She had made it clear across the fairgrounds before she had to stop because she was shaking too badly. She leaned against the back wall of a ride, still shut down until later that afternoon when Harrow Faire reopened. She slid to the ground and put her head in her hands.
If this is true. If I’m really one of them, then I have to find a way to be un-one-of-them. The Ringmaster made me. He’ll know how to un-make me. I have to convince him this has all been a terrible mistake.
When she felt calmer and like she wasn’t going to cry, she pushed up from the ground and headed back toward the staff only area of the fairground. The first person she saw was Jack, strolling down a path with a large coil of rope over his shoulder. Good. Someone she didn’t want to light on fire. “Hey, Jack, wait up.”
“Good morning, Cora.” He stopped and smiled at her. “How’re you?”
She shot him a venomous look.
His expression turned sheepish, and he glanced down at his feet. “Right…stupid question. What can I do you for?”
“Where’s the Ringmaster?”
“Oh. Probably in the big top.” He pointed toward the large structure close to the lighthouse-looking tower. “I’m going there anyway. Let me walk you there.”
“Sure.” He seemed nice enough. Not as stab-happy as Simon, or as smarmy as Aaron, so she’d take it. They started off toward the large tent.
“And it’s just ‘Ringmaster,’ by the way. No ‘the.’”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t really care.”
His expression fell. “I’m sorry. I’m trying to be helpful.”
Now she felt like she had just kicked a puppy. She sighed and put her hand over her face. “I’m sorry, Jack. I really am. I’m just at my wits’ end. I don’t mean to be a bitch.”
“It’s okay. I get it. I came to the Faire looking for Mom. I kinda knew what had happened, but I still wasn’t prepared for it. I didn’t want to be here. Not really. I had a real hard time accepting it.”
“Your mom?”
“The Soothsayer. Our fortune-teller.” He shrugged again.
She blinked. The Soothsayer sounded like she was from Eastern Europe. Jack sounded like was born and bred American. That didn’t make any sense at all. But nothing did, lately.
Jack was talking again, and she tucked that question away for another time. “I had a choice. I could either leave my only family behind in this place, or I could take the spot that was offered to me. So here I am.”
“Do any of you realize how insane all of this sounds?”
He chuckled. “Yup. I didn’t believe any of it either. Not at first. Nobody should have to be like this unwillingly. How long did you spend at the gate last night?”
“I have no idea. I lost track of time.” She tucked her hands into her coat pockets. “At some point, Simon came and talked me into getting some sleep.”
Jack went silent for a long time. “Don’t trust him, Cora. Whatever you do, don’t trust him.”
“I don’t plan on it. I don’t trust any of you right now, seeing as I’m being held here against my will.”
Jack nodded sadly. “If you ever need help, come get me. I don’t know as I can do a whole lot to stop that nutcase from doing anything he wants to do, but I’ll at least get in between you and him if he tries to hurt you.”
“Why would you try to protect me?”
“You seem like a nice girl who got dealt the wrong hand, that’s all. I saw you here with your friends two days ago. Ain’t right to tear you away from that. If I could set you free, I would. But nobody can.”
“Not even ‘Mr. Harrow?’”
“Nobody talks to him except Ringmaster.”
“And nobody talks to the Faire except Mr. Harrow. But I could. So, things have been weird for everyone lately.”
Jack smiled faintly. “I suppose.”
When they reached the tent, she found herself marveling at the size of it. The pennants on the ropes flapped in the breeze. The whole thing looked so harmless against the blue sky. Vintage, sure. A little eerie, fine. But not like a dark magic, murderous, soul-eating, monster park.
“I gotta get ready for the acts this afternoon.” He patted her on the shoulder. “You need me, you come find me. To talk, or if you need to get really drunk, anything you need.”
She did her best to smile at him. “Thanks, Jack.”
“Anytime.” He left with a wave, off toward one of the narrow rope ladders that went up into the rafters of the tent. She saw the Ringmaster—just Ringmaster, whatever—standing in the center ring, talking to a man wearing a strange green and black outfit. It almost looked like layered animal print. Cora headed toward them.
The man was the strange looking, almost feral one she had seen the previous night out in the rain. He had scruffy, slightly-too-long red hair that looked neglected more than anything else. She could tell he was ripped, even with his weird animal-print outfit. The man was pointing at spots around the large, sandy circle. Seeing Cora approach, the man nudged Ringmaster in the arm and motioned with his head. As she got closer, she saw that the man’s eyes were…weird. Very weird.
They were goat’s eyes.
Holy shit.
Her steps hitched on seeing them. He glowered at her, and she shrank back slightly, not sure what she had done to make him angry.
Ringmaster turned to see her, and he smiled warmly. “Cora! Hello. How wonderful. I had half a mind to come find you this morning, but I thought you might fancy sleeping in.” He looked down at the man next to him. “Rudy, I’ll talk to you later.”
The man nodded and left without saying anything. Cora couldn’t help but watch him, worried that she had done something to offend the severe looking man with the freaking goat’s eyes.
“Don’t worry about Rudy. He’s better with animals than people. That’s our Zookeeper.”
“Ah,” she replied as if that explained anything at all. “Um. I feel like we need to talk.”
“That we do.” He pushed open a gate in the wall that separated the sandy pit from the stands. He clicked it shut behind him and gestured for her to follow him. “It’s a beautiful day. Let’s go for a walk.”
She felt like she was strolling next to a mountain. A big, squishy, mostly friendly mountain. “I want to go home, Turk. I need you to let me go.”
He sighed. “I know you do, Cora. I’m sorry. But I can’t do that.”
“Who can? What about ‘Mr. Harrow’?”
“He only tells me what the Faire wants. I don’t think even he gets to really make the call. And the Faire has never released anyone it has taken. I’m not even sure it’s possible. You’re…not the same as you were when you came here. You’re not human anymore.”
“That’s a load of shit.”
“I know it sounds that way.” He patted her on the shoulder. “But you’ll come to understand. Sooner or later, you’ll accept your new reality. I just hope you come to be happy here. Everyone here will help you to sort all this out. We’ve all been through the same mess you’re in now. We get it.”
They stepped out of the darkness of the tent and into the sun, and she squinted at the sudden change of light. “You just need to be patient.”