Chapter 15

Fifteen

Ilearn her name is Hilda and that she's been with the cirque for three decades, traveling from town to town and reading the cards for those brave enough to enter her tent.

The day after she showed me her cards, everyone is in a whirlwind of activity, packing up the cirque and preparing to move to the next stop. I haven't asked how they know where to go. There seems to be a nonexistent map, as if they simply follow a feeling and stop whenever it's right. I don't even know how they know when it's time to leave, since we've been at this location for a couple of weeks now. I honestly wouldn't put it past the cirque to instruct when and where to go. It has a mind of its own.

The old cars and trucks are all loaded up with people and supplies, the cirque tents, and stalls. One large livestock trailer is loaded with the elephant and horses, the other animals all placed into cars with the people. Even Freedom hops in the back seat of an Oldsmobile that Spade drives. No one else gets in that car with him, so that's where I find myself for the duration of the move.

"Where are we going?" I ask as I slide into the front of the car and arrange my crutches. Dr. Louie says I'll be on them for a while longer, but as soon as the bone is better, I can walk on a boot instead of the crutches. Within three months, I'll hopefully be back to normal. At least my ribs seem to have healed faster than my leg.

"I don't know," Spade answers honestly, checking the mirrors at all times. Not only does he check on Freedom where she sleeps in the back seat, but he also checks to make sure the trailers behind him are doing okay. We make up a long line of vehicles, and though we could be going faster if we just drove and met everyone, we move as a single unit.

A family.

"Then how do we know we're going in the right direction?" I ask, frowning.

He shrugs. "We just do. We'll know it when we see it, but it usually isn't far. We travel as needed between towns."

I'm not sure what his definition of far is, but it does end up taking five hours to get to our next location with our slow-moving convoy. At some point, Diamond stops and pulls us into a large, empty field. A sign welcomed us to New Lockland on the way in. It seems to be a quaint little town, and the moment all the trailers arrive, work begins.

Still on crutches, I'm not nearly as much help as I'd like to be, so I mostly stay out of the way. Every now and then, I'm able to help, but after stumbling and falling onto the grass a few times, Spade instructs me to keep Freedom company. That's how I end up sitting in the grass on the outskirts of the setup, Freedom lying behind me and allowing me to lean against her as we watch the smoothness with which Cirque Obscurum is re-erected. It's beautiful, like a choreographed dance, every person knowing their place. Diamond runs around and helps where he's required, making sure everyone has what they need. Heart is the one who climbs the beams and attaches ropes and lights without any support. Spade and Club both work on putting up tents and unpacking everything we previously packed away. I watch each of them as they work, salivating when they remove their shirts as the sun rises higher in the sky.

"I could get used to this," I tell the tiger at my back.

She makes a small growl of agreement and nuzzles my elbow until I pet her. For a tiger, she's incredibly domestic. How strange for everyone to be so afraid of her. She's no different than a house cat.

The cirque is raised by the time the sun goes down, and a few of the crew members run into town to hang flyers everywhere. To the small town of New Lockland, it'll be as if we simply appeared from thin air. Come to the cirque and enjoy a thrill. Dive into the mystery, and before anyone can ask any questions, we'll be gone again. I like the enigma of it all. How easy it is to make it a secret. How easy it is to fool people. No real magic is even required.

I find my way to my tent once everything is done and lie down on my bed, my underarms hurting because of the crutches. I'm getting stronger while using them, but I'm going to have to wrap the handles with something softer soon. The bruises they are starting to leave behind are troublesome.

It's late, but I can't sleep. No one else seems to have that trouble as I hear them all retreat to their tents and not come back out. Across the way, I even hear Dr. Louie snoring. He's so loud, he might as well be sawing wood, but at least he's far enough away that it doesn't penetrate too deeply into my tent.

No, what I end up hearing is the shuffling of the tents beside me. First Diamond, then Club, and then Spade and Heart. They quietly get up from their beds and begin whispering outside my tent, words I can't hear.

Curious, I move as silently as I can to my tent flap and peer out, only to find them walking away. They wear all black to blend in with the darkness. They also have on those terrible, horrifying masks they wore on the night they found me. They are quiet as they go, clearly intending not to wake anyone.

My curiosity has me following them, but I am far less graceful on my crutches than they are on foot. They move toward a Dodge and begin climbing in, until Heart sees me coming over the hill and grins.

"It appears we have a stalker, boys," he comments, watching me carefully pick my way over the grass. None of them try to help me, just watching, and it reminds me of the night they came for me.

"Where are you going?" I ask, coming to a stop before them.

"Don't you feel it?" Diamond asks, glancing over at me as he opens the driver's door.

Now that he mentions it, there's a buzzing sensation in my chest, like I drank too much alcohol and didn't notice. The moment I focus on it is the moment it grows until it turns into an itch. I have to clench my fingers on my crutches to stop from scratching myself.

Nodding silently in understanding, I meet Diamond's eyes. "You're answering a call."

He nods once and climbs into the car, clearly intending to leave me here without saying anything more.

"Can I come?" I ask, taking another hopping step forward. "I can help."

"You're on crutches, Queen," Heart points out. "There isn't much you can?—"

"Get in," Diamond instructs. "Back seat."

I do as I'm told, shuffling until I can get into the back seat with my crutches and relaxing against the backrest. He hands me a mask as I settle in, and I take it gingerly. He already had it in here. Had he known I would come looking?

"Put it on," he says, meeting my eyes in the rearview mirror. "Don't take it off until we tell you to."

I glance down at the heart-shaped mask with a small red Q under the left eye. Both eyes are crying black and red, leaving a trail of ink. The cheeks are big and round and dusted with blush, and the smirking lips are painted red. It's perfect and seems to be a blend of all their masks.

I slide it on without question, liking the feel of the plastic on my face and the power that seems to settle over me as I wear it.

No one says a word as we start the car and leave the cirque behind. The farther away we get, the stronger the call becomes until I'm practically vibrating with it.

Heart pulls out a knife and begins twirling it through his fingers. He glances over at me and grins, eagerness in his eyes.

We follow the call of the cards, and they tell us where we need to go.

My body hums in excitement as we answer it together.