Midnight reynolds and th.., p.4
Midnight Reynolds and the Phantom Circus, page 4
“There’s a difference?” Tabitha raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, there’s a difference.” Joseph growled. “The makeup for a start. I’d never use white powder. Plus, my outfits are always exaggerated. With the big collars, huge shirts, and wide pants, I look almost double the size. I tell you, it’s an art form.”
“Oh.” Tabitha nodded, looking like she was sorry she’d asked. “So, what happened next?”
“There I was, being clumsy when I did my blow-off—that’s what we call a set piece, in the business. It went down fine. The crowd ate it up. And then…I started to feel dizzy, and everything went black. Next thing, I’m waking up in an ambulance with burns on my arm and a broken leg.”
“You don’t remember seeing anything?” Midnight persisted.
“Nope.” Joseph shook his head. “But I’ll tell you this for free…It wasn’t an accident.”
“What makes you say that?” Tabitha looked up from her notepad.
“Because there’s no way I would’ve dropped those flames. I’ve practiced that move thousands of times before. It’s like breathing. If you ask me, someone tampered with the baton.”
“Any idea who?” Midnight leaned forward.
He shrugged. “Any number of people. Clowning’s a blood sport. There’s always some smart aleck coming up through the ranks, trying to get your spot. And then there’s the public. These days everyone hates us. I blame that Stephen King book.”
Tabitha tilted her head, and a ghost of a smile tugged at her mouth. “Curious. And what are your thoughts on aliens? Real or fake?”
“Please, we all know Roswell’s real. The government’s been hiding alien abductions for years…” He started to prattle.
Midnight blinked. Why was Tabitha asking such a random question? Then she noticed that Tabitha was waving her Ping behind her back, enthusiastically nodding as the clown ranted about Area 51.
Oh. That was why she’d let him go on a tangent.
Midnight casually slipped her own device out and activated it before edging her way closer to the bed.
“…and do you have any idea why aliens only abduct farmers? It’s because of the high levels of methane,” Joseph was saying. Midnight angled herself to hide the device, which was hovering close to his broken leg.
Ping. Ping. Ping.
She coughed to cover the noise as Joseph narrowed his eyes.
“What was that?” he demanded as she quickly slipped it back into her pocket.
“What was what?” She gave him her best vacuous gaze. It was the same one her sister used to get out of washing the dishes.
Just then a nurse pushed in a cart with a needle gleaming brightly on the tray.
“I’m sorry. Visiting hours are over.”
“Oh.” Midnight nodded before turning to Joseph. The rant had brought the color back to his face. “Thanks for helping. I hope you feel better soon.”
“Doubtful.” His mouth flattened into a stubborn line. “Do you have any idea how many people come to these places fit and healthy and then get sick once they arrive?”
“Excuse me?” the nurse protested. “I’ll have you know that certainly doesn’t happen on my watch.”
“Yeah, yeah,” the clown muttered. “Just give me the stupid needle. Oh, and tell that annoying candy striper not to bother bringing me any books. I hate reading.”
“She’s only trying to help you,” the nurse said in a gentle voice before turning to the girls and nodding for them to leave. They were just about to step through the door, when Tabitha stopped and spun around.
“Just one more question about your accident,” she said. “Do you remember hearing some kind of hissing?”
“A hiss?” His voice dropped to a whisper. “You saw it too?”
“Saw it?” Midnight looked up. She’d heard the noise, but all she’d seen was spectral energy. Had she missed something? “What did you see?”
“It looked like a golden snake. It was coiled up, ready to strike.”
“Why didn’t you tell us before?” Tabitha asked as she scribbled down notes.
“Because I didn’t want anyone to think I was crazy.” His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat.
“Why’s that so crazy? It’s a circus. Wouldn’t a snake belong to one of the acts?” Midnight asked.
Joseph shook his head. “We’re an animal-free circus. There are no snakes.”
Midnight’s mouth fell open, but before she could ask any more questions, the nurse made a coughing noise and glanced at the door. They waited until they got outside before looking at each other.
“Okay, next time Logan’s going to do the undercover work,” Tabitha said with a shudder. “People are just too difficult. Still, at least we know a few things. Well, one. That there might’ve been a golden snake.”
“A golden snake that only he saw.” Midnight rubbed her brow, before suddenly remembering the Ping. She dragged it from her pocket. “And, we got a reading. That was a brilliant diversion.”
“I thought so,” Tabitha agreed as they both studied the device’s screen.
SED: 0.05%
Life-Span Depletion: 5 hours.
“So, he’s lost five hours of his natural life.” Some of the panic left Midnight’s chest. In the grand scheme of things, five hours wasn’t so bad. It wasn’t great, of course, but if they could find the person responsible, hopefully nothing worse would happen.
The same bald guy was at the reception desk, talking to a woman with black hair tied into a neat bun at the base of her neck and wearing denim jeans and long, black boots. It was Zelda the Great.
“She must be friends with Joseph,” Midnight said as Zelda headed in the direction they’d just come from. If she’d recognized them as the girls who had stood outside her tent the previous day, she didn’t let on.
“Yeah, though if she’s such a good fortune-teller, why didn’t she warn him what was going to happen?” Tabitha muttered as they left the hospital and headed to the town library to do more research. Hopefully, they’d find something that would actually give them a clue.
CHAPTER FIVE
“I could’ve come to your place.” Logan jogged over to the park bench, leaving a trail of footprints in the glistening dew that still covered the grass. His eyes were bright, and he was wearing one of his many Sherlock Holmes T-shirts. This one said Baker Street or Bust.
Midnight had called him yesterday to break their date and explain why she had to focus on the case. Work had to come first. People’s lives might depend on it. He’d been great, but part of her still wished they could’ve gone ahead with their trip to the swimming pool.
“Trust me, you don’t want to go there. There’s a puppy that thinks she’s descended from Attila the Hun. I’m talking wrecking machine. I was there ten minutes, and look what she did to my boot.” Tabitha thrust out the studded black ankle boot that she’d spent six months’ allowance on.
She was more of a cat person.
“You got a puppy?” Logan raised an eyebrow. “Bella will be so jealous.”
“Not exactly.” Midnight shook her head. “Our neighbor had to go away unexpectedly, and my mom thought since I did so much babysitting I’d be okay to do some dog sitting.”
Logan immediately seemed to grasp the irony of the situation.
“Ouch. Trapped by your own lie.” He pushed his sneaker against the gravel, creating a scraping noise as worry marred his features. “So, is this spectral transference thing really as bad as it sounds?”
“Worse.” Tabitha opened the folder of documents she’d printed. “These are from the ASP’s archives. Peter wasn’t exaggerating about how little they know. I did some online research, but I couldn’t find much.”
“I still can’t believe you saw the clown’s eyes change color.” Logan let out a wistful sigh.
“Trust me, it was something I could’ve done without.” Midnight shuddered. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen someone’s physical appearance change because of planodiume. But in those cases, it was because the person had been misusing it, and their eyes had turned black. This had been different. She just wasn’t sure how.
“Tell me everything Joseph said.” Logan quickly changed the topic, as if realizing how uncomfortable she felt. She gave him a grateful smile. Tabitha ignored them both and frowned some more.
“He’s a conspiracy nut who’s convinced everyone’s out to get him. The only thing he told us was he saw a golden snake.”
Logan frowned. “In an animal-free circus? No wonder it stood out. I can’t think of any snakes that are golden in color, but there are plenty of yellow ones.”
“You don’t think it’s a figment of his imagination?” Tabitha blanched. “Because I don’t do snakes.”
“They’re not my favorite thing either, but at this stage we have to be open,” Logan said as they climbed on the bus. “We might as well start looking for snakes.”
As far as plans went, it wasn’t great. But the idea of someone running around Berry stealing spectral energy—and therefore life—from people was even worse.
“Of course I remember you,” Carlo the ringmaster said an hour later. There were dark lines under his hooded eyes, but his smile was still bright. “You’re John Wilson’s daughter, Tabitha. And you’re Midnight. I remember thinking what a great stage name that would make.”
Midnight gritted her teeth. At least he hadn’t made a joke about it, which was what usually happened. Creepy Hour. Tick Tock. Clock Face.
“That’s right,” Tabitha quickly said, as if sensing Midnight’s mood. “This is our friend, Logan.”
“Nice to meet you,” Logan said in a polite voice. “Up until the accident, the first show was amazing.”
“Thank you.” Carlo ushered them under the wide awning that stretched out along his Winnebago. A folding table and chairs had been set up, and there were stacks of paperwork, held down by a shoe to keep them from blowing away. “Sorry about the mess. Running a circus is chaotic at the best of times…and…let’s just say this hasn’t been the best of times.”
“Because of the accident?” Midnight asked.
“Yes. I’ve been up half the night dealing with police reports and insurance claims as well as media inquiries. Makes me wish Eduardo was still here to give me a helping hand.” He rubbed his chin and yawned. “Sorry. You probably don’t want to hear about my problems. How can I help you kids?”
“A-actually, it’s about the accident. We were wondering how Joseph’s doing,” Midnight said, crossing her fingers. Her nose didn’t seem to grow from telling the lie.
Carlo sucked in a dramatic breath as long, dark hair fell around his face. “He’ll be out by the end of the week, but it’s such a tragedy.”
“Has anything like this happened before?” Tabitha asked.
An odd look crossed Carlo’s face, and it took a moment for him to answer.
“We’ve never had a single accident until now.” Carlo’s dark eyes seemed blank, as if they couldn’t quite focus. Then he blinked a few times and gave the friends another Hollywood smile. “It’s something we’ve always prided ourselves on. Still, as they say, ‘the show must go on.’”
“Speaking of the show, who’ll take Joseph’s place?” Logan asked. Midnight and Tabitha both gave him an approving nod. He was trying to find out if anyone had a motive to injure Joseph.
Carlo didn’t seem perturbed by the question. “We wouldn’t dream of bringing in another clown.”
“I see.” Logan studied his notepad. “Did he have many friends here?”
“Friends?” Carlo opened his arms expansively toward the many performers who were walking past the awning. “Here at the Cirque Fantastic, we aren’t just friends, we’re family. What affects one affects all.”
“I understand.” Logan’s brows creased together, but before he could say anything else, Carlo glanced at his watch.
“And now I must prepare for our matinee performance.”
“Of course. Though, out of curiosity, does anyone at the circus have a pet snake?” Tabitha asked.
“A snake?” He blinked in genuine surprise. “Definitely not.”
“Thanks,” Midnight said, and they headed back out into the crowd.
Even though word of the fire had spread, it hadn’t stopped people from turning up. Carnival music blasted from speakers, and in the distance they could hear high-pitched screams from the many rides that swooped and swirled through the air.
“Logan, did you get any clues?” Midnight asked in a hopeful voice.
“Sorry.” He shook his head. “If he’s hiding something, he’s doing a really good job of it. Though there were a lot of papers on the table. We could look through them while he’s performing in the big top.”
“It’s too risky. But there’s more than one way to snoop.” Tabitha swung her backpack off her shoulder and patted it. Inside was her MacBook. “I’ll start digging up information on Carlo, and you guys can see what you can find out about snakes and accidents.”
Midnight nodded. “We’ll meet up in an hour.”
“Sounds great.” Tabitha’s eyes glittered with determination before she turned and walked to the wooded area behind the House of Mirrors.
“Carlo will have to be a great magician to hide anything from her.” Midnight giggled.
“Agreed.” Logan gave her a half smile as he toed the ground with his sneaker. When he looked up, his cheeks were flushed. “I think we should go to the amusement tents. We can play a few games and ask some questions.”
Midnight, who hadn’t been sure where to start, nodded. “That sounds great.”
“Though I warn you, when it comes to the Laughing Clowns, I’m an expert.” His voice was serious, but a cute smile tugged at his mouth.
“Is that a challenge?”
“Definitely.”
They wove their way through the crowds toward the carnival games, their shoulders almost rubbing so they didn’t get separated. They reached a green-striped tent where seven open-mouthed clown heads moved slowly back and forth, blank eyes looking out into the distance.
“Step right up. Two dollars will buy you five balls.” The woman working the stand had salt-and-pepper hair and layers of jewelry around her neck. “Test your skills, and win one of our glorious prizes.”
Along the back wall was an explosion of ugly stuffed animals, much like the one Logan had won for Bella. Midnight stifled a giggle.
“Do you have any snakes?” she asked.
“No. This year everyone wants bears and dinosaurs,” the woman said.
“I’ll take ten balls.” Logan handed over some money.
“Let’s see how you do.” The woman passed him two red cups, each filled with five balls. In turn, he gave one cup to Midnight.
“So, have you been busy today?” He fed his first ball into the clown’s mouth.
“Meh.” The old woman gave an indifferent shrug. “Just average. Being shut down yesterday didn’t help.”
“I can imagine.” He took out a second ball and studied it before peering at her through his dark lashes. “I was actually in the audience on the first day. It was so freaky. Anything like that ever happened before?”
Her gaze suddenly went blank. “There’s never any accidents,” she said, her voice almost robotic. A second later, her blank look was gone and she turned to a couple of young kids walking toward the stall. “Step right up, step right up…”
Midnight lowered her voice. “Carlo said the same thing. That there are never any accidents. What if the fire was just a coincidence?”
“It’s a possibility,” Logan agreed as she put the next ball in the clown’s mouth, aiming for the same target as the last one. But just as she released the ball, he gave her a soft nudge and it went awry.
“Hey. You did that on purpose.”
“I told you, I take my Laughing Clowns seriously.” He dropped another ball in. Midnight nudged him back, and he let out a groan.
“You’re not the only one,” she said, and the pair of them burst out laughing. The old woman gave them a dark glare as they handed back their cups.
They spent the next half hour going from tent to tent, buying tickets, attempting to win ugly stuffed animals, buying food and large sticks of cotton candy, all while asking the people who ran the games about the accident. And each answer was the same, delivered with a blank-eyed but resolute reply.
There’d never been any accidents at Cirque Fantastic.
“Is it wrong that I had fun?” Midnight finished her soda, her jaw aching from all the smiling. It turned out Logan didn’t just like winning at the Laughing Clowns. Everything he did was with a mock seriousness that made her giggle.
“Me too,” he said as they walked away from the stall toward the rides. Screams rang out as the giant mechanical arms swung people around in the air, swooshing as they went past. “Then again, I always have fun when we hang out.”
He did?
“I’m sorry we couldn’t go to the swimming pool today,” she said.
Logan stopped walking, his gaze catching hers. A nervous smile hovered on his lips, and she caught her breath. Is he going to kiss me right here? Right now?
“It’s okay,” he said before leaning closer. “Do you know you have chocolate on your chin?”
“Oh.” She didn’t move as he lightly touched her face with his finger.
Noise exploded in her ears. A thousand bees buzzing.
Noooooo.
Of all the times for spectral energy to turn up, it had to be now?
Her skin prickled as she reluctantly looked around to discover a delicate tendril of pink fog hovering several feet away from her.
Eliza Irongate! Or, what was left of her.
Eliza had been born in 1883 and died in 1895. Murdered by Miss Appleby, the first person to know of Midnight’s special abilities. Midnight had worked with Miss Appleby until she realized the old woman had been misusing spectral energy to stay alive for more than a century. Midnight had no choice but to destroy Miss Appleby and release all the trapped spectral energy so it could go to the Afterglow, and she thought she’d never see the spirit of the twelve-year-old girl again. But then Eliza had returned to stop Taylor’s ex-boyfriend from killing them. Which meant if she was here now, it was for one reason only.
