granite.

  “No. Not until you promise not to assault Oliver. We don’t hurt each other,” Nabhi said to his sister.

  “Oliver deserves it,” she said, her hand held in the air, unmoving.

  The illusionist shook his head. “You know, Padmal,” he said, nearing her, realizing she was frozen under her brother’s telekinesis. “Your brothers forged the death certificate about your mother.”

  “Oliver,” Haady said, suddenly shocked by this admission and unaware of how Oliver knew that since the brothers hadn’t told anyone.

  “It’s okay, Haady,” Oliver said, his eyes still on Padmal. “Ian gave me some interesting information. Guess what, Padmal, your mother isn’t dead.”

  “What?” she said, able to move her lips and eyes but nothing else. Nabhi had her body restricted, so strong was his telekinetic lock on her.

  “Dave did save you,” Oliver said, his raspy voice carrying strength. “He knew, based on Ian’s vision, that if you stayed at the orphanage you’d be cursed and heartbroken. That’s why he adopted you when he did. Because your mother came the next day.”

  “No,” she said.

  “Oh yes, but she didn’t want you. She wanted her first-born son, Haady. Your mother could only afford him. And if Dave hadn’t adopted you then you would have rotted away with resentment at that orphanage. Instead you came here where you’ve become a rotten little bitch.” Then Oliver stood back two feet. He brought his face up to Nabhi and Haady. “Now you all know the truth.”

  The brothers’ eyes watered slightly, a sweet fondness for Dave who always gave people what they needed even if they were like Padmal and hated him for it.

  “Padmal, don’t ever come near me again,” Oliver said. “If you do then I will haunt you with illusions of your mother telling you what a horrid person you are. We are through.” Then he looked at Nabhi. “Release her.”

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Nabhi pulled his telekinesis off his sister’s limbs but stepped in closer in case she decided to attack Oliver, who he thought was standing too close to Padmal.

  “You’re going to regret this, Oliver,” she said, spit flicking from her angry mouth. “I’m the best thing that ever happened to you.”

  “I’m sure you think so,” Oliver said, lowering his pinned up shoulders. He felt like a barbell loaded with too much weight had been lifted off him.
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  Padmal spun around, ready to charge off. Then she saw the perfect instrument for revenge. The fight had earned her the attention of almost every person in the big top. Even Knight was regarding the scene with a mild interest. The one person who wasn’t paying attention was the one who had been picked by Padmal for retribution. Sebastian was passing by her and the group of freaks, his head down, thoughts circling with plans of sabotage. Padmal turned and stalked in his direction, cutting off his path. He almost ran straight into Padmal, but halted just in time, two inches from her. Sebastian’s gift, which to most resembled more of a curse, made him all too aware of his proximity to people.

  He regarded Padmal with an irritated curiosity, but she didn’t notice it. She was too busy flipping her head over her shoulder to shout back to Oliver.

  “This is what you’re missing out on, you stupid asshole,” she said. And then before anyone could stop her, including Sebastian, she whipped back around and threw her arms around the boy’s neck, pulling his lips to hers. Sebastian hesitated, his arms out wide with shock and indecision. But after feeling the urgent pressure of the arms around him and the incredible force of her lips pushed into his, he caved and yanked the girl into him. Sebastian had never been kissed. He actually hadn’t been hugged, since the surrogates weren’t the hugging type. They did direct the children sometimes by holding their hands. And when he was eleven, a surrogate named Brittany grabbed his hand. A few seconds later she fell to the floor dead. Since that moment, no one had willingly embraced Sebastian. He’d touched hundreds of people, but only enemies of Knight’s. And they were all dead now.

  Intent on enjoying his first kiss and embrace, Sebastian grabbed Padmal’s face, tangled his fingers in her silky hair, and covered her mouth more with his own.

  Finley, seeing the exchange, jerked into a standing position.

  Knight held out a hand to halt his son. “Nothing you can do about it now,” he said flatly. “She’s gone.”

  Oliver, beside Padmal, turned away, disgusted by how pathetic and diabolical the girl he once loved was acting. And just then, when Sebastian was about to deepen the kiss, Padmal collapsed in his arms. Her mouth didn’t kiss his. Her arms fell slack by her side. The girl’s head lobbed back at a weird angle.

  Finley did move then, but not to save Padmal, but rather others. Sebastian let her slide from his arms until she lay on the dirt floor of the big top. As soon as she was down, Sebastian stepped over her body and simply strolled toward Knight. Oliver, who had been turning away when the girl went limp, rushed for her, as did her brothers. Finley switched on his turbo speed and cleared the big top in half a second. He halted in front of Padmal’s outstretched body, blocking the three boys from it.

  “Don’t touch her. She’s been poisoned and if you do you will be too,” he said, not out of breath at all.

  They squinted at him and then to the lifeless body of the beautiful girl.

  “Is she okay?” Haady asked, kneeling down and studying his sister for clues to her sudden state. “How do we help her if we can’t touch her?”

  “You can’t,” Finley said. Then his head revolved over his shoulder and his eyes connected with Sebastian, who stood beside Knight. “Sebastian is poisonous. The oils he secretes are lethal.”

  “Wait! What are you saying?” Oliver said, looking at the body and then at the acrobat he firmly trusted, but who was also blocking him from Padmal.

  “She’s dead. Sebastian killed her,” Finley said.

  Nabhi and Haady in unison took shallow gasps of air. Tears prickled Haady’s eyes. Nabhi retreated into a tunnel in his mind where the current reality was something he was watching on a screen.

  “No, this is a mistake—” Haady said.

  “It’s no mistake,” Knight said from across the big top.

  Everyone in the tent was now focused on the scene.

  “Leave her. She got what she deserved and I won’t have her derailing our schedule any longer,” Knight said, and then turned to Sebastian. “I think you’ve accidentally done me a favor. Padmal was obnoxious and ungrateful. Remove her from the big top. Call the authorities. You know the drill.”

  Sebastian smiled slightly, walking toward the girl whose lips were minutes ago on his. It hadn’t been a good kiss but he had nothing to compare it to.

  “You have poison in you?” Oliver asked when Sebastian stopped by Padmal’s body. Finley stood like a wall between the two boys.

  “On my skin. Want to shake?” Sebastian said, holding out a hand.

  Oliver shook his head and took a step back.

  “You’re calling the authorities. Are you going to tell them you just killed her?” Oliver said, his voice bordering on irate.

  “No, I’m going to tell them I found her like this. And they are going to examine her using gloves because they’re coroners who know best and they will determine she died of cardiac arrest. It appears that the business of being in the circus is very taxing on the heart,” Sebastian said, a sadistic smile in his voice.

  “You…” Oliver said, connecting the pieces that had finally been overturned. Finley stepped back and clamped a hand on the illusionist’s shoulder to restrain him if necessary.

  “Yes, me,” Sebastian said, his voice riddled with prideful glee. He then grabbed both Padmal’s limp hands, lifted them, and dragged the girl’s body out of the big top. Her dragged body made a path that looked like a giant snake had slithered through the tent. Everyone watched, powerless to protest, and too dumbstruck by the weirdness and wrongness to do anything but shrink inside themselves. It was right then that most of Vagabond Circus singularly made up their minds. Knight had to be stopped.

  Chapter Sixty

  Nabhi and Haady remained frozen, staring at the entrance where Padmal was dragged through. For a solid ten minutes neither brother moved. Oliver, on the other hand, ran for the practice tent to find solace. He was more shaken by the bizarre events that had transpired than by the fact that Padmal was dead. Neither her brothers nor Oliver would admit that they had thought of the possibility. Thought things would be better without her around. Usually in this fantasy, Padmal left the circus, but death provided the same result, only made it more permanent.

  Now that Padmal was gone there wouldn’t be peace, as Nabhi had longed for. Unfortunately, her death brought a new level of animosity that would grow under the surface of the circus like hidden mold. Now that Padmal was dead, there were more problems. Her death brought so much to light, like the fact that a boy with the ability to murder was in their midst, but that shouldn’t have been a concern. Everyone’s skills at Vagabond Circus could be deadly in the wrong hands. Oliver could deceive with illusions. Zuma could read people’s thoughts. Sunshine could roast a person. And Jasmine could have broken someone’s neck with no effort. But Sebastian had a skill, and had used it to kill.

  And now everyone was ready to finally make their own assumptions about Jasmine’s mysterious death. If most hadn’t questioned Jasmine’s cause of death before, then they did after these events. Jasmine had been murdered. Dave, who was in good health as well, had died of the same causes. Cardiac arrest. The exact same report that would come out on Padmal. The Vagabond Circus members moved quietly, getting ready for their roles. But all of them now knew that Knight wasn’t just the bad man they suspected who had inherited a circus. He was the worst man, and an extremely dangerous one, and he’d stolen the circus.

  Chapter Sixty-One

  The show the night Padmal was killed was the darkest one yet. The brothers had less trouble performing than most would have thought. They had a routine ready, having performed it without her when she was recovering from the knife injury. And that night their tricks were faster than ever before. Nabhi moved with a grace he’d never owned, spinning his hands in perfect rotation with the knives that weren’t really touching him, but rather moving telekinetically through the air. Haady’s knives soared higher, reaching up to over twenty feet in the air. Then, when the brothers switched to juggling the k
nives between each other, the crowd gasped at the flawless transition. The boys dared to separate, both backing up to the opposite side of the ring. The knives flew across the neon green rug at a distance none had ever seen before. They weren’t performing like they had before, when Padmal was injured. They were performing like they were finally free, their genius allowed to soar out of them. It was important for everyone at Vagabond Circus to witness this act and realize that tolerating abusive people will always have far-reaching effects. People do themselves little favor by allowing a toxic person a place within their life.

  After the show the crew worked as they never had before, disassembling the big top. No one said a word or made a comment about Ian, who sat still, not helping his crew. His eyes were strangely focused, moving side to side at times like he was watching the flight path of a fly. The crew, knowing the drive wasn’t far to the next performance spot, hauled the trailers and semis down the 101 the night of the last show. It was like they all feared the ghost of Padmal would soon rise from the earth and haunt the people of Vagabond Circus.

  As soon as Finley parked his trailer on the new grounds, he was surprised to hear a knock at his door, as though the person calling had been riding on his bumper over the last forty miles. Finley hesitated before finally unlocking the flimsy metal door and pulling it back. And again he was surprised. This time it was by who stood at his door. He found Titus there, waiting for him. And then he was even more shocked when the creative director encouraged Finley back into his trailer, going with him as he did. Titus shut the door behind him after swinging his gaze over his shoulder, like he was afraid to be spied there.