The Circus at the End of the Sea by Lori R. Snyder

Author:Lori R. Snyder
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2021-07-05T00:00:00+00:00

14

The nighttime air was cool and still as Maddy and Skeeter made their way through the canals toward the main street, the only illumination coming from the few porchlights that were still on. Noises that in the daytime were soft and happy—wind chimes, ducks, water lapping at the edges of the canal—sounded eerie and frightening, and in the background was a crashing so thunderous and constant that it took Maddy a moment to realize it was the sound of the sea. She had never heard waves roar like that before. She had also never been out this late at night before. But because Skeeter was with her, she didn’t jump at every sound, or startle when the wind made shadows dance across the walkway.

Near the end of the canal, Maddy could just make out the silhouette of the large bird that had soared by. It was standing ankle-deep in the shallow water, so still that it could have been a sculpture. Its body was thick and stocky, and a light-colored plume curved from the back of its head. She wondered what it was.

“Night heron,” said a soft voice from behind. “They come to the canals to hunt, but only at night.”

Maddy gave a small shriek as she and Skeeter both jumped. Behind them stood a man with snakes coiled around his arms and neck.

“Dov,” said Skeeter, blowing out a hard exhale and half-laughing. “Dude. You nearly gave us a heart attack.”

“I don’t think that’s Dov,” whispered Maddy, her stomach twisting in on itself.

The person behind them looked like Dov, with the same round face and tightly curled hair, the same spangled bathing suit. But something wasn’t right in the way he was holding himself, and his face had taken on a rough, hungry look. The snakes, too, looked more dangerous somehow. One of them wove toward Maddy, unblinking, and she drew back as its tongue flicked over her hand, her arm, her shoulder.

“Sure it is,” said Skeeter, but he sounded uncertain. “Dov? That’s you, right?”

“The nighttime circus is beginning,” said Dov-who-was-not-Dov, and he moved past them. Maddy and Skeeter pressed back into the bushes, out of his way, his snakes hissing as he turned and headed toward the pier.

And then the drumming started, a sound like a hundred drummers hitting their drums over and over again in unison.

BAM. BAM. BAM. BAM.

This was no daytime rhythm made to accompany glittery acrobats and muses with lightning bolt skates. This was something altogether different, and it clawed at Maddy’s insides and made her skin itch and burn.

“I don’t like this, Octogirl,” said Skeeter quietly.

“Me either,” said Maddy. “But we’re still going, right?”

Skeeter nodded slowly. “I guess. I’m as ready as I’m going to be.”

“Me too,” said Maddy, and together they stepped out of the canal and turned toward the nighttime circus.

The crowd was taking shape. Unlike the daytime circus, which had seemed to show up in sparks of magic here and there throughout the city, the nighttime circus was gathered in one place, a dense, roiling mass of people.

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