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

Chapter Nineteen

"Father, no! It's me who disobeyed you! Leave him alone!"

The sound of Antonio's voice was only enough to distract the ringmaster for a brief moment, but it was long enough for me to regain my senses. I tightened my grip around the staff again while forcing myself to my feet. To my relief, the ringmaster took his attention away to continue yelling at Antonio. I think he was shocked that his son would go against him.

I leaned against the side, relieved that the orb was on the other end. I lifted the staff off the ground before placing it down, taking a step forward at the same time. I realized I could move quicker if I used it as a walking stick. I could hear the ringmaster continuing to yell at Antonio. I felt sorry for him, but was surprised as I heard him talking back. I didn't stop to look, continuing until I reached the caravan. I used the staff to practically leap over the steps before bursting inside.

My dad and Demelza turned to stare at me in surprise as I collapsed into a heap on the floor. They didn't even notice the staff at first, probably since there was already a red glow in the caravan.

"Kyle!" My dad scurried over to me. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you? I called for you not to leave! I should've followed you, but—"

"I'm fine, Dad," I groaned, not even thinking about the moniker as he helped me up. "Antonio got more hurt than me."

"Really?" my dad asked in concern.

"That traitor?" Demelza scoffed.

"He isn't so bad," I insisted. "He even distracted the ringmaster so I could get—"

"The staff!" I heard Demelza exclaim in shock. She immediately reached out to grab hold of the handle. My dad stared in shock. "How... how did you get this? I watched him do all sorts of things with that thing, and I couldn't even—"

"Look, there's no time to explain," I insisted. "But we have it now. Now we just need to... break it, right?"

"That's what that guy said," my dad agreed.

"Break it?" Demelza asked.

"Well, just the orb," I said, wincing at the yells from outside. "And we don't have much time."

"Oh, I'll break it." Demelza raised the staff and pulled her arm back, looking almost eager at the prospect.

"Wait," my dad warned. "Are you really going to this? I mean, it's the ringmaster's."

"Not anymore," Demelza said through gritted teeth.

"Maybe we should just hide it until we can return it to that guy, like he told us to," my dad suggested.

"Yeah, that's probably a better idea," I admitted. "Where should we hide it? One of the cupboards, like the crystal ball?"

Unfortunately, Demelza didn't listen. She lowered her arm and banged the staff against the ground. I was surprised to hear a crack, albeit a tiny one, form in the stick.

"Keep it down," I warned.

Demelza ignored me and brought the staff down several more times, causing more cracks in the tree branch.

"That's it?" my dad asked in disbelief, just as surprised as I was. "That's all it takes? If I had known before..."

"You're doing the wrong part," I pointed out as she raised the staff again. "You're supposed to damage the orb at the end, not the stick." I winced as she brought the staff down with another loud crack.

I jumped as the end of the stick splintered in half, causing the orb to come loose and fall out. I watched in shock as the glowing red ball rolled across the floor. I couldn't believe it was that easy. Anyone at the circus could have done it at any time, but they were all terrified of the ringmaster. And it was too hard to get the staff away from him.

I didn't have time to feel relieved before hearing bangs on the door. They seemed to reverberate through the caravan, shaking the door. I froze, along with the others.

"Open this door. Now." I shuddered at the ringmaster's voice, even though it was barely audible over the deafening bangs. Despite his low tone, it made me shudder more than his pained screams had.

"He heard us!" Demelza exclaimed, immediately letting go of the staff and backing away.

"I've never heard him so angry," my dad whispered. "Not even that time Rosetta and I tried to run away."

I glanced over at the orb, jumping as I saw two of them. Then I realized one was the crystal ball. They really did look alike. Side by side, I didn't even know which one was which.

"He's going to break in," Demelza whispered in terror, glancing fearfully at the door. Then she glanced back at what I was looking at as well. "This was a terrible idea. You were right, I never should have done this. Maybe we should just give it back to him."

"We can't," my dad insisted. "I mean, we literally can't. The orb is separate from the stick now, remember?"

"Block the door," I instructed. "Stop him from getting in."

He reluctantly headed to the door and pressed his body against it. I turned back to the orb and the crystal ball. As I stared at the almost identical glowing balls side by side, I suddenly got an idea. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought about it before.

"Demelza, which one is your crystal ball?" I whispered.

"Huh?" she asked in surprise. "What does that have to do with—"

"Just tell me!" I hissed.

"That... that one." She pointed to the larger ball with a shaky hand.

I tentatively reached out a hand, surprised to feel that it was colder now. "Are you sure?"

"Certain," Demelza assured. "I pretend to stare at it for long enough."

The ball felt cool under my hand, in an almost soothing way unlike the burning heat of the orb. I was sure as well that it wasn't the orb from the staff now. I carefully lifted the crystal ball in my hand before crawling over to the staff.

"What are you doing?" Demelza hissed.

"Can you hide the orb?" I asked my dad. "It's hard to lift, but—"

He seemed to catch on to what I was doing, his eyes widening in realization. "Right, of course." He rolled the orb to one of the cupboards, careful to avoid contact with the surface.

I hesitated while lifting the crystal ball over the staff, noticing how the red shifted and wavered to reveal glimpses of the original silvery color underneath. It was foggier than the orb, like looming clouds. I just hoped the ringmaster wouldn't notice the difference.

Then I realized it was a challenge to attach the crystal ball to the end of the broken staff, especially while I was panicking. I tried to attach the ball to the pieces that had fallen off, but only managed to send it slipping onto the ground. I was good at attaching pieces together to create models, but this was too difficult for me. I jumped at the bangs on the door and brought the crystal ball down too hard, watching helplessly as it slipped away and rolled across the floor again. So much for my plan, I thought glumly.

My dad glanced over in concern. "What's wrong, Kyle?"

"It's not working," I muttered weakly, watching as Demelza scrambled over to pick up the crystal ball. "Don't bother trying. We won't be able to fool the ringmaster."

Demelza shook her head. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have damaged the staff. It just reminded me of the ringmaster as I stared at it, and I felt something snap inside of me..."

"And then you snapped it?" my dad added. I wasn't entirely surprised he was the clown.

"We would've had to anyway in order to replace the orb," I pointed out. "It was my idea. I guess it wasn't the best plan. But I didn't have much time to think it through."

Then we all jumped at the loud bang that echoed through the small caravan. I let out a shriek of terror, my ears ringing from the sound before I cautiously glanced at the entrance. What I saw made my heart stop. The worn door fell off the hinges and landed on the ground inches away from us, with the ringmaster standing on the other side with a furious expression on his face.