Blind Voices by Tom Reamy

Author:Tom Reamy
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
ISBN: 399-12240-0
Publisher: Berkley
Published: 1977-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

22.

The people stood around Haverstock’s Traveling Curiosus and Wonder Show and listened to the gasps and shrieks and applause that swelled periodically from the tent. They looked at each other and grinned, fidgeting in delicious anticipation of the second show. But some of them looked nervously at the lightning that moved continuously closer and listened warily to the thunder that seemed a little louder each time.

The farmers with crops in the fields worried about hail or too much wind or too much rain. They had visions of rising in the pale morning light to find the wheat bent and broken, plastered to the ground by mud and water; the young maize so tattered and torn it would never recover to produce more than small anemic heads.

Others worried that the storm might cause them to miss the show. They all worried about cyclones. It was cyclone weather, they nodded to each other. Definitely cyclone weather. The one back in ‘17, the one that blew away the old cotton gin, it came out of a cloud just like this one, just after dark like it was now. Those who remembered, and most did, agreed. But they always managed to forget that the same thing was said about every cloud that came up.

The ones who hadn’t been worried talked themselves into worry. They drifted away, one or two at first, those who lived farther out, who thought they might be able to make it home before the storm broke, then more. Children, thwarted at life’s grandest moment, begged to stay, to be left behind, abandoned, anything rather than miss the Wonder Show. Pleading turned to screams and tantrums and tears of frustration, and then to tears of pain when their fathers applied hands and belts vigorously to seats of knickers and overalls. Children whose parents had made no move to leave looked at their elders warily, searching for signs of departure.

Applause suddenly burst from the tent after an unusually lengthy silence.

Inside, the snake woman settled her coils into position on her platform and the curtain closed.

Louis stepped to the front of the stage and the applause quickly died. The rows of people shifted on the wooden benches. This was it. Angel the Magic Boy. They reviewed all the things they had heard and waited, hardly breathing.

“Thank you, ladies and gentlemen,” Louis said a little nervously. “Ah… it is my unfortunate duty to inform you that Angel, the Magic Boy, will not be able to perform tonight. He has… ah… taken ill suddenly. Thank you.”

A groan arose from the crowd. Louis began speaking rapidly, trying to quell their dissatisfaction. “The last item on our show is Henry-etta, half man, half woman. Because of the delicate nature of this performance, we must request all children under eighteen years of age to please leave the auditorium.”

Phineas Bowen and Jack Spain left the tent in a daze, their faces as clouded as the southern sky.

“I don’t understand it, Jack,” Finney said, his voice high-pitched with disbelief. “How could Angel be sick? He’s magic.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.