The Marvelwood Magicians by Diane Zahler

Author:Diane Zahler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boyds Mills Press
Published: 2017-12-03T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

After the performance, Mattie ran out of the big top before the others were on their feet. She waited, twitching with impatience, until she saw the Bellamys coming from behind the tent.

“Maso!” she cried. One of the Bellamys turned his head.

“Hey there, Mattie,” he said. “Did you see us? We nailed that pyramid tonight. No wobbles at all!”

“Maso, listen. You said something the other day—something about how nothing in the circus is real. Remember?”

“Sure,” Maso said, his forehead creasing in puzzlement.

“What did you mean, exactly? What isn’t real?”

“Well, it’s a circus. All illusion, right?”

“But is there something specific? Something about—about Master Morogh?”

The Bellamys exchanged looks.

“There’ve been some things …,” Maso said. He lowered his voice. “A few strange things.”

“Like what?”

“There were the other tumblers.” This was another Bellamy.

“What happened to them?”

“They just couldn’t hit their marks anymore. One of them got hurt, bad. She broke her neck.”

“Did she die?” Mattie asked, horrified.

“No, but she was in the hospital a long time,” the Bellamy replied. “I heard she walked again, but she couldn’t tumble, of course. It was pretty awful.”

“Were you here when they were?”

“Nope, we came when they left. Can’t have two tumbling acts in a circus—that would be war!”

“It was a terrible accident,” another Bellamy said.

“If it was an accident,” Maso said darkly.

“What do you mean?” Mattie asked.

“Oh, there’s all sorts of rumors in this place. You know how it is. People say there was jealousy, or backstabbing. That someone made it happen. But that’s ridiculous, right?” Maso grinned at her, but his eyes weren’t smiling.

Mattie didn’t know what to make of this. “Were there any others? Other … accidents?”

“There was the old ringmaster,” a Bellamy said. “We were there for that one. Morogh was just the hypnotist back then. Nothing special. He did okay at the hypnotism, but not much else. The ringmaster, though—Master Minka—he was a big, big guy. Big voice. Big presence. He could make everyone take notice, I’ll tell you. But then, one day … he couldn’t.”

“Couldn’t what?” Mattie asked.

“Couldn’t do his job. When he opened his mouth, it was just ordinary. No charisma, you know what I mean? We thought he was sick, so Morogh took his place. And Morogh was great at it, just like Minka had been. He had the audience in the palm of his hand.”

Mattie closed her eyes for a minute. It all fit. She didn’t know how he’d done it, but she knew for sure it was all Morogh’s doing.

“Thanks,” she said. “See you later, Bellamys.”

“Mattie—,” Maso started.

“Later,” Mattie said. “I have to go!”

“See you later,” the Bellamys echoed, and Maso added, “Be careful, Mattie!” The worry in his voice was unnerving.

Mattie ran as fast as she could through the crowds heading back to the parking lot. At the Marvelwoods’ wagon, she leaped up the stairs and into the little room, where her family sat around their low table, talking quietly and trying to soothe Bell, who was huddled in misery.

“Da, Maya,” she said, trying to catch her breath as they all stared up at her.

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.