Tales of Gloomsdale #4: The Horror of the Big Top

Chapter Three

The crowd gasped while backing away, including me. I had to slightly admire his nerve, but not his intelligence. He apparently hadn't thought to aim at the fire directly in front of him instead of at the fire dancer's face.

Kai stumbled backwards in surprise. He raised one hand to wipe away the water on his face, while Manuel lowered the water gun slightly and fired again. This time, he had realized to aim at the fire. Unfortunately, he missed and sprayed a tattoo on the man's huge arm instead. Kai swung his arm to the right while glaring at him, and the next time, Manuel didn't miss. I watched as a large spray of water doused a small section of the fire on top of the torch. The crowd gasped slightly while I stepped back, expecting the man to get even angrier. Why was he such an idiot?

I reached over to pull Manuel away before he angered the huge fire dancer even more. But to my surprise, Kai didn't appear angry when he caught sight of him. Instead, there was a pleased, almost satisfied expression on his face as he observed the now slightly dimmer torch. It only lasted for a second before it was replaced with his usual hostile expression. I grabbed Manuel's arm and dragged him through the crowd, ignoring his protests. I was worried Kai would call out to us, but to my relief, he didn't make any attempt to stop us.

"Let go of me!" Manuel whined while I threw him out of the tent, dropping the water gun down on the grass.

"Are you insane?" I hissed, glaring at him. "What were you thinking?"

"I... I don't know," Manuel admitted, reaching down to pick up the water gun. "I was just annoyed with that guy, and bored. I thought the show would be more exciting."

"Well, it was. Thanks to you," I snapped, snatching the water gun from him.

"Well, he didn't have to be such a jerk," Manuel complained, trying to take the gun back while I held it over my head. "I just wanted to see more of the show."

"I probably would be too, if I had to hold and eat fire while an annoying brat pestered me," I quipped.

"Hey!" Manuel reached up to hit me.

"Why don't you go tag along with Rachel instead?" I suggested, trying to walk away. He glanced back in annoyance as Manuel followed him.

"I don't know where she is," Manuel replied, following me around the tents. "Like I said, she thought she heard a horse in one of the tents."

"A horse?" I asked, knowing how fond she was of them.

"She probably heard wrong," Manuel said. "There aren't any horses at the circus. Only lions and monkeys and stuff like that."

"No, there aren't. Which tent did she go into?" I asked. I was eager to dump him off to Rachel and be rid of him as quickly as possible.

Manuel scanned the field, before he started running across to the end. "Hey – wait up!" I called, watching as he disappeared behind the tents and stalls. I started to follow him, but couldn't catch sight of him among the bustling crowd. I wasn't about to go running all over the circus in this weather just to find my half sister's annoying cousin. I'd let Rachel deal with him when he found her.

I watched as a little kid came crying out of a tent. I realized it was Jason. His older sister had his arm around him, speaking to him comfortingly. Even his brother looked like he felt sorry for him.

"It's okay, Jace. That lady was being a jerk, that's all," he assured. "I bet she's a fake, anyway. She can't really tell the future, and the crystal ball is probably made of plastic."

I remembered how Manuel had mentioned seeing the fortune teller. Maybe he was there. I stepped closer to the tent, noticing how it stood out compared to the others. It was deep blue and purple, a contrast to the bright reds and yellows. It was also slightly larger than the others. As I came closer, I could hear low, calming music from inside, which was also a welcome change from the rest of the circus. I decided I might as well go in. It would be a nice shelter from the blazing sun, and a fortune teller sounded much less dangerous than a fire act. Those kids were probably just being overly dramatic.