\nHomestead, Pennsylvania: August 1892\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n1<\/b>\n<\/p>\n
\nAs the train slowed, Neva cracked open the door to the advance men\u2019s bunkroom and peered inside. \u201cWell, you\u2019re not supposed to be there,\u201d she murmured to the room\u2019s petite, petrified occupant. But her words were drowned out by Brother Paste, who rapped the window at the other end of the railcar and shouted, \u201cDamnation! It\u2019s a sticker war!\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nNeva had made her observation to a pale girl who couldn\u2019t have been more than sixteen\u2014the age Neva had been when she joined the circus four years ago. The girl looked more terrified than most runaways, but maybe that was because Brother Paste, whose voice was every bit as immense as the man himself, hadn\u2019t stopped shouting.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe bastards stole a march on us!\u201d he roared as the train eased into the station. \u201cThey papered over all our mummies!\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nNeva mouthed \u201cBe still\u201d to the runaway and then leaned back to see where the big man was pointing. Lithographs of wild animals and near-naked performers coated the saloon opposite the station, the bar\u2019s sagging walls \u201cmummified\u201d from top to bottom with advertisements for the circus. But while the eye-catching colors were familiar\u2014grassy greens and peacock blues and molten reds more brilliant than any you\u2019d find in even the best magazines\u2014the name was wrong: \u201cRingling Bros.\u201d instead of \u201cBarnum & Bailey.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWould that saloon be \u2018The Tipsy Cow?\u2019\u201d asked Floy, the only other regular advance man on board. Unruffled, he was checking the list of pasting contracts.\n<\/p>\n
\nBrother Paste, halfway through yanking his pasting smock over his head, grunted what sounded like an affirmative. He\u2019d spent the last hour brewing a barrel of his flour-and-water-based adhesive in case they needed to post some last-minute ads. He was probably cursing himself for not making more.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAdvance Car 1 signed the bar\u2019s owner\u2014a Mr. Wilcox\u2014to a pasting contract back in May,\u201d Floy noted. \u201cCars 2 and 4 confirmed it in June and July.\u201d He struck a line through that portion of the list. \u201cNo complimentary tickets for him.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cHe\u2019ll still get a piece of my mind,\u201d Brother Paste growled, finally out of his smock. He hefted one of the rolling pins the advance men used to flatten the lithographs against their intended surfaces. \u201cAfter we make sure the Ringling crew is good and gone. Come on, then\u2014get yourself something to knock heads with.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nThis last was to Neva and the other fill-ins, especially grizzled Ceburn, who was almost as large as Brother Paste. But Ceburn said what he always did\u2014nothing\u2014and the significantly shorter Gemi and Dorian crossed their arms.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cNo one said anything about paying us to brawl on our day off,\u201d Neva reminded Brother Paste. \u201cCome get us when you\u2019re sure the Ringlings are gone, and we\u2019ll put up your posters.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nThe advance man glared at her, muttered something about \u201cOld men and colored midgets,\u201d and stalked off the car.\n<\/p>\n
\nOnce Floy followed, she turned back to the runaway, who\u2019d had the sense not to repeat whatever she\u2019d done to make the incriminating noise Neva had heard a few moments earlier. \u201cYou picked the wrong train, little rube. This is Car 6. It works for the circus, confirming supplies and spreading the word. But it\u2019s not part of it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nDorian squeezed his head under Neva\u2019s arm, winked at the runaway, and stretched his face into a wide-eyed smile so ridiculous the poor girl couldn\u2019t help giggling.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThis one, though\u2014he\u2019s an act to himself.\u201d Neva tugged his hair until he withdrew, still beaming like a jack-o\u2019-lantern. \u201cA clown on and off the job. Normally us performers wouldn\u2019t be here, but most of Brother Paste\u2019s team is sick.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nDorian slid under Neva\u2019s arm backwards this time, clutched his rear end, and made a long, wet farting noise. The runaway giggled again as Gemi\u2014her hands hairier than most men\u2019s\u2014grabbed hold of Dorian\u2019s shoulders and returned him to the main cabin.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cNo one asked for an illustration,\u201d Gemi growled.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe rube came to see \u2018The Greatest Show on Earth,\u2019\u201d he protested.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThen stop disillusioning her.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nNeva couldn\u2019t help grinning. \u201cThe rest of the circus will be along tomorrow,\u201d she told the runaway. \u201cStay out of the way and we\u2019ll get you sorted.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nThe girl nodded.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cRassy,\u201d she whispered, her voice threaded with hope.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI\u2019m Neva\u2014Neva Freeman. It\u2019s nice to meet you.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nBefore Rassy could respond, Brother Paste bellowed \u201cTrespassing bastards!\u201d from somewhere outside the car. Neva motioned for the runaway to hide, then closed the bunkroom\u2019s door and ran to the nearest window. A second later, she jerked her head back as a pail of paste thunked against the car and coated the glass in white goo. She moved to the next window and did a quick count of the sticky, shouting men outside. \u201cThere are at least seven from Ringling\u2019s\u2014no, eight.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nGemi joined her at the window to watch. Brother Paste and Floy were standing back to back, dripping with paste from another hurled bucket. Even so, they were giving better than they were getting. Brother Paste had laid out two of the rival advance men with his rolling pin, and Floy had jabbed another in the gut with Car 6\u2019s stirring stick, doubling the man over.\n<\/p>\n
\nBut the odds remained bad.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cMaybe we should go out and help,\u201d Gemi said, reflecting Neva\u2019s own thoughts.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cNo need,\u201d Dorian replied. \u201cThe fight\u2019s coming to us.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nNeva turned in time to see four more of Ringling\u2019s advance men clamber into the car.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cLook at this,\u201d the ugliest said when his eyes lighted on Gemi\u2019s furry arms and chin. \u201cThey brought the darkie freakshow.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cMust be their Gorilla Girl.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAnd that\u2019d make the little man, what? Her chimp husband?\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nWith a juggler\u2019s grace, Dorian tossed a rolling pin to Gemi and two to Neva.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI like the taller colored girl, myself.\u201d The first advance man took another step forward and whistled at Neva. \u201cBet you she\u2019s in their ballet. I might actually pay to see those legs do a kick or two.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWho\u2019s the geezer, then?\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nNeva offered one of her pins to Ceburn. \u201cHe\u2019s our wax man. Makes the best models in the business. And if you don\u2019t get off this car, he\u2019s going to help us wax you.\u201d She hoped it was true; she barely knew the man. He mostly stayed in his compartment on the main train and let his apprentice set up their sculptures at each stop\u2014it had been jarring to see Ceburn volunteer for fill-in duty. But maybe there was more grit to him than he let on.\n<\/p>\n
\nOr maybe not. When Neva gave him the pin, he just looked at it and blinked.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe Ringling advance men laughed. They were only a few feet away now, brandishing their own pins and fanning out as much as the cluttered car allowed.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThere\u2019s no need for this,\u201d Neva tried, glad her words sounded calm. \u201cWe only came along to make a little extra coin. You can keep your posters up for all I care.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cToo late,\u201d the first advance man sneered, tensing for a lunge.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAnd to the fire-eyed maid of smoky war, all hot and bleeding will we offer them,\u201d Dorian intoned, freezing everyone.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWhat the hell was that?\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cA monkey quoting Shakespeare to an ass.\u201d Dorian let the words linger in the air a beat before flashing a nastier version of his jack-o\u2019-lantern smile and chucking a rolling pin into the man\u2019s ugly face.\n<\/p>\n
\nDorian got two more throws off before the advance men overcame their surprise. Both shots did damage, but not enough to prevent the Ringling goons from charging.\n<\/p>\n
\nGemi struck next, landing her blows low and fast. A shin, a knee, an ankle\u2014in a trice, the advance men were all limping and yelping. Neva capitalized by whacking a few more legs, along with a shoulder and an elbow.\n<\/p>\n
\nYet Ceburn just stood like a lump off to the side.\n<\/p>\n
\nIf he\u2019d done his share\u2014or even half it\u2014maybe they wouldn\u2019t have lost the advantage. But once the advance men started swinging back, their size and reach quickly won out over the performers\u2019 speed. Dorian went down within seconds, and Gemi soon after.\n<\/p>\n
\nAt which point Neva, woozy from a smack to her temple and inches away from being cornered, stopped holding back and revealed herself to be the biggest freak in the car.\n<\/p>\n
\nIt wasn\u2019t just that she started contorting her body in ways that made her one of the most compelling acts in Barnum & Bailey\u2019s Sideshow. She was flexible to be sure, her muscles more pliable than most of the acrobats\u2019. But she could also stretch her bones. Silently snap and reform them into new positions that defied natural anatomy.\n<\/p>\n
\nWas it magic? Witchery? Normally, these types of questions kept her from bending publicly in anything but her performances. And even then, she only augmented her twists and turns with minor distortions, small tweaks that were enough to make people marvel at the results without wondering what enabled them.\n<\/p>\n
\nThis idiotic sticker war seemed close to becoming a matter of life or death, however. And her friends were bleeding on the floor. So Neva bent. Compressing her spine so she could duck lower than she should have been able to. Nudging her ribs to the right so she could avoid a jab while staying in place. Extending her legs so she could jump over the backswing.\n<\/p>\n
\nLengthening her limbs also let her strike further and more unpredictably. Soon enough, it was the advance men who were retreating, eyes wild as she pressed them with unnatural, off-kilter flurries of her rolling pin. It hurt\u2014bending always hurt. But it was also exhilarating to be this bold, this unleashed, this powerful.\n<\/p>\n
\nUntil three more Ringling advance men flooded onto the railcar, and the odds worsened yet again.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWatch her,\u201d one of the original assailants warned the newcomers. \u201cShe\u2019s like a damn octopus.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nYet they were too many now, bending or no, and it took less than a minute for her to lose all the ground she\u2019d gained. \u201cCeburn!\u201d she yelled as a vicious thrust forced her up against the bunkroom door. \u201cNow would be a good time to stop acting like one of your stupid models!\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nThe jibe wasn\u2019t enough to rouse him, but Rassy\u2019s cry was.\n<\/p>\n
\nShe screamed when the ugly advance man from the first group missed Neva for the umpteenth time and followed his arm\u2019s momentum into the bunkroom door, smashing it open and sprawling face-first into the narrow confines beyond. Neva nearly lost her balance trying not to trip over the man, but something about the fear in Rassy\u2019s voice finally stirred Ceburn\u2014and it made all the difference.\n<\/p>\n
\nWith a howl worthy of the menagerie\u2019s hyenas, the \u201cgeezer\u201d bowled into the advance men from behind, sending two flying and another to his knees. Belatedly, the rest turned their attention to the improbably furious sculptor while Neva caught her breath. More reinforcements arrived a second later, as Floy, Brother Paste, and a stranger wearing\u2014of all things\u2014a blue U.S. Army uniform rushed into the car trumpeting various battle cries. Combined with Gemi reviving enough to batter the Ringling crew from below, and Dorian springing up to bewilder them with more Shakespeare (\u201cCowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste death but once!\u201d), it wasn\u2019t long before Car 6 belonged to Barnum & Bailey again.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cRight,\u201d Brother Paste said once the last of his rivals had tumbled out of the train. \u201cThat was a good one. We all in one piece?\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nGemi slumped against the wall and shook her head. \u201cCeburn\u2019s down. Took a hard hit at the end.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cNot just down,\u201d Dorian clarified in horrified awe. \u201cThey knocked his face off.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d Neva hurried to where Dorian was kneeling over the sculptor. Rassy crept alongside as the clown pointed to the big man\u2019s nose.\n<\/p>\n
\nHis second nose.<\/em> The first had been broken off, taking a layer of flesh with it and uncovering a perfectly formed duplicate beneath.\n<\/p>\n \nCeburn had been wearing a wax mask of himself.\n<\/p>\n \nAnd now he was dead.\n<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n \n2<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nNo one knew quite what to make of it. Not at the time, and not in the predawn hours of the next morning, when Neva, Dorian, Gemi, and Rassy were waiting outside town, just beyond the railyard, for the circus to arrive.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhy would you craft a mask of yourself?\u201d<\/em> wondered Dorian for at least the fifth time. \u201cGranted, it was good\u2014couldn\u2019t even tell he was wearing it. But it\u2019s not like he was particularly handsome. Or even vaguely appealing. Or, you know, passable. Why not try on something prettier?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nGemi snorted. \u201cYou\u2019re sure you wouldn\u2019t make a mask of yourself? You and that mirror of yours are pretty friendly.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHey, now. Some of us actually have to shave.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nGemi stroked her beard. \u201cIt\u2019s in my contract not to. Nothing requires you to bat your eyes at yourself.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNo, but it is my sacred duty to maintain perfection.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva rolled her eyes. Normally, she appreciated the duo\u2019s irreverence, which they wielded like a shield when necessary. And it had helped make the twelve hours or so since Ceburn\u2019s death more bearable. But the act was starting to wear thin. \u201cHow are you doing?\u201d she asked, glancing at Rassy.\n<\/p>\n \nThe runaway still looked shaken. \u201cWhat will happen to him?\u201d She nodded at the long bulge in the multipiece, bedsheet-sized poster Brother Paste had reluctantly let them use as a shroud (seeing as it had been battered beyond repair in the fight).\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThere\u2019ll be a service later today, probably after setup. Then someone will try to contact his family, and\u2026 we\u2019ll see where that goes.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAnd the men who did that to him?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThey were already on their train by the time we found the sheriff, but word will catch up with them soon.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI see.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nShe didn\u2019t seem to, though. And why should she? She must have stolen onto that train imagining all the wonders she\u2019d see as part of the circus, all the freedom she\u2019d have. Instead\u2026 \u201cListen,\u201d Neva said after a moment. \u201cIf you want to go home, it\u2019s not too late to\u2014\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nA steam-powered whistle rent the early-morning air, and a massive cheer went up.\n<\/p>\n \nNeva didn\u2019t stand, but most of the crowd around them did, hundreds of locals who, despite Ringlings\u2019 attempts to muddy the date, had gathered well before sunrise to catch their first glimpse of the Barnum & Bailey Circus.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThat\u2019s the iron horse you should have jumped on,\u201d Dorian noted to Rassy when the glow of the lead engine\u2019s headlamp grew visible. \u201cThat\u2019s the real thing.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nLysander, the handsome army man who\u2019d appeared at the end of yesterday\u2019s sticker war, strode over with his notebook held up to what remained of the moonlight. \u201cHow many trains total?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cFour,\u201d Neva said. \u201cEach with a locomotive and twenty-three custom cars.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cEmployees?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cMore than a thousand. Hundreds of animals too\u2014this isn\u2019t some mom-and-pop mud show.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAnd they\u2019ll really unload all that and set up in under two hours?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWatch.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nLysander scribbled down notes as the first train rolled to a stop beside the designated empty lot. Officially, he was the latest in a long line of military men who\u2019d come to observe the railway circus\u2019 transportation methods (in his case, with an eye towards improving the logistics of the army\u2019s artillery service). But when the gilded wagons started rolling off the flatcars, and the elephants came out to help with the heaviest work, Lysander looked just as gobsmacked as all the locals, many of whom had likely traveled all night to be here for this very moment.\n<\/p>\n \nThe newspapers called the choreographed explosion of activity the \u201cGreatest Free<\/em> Show on Earth.\u201d Polemen and beasts laboring under lantern light to unload the cars in order of use. Canvasmen mapping out positions for the two-hundred-by-four-hundred-and-sixty-foot Big Top and the eleven smaller tents. Roustabouts sledging tent stakes into the appropriate points. Elephants, horses, and pulleys lifting immense folds of fabric as they constructed the day\u2019s first wonder: a canvas city.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cJumbo Jr. is my favorite,\u201d Neva confided to Rassy, who seemed taken with the largest elephant. \u201cWait \u2018til you see Sadie\u2014one of the animal trainers\u2014ride his tusks during the show.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI\u2019m more interested in breakfast,\u201d Dorian said, holding his stomach. \u201cThe Dining Tent should be up soon.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nGemi snorted. \u201cOf course you are.\u201d She\u2019d just made her way back from a trip to the rear of the second train to fetch Thurston, Ceburn\u2019s apprentice.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIs that him?\u201d asked Thurston, pointing to the poster shroud.\n<\/p>\n \nNeva nodded, but said nothing until the apprentice had pulled back the vividly colored edge and had a look. \u201cYou see that mask? Is that\u2026 normal?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNow it was Thurston\u2019s turn not to reply immediately. He spent the better part of a minute peeling more and more of the poster off Ceburn, at one point lifting the dead man\u2019s shirt and removing his boots.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIt\u2019s more than a mask,\u201d Thurston muttered eventually. \u201cHere.\u201d He handed Neva the lantern and gestured at Ceburn\u2019s fingers.\n<\/p>\n \nShe knelt to examine them. They looked\u2026 wrong. Scalped at the tips, in the same way Ceburn\u2019s nose looked shorn of a layer.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI took this off them,\u201d Thurston said, showing her the wax peelings he held in his hand. \u201cIt\u2019s all over him\u2014a whole second skin.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva drew back. \u201cHow?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI don\u2019t know but\u2026 it\u2019s like he made himself into his own wax model.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nLysander swore softly. Glancing behind her, Neva saw that Rassy, Gemi, and Dorian were all expressing similar versions of horror.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIs that even possible?\u201d asked Neva.\n<\/p>\n \nThurston stood and shrugged. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen painted wax that supple. It must have moved with him. And it\u2019s so lifelike\u2026 He was hell to work for, but he was a master.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d She squeezed the apprentice\u2019s shoulder. \u201cDo you want help carrying him?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNo, I\u2019ll get one of the roustabouts. But thank you.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cSure.\u201d Neva helped him drape the poster back over Ceburn, hiding him once more beneath its tapestry of prowling lions and scantily clad dancing girls. Then Thurston left to reenter the scripted chaos still engulfing the trains.\n<\/p>\n \nShe turned to Rassy. \u201cI need to get ready for the parade. We do a free one through the town before the grounds open. You can stay with Gemi\u2014she doesn\u2019t march.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNone of the freaks do,\u201d Dorian added. \u201cIf they did, they\u2019d be giving their wares away for free.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nGemi thumbed her beard at the clown before taking Rassy\u2019s hand and nudging her toward the nearly completed Dining Tent. The runaway resisted at first, casting a plaintive look at Neva.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cDon\u2019t worry,\u201d Neva said, trying her best to sound reassuring. \u201cI\u2019ll see you after. Promise.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nIt wasn\u2019t much, but it was enough to get Rassy to nod and follow Gemi and Dorian.\n<\/p>\n \nLeaving Neva\u2019s mind free to spin with questions.\n<\/p>\n \nWas Ceburn\u2019s mask just the last work of a brilliant craftsman? Or was it something else? Something that only someone like her could have made, someone born with an ability that bordered on\u2014and probably was\u2014witchcraft?\n<\/p>\n \nThere was only one person she could ask such questions: Augie, her twin brother and the circus\u2019 primary ventriloquist. No one but him knew she could bend; no one but her knew his talent for mimicking voices and casting them afar was more than hard-earned skill.\n<\/p>\n \nShe\u2019d find him in the middle of the third train, dozing in the single men\u2019s sleeper car until the last possible moment. If she could rouse him soon\u2026\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cExcuse me\u2014Neva, was it?\u201d Lysander jogged to catch up with her. \u201cDo you mind if I pose you a few more questions about the mechanics?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cCan\u2019t you ask someone else?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI have an appointment with Mr. Bailey, but that\u2019s not until noon. Until then\u2026\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva swerved around a team of roustabouts tensioning the last of the Big Top\u2019s support lines.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYou were a big help yesterday, and I appreciate that. I do. But I really need to\u2014\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cLOOK OUT!\u201d a panicked voice yelled from off to the left.\n<\/p>\n \nNeva instinctively hopped to the right, then grabbed Lysander when he didn\u2019t do the same. It was well she did. A moment later, Jumbo Jr.\u2014the magnificent descendant of Jumbo, the circus\u2019 first elephant\u2014flopped to the ground where they\u2019d been walking, his trunk rebounding off the ground with horrible force.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNo!\u201d moaned Sadie as she abandoned her cart of training implements to run to her beloved animal\u2019s side. \u201cWhat did you DO to him?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNothing!\u201d the roustabout in charge of him protested, staying well back of the twitching elephant. \u201cHe just got the shakes and fell over!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nBut Neva thought she knew the cause. She\u2019d seen the flakes that flew off the mighty animal\u2019s trunk when it hit the ground, and when she darted over to verify, she found traces of the same substance still clinging to Jumbo Jr.\u2019s wrinkled skin in a subtle pattern:\n<\/p>\n \nThe remnants of two wax handprints.\n<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n \n3<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nNeva filled Augie in after the parade, on their way to lunch.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cJumbo Jr.\u2019s all right, though?\u201d he asked.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWe\u2019ll see. They\u2019ve got him resting under a tarp.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cGood.\u201d Augie waved to the circus mailman as he zipped around them and into the Barber\u2019s Tent. \u201cBut I agree: something\u2019s off about this. I\u2019ll try to get a look at Ceburn\u2019s body before the service.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThank you.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAre you ready for tonight?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva pulled up short outside the Dining Tent. She\u2019d completely forgotten. Tonight was her chance to impress Imre Kiralfy, director of the circus\u2019 production of Columbus and the Discovery of America.<\/em> If she danced well enough in her supporting role, he\u2019d promised to give her serious consideration for one of the leads. Which would make her the first featured colored performer in Barnum & Bailey history. \u201cI want to run through my steps one more time, but\u2026 yes. I think I\u2019m ready.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cEven with all this going on?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI\u2019m not sure I have a choice.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cTrue.\u201d He pointed through the flaps of the Dining Tent\u2019s entrance. \u201cIs that your runaway?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nRassy was sitting with Gemi, Dorian, and Lysander at the Sideshow table.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThat\u2019s her.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOnce we go South, you won\u2019t be able to sit with us,\u201d Neva heard Gemi telling Rassy as they approached. \u201cIt\u2019s separate everything down there. But for now it\u2019s fine.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva and Augie pulled chairs over and flagged down a waiter. After putting in their order, Augie turned to Dorian and produced a playing card.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThe Queen of Spades?\u201d Dorian clapped his hand to his forehead and pretended to faint.\n<\/p>\n \nLysander wrinkled his mustache. \u201cWhat\u2019s that about?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cSome absurd game of hide and seek he and Augie are playing,\u201d Neva said absently as she looked about the tent. \u201cIf I understand it right, Dorian owes Augie a drink.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHe does indeed,\u201d Augie confirmed.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOnce the season is over, of course, and our contracts allow it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHer brother smiled innocently. \u201cOf course.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nLysander glanced at his notebook, as if debating whether this tidbit was worth transcribing.\n<\/p>\n \nNeva\u2019s eyes rested on Brother Paste, stuffing his face at one of Management\u2019s tables. Why was he still here? Shouldn\u2019t he have collected the other advance men and headed out by now? \u201cDon\u2019t bother asking about the game\u2019s rules. It makes no sense to anyone but the two of them.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nTo Rassy\u2019s amusement and Augie\u2019s annoyance, Dorian refused to stop pretending he\u2019d fainted.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHow much meat would you say the cooks went through this morning?\u201d asked Lysander, returning to his singular focus on logistics. \u201cA half ton? And most of it prearranged by the advance men? I saw several butchers waiting to meet the trains.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cProbably,\u201d Neva guessed, still pondering Brother Paste\u2019s presence. \u201cMr. Bailey can tell you better than I. Shouldn\u2019t you be seeing him soon?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThat\u2019s been postponed until this afternoon.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAh.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhat\u2019s a rube?\u201d asked Rassy in her small voice.\n<\/p>\n \nNeva hid her smile. It was good to see the runaway coming out of her shell. \u201cRubes are what circus folk call normal people.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThat or gillies,\u201d Augie added.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cBut if you hear \u2018Hey, rube!\u2019 that means there\u2019s about to be a fight.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nRassy\u2019s eyes widened. \u201cLike the sticker war?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cSort of, but that was our circus against another circus. A \u2018Hey, rube!\u2019 is when some local idiots get sauced and start swinging at performers.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOr laborers,\u201d Gemi said. \u201cOr whoever. We stick together when that happens.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nLysander cleared his throat. \u201cI hope it doesn\u2019t happen tonight. You heard about the strike they had here in July? Turned into a pitched battle between the steelworkers and hundreds of Pinkertons the Carnegie Corporation shipped in. And I saw some Pinkerton guards sitting over by the owner\u2019s table\u2026\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nDorian woke from his \u201cfaint\u201d to laugh. \u201cOur Pinkertons aren\u2019t the fighting type.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cEven so.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva straightened in her chair\u2014Thurston had wandered into the Dining Tent. She\u2019d been hoping to ask him more questions about Ceburn. \u201cGemi, can you see that Rassy\u2019s settled in the Dressing Tent? I have a few things to take care of before Sideshow opens.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOf course.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nDorian eyed the still-steaming plate of hash and potatoes the waiter had set down in front of Neva. \u201cDoes that mean\u2026\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cSure.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cGlory.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nAs Dorian slid the plate to his side of the table, Neva noticed the panicked look on Rassy\u2019s face. \u201cI\u2019m sorry to leave you again, but you\u2019re not a \u2018rube\u2019 anymore. You\u2019re one of us, and that makes you family. Have Gemi steer you to Marrette\u2014that\u2019s our Fat Lady. She\u2019ll look after you.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAll right\u2026\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva patted Rassy\u2019s back and stood. \u201cI\u2019ll see you soon.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThurston was carrying his plate out of the tent and eating while he walked. Neva hustled to intercept him. \u201cDid you hear what happened to Jumbo Jr.?\u201d she asked once she was close enough.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cJust that he fell,\u201d Thurston said around a mouthful of hash.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWith no warning of any illness. Strange, isn\u2019t it?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIf you say so. Animals aren\u2019t really my department.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThey were out of the Dining Tent now, headed for the Midway and its busy stalls of candy vendors and games of chance. The circus proper wasn\u2019t open yet, but as usual, the hundreds of predawn arrivals had already swelled to thousands ready to spend the money they\u2019d saved all year for the occasion, when classes were canceled, shops closed, and factories shut down. More people would be on the way, clogging roads within a fifty-mile radius with horses and wagons, or using the special \u201cexcursion\u201d train fares the advance men had arranged for today only. Brother Paste wasn\u2019t the pleasantest of fellows, but Neva was always impressed by how he and his colleagues made sure Circus Day was an event. <\/em>\n<\/p>\n \nNot that she cared much about any of that right now\u2014at the moment, the influx of circus-goers just meant there were more people in her way as she tried to stay next to Thurston. \u201cSpeaking of your department, do you know if Ceburn was trying to make a model of Jumbo Jr.?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThurston gave her a skeptical look as he cut between the Manager\u2019s Tent and the Press Tent. \u201cWhy would he do that?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cMaybe to stand next to his father?\u201d After his death in 1885, Jumbo Sr.\u2019s hide and skeleton had been preserved as separate exhibits. Augie thought them gruesome, but they were still big draws.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cJumbo Jr.\u2019s not dead yet,\u201d Thurston objected.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI know, but\u2026 there were wax handprints on his trunk.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThurston stopped to chew this over (along with a bite of potato). \u201cThat bit\u2019s odd. Ceburn wasn\u2019t working on a Jumbo model as far as I know. I don\u2019t think he was working on much of anything\u2014before this morning, I hadn\u2019t seen him outside his car for a week.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI heard that\u2019s not unusual.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNot really. He liked the Columbus<\/em> play well enough\u2014you and the other ballet girls in particular. But he didn\u2019t venture out for much else.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWould you mind if I see his car?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThurston frowned. \u201cWhy? We don\u2019t keep the display models there.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHis workshop is in there, right? I\u2019m just\u2026 curious. This is all so strange.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThurston shook his head. \u201cNo offense, but I\u2019d rather not have someone poking around until I can sort things. I still haven\u2019t figured out how he made that full-body encasement. I kept a piece of it, but\u2026\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nSomeone swore behind them, and Neva looked back to see Brother Paste braying at an unconcerned Floy.\n<\/p>\n \nThurston followed her gaze. \u201cAre you sure it was wax?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhat?\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOn Jumbo Jr.\u2019s trunk?\u201d He jabbed a potato at the advance men. \u201cTheir \u2018adhesive\u2019 is white too.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva raised her eyebrows. She hadn\u2019t thought of that.\n<\/p>\n \nThurston rotated the potato to point at the Sideshow Tent. \u201cIf you\u2019ll excuse me, I need to touch up some models before showtime\u2026\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOf course.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHe nodded and disappeared into the tent, still munching on his lunch.\n<\/p>\n \nHad he been evasive? More hurried than normal? It was hard to say, and today had to be a difficult day for him. Brother Paste, though\u2014what was he so mad about? (Beyond the usual?)\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAre the rest of your men still sick?\u201d she asked the advance man as he passed her.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cPuking, shitting messes,\u201d he grumbled. \u201cBe another day before we can move on. We\u2019re going to have to skip a stop to get back on schedule. Never done that before.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nFloy flicked his hand dismissively. \u201cCar 4 doubled back through Morgantown last week. Said it was fine.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cUnless Ringling is trying to steal our<\/em> stops. I don\u2019t like leaving one unsecured.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe two men kept moving towards the Press Tent, perhaps to help localize the \u201cobjective\u201d reviews of tonight\u2019s performance the circus would submit to Homestead\u2019s papers.\n<\/p>\n \nNeva debated following the pair but settled for calling out one last question. \u201cWhat do you think about Jumbo Jr. going down?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nBrother Paste spat to the side, narrowly missing Floy, who didn\u2019t so much as flinch. \u201cI think an elephant would make for a month of steaks.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nWell, that wasn\u2019t nice\u2014or helpful.\n<\/p>\n \nLetting the two men go, Neva took a step in the Dressing Tent\u2019s direction before slowing. Normally, she\u2019d spend the time between the parade and the opening of the Sideshow Tent devouring a novel. Today, she should<\/em> be practicing her steps. But two members of the circus had collapsed while coated with wax (or had it been paste?).\n<\/p>\n \nNeva clenched her jaw and turned around. Reading could wait. She could practice her steps while she walked. If there were answers to be found, some of them would be in Ceburn\u2019s workshop.\n<\/p>\n \n \n \n4<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nOn her way to the trains, Neva took a slight detour to pass by Jumbo Jr. The chain anchoring him to a nearby stake seemed completely unnecessary. He wasn\u2019t leaking from both ends like most of the advance men apparently were, but he looked no better than he had that morning, when the trainers had given up trying to rouse the elephant and asked the polemen to erect a tarp over him. His breathing was shallow for such an enormous chest, and his eyes half-lidded. If he\u2019d raised his head since Neva had seen him last, she couldn\u2019t tell.\n<\/p>\n \nIt didn\u2019t help that four young boys were throwing rocks at him.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cShoo!\u201d she yelled at them. \u201cShoo, or I\u2019ll toss you into the Menagerie and let the lions and tigers tussle over your bones!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe boys scattered with satisfying haste. Neva allowed herself another moment to stroke Jumbo Jr.\u2019s forehead, wincing to see his water bucket still filled to the brim. \u201cNo more white stuff on you,\u201d she said after a quick inspection. \u201cDrink up, Mr. Big Ears. I\u2019ll help you if I can.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nWhen Neva reached the railyard, she was only a little surprised to see Lysander exiting the second train, scribbling in his notebook as he descended. The man was relentless. \u201cSky looks rather ominous, don\u2019t you think?\u201d he said when he noticed her, angling his pencil at the darkening clouds in the west.\n<\/p>\n \nShe shrugged. \u201cThe circus can handle a little rain. Learn anything interesting about our railcars?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cA great deal, thank you. I\u2019d heard you customized their interiors to facilitate loading and unloading, but seeing it\u2026 The circus really is an exemplar of efficiency.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI\u2019m glad you\u2019re finding us so illuminating. What division did you say you were in again?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cFourth Field Artillery Regiment.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHe said it smoothly, without hesitation, but Neva made a mental note to confirm that a Lieutenant Lysander Smith of that body had indeed been granted access to Barnum & Bailey\u2019s inner workings. \u201cI hope all this is of help to the Fighting Fourth, then.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOh, it will be. Until later.\u201d Lysander raised his notebook to her and strode back toward the circus and its ever-expanding bustle.\n<\/p>\n \nShe watched him go for a moment before climbing into the same car he\u2019d climbed out of. It should have been locked, and there should have been Pinkertons patrolling the yard; neither safeguard was in evidence at the moment. Was that Lysander\u2019s doing, or just some lunchtime sloppiness?\n<\/p>\n \nThe car she\u2019d entered wasn\u2019t Ceburn\u2019s, but it wasn\u2019t far from it either. Neva only had to make her way between two intervening cars before she came to the wax sculptor\u2019s workshop and residence. She couldn\u2019t help being jealous as she entered the through-corridor. Only the top acts received their own cars. Ceburn certainly wasn\u2019t that <\/em> anymore, yet Mr. Barnum had been extremely fond of wax models before his passing the previous year. Ceburn must have been living out a legacy contract to still be traveling in such luxury.\n<\/p>\n \nAnd now Neva had come to a lock: the door to the wax sculptor\u2019s compartment wouldn\u2019t budge when she turned the knob. Fortunately, she always carried a master key\u2014of sorts.\n<\/p>\n \nGritting her teeth, Neva bent her finger to a fraction of its normal thickness, elongating it until she could fit the tip inside the lock and feel around for the keyhole\u2019s inner shape. Then it was just a matter of exerting the right pressure, ignoring the pain, and\u2026 click.\n<\/p>\n \nAugie would have scolded her. Her finger was bloody, and he\u2019d warned her never to deform herself enough to leave telltale scars. But the bleeding wasn\u2019t bad once she restored her finger to its natural dimensions, and now she was in Ceburn\u2019s shop.\n<\/p>\n \nShe\u2019d rarely seen a tidier workspace.\n<\/p>\n \nLabeled jar after labeled jar filled the shelves that lined every wall. Tools organized by type and length hung from a series of perfectly level hooks. And the central worktable looked clean enough to perform surgery on. If Thurston\u2014or anyone else\u2014had been in here after Ceburn\u2019s death, they\u2019d done a masterful job of cleaning up after themselves.\n<\/p>\n \nAside from a tiny dresser in a corner and a cot under the table, there wasn\u2019t much evidence the sculptor had done anything but craft in here. Various half-finished forms ringed the room, some painted, some still in their raw states. The only completed models were small, slightly larger than dolls. Indeed, they seemed to be dressed in doll\u2019s clothing.\n<\/p>\n \nNeva felt more out of place with each second. This had clearly been a sacred space for Ceburn. Was she doing the right thing by rummaging through it? When the third drawer she opened revealed nothing more suspicious than a stash of sweets, she nearly turned and left. But the fourth drawer contained a journal, and Neva knew as soon as she\u2019d read the first page that she was on to something.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cJames doesn\u2019t know a damn thing about art,\u201d <\/em> the initial entry began. <\/em>\u201cIt was Phineas that had the eye for imagination, the ability to recognize talent and vision. With him gone, I fear for the future. Never mind withstanding new sensations, like the coming World\u2019s Fair in Chicago. What about simply competing with the Ringling Brothers? James can manage a show, I\u2019ll give him that. Make it run like clockwork and conform to the railroad\u2019s timetable. No one better there. But when it comes to making the circus sing, transforming it into a thing of wonder\u2026 Well, we\u2019ll see. I\u2019m not optimistic.\u201d <\/em>\n<\/p>\n \nNeva skimmed the next few pages, looking for more entries about \u201cJames\u201d Bailey and \u201cPhineas\u201d Taylor Barnum. There were several, none of them dated. All were gloomy to some degree or other, and some were downright angry.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cBlast him!\u201d<\/em> the fifth read. \u201cWax models aren\u2019t \u2018relics of the past.\u2019 They\u2019re the wave of the future! What better way to bring culture to the countryside than to expose the masses to the likenesses of the greats, the movers and shakers of this age and those that preceded it? And if it\u2019s dollars and cents James cares about, he has only to look to the success of Madame Tussaud for proof of my works\u2019 long-term viability\u2026 \u2018Relics of the past.\u2019 Phineas must be spinning in his grave.\u201d <\/em>\n<\/p>\n \nNeva scanned a few more entries. She didn\u2019t have time to read them all, but one near the end caught her eye. \u201cJames just told me he won\u2019t be renewing my contract for next year. I\u2019m not sure I care anymore. Wouldn\u2019t it be better to finally set up my own shop, my own museum? Yet I will leave him with one great work, one model of unsurpassed excellence to remember me by\u2014and regret letting me go. I start tonight, and I\u2019ll put everything I can into it, no matter the risk. This will be my greatest creation. Phineas would have been proud.\u201d <\/em>\n<\/p>\n \nWhat risk was there in creating wax models? Neva closed the journal and, after enduring a lashing from her conscience about stealing from the dead, slipped the small notebook in her pocket. She\u2019d return it once she\u2019d read the whole thing. Either late tonight, when the performance was over, or early tomorrow morning. For now, she had to prepare for her Sideshow shift. As it was, she was going to be cutting it fine, but if she hurried\u2026\n<\/p>\n \nWhy was that jar further forward than the rest?\n<\/p>\n \nIn anyone else\u2019s workshop, a bit of unevenness would have looked completely natural. Yet here, in an environment so organized Neva felt like she was spreading chaos just by breathing, a slightly protruding jar stood out like a wart. It was only proper to push in the container of \u201cGlass Eyes – Black\u201d and restore harmony to Ceburn\u2019s symphony to systemization. Except something prevented the jar from moving back, so Neva pulled it out.\n<\/p>\n \nAnd inhaled so quickly she hiccupped.\n<\/p>\n \nThe object forcing the jar out of its rightful place was a small picture frame. In its front, someone had jammed a playing card\u2014a Jack of Diamonds. The card had the same styling as the Queen of Spades Augie had shown Dorian earlier that day.\n<\/p>\n \nMore puzzling still, when Neva removed the Jack, she found herself hiccupping into the face of the picture frame\u2019s subject: Rassy. Clothed exactly as she\u2019d been yesterday when she turned up on the advance train.\n<\/p>\n \nQuestions roiled in Neva\u2019s mind, but they were forced out by darkness a second later, after something hard and heavy hammered the back of her head.\n<\/p>\n \n \n \n5<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nNeva couldn\u2019t move when she woke.\n<\/p>\n \nAt first, she thought it was because her head ached and her thoughts were wobbling like wounded minnows. But it was more than that. Her arms, her legs\u2014even her eyelids were immobilized. She couldn\u2019t breathe particularly well either. Every inhalation felt filtered, every exhalation forced. What had happened to her?\n<\/p>\n \nShe tried to call out but couldn\u2019t open her mouth enough to emit more than a whimper. Had that blow paralyzed her? Was she dying on the floor of Ceburn\u2019s workshop? Could she still bend?\n<\/p>\n \nYes\u2014that helped. If she flattened the bones of her face a bit, her skin withdrew from whatever had coated it, allowing her mouth space to take a full breath and her eyes room to open.\n<\/p>\n \nShe was still in Ceburn\u2019s workshop. And standing, somehow. But the colors were all wrong. Distorted and washed out, as if she were looking through frosted glass.\n<\/p>\n \nOr a layer of wax.\n<\/p>\n \nOh God, she was encased in it, entombed in her own statue. Just as Ceburn had been before he died. She tried to thrash her way free, but the wax was stronger than iron\u2014she couldn\u2019t distort it, or fracture it, or move it so much as a whisker\u2019s width.\n<\/p>\n \nBut she could still bend. If she could find an opening\u2026 Whoever had trapped her\u2014sculpted her\u2014in here had left a small airhole by her mouth, but even she couldn\u2019t fit through that, not on her most-flexible of days. No, she needed something at least the size of a fist. But her sculptor had been thorough, covering every inch of her in impossibly stiff wax.\n<\/p>\n \nExcept for the soles of her feet\u2014Neva could feel the planks of the wood floor beneath her shoes. If the sculptor had cast her as a standing model, covering her base would have been irrelevant.\n<\/p>\n \nIt would only help her if she could expose the holes, though. And to do that, she had to rock her statue back and forth, building up momentum by bending to one side and then the other, over and over, until\u2026 she fell. Not gently, and not quietly, but before the statue had finished bouncing off the floor and rolling to a rest, Neva had squeezed her way out the model\u2019s left foot.\n<\/p>\n \nIt took a full minute to overcome the pain from so much rapid bending, and another after that to control her breathing. In the meantime, all she could do was lean against the door and stare at her waxy, dead-eyed likeness.\n<\/p>\n \nThe model was crude, plainly done in a hurry. But the shape was more right than not, and unsettlingly accurate when it came to her face. Peering into it was like looking at one of the Sideshow\u2019s angled mirrors, except worse. This was her, vaguely defined and drained of color, yet still recognizable. It was like a funeral mask for her whole body.\n<\/p>\n \nOnce her physical agony had ebbed, Neva straightened and surveyed the rest of the room. Rassy\u2019s picture was gone, but the mysterious sculptor had left the Jack of Diamonds on the floor alongside a red-stained shovel. Neva touched the matching stain on the back of her head and winced. The only good thing about the wax casing was that it had kept the swelling down. Now that she was free, she\u2019d already sprouted an egg-sized lump.\n<\/p>\n \nAfter pocketing the card, she noted that the lid of a barrel labeled \u201cWax \u2013 Thick\u201d was slightly askew. Nothing would make her touch the substance with her bare skin again, but she was willing to poke it with the shovel. The wax inside dented exactly as it should have.\n<\/p>\n \nHer statue still had the consistency of iron, however. When she tested it, the shovel\u2019s blade pinged off her fake torso in a way that suggested applying additional force would only dent the shovel. How had the sculptor done that? And in so short a\u2026\n<\/p>\n \nTime\u2014she had no idea what time it was.\n<\/p>\n \nNeva dropped the shovel and sprang to the door. She was late; there was no doubting that. But hopefully only for her Sideshow shift. If she\u2019d missed her dance in Columbus\u2026<\/em>\n<\/p>\n \nYet for all her haste, she wasn\u2019t the first one through the door. When she opened it, a small pale shadow darted past her and into the through-corridor.\n<\/p>\n \nShe leapt back instinctively, then leapt forward\u2014there wasn\u2019t enough money in the world to make her stay in that workshop, regardless of whatever had just slipped out of it.\n<\/p>\n \nThe shadow\u2019s identity became clear soon enough. When Neva burst into the corridor, the pale blur looked back at her from the connecting door and widened its black eyes.\n<\/p>\n \nThe eyes of one of Ceburn\u2019s wax dolls.\n<\/p>\n \nHoly hell, was there no end to the oddities in the old man\u2019s workshop of horrors?\n<\/p>\n \nThe doll turned back to the door and jumped for the knob. The first leap missed entirely, and the second only grazed the knob, but the third achieved a firm grasp. The doll didn\u2019t seem to know how to rotate the knob, though. After hanging from it for several seconds, the doll dropped back to the floor and scrambled for the adjacent window.\n<\/p>\n \nBy that point, Neva had overcome her shock\u2014this must be what Ceburn had meant by his \u201cgreatest creation.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWait,\u201d she called as she jogged towards the doll. She didn\u2019t want to touch it if she didn\u2019t have to, but there might be a little person under that outer shell, someone even smaller than Dorian or Gemi. A child perhaps, encased in the same way Ceburn had been and so petrified that it had stood absolutely still while Neva had been in the workshop. \u201cI won\u2019t hurt you!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nBut the doll had found a chair to scurry up, and the window had been propped open for ventilation. The tiny thing was sliding down the side of the train before Neva reached the end of the car.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cCome back,\u201d Neva tried as she raised the window to its full height and slid out herself.\n<\/p>\n \nThe doll\u2014midget? Child?\u2014didn\u2019t stop running, and now it was <\/em>on all fours, <\/em> loping like a baby gazelle. It was already clear of the railyard and zipping towards the circus. So Neva ignored her stiff muscles and throbbing head and sprinted.\n<\/p>\n \nNo one was around to watch her chase a creature a third her size. All of Homestead seemed to be at the circus, and everyone coming from out of town must have arrived long since. Neva judged the time to be late afternoon, but it was hard to tell with the dark clouds from the west starting to swallow the sun. There would be rain soon, maybe a lot. Best to catch the doll before things got slick.\n<\/p>\n \nIt was faster than her, though, almost ludicrously so. She\u2019d always been reasonably quick\u2014quicker than Augie, who was no slouch himself\u2014but the doll flat out dusted her on its way to the circus\u2019 nearest attraction: Jumbo Jr.\u2019s tarp. Once there, the little thing stood back up and disappeared between the forest of boots and shoes created by the crowd who\u2019d gathered around the elephant since Neva had passed by earlier in the day.\n<\/p>\n \nThe reason why became apparent as she drew closer.\n<\/p>\n \nIt wasn\u2019t just Jumbo Jr. now. There were four other elephants positioned around him, two on either side. Each pair shared a harness, to which was attached a giant rope that ran back and encircled Jumbo Jr.\u2019s neck.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhat is this?\u201d asked Neva as she slowed to a walk, still keeping an eye out for the doll.\n<\/p>\n \nA familiar head turned around to look at her\u2014Augie. \u201cNeva! Where have you been?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nShe maneuvered through the rear rows of the crowd until she\u2019d drawn even with her brother. \u201cWhat are they doing to Jumbo?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nSomeone banged a drum, and the harnessed elephants took a step away from Jumbo Jr. The crowd burbled.\n<\/p>\n \nAugie\u2019s face hardened. \u201cThey\u2019re hanging him.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva blanched. \u201cWhat? Why? He\u2019s just lying there. He\u2019s sick!\u201d <\/em>\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cVery. But about an hour ago, he found the energy to take offense to some idiot\u2019s poking and prodding. Gored the fellow\u2019s leg and flung him twenty feet. You didn\u2019t hear about that?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe drum beat again. The elephants advanced another step, taking up most of the rope\u2019s remaining slack.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cShit\u2026\u201d No one had said anything about a doll scampering between their feet. Everyone was looking up. Neva couldn\u2019t help doing the same. \u201cThere were boys throwing rocks at him\u2014 Bailey shouldn\u2019t have had Jumbo Jr. out here for rubes to torture. And now he\u2019s making a damn spectacle of this!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI know, but you need to stay put.\u201d Augie gripped her shoulder.\n<\/p>\n \nShe hadn\u2019t moved yet, but she wanted to. \u201cHe had wax on his trunk, Augie. This isn\u2019t his fault. Let me go.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNo.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nAnother drumbeat. Another step.\n<\/p>\n \nShe tried to throw his hand off, but he held firm. \u201cLet me go!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNot a chance.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nA few people\u2014all white circus-goers\u2014glanced back at them.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIn case you hadn\u2019t noticed,\u201d Augie hissed, \u201clet me point out that this is basically a lynching. Stay where you are, or they might string you up too.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nBeat. Step. The rope drew taut. Jumbo Jr. finally stirred, raising his head as much as the noose allowed.\n<\/p>\n \nNeva\u2019s bones still ached, and there were people everywhere, but if Augie didn\u2019t let her go in the next two seconds, she\u2019d bend her way free and damn the consequences.\n<\/p>\n \nSadie made that unnecessary. \u201cBack up!\u201d the trainer yelled as she strode out of the crowd, palms up and pointing at the nearer pair of elephants. \u201cBack up!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe pair snorted when the drum sounded again, but they didn\u2019t move forward. And when diminutive Sadie repeated her command, the two massive beasts took a step back.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cSadie!\u201d a man barked. \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cEnding this farce. Back up. Back up! Good boys.\u201d The elephants on the other side had taken a step back too.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cJumbo Jr.\u2019s been judged and sentenced!\u201d the man shouted. Neva recognized his booming timbre this time: it belonged to Orrock, one of the managers. She couldn\u2019t see him, but she had no doubt the sweaty attention-whore had arranged this disgrace. Nothing was off limits for him if it generated a round of applause.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHe\u2019s ill and he was abused!\u201d retorted Sadie. \u201cBack up one more step. Those are my good boys.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nOrrock emerged from the other side of the tarp, his secondhand suit splotched with even more perspiration than usual. A twitchy drummer followed behind. \u201cI\u2019ll have your job for this, Sadie! That elephant is dangerous. He\u2019s been condemned to die!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe trainer shrugged and pointed at Jumbo Jr. \u201cWhat are you going to do, hang the girl too?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva followed her arm and gasped: through the cracks in the crowd, she could see that a girl had moved next to the elephant and slipped the rope over her own neck. If the noose tightened again, it would choke her as well as Jumbo Jr.\n<\/p>\n \nAugie coughed in surprise. \u201cIs that\u2026\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYes,\u201d Neva whispered. \u201cThat\u2019s Rassy.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nShe looked scared, as she had every right to be. But she also looked defiant.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cBrave lass,\u201d someone said as Orrock sputtered.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYou can\u2019t do it now,\u201d someone else added.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cGive him a second chance!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThen the rest of the crowd came to life, exhorting Orrock to have mercy and spare the elephant and his young savior.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cGood show!\u201d a familiar voice exclaimed from off to the side. \u201cReally had me for a second\u2014I almost thought they\u2019d go through with it!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI knew that fellow they said Jumbo hit wasn\u2019t really hurt. Take a bow!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva rested her hand over Augie\u2019s and squeezed. He pretended to cough again so he could cover his mouth with his other hand.\n<\/p>\n \nThe last two voices were from their childhood. Derek, a friend, had been the first; Hatty, their mentor, the second. Augie was mimicking them. Duplicating their tone and cadence with unnatural precision and projecting them away from himself to anonymize their source. His tactic had precedent. One of the Big Top acts involved two performers masquerading as aggrieved audience members. Before the main show started, the duo stumbled into an argument and nearly came to blows, with the smaller chasing the larger out of the stands and onto the racing track. Eventually, they retreated to the men\u2019s dressing tent, at which point the audience realized they\u2019d just seen a skit. They usually cheered.\n<\/p>\n \nAs they did now, after further encouragement from Augie. It helped that Orrock was smart enough to force a smile and raise his arms, as if acknowledging that this had been the plan the whole time. Sadie played along too, blowing kisses to the crowd as she stood on her tiptoes to remove the rope from Jumbo Jr.\u2019s neck. Rassy flinched when she received her ovation, but positively beamed when the elephant\u2014still lying down yet flapping his ears with more energy than he\u2019d shown throughout the proceedings\u2014got the loudest applause of all.\n<\/p>\n \nAs the crowd moved away, though, its tumult of heads and torsos blocked Rassy from view. And when Neva finally reached Jumbo Jr., the girl was gone.\n<\/p>\n \n \n6<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nNeva raised her hands above her head to ward off the first drops of rain. \u201cWill you cover for me at Sideshow?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nShe and Augie had lingered by Jumbo Jr.\u2019s tarp for a few minutes, her brother\u2019s face darkening as she summarized what had happened to her in Ceburn\u2019s workshop. But the circus-wide break to view the aborted execution was over, and the Sideshow Tent was reopening. Their brother-sister act\u2014\u201cTwisted Twins: He\u2019ll Make You Laugh, She\u2019ll Make You Gasp\u201d\u2014needed to be up and running shortly.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI\u2019m not sure you should be on your own right now,\u201d Augie grumbled. \u201cI got a look at Ceburn\u2019s body before the service.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI\u2019m sorry I missed that.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cDon\u2019t be. It was short and awkward. No one knew him well enough to say much. But beneath the wax, he was far more decomposed than he should have been. Something strange happened to him.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cClearly. I\u2019m not going anywhere private, though. They\u2019ll be people about.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nAugie grimaced, then gave in, as she\u2019d known he would. \u201cJust don\u2019t be late for your dance cue.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cRight.\u201d Once again, she\u2019d nearly forgotten about her Columbus<\/em> performance. \u201cAt least this way I\u2019ll be too busy to get nervous?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHe chuckled darkly. \u201cSure, go ahead and find the silver lining.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOne more thing: any idea why a playing card of Dorian\u2019s was in Ceburn\u2019s workshop?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHer brother raised his eyebrows. \u201cYou\u2019d have to ask him. He\u2019s the one that hides the cards. I just hunt them down.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva frowned. \u201cI\u2019ll walk with you to Sideshow, then. Dorian\u2019s doing the Cooch Show tonight?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI think so.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cGood.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nTo avoid the crush of circus-goers trying to get out of the rain, she and Augie circled around to the back of the Sideshow Tent and ducked through the performer\u2019s entrance. Augie immediately went to their stall and began belting out good\u2014but not suspiciously good\u2014impressions of famous personalities. Neva slipped into the first of the tent\u2019s two partitions, and the only area of the circus marked \u201cGentlemen only.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nTillie, the warmup act, was already performing on the roped-off stage, shimmying in makeup and a skimpy costume that let her pass as \u201coriental.\u201d She finished with a series of gyrations that left the Homestead men slack-jawed and panting.\n<\/p>\n \nDespite her urgency, Neva grinned. The next bit was one of her favorite acts in all the circus.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cGentlemen!\u201d Edson, the Cooch Show\u2019s talker, cried out as he burst from the dancer\u2019s enclosed waiting area and leapt onstage. \u201cAre you ready to see the Beauty of the Fair shake and shiver like a bowl of jelly in a gale of wind?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe men hooted their assent. One tall fellow noticed Neva and winked at her. She winked back and pointed at the stage.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThen prepare yourselves for the dance that John the Baptist lost his head over!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe men hooted again as Edson hopped back off, but the catcalls sputtered and died when Dorian took his place. He was in his silliest drag, exaggerated foam breasts and buttocks complimenting his feminized clown makeup, ruffled clothes, and oversized nose shaped like a nipple.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThere\u2019s a place in France,\u201d Dorian chanted while he high-kicked arrhythmically around the stage, \u201cwhere the naughty perverts glance.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThat was the part Neva liked best\u2014the first moments of flabbergasted silence from a dozen or so horny rubes.\n<\/p>\n \nJust before Dorian started in on the cartwheels that would reveal his stained, baggy underwear, Neva caught his eye and motioned to outside the partition. He met her there a minute later, after Kitty, the third Cooch Show performer\u2014and a true belly dancer\u2014slinked out to soothe the rubes\u2019 embarrassment.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThe Jack of Diamonds?\u201d said Dorian after Neva gave him some abbreviated, non-fantastical context and showed him the card. \u201cOh, I hid that a couple days ago.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWas Ceburn there?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nDorian nodded. \u201cSleeping on his cot under the table. I didn\u2019t notice him until I\u2019d put the card in the jar.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva crinkled her nose. \u201cYou mean the picture frame.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNo, it was definitely a jar labeled \u2018Ears \u2013 Large.\u2019 Scary stuff in there. Pretty obscene, if you ask me. Who would want all those fake parts?\u201d He made a show of crossing his arms and resting them on his foam bosom.\n<\/p>\n \nNeva rewarded him with a smile. \u201cYou didn\u2019t see Rassy in there?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThe runaway? That would have been a trick, seeing as she hadn\u2019t run away yet. No, it was just ole\u2019 snoozy Ceburn.\u201d He gestured at the partition. \u201cCan I go back to work now? Some of us aren\u2019t taking the afternoon off.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cSure. Thank you.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cBreak a leg during Columbus.\u201d <\/em>\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI will. Don\u2019t let any angry rubes break one of yours.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva frowned as Dorian returned to the Cooch Show in time to play his role in the next sequence of titillation and confusion. She\u2019d gotten some answers, but they\u2019d only led to more questions.\n<\/p>\n \nSo it went for the rest of the afternoon.\n<\/p>\n \nIn the \u201cMysteries and Curiosities\u201d partition of the Sideshow Tent, she spoke briefly with Thurston beside the day\u2019s selection of wax models and an illusion of a disembodied head smoking a cigar. He said he\u2019d never seen Rassy before that morning and had no idea why Ceburn possessed a picture of her (which Neva claimed to have found in the pocket of a coat he\u2019d left in Advance Car 6). \u201cBut I did hear Ceburn say something about a daughter once,\u201d Thurston added. \u201cYou\u2019re sure it wasn\u2019t just a resemblance?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva shook her head, then winced as Hazard \u201cThe Human Ostrich\u201d bit off a chunk of a drinking glass, chewed it to bits, and washed it down his long neck with a swig of water.\n<\/p>\n \nAfter waving to Augie, she braved the rain to stop in at the Manager\u2019s Tent and chat with Quitman, the circus registrar. He was busy mapping next year\u2019s route, balancing crop reports, incidents of droughts, bank clearings, and a host of other factors that affected when each region was likely to be at its most prosperous. But he always had a minute for Neva, especially when she brought him a hand-rolled cigarette.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNo,\u201d he said, through a puff of smoke, in answer to her first question. \u201cBrother Paste and his team only joined us two days ago, when that terrible illness swept through Car 6. Normally he stays far enough ahead that we don\u2019t see him until the season\u2019s over. I expect that\u2019ll be the case once they push out again tonight.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWho?\u201d he replied to her second question.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cLieutenant Lysander Smith,\u201d Neva repeated. \u201cSaid he\u2019s Fourth Field Artillery Regiment?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHmm.\u201d Quitman rifled through the heap of papers on his desk before pulling out a sheet flecked with ash. \u201cI don\u2019t see him on the observer list, but it\u2019s possible Mr. Bailey made arrangements on his own. I can check into it if you\u2019d like.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cPlease.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva was soaked by the time she ducked into Stable Tent #2, where the performance animals were housed and Sadie was grooming Cheddar, her prized ox.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI hope they tied everything down,\u201d the trainer said after the wind pressed the canvas tight against the tentpoles.\n<\/p>\n \nNeva noted that Sadie was using a curry comb, fetched a second, and circled around to Cheddar\u2019s other side. \u201cWell done with Jumbo Jr. That was bold.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHardly. Orrock is easier to tame than a sloth.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cStill. Do you think you\u2019ll be able to get Jumbo on the train?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI won\u2019t let them leave without him.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva grinned. She enjoyed this fierce old master of beasts. \u201cYou mind if I ask you a few questions? I\u2019m trying to chase something down.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cKeep brushing Cheddar and you can ask anything you like.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cDid you ever see Ceburn or Rassy near Jumbo before today?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nSadie cocked her head and peered at Neva over Cheddar\u2019s back. \u201cCeburn, no\u2014I\u2019m not convinced that man left his car to do anything but his necessaries. And sometimes not even that; probably just jarred and labeled it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cPleasant.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe trainer shrugged. \u201cAnd Rassy is\u2026?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThe girl who saved Jumbo with you.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAh. Today was the first I laid eyes on her. I liked what I saw, though. She\u2019s got grit.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhat about Thurston? Or Brother Paste, or an army observer named Lysander Smith?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nSadie angled her head the opposite direction. \u201cNo wax men or military types, but Brother Paste seems to delight in swearing at my elephants when he goes by them. Full of bile, that one. What\u2019s this all about?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI\u2019ll let you know when I figure it out. Thanks for your help. I hope the animals don\u2019t spook from the storm tonight.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe trainer patted Cheddar. \u201cThis one won\u2019t. What\u2019s a little wind when you\u2019re used to jumping through flaming rings? See you in there.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva\u2019s last stop was the Menagerie Tent, the second largest in the circus. Upon entering, she couldn\u2019t help frowning at Gemi\u2019s placement in the \u201cEthnological Congress of Strange and Savage Tribes.\u201d It was bad enough that Bailey had the human \u201cfreaks\u201d like Marrette displayed alongside the tigers and camels and all the other animals. But the Ethnological Congress was a white man\u2019s vision of how humanity had progressed to position him at the top. \u201cThe Wild Men of New Guinea, Canoe Indians of Greenland, Poonans of Central Borneo, Bushmen from Australia, Amazons from Dahomey\u201d\u2014all these \u201cvanishing races\u201d and more were exhibited in dress and routines that emphasized their supposedly primitive natures. At the far end of the lineup sat a European reading a book. At the beginning stood Gemi, portrayed as the \u201cMissing Link\u201d between man and ape. This, despite the fact that she spoke seven languages and tutored children in the offseason.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cBecoming the first featured colored ain\u2019t gonna change any of this,\u201d Marrette noted. The Fat Lady, white as they came but never governed by it, had always been quick to guess Neva\u2019s thoughts.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI know.\u201d She forced herself to stop scowling. \u201cAnd it\u2019s still a decent place to work\u2014hard to beat free room and board plus wages. But then you see this, and think about how they call the colored musicians the \u2018Nig Band,\u2019 and refuse to hire colored laborers for anything but waiting tables\u2026\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAin\u2019t gonna change,\u201d Marrette repeated. \u201cSo, should I pack my bags and head home?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva scanned the milling crowd, happy to slip into the game she\u2019d played with the Fat Lady for more than a year now. \u201cYou might think about it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOh?\u201d Marrette followed Neva\u2019s eyes to a morbidly obese man in a suit. \u201cAh, shit. He\u2019s gonna put me out of business!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cSorry.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cDon\u2019t be. There\u2019s a fellow to the left that\u2019ll make you quit with me.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nObligingly, Neva looked for and found the man Marrette was speaking of, a farmer with a back so crooked it looked like some giant had picked him up and twisted him at the waist. \u201cGuess he\u2019ll be taking over contortions.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nMarrette chuckled.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHey, have you seen Rassy?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYour runaway? Not since she run away from me in the Dressing Tent.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhen was that?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAbout two minutes after Gemi brought her in. Why?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cShe was involved in the excitement with Jumbo Jr. I wanted to check on her.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe Fat Lady appraised her skeptically. \u201cThat\u2019s all, huh?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAnd you\u2019re the only one who gets to look after lost waifs? Why did she run away from you?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cSaid she had to get her things. Scut, of course, but I\u2019m past my chasing days. Catching you was my last race.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva grinned. It felt like eons since Marrette had outsprinted her and Augie and escorted them back to the circus that first night. \u201cI bet you can still move when you need to. Let me know if you see her, would you?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cSure. Now get going\u2014the horns\u2019ll be blaring any second.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nAs if on cue, the brass band burst into a marching tune, the signal for the audience to start filing through the short corridor that joined the Menagerie Tent to the Big Top. The main show was about to begin.\n<\/p>\n \nAnd Neva hadn\u2019t learned anything worth knowing. Or seen any sign of Ceburn\u2019s \u201cgreatest creation\u201d\u2014the glass-eyed doll.\n<\/p>\n \nHer head spun with questions while she changed for her number in Columbus, <\/em> the last act of the night. Who had hit and then encased her in Ceburn\u2019s workshop? Lysander? Brother Paste? Not the doll, surely, small as it was. And was it truly alive? Or was someone controlling it from afar, using a talent like her bending and Augie\u2019s mimicking? Could there be a mundane explanation? Like hallucinations brought on by that blow to her head? Did it matter that Rassy might be Ceburn\u2019s daughter? But then why hadn\u2019t she said something?\n<\/p>\n \nLater, <\/em> Neva told herself as the loading team\u2014drenched from dismantling and stowing all the tents except the Big Top, the only one still in use\u2014came to take her trunk. You can puzzle this out later. For now, focus on your steps. <\/em>\n<\/p>\n \nShe tried, but when she passed through the Dressing Tent corridor after intermission had ended, her concentration wavered almost immediately. Because when the first troupe of the play\u2019s three hundred-odd cast members fanned out to fill the racing track, three rings, and two stages that made up the Big Top\u2019s performance area, and Neva pivoted into a pirouette, she saw Rassy bringing up the rear.\n<\/p>\n \n \n7<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nThunder punctuated Neva\u2019s realization that the runaway was costumed like a dancer.\n<\/p>\n \nNeva had been so preoccupied with her thoughts in the Dressing Tent that she must have overlooked Rassy hiding in a corner somewhere, keeping to herself and borrowing an outfit when no one was paying attention. But here, beneath the light cast by the Big Top\u2019s blazing chandeliers, Rassy\u2019s presence was plain as day.\n<\/p>\n \nAnd somehow, she was doing a credible job of mimicking the other dancers\u2019 movements.\n<\/p>\n \nScene One opened with some of the most complex choreography in the show, with the \u201cMoorish dancing girls\u201d\u2014of which Neva was one\u2014entertaining the Sultan on the eve of his battle with the Spaniards for possession of Granada. Rassy wasn\u2019t flawless, but she wasn\u2019t bad either; most of the ten thousand or so audience members probably thought she was part of the show.\n<\/p>\n \nA few of the other dancers were looking askance at her, though. And from what Neva could see of the runaway\u2019s expression, she seemed nervous. Perhaps even more so than she\u2019d been while sharing Jumbo Jr.\u2019s noose. But Sadie was right: Rassy certainly had grit.\n<\/p>\n \nNeva wanted to go to her, yet she was conscious of Kiralfy observing from his director\u2019s box and Augie watching from the pit. She couldn\u2019t break character now\u2014every step counted.\n<\/p>\n \nSo she danced.\n<\/p>\n \nSpinning and leaping and diving for all she was worth, playing her part in the intricate, interlocking patterns of movement Kiralfy had first shown her and the other performers on color-coded graph paper and then drilled into them for weeks before the season began. She remembered the extra step before the fourth arabesque, and the half-twist before her second grand jet\u00e9\u2014elements she occasionally forgot when she was tired. Yet tonight she was as alert as she\u2019d ever been during the production, channeling her confusion and anxiety and excitement into style and poise and grace. She couldn\u2019t imagine doing the opening number better; Kiralfy had<\/em> to have noticed that.\n<\/p>\n \nAnd all the while, she kept an eye on Rassy.\n<\/p>\n \nNot every second. The dance demanded that Neva turn her head this way and that at various intervals. But whenever she could, she glanced over at Rassy, and at some point, the girl realized she was being watched and started glancing about herself.\n<\/p>\n \nThey were still a good thirty feet apart when they finally locked gazes. Rassy\u2019s eyebrows rose, but she didn\u2019t miss a beat\u2014how was she doing this? Neva smiled encouragingly. Yet it wasn\u2019t until the male dancers joined with the circus\u2019 many acrobats and trick-horse riders to stage an eye-popping fight sequence that she was able to draw close enough to ask the girl a question.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYou didn\u2019t say you knew how to dance,\u201d Neva whispered.\n<\/p>\n \nRassy flinched. \u201cPlease don\u2019t tell them.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cTell them what?\u201d Neva nodded at the other dancers. \u201cThey already know you\u2019re crashing this\u2014and doing a hell of a job of it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe runaway looked away. \u201cPlease.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cRassy, it\u2019s no big deal. A bit bold, perhaps, but after what you did for Jumbo Jr\u2026\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI didn\u2019t mean to hit you so hard.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhat?\u201d For a second, Neva wondered if she\u2019d misheard. The storm was so noisy now it sounded like God was playing a thunder drum, beating out a wild rhythm and pausing every few seconds to shiver the Big Top with wind. But when Rassy turned back to face her, and Neva saw the tears wetting the runaway\u2019s face, she knew she\u2019d heard correctly.\n<\/p>\n \nThere wasn\u2019t time to ask further questions, however. The Spaniards had \u201cbeaten\u201d the Moors, and the music was swelling for the next dance number as the horses were led out and the lead actors pantomimed the surrender of Granada. Letting instinct and routine take over, Neva fell into her steps, executing them down to the last detail even though they took her away from Rassy. But the energy was altogether different.\n<\/p>\n \nShock was the fuel that fired Neva now. Rassy<\/em> had hit her in Ceburn\u2019s workshop. Not Lysander, or Thurston, or Brother Paste\u2014Rassy, the runaway she\u2019d tried to take under her wing, had brained her with a shovel. But why? Because she\u2019d seen the girl\u2019s picture? Or did she have something to do with Ceburn\u2019s wax body mask? And what about Jumbo Jr.\u2019s illness?\n<\/p>\n \nFocus,<\/em> Neva reminded herself. Hit your steps until you can find out why Rassy hit you. <\/em>\n<\/p>\n \nIt wasn\u2019t easy. Her head ached with remembered pain, and the temptation to abandon the choreography and deal with Rassy was overwhelming. The only thing that helped was recalling one of Sadie\u2019s stories, about smiling calmly and finishing her act while blood poured into her boots from lacerations a misbehaving tiger had visited on her thighs and calves. Neva squared her jaw. If a trainer could do that, then a dancer could fight through a headache and a little uncertainty.\n<\/p>\n \nShe just had to make it to the end of the scene. Once Columbus came on stage and asked the victorious Spanish monarchs for their backing, the dancers would slip into the Dressing Tent to change for his farewell sendoff. Rassy would be easier to isolate there, with no ballet cues to constrain their interaction.\n<\/p>\n \nUnless she ran beforehand.\n<\/p>\n \nNeva had lost sight of the girl when her group of dancers swept around the other side of the third ring. When they reconvened, swirling into Neva\u2019s section in a mass mixing constructed to look captivating from above, Rassy was on course to pass within arm\u2019s reach of Neva. Instead, ten feet away, the girl bolted.\n<\/p>\n \nAnd Neva followed.\n<\/p>\n \nShe knew what she was casting aside when she took the first step, the first foot she\u2019d put wrong all night. Even during a normal production, Kiralfy wouldn\u2019t fail to notice one dancer running off early, much less two; tonight, he\u2019d promised to watch no one but Neva. Now she was ruining his masterpiece, intentionally departing from his symmetry and symbolism to chase another performer. That first step cost her everything she\u2019d worked for.\n<\/p>\n \nWhich, in one sense, made it almost a blessing that the Big Top chose that moment to collapse.\n<\/p>\n \nThe fall began with a bang\u2014a boom louder and sharper than any of the thunder that had preceded it. As if commanded to, Neva, Rassy, and everyone else stopped to look up and bear witness to one of the tent\u2019s outer poles swinging down in two pieces, its edges jagged where the storm had finally bested it and snapped the steel in two. The ties that lashed it to the canvas kept either half from reaching the ground, but only temporarily.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIt\u2019s a blow down!\u201d someone shouted after the next pole went, and the canvas sagged crazily on that part of the Big Top. But it wasn\u2019t until rain sprayed in from a tear in the fabric that the crowd seemed to hear a second unspoken command: run.\n<\/p>\n \nAnd then Columbus and the Discovery of America<\/em> became a stampede.\n<\/p>\n \nMost of the audience fought and clawed their way towards the corridor to the now-dismantled Menagerie Tent\u2014the way they\u2019d come in. Most of the performers scrambled for the entrance to the Dressing Tent. Few made it out before the rest of the Big Top came down.\n<\/p>\n \nRassy had been smart enough to head for the far edge of the tent, the furthest from any official exit. If she\u2019d been a hair faster, she might have been able to wriggle under the side. But a flailing actor clipped her cheek with his elbow, and the runaway lost her balance as Neva caught up.\n<\/p>\n \nIn the second before the tumbling canvas buried them both, she noticed Rassy\u2019s face had a hole in it now, her skin\u2019s outer layer broken away just as Ceburn\u2019s had been.\n<\/p>\n \n \n8<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nThe canvas would have been heavy regardless, but combined with the weight of what Neva had just seen, the pressure was suffocating. When she finally found the strength to reach for Rassy, it felt like there were acres of fabric in the way, with endless rain pounding down on it and people screaming from all sides. Being trapped in a wax model of herself had been horrific; this was worse.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cRassy!\u201d she yelled. \u201cAre you all right?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNo answer.\n<\/p>\n \nNeva tried to stand, but even loose, the canvas held her down, its folds blocking her and what little moonlight the clouds allowed to filter through. The tent\u2019s perimeter should still be close, though, and she thought she was pointed in the right direction. But moving beneath the fallen Big Top was like trying to navigate an enormous, tangled bedsheet; she had to bend twice to clear the last few feet.\n<\/p>\n \nIt was worth it to feel the rain on her face.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cFollow my voice!\u201d she shouted, resisting the urge to savor her freedom. She scanned the roiling mound of canvas\u2014its surface bucking and bulging like a maggot-infested pancake\u2014hoping to see a small, pale hand or head poking out nearby. But again, there was no sign of Rassy. Had she already escaped?\n<\/p>\n \nSpinning around, Neva saw members of the loading team converging on the deflated Big Top. The first arrivals grabbed an edge and held it up. The next wave ducked inside a pace or two and raised their section. The third did the same. In short order, a good chunk of the audience members and performers were free, many of whom helped hold up the next stretch of canvas.\n<\/p>\n \nRassy wasn\u2019t among them.\n<\/p>\n \nIt burned Neva not to join the rescue effort\u2014especially with Augie still somewhere underneath. But one more person wouldn\u2019t make much difference.\n<\/p>\n \nThe same was true when Neva heard a deep voice roar, \u201cHey, rube!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nBy that point, she\u2019d already sprinted past where the Dining Tent had stood before its disassembly earlier in the evening, her feet seeming to sink into the growing mud a little more with each stride. Ahead, she thought she could make out a morass of men wrestling each other in the muck of the Sideshow Tent\u2019s former plot.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHEY, RUBE!\u201d one of the combatants bellowed again, then added, \u201cGod-damned steelworkers!\u201d Only Brother Paste could sound excited to be brawling amidst ruin. Normally, Neva wouldn\u2019t have hesitated to join in, even when the summons came from one of the most-miserable bastards in the circus. But tonight, the steelworkers of Homestead had cause to pick a fight. And she had somewhere else to be. So she ran on.\n<\/p>\n \nOne of the steelworkers tried to draw her in anyway.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cCheats!\u201d he shouted, knocking down the Pinkerton opposite him and lurching in front of Neva. \u201cTook our money and smashed the tent on us!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nShe sidestepped him. \u201cYou really think that was the plan?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cCheats!\u201d he shouted again. \u201cThieving carnie scum!\u201d For a man slathered in mud and reeking of drink, he was remarkably agile. Or lucky. Whichever it was, he managed to snag her wrist as she sped past. And his grip was as strong as the metal he crafted for a living: the steelworker didn\u2019t so much as budge when Neva\u2019s momentum carried her as far forward as her arm would stretch.\n<\/p>\n \nStretch normally. Bending stretched her further, lengthening her arm enough to narrow her wrist and slide it free of the astonished steelworker\u2019s grasp. After putting some distance between them, she called back (to Brother Paste and the Pinkertons as well as the steelworker), \u201cPeople are still trapped under the Big Top. Stop fighting and help them, you damn idiots!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nShe didn\u2019t look behind her to see if they\u2019d listened. All her concentration now was on getting to the railcars and into Ceburn\u2019s workshop. She wasn\u2019t certain Rassy would go there\u2014she could be anywhere in this rain\u2014but if the runaway wanted to repair her face, that\u2019s where she\u2019d find the wax. And if Neva could just\u2026\n<\/p>\n \nRassy was under Jumbo Jr.\u2019s tarp.\n<\/p>\n \nNeva stopped so suddenly she skidded at least a yard. Between the dark and the rain, it was hard to be certain of anything more than a few feet away. But her eyes hadn\u2019t tricked her: that was Rassy all right, leaning against the slumbering elephant, one hand on his side while the second rested on\u2026 the glass-eyed doll, snuggled beside her leg.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cRassy?\u201d Slowly, so as not to alarm any of the three, Neva drew closer. None of them reacted, though, not even when she stepped under the tarp. And with the rain no longer veiling her vision, Neva could finally see what was happening. It just didn\u2019t make any sense.\n<\/p>\n \nEvery few seconds, the doll convulsed. Then Rassy twitched, and then Jumbo Jr\u2014as if a pulse had worked its way across them. But the spasms were reversing in size. The doll\u2019s and Rassy\u2019s were getting smaller; the elephant\u2019s bigger. Their colors were experiencing a similar inverse. While Jumbo Jr.\u2019s brown was gradually deepening back to what Neva belatedly recognized as his familiar shade, Rassy was growing even paler, and the doll\u2014\n<\/p>\n \nThe doll no longer looked the least bit animated.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cRassy!\u201d cried Neva, grabbing the girl\u2019s hand and yanking it off the elephant. \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nRassy blinked, awareness breaking through whatever stupor she\u2019d allowed herself to fall into. \u201cPlease let me finish,\u201d she said after a moment. The hole in her cheek yawned like a mushy crater, its blurred edges glistening with rain.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cFinish what?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe girl blinked again, then flicked her arm and sent Neva hurtling outside the tarp.\n<\/p>\n \nIt shouldn\u2019t have been possible. Rassy was small for a girl her age, and Neva wasn\u2019t nothing. But the runaway had tossed her off with a strength that would have made the circus\u2019 burliest strongmen jealous.\n<\/p>\n \nFortunately, Neva had trained with some of the acrobats last spring, even working the high-wire act a few times. She knew how to take a fall. But there was nothing she could do to avoid the mud\u2014she was slopped with it when she sprang back up.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhat are you?\u201d she demanded of Rassy, striding back under the tarp and poising her body to bend as needed.\n<\/p>\n \nThe runaway was leaning on Jumbo Jr. again, both hands pressed against him this time as she slid into another stupor. The doll lay face down to the side.\n<\/p>\n \nNeva would have tackled her if the elephant hadn\u2019t shifted in his sleep, heaving his bulk away from Rassy and her outstretched arms. Deprived of his support, she tumbled forward.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cBit of a mud show now, wouldn\u2019t you say?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nPigs in hell, not now.<\/em> Neva turned to see Lysander ducking beneath the tarp, one hand steadying the brim of his dripping hat. How much had he seen? \u201cYou seem rather pleased.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNot at all.\u201d His smile belied his words. \u201cI certainly didn\u2019t want that.\u201d<\/em> He gestured in the general direction of the Big Top and Brother Paste\u2019s swamp fight. \u201cOr that.\u201d He nodded at the clods of wet earth fouling Neva\u2019s dress.\n<\/p>\n \nShe glanced at Rassy. The girl seemed to be rousing once more. This had to be done quickly. \u201cWho are you?\u201d she said, turning back to Lysander. \u201cRingling? Forepaugh? You\u2019re certainly not army.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHe gave her a mock salute. \u201cGood luck to you, Miss Freeman.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThere\u2019s one thing you don\u2019t know yet.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nLysander turned back around and raised his eyebrows. \u201cOh?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva clasped her hands behind her back, projecting innocence. \u201cYou\u2019ve seen how we customize our railcars and systematize loading and unloading.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHe tapped his front coat pocket, which bulged with the rectangular outline of his notebook. \u201cI particularly liked how your workingmen wear numbers and are referred to by them. Much simpler than remembering a mess of hillbilly names.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI\u2019m sure you did.\u201d Neva took a small, demure step forward. \u201cBut did you learn the true secret of our success?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nLysander snorted. \u201cAnd what would that be?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOur freaks.\u201d Neva looked down, as if embarrassed. But when she looked back up, her face was changed. \u201cOur freaks are the best in the world.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe spy gaped. \u201cDear God\u2026\u201d His bulging eyes stuck out so far she could have plucked them from his head.\n<\/p>\n \nThen she took another step forward\u2014a fast, aggressive step\u2014and Lysander backpedaled, whirled, and ran.\n<\/p>\n \nNeva\u2019s adrenalin disappeared almost as swiftly. She doubted Lysander would tell anyone, or that they\u2019d believe him. But if someone took him even half seriously\u2026 a white man\u2019s word against a colored woman\u2019s wouldn\u2019t be much of a contest.\n<\/p>\n \nYet perhaps the impulse hadn\u2019t been complete foolishness. When Neva turned once more to Rassy, the runaway was staring at her in wonder.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI hope I didn\u2019t scare you,\u201d Neva whispered, wincing as her features reformed. She\u2019d never bent her face so much\u2014never engaged in that level of witchery. Yet in the moment, with Lysander sneering at her, adopting a crude likeness to Jumbo Jr. had seemed the right reaction. But people were starting to stream by on either side, fleeing to the train station, most likely. She had to pretend to be normal again.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI\u2019m that,\u201d Rassy murmured.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cPardon?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe runaway bent down. \u201cYou asked me what I was.\u201d Straightening, she held up the wax doll, which no longer twitched or moved at all. \u201cI\u2019m that. I\u2019m a freak too.\u201d Her free hand brushed the hole in her cheek\u2014her outer cheek\u2014and in a voice grown so soft Neva could barely hear it above the footfalls and the shouting and the rain, Rassy added, \u201cCeburn made me.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n \n9<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nNeva shifted her lantern to give Augie more light to open the next crate. The wall of rectangular boxes was stacked six high at the back of Mysteries and Curiosities\u2019 storage car, but there was enough clearance to crouch on the top row. After Augie levered the crate\u2019s lid off, he unpacked the buffering cloth and raised \u201cNapoleon Bonaparte\u201d by the knees\u2014just enough to expose his feet.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNo dice,\u201d Neva whispered after sliding a thin knife into the undersides of the model\u2019s fake shoes. \u201cThis one\u2019s wax all the way through too.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nAugie lowered the little general and restored his padding. \u201cDo you want to keep going?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWe should have time to check the other crates up here.\u201d The packing team would still be loading the last cars. With the Big Top in such disarray, the process had taken longer than usual. But the rain had stopped, and the circus had ended early, so they were on schedule for their 1 a.m. departure. Tomorrow would be a different story: repairs would take most of the morning.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI hope Bailey\u2019s not mad I cut my way out of the canvas with my pocket knife,\u201d Augie mused as he crawled to a crate labeled \u201cGuy Fawkes \u2013 Version 2.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI bet he\u2019s more worried about lawsuits right now. I saw him handing out free vouchers for next year\u2019s show.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nAugie nodded. \u201cMight work. It\u2019s a miracle no one died\u2026 Did you hear something?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva paused to listen. They\u2019d waited to sneak into the storage car until it was fully packed; no one else should need to come inside until morning. It wasn\u2019t a normal night, though, and she and Augie didn\u2019t have a good reason for being here. Not that they could explain, anyway. \u201cI didn\u2019t hear anything that would stop us from doing another couple crates\u2014this one\u2019s normal.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYou\u2019ve got me for three more. Then we scram.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cFine.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nAugie moved to a neighboring crate. \u201cYou really think Rassy has Ceburn\u2019s memories?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva motioned for her brother to lift the lid. \u201cFrom what I could get out of her, she certainly has a few. That\u2019s why she can sculpt so well. And how she knew the steps for Columbus. <\/em> The old man must have seen us perform it a hundred times.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cBut not all of them.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNo. My best guess is still that Ceburn had a talent similar to ours, something to do with transferring vitality. He put a lot of himself in Rassy. Too much. But it was mostly just his energy.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAnd his talent.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cRight. But in terms of memories, I think she only got patterns and procedures.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIf she\u2019s telling the truth.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva considered it again. \u201cI felt warm,\u201d Rassy had said beneath Jumbo\u2019s tarp. \u201cThat\u2019s the first thing I remember. Then I opened my eyes, and Ceburn was looking down at me. Smiling. He called me \u2018Rassy\u2019.\u201d <\/em>\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI believe her,\u201d Neva murmured. \u201cI think she was scared when her creator died seconds after he gave her life\u2014his life. I think she hid for days in his workshop, until she mustered the courage to try the only real skill she\u2019d inherited: sculpting. She copied what he\u2019d done to her, coating him in wax and modeling it to the image she wanted. But I think she had the sense to get the energy she needed from another source.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cJumbo Jr.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYes. She thought the elephant had strength to spare. And he did. But she drew too much, just like Ceburn gave too much.\u201d Neva shook her head. \u201cNext crate.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nAugie repacked the buffer cloths. \u201cYou think this was all an accident then?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cA series of them, maybe. Rassy certainly didn\u2019t intend for her Ceburn model to be more shell than man\u2014although it was pretty good for a first effort. And she didn\u2019t want him to die in the sticker war; she wanted to escape with him.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cShe hit you. That wasn\u2019t an accident.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNo.\u201d Neva resisted the urge to touch the back of her head. Poking the throbbing lump wouldn\u2019t make it hurt less. \u201cNo, that was panic. She didn\u2019t want to be found out\u2014not when she\u2019d found a new way to belong.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cUnless she was channeling Ceburn\u2019s penchant for acquiring young females\u2026\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva winced. It was a fair point. And she shouldn\u2019t<\/em> be so sure, not after everything she\u2019d seen and experienced the last day and a half. Yet\u2026 she was. Rassy had inherited Ceburn\u2019s talent and abilities, but not his predilections\u2014whatever they\u2019d been. She shouldn\u2019t be punished for his sins. \u201cDon\u2019t you think everyone deserves a second chance?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nAugie snorted. \u201cI think it depends on why they end up needing a third. Because they always do.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cSuch a cynic.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI believed the outlandish tale you just told me.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOnly because you and I are outlandish ourselves.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cQuite possibly.\u201d He lifted the second-to-last model: Cleopatra. \u201cThis one\u2019s heavier.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOh?\u201d Neva cut into the model\u2019s bare foot harder than she\u2019d meant to.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cVandals!\u201d shrieked Thurston from the front of the car. \u201cWhat in God\u2019s name are you doing with MY models? Put her down!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHer brother froze. But Neva had finally found what they\u2019d come for, and she nodded to him. \u201cAs he says.\u201d She motioned to the floor.\n<\/p>\n \nAugie raised his eyebrows, but after Neva repeated the gesture, he shrugged and thrust Cleopatra the rest of the way out of her crate and down towards Thurston.\n<\/p>\n \nHe reacted with impressive speed, leaping over an intervening trunk\u2014the sword swallowers\u2019, from the markings\u2014and stretching his arms out like a mother reaching for a teetering babe. But he came up a few inches short of catching the model, and its outer casing shattered at his feet.\n<\/p>\n \nIts inner casing remained intact, however. Intact, and rotten, and decidedly not<\/em> waxen.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAre you sure you want to claim that as your<\/em> model?\u201d asked Neva as she descended the stack of crates.\n<\/p>\n \nThurston\u2019s shocked expression suggested he very much didn\u2019t. It also proved his innocence as far as Neva was concerned, confirming that Ceburn had acted alone: his apprentice hadn\u2019t collected this corpse for him, or any others.\n<\/p>\n \n \n\u201cDoubtless Bailey would disapprove of my methods,\u201d<\/em> Augie read. \u201cI\u2019m not sure I entirely approve myself. But they work\u2014beyond doubt, beyond hope, beyond reason. And all great art comes at a cost.\u201d<\/em> He set down Ceburn\u2019s journal and looked at Neva. \u201cSo that\u2019s his justification for killing two girls and dipping them in his magic wax?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva shook her head. \u201cHe may not have killed them; they could have been dead already. The journal\u2019s not explicit about any of this. Maybe he used that shovel in his car to dig up graves.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nAugie frowned, then handed her one of the lemon drops Rassy had brought out of Ceburn\u2019s car. Neva popped the sweet into her mouth.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIf I had to bet,\u201d she said, \u201cI\u2019d wager that Ceburn mostly used his talent to punch up his models; finishing touches like making the colors more vibrant. But it worked best when there was a real body underneath\u2014such as the monkey we found in the doll. And if it was fresh enough\u2026\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHer brother shuddered. \u201cI wonder how many more Thurston finds when he checks the rest of the models.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAny other heavy ones Ceburn wouldn\u2019t let him work on are good candidates. We\u2019ll have to see if we can identify the families.\u201d Neva jabbed her finger at the other end of the lantern-lit trainyard. \u201cFinally!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nSadie and Rassy were leading Jumbo Jr. to his car. The elephant was moving hearteningly well. Rassy was too. The quick trip to Ceburn\u2019s workshop had allowed her to restore her face, and she seemed thrilled to be helping with the animals.\n<\/p>\n \nAugie uncrossed his legs and let them dangle from the platform. \u201cDaughter or wife?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cRassy? I don\u2019t know. She let me look at that picture again. The back says \u20181872.\u2019 That\u2019s long enough ago that the real her could have been either to Ceburn.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWell, that\u2019s conclusive.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cSorry. I don\u2019t think we\u2019re ever going to have all the details.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThey watched the girl help Sadie coax Jumbo Jr. up the ramp. Those audience members who\u2019d stuck around to observe the disassembling\u2014a smaller number than normal, but still in the hundreds\u2014cheered enthusiastically.\n<\/p>\n \nAugie reached for another lemon drop. \u201cYou\u2019re at least confident she returned the elephant\u2019s strength to him?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYes\u2014whatever she had left after animating her Ceburn model and strengthening the wax cast she put me in.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI don\u2019t like that bit either.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cTrust me, neither do I. But she said she was going to free me once she figured out what to do. And you weren\u2019t there: she would have drained herself dry<\/em> if that\u2019s what it took to restore Jumbo Jr. She also stopped Orrock from hanging him.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cTrue.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nRassy and Sadie were closing Jumbo\u2019s car now. Both were laughing. It was good to see.\n<\/p>\n \nAugie picked up the journal and stood. \u201cWe should get to our bunks.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI suppose.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHe offered her a hand up. \u201cYou\u2019re sure you want to leave?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nAugie didn\u2019t just mean leave Homestead; she definitely wanted to do that. But earlier in the evening, once things had calmed down a little, Kiralfy had tracked her down and praised her performance. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen someone dance with so much passion<\/em>,\u201d the gangly director had gushed. \u201cSuch <\/em>conviction.<\/em> The part is yours. I\u2019ll speak to James. Your complexion won\u2019t be an issue.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nNeva had nearly laughed out loud. Kiralfy must have missed her breaking character after all. Or maybe he\u2019d assumed she\u2019d seen the Big Top tumbling down a split second before everyone else. Either way, it didn\u2019t change her answer, which was a polite no.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI think it\u2019s time we had our own second chance,\u201d she told Augie. \u201cHave you heard about the World\u2019s Fair?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThe Columbian Exposition? I heard it\u2019s going to be big enough to make Barnum & Bailey look like a mud show.\u201d He brushed some of the caked dirt off Neva\u2019s back. \u201cA real one, that is\u2026 It\u2019d mean going back to Chicago.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI know.\u201d They\u2019d passed through the Windy City each year with the circus, but they\u2019d never stayed longer than a night. And Neva hadn\u2019t wanted to. But she was grown now, and Sadie had agreed to take Rassy on as an apprentice. Marrette would look after her too, as would Gemi and Dorian, in their own ways. \u201cI think it\u2019s time.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nAugie studied her face until the lead engine\u2019s whistle blew two short blasts, the signal for stragglers to come aboard. Then he smiled. \u201cHere\u2019s to second chances, I guess.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nShe hugged him, gazing over his shoulder at the line of trains the circus had folded itself into. Today had ended in disaster, but tomorrow\u2014through ingenuity, efficiency, and plain stubbornness\u2014hundreds of polemen and roustabouts and all the rest would wake in their prescribed sequence and try again. Joining them would be a young girl, dead on the inside, wax on the outside, somehow alive.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAnd third chances,\u201d Neva murmured. \u201cI think we deserve those too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Homestead, Pennsylvania: August 1892 1 As the train slowed, Neva cracked open the door to the advance men\u2019s bunkroom and peered inside. \u201cWell, you\u2019re not supposed to be there,\u201d she murmured to the room\u2019s petite, petrified occupant. But her words were drowned out by Brother Paste, who rapped the window at the other end of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13720,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,19981],"tags":[19982],"class_list":["post-137749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","category-tcl-34-winter-2020","tag-the-colored-lens-34-winter-2020","entry entry-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13720"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=137749"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137751,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137749\/revisions\/137751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=137749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=137749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=137749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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