Carnival Magic by Amy Ephron

Author:Amy Ephron
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2018-05-02T00:00:00+00:00

~ CHAPTER NINETEEN ~

breakfast, carnival-style

There was the smell of fish smoking on the grill.

Tatiana whispered, “We only get a half an hour for breakfast, so we have to hurry. I bet you’re hungry.”

Tess was. She couldn’t remember what she’d eaten yesterday, other than candyfloss.

“What if we just started walking,” said Max under his breath, “and made straight for the gate?”

“Definitely not a good idea,” said Tatiana, who immediately took Max’s arm. She nodded her head in the direction of one of the tables. Lorenzo was sitting alone watching them. Eyes glued, focused directly on them. He was drinking an espresso from a tiny cup and eating a crunchy cookie called a biscotti.

Max had to admit, attempting an escape while Lorenzo was watching was probably a bad idea.

They took their places in the breakfast line. Each of them picked up a plate and a striped-cloth napkin that looked more like a kitchen towel. The silverware looked like it could use a polish.

“I have to tell you something,” Max whispered. “It’s sort of odd.”

But Lorenzo was looking at them, so Tess whispered back, “You’d better tell me later.” Out loud she said, “I’m so glad you slept well,” as if that had been the intended subject of their conversation, just in case anyone was listening.

The breakfast line was crowded. Everyone was still not quite dressed up for the carnival. The clown was there. He was wearing overalls instead of a clown suit, but he already had his wig on and white-colored paint on his face.

“Don’t worry,” he said to Tess, “I never play with balloons until after breakfast.” He gave her an impish smile and pulled a white rose out from behind her ear. “Flowers are different,” the clown said as he handed it to her. It seemed like he was trying to cheer her up.

The tattooed lady was standing in line right in front of them wearing leggings and a sleeveless T-shirt. She had a tattoo on her right biceps with a picture of a sailing ship with a ripple of water below it and right beneath that on her forearm, a mermaid. It was pretty cool. An eagle on her back with its wings spread out across each of her shoulder blades as if she and the eagle could take off at a moment’s notice. She looked at Tess and did a funny dance. And Tess couldn’t help it, she felt obliged to return the favor and do a tiny little wiggle, too.

Ben was wearing a white chef’s cap. He asked them each to point out exactly which fish they wanted and piled their plates with smoky trout, grilled onions, and baked crispy potatoes that were a little bit burned as he had cooked them right on the coals.

Tess and Max stayed close to Tatiana and Alexei. Tess was struck by the fact that the four of them seemed to be the only children there. Not that they were little children themselves but nonetheless, everyone else seemed to be grown-up.

Alexei led them to a table of their own.

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