Small Steps, Great Leaps
Part Two

The weeks passed slowly for Margali during the off-season. If she'd had the money, she would have moved the circus somewhere warm for the winter, someplace where she didn't have to go through these long weeks of tedium, financial paperwork, and trying in vain to coax new material from her employees. As she looked up from the latest stack of bills the small circus had managed to pile up, she reflected that at least next season they could look forward to a larger audience. If she advertised right, enough people would be attracted to the circus by the strange, blue mutant she had rescued that they might even be able to show a profit next year.

At that thought, she sighed, ashamed at herself for being so cold. Kurt wasn't just a means to an end, he was a sweet, innocent baby. She had no trouble admitting that she was quickly becoming attached to the little fellow. His big yellow eyes and round, blue cheeks were actually quite endearing now that she was used to them. Already, she was beginning to think of him as a second son. And why not? After all, she was the one who had found him. It was only natural that she would feel some kind of attachment, some kind of responsibility for his welfare.

She sighed again. Was she acting with a responsible eye to his welfare by putting him on public display as a "freak of nature"? She dared to ask herself the question: what if Stefan or Jimaine had been born looking as strange, as inhuman as Kurt. Would she have hesitated to do the same to them?

She was deeply shamed, but at the same time disturbingly relieved to realize that the answer was no. Although she still felt like a heartless heel, at least she could take some comfort from the knowledge that she was treating Kurt no differently than she would her own flesh and blood.


By the time spring rolled around, little Kurt had become something of a mascot to the circus performers. Despite his gargoyle-esque appearance, the fuzzy blue infant had managed to steal the hearts of even the gruffest performers—and that included the drunks. Although Margali was universally recognized as his unofficial foster mother, the rest of the camp felt as though they had adopted him too. Once the circus opened for the season, many of them took to ruffling Kurt's curly hair before each performance, ostensibly for good luck, but secretly because they too felt guilty about displaying him as a "freak" and wanted to assure him that they cared about him.

Three seasons came and went. By that time, Margali's fondest hopes for her circus had started to come true. "The Devil's Child" had attracted so many spectators that she had not only been able to replace the tattered tents, but also to attract a new trapeze act, as well as a retired Olympic gymnast. And it seemed things would only get better from here on in.

At three years old, Kurt was an active, curious toddler who was already displaying astonishing agility and coordination. It wasn't long until, to the relief of all those who cared for him, Margali felt fiscally secure enough to take him out of the freak show and start his training as an acrobat. To her surprise, though, Kurt himself protested the change.

"But Kurt, don't you want to be an acrobat?" she questioned him, concerned.

"Yes!" Kurt exclaimed, his speech slightly slurred due to his over-large teeth. "But I like the people who make faces for me. We try to see who can do the best face, but I can beat them because I always win. They're very funny people."

He burst into a gale of giggles, running around her in tight circles and making fake airplane noises as he stuck his tongue in and out of his mouth. Margali's face went cold and her heart clenched with guilt as, for the first time, the hard reality of how despicably she'd been exploiting the boy truly hit home. Always before, she'd been able to rationalize her decision to put Kurt on display, viewing it through the eyes of a struggling businesswoman rather than a mother. Now, however, faced with the unexpected way Kurt's innocent young mind had interpreted the horror, fear, and derision on the faces of the spectators who paid to gawk and mock his mutation, Margali found herself suddenly terrified—terrified of what might happen to her sweet boy if he ever learned what dark emotions lurked behind those "funny faces".

Acting on strong impulse, Margali knelt down and spread her arms wide. Kurt ran into their protective circle, wrapping his tail around her in an unconscious show of affection that melted his foster mother's heart. Her violet eyes began to sting as she held him tight for a moment, then pulled back, looking him in the chubby face.

"Sweetheart," she tried to explain, stroking his soft curls with her fingers. "I know you think those people are funny—"

"Funny faces!" Kurt interrupted brightly, making one himself.

Margali smiled indulgently as she waited for him to stop laughing, then continued.

"But think how much more fun it would be to play on the trapeze!" she said with over-done enthusiasm, trying to catch at his imagination. "You'll get to swing through the air, like you were flying! Wouldn't it be fun to fly, Kurt?"

"Fly!" Kurt repeated, his yellow eyes widening as his excitement began to grow.

"Yes, Kurt, fly!" Margali emphasized. "On the flying trapeze!"

"Flying trapeze!" Kurt giggled, as if the words themselves amused him.

"Yes!" Margali grinned. "You can play with Stefan! Stefan is going to start learning how to fly on the trapeze too, just like you"

At the mention of his foster-brother's name, Kurt's whole face lit up. Margali knew how much he looked up to the older boy. She had always been extremely proud of how her own children got along so well with Kurt—especially Jimaine, who was closer to him in age.

"We will fly!" Kurt beamed, unabashedly displaying a mouth full of gleaming, white fangs. In another face such a sight would have been unnerving, yet in Kurt's those pointed fangs somehow managed to add to his unique charm. Margali couldn't resist another quick hug. Kurt's short, velvety fur felt wonderfully plush against her bare arms.

"Come on, Kurt," she said, breaking away and rising to her feet. "Let's go meet with Stefan."

The small boy reached out a three-fingered hand and Margali took it securely in her own. Together, the pair walked toward the main tent, Kurt singing happily to himself the whole way.

"Stefan and I will fly! Will fly, will fly, will fly..."


"Oh, Margali!" Woodhead smiled as she and Kurt entered the tent. "Hello, Kurt," he added with a friendly wave. The small, blue child waved back, only he used his tail.

"Stefan's already here, Margali," the hunchbacked sword-swallower/spotter continued as he finished tightening the safety net below the trapeze. "And he has some news for you."

"What kind of news, I wonder?" Margali said, walking past Woodhead to the small swing Chester Vogel, the youngest son of the new trapeze act, had already set up in a corner of the tent. Stefan was sitting on a practice high-beam, but the moment he saw his mother and foster brother he jumped down from his perch and rushed over to them with his closed fist held out in front of him.

"Mommy!" the exuberant seven-year-old exclaimed. "Look at this! My tooth came out! It's one of the back ones too, so it's got to be worth more than the last one!"

"I want to see the tooth, Stefan!" Kurt announced, pulling on his foster brother's sleeve.

"Here, look," Stefan said, opening his fist. "But don't touch it!"

Kurt drew back the thick finger he had been stretching towards the small, white tooth as though he'd been burned.

"Now, Stefan," Margali scolded gently. "He's just curious. Let him see it."

"But Mommy!" Stefan protested in a shrill whine. "He'll lose it!"

"Even if he does, you will still get your reward," Margali assured him. "I know the Tooth Fairy personally, and I'll be sure to tell her all about your tooth."

With reluctance plainly etched on his face, Stefan held his tooth out to Kurt.

"There," he said, placing it in his foster brother's small, blue palm. "See? My tooth."

Kurt poked at the small, flat tooth with one finger, his confusion evident.

"That's not a tooth," he declared in the definitive way all small children have. "It's too flat."

"It is so a tooth!" Stefan protested, snatching it back and scowling. "Woodhead said it's supposed to look like that. He said it's called a molar, for grinding stuff up."

"My teeth aren't flat," Kurt announced, bearing his fangs in demonstration. "Why is yours so flat?"

"It's a back tooth," Stefan emphasized, pulling the edge of his mouth back with a finger to provide an example. "See?" he said, releasing his mouth. "Now let's see yours."

Kurt pulled back his own lips.

"Cahh oooo eeee eehhhh?" he asked.

"Yeah, they're there," Stefan observed. "They're a little pointier than mine, but you've definitely got some molars back there."

Kurt considered his foster brother's words carefully, then pushed his fingers deeper into his mouth.

"My molar is stuck!" he exclaimed, suddenly at the point of tears as he pulled his fingers away and wiped them on his shirt. "It won't come out!"

Margali, who had wandered over to inspect Chester's knots, came rushing back at the sound of Kurt's cries.

"What's going on here?" she demanded sternly of Stefan.

Stefan's eyes widened with righteous indignance.

"What? I didn't do anything to him! He's all upset because he can't pull his teeth out."

"What!" Margali exclaimed, turning her attention to the crying Kurt.

"Mama!" he sobbed, burying his face in her flowing skirt. "My molar is stuck in my mouth!"

Margali had the sudden impulse to laugh, but suppressed it as she knelt down to his eye level.

"Of course your molar is stuck, sweetheart," she said, drawing him into a warm embrace. "You're only three years old. When you get to be a big boy, like Stefan, you'll start losing your baby teeth as well."

Kurt looked up at her, his yellow eyes streaming.

"When will that be?" he snuffled plaintively.

"In only three or four years," Margali said comfortingly, "so don't you worry about a thing. OK?"

Kurt nodded, sniffing loudly and wiping his eyes with his tail. Margali reached into her blouse and handed him a handkerchief.

"There," she said. "Blow."

Kurt did as he was told, then blinked up at her as she tucked the damp cloth away in her skirt pocket.

"Feel better now?" she asked.

Kurt nodded again, still sulky.

"Good." Margali stood up and turned to Chester. "They're all yours, Chester," she said, ruffling her son's black hair.

"Mom!" Stefan protested, pushing her hand away.

Margali smiled at him, then turned to go.

"I'll be in my trailer should you need me. Have a good time, boys."

Kurt watched her go, then turned to Chester, who was standing on a soft floor-mat with one hand holding the rope of his swing.

"Good morning, boys," the seventeen-year-old said. "I've been told that you've both already been taught a number of elementary balancing exercises, so I thought it might be fun if we started off our first lesson by learning how to swing. Stefan, since you're the elder, you can go first."

Kurt watched for a few moments as Chester busied himself instructing Stefan on how to best position himself and how he should hold the ropes, but his attention soon wandered. The rest of the Vogel family was already deep into their own morning practice session, flying and spinning high in the air. Kurt watched them, fascinated, as Chester's brother, Tomas, hung upside down from the narrow trapeze and caught his mother, Yvonne, as she flipped through the air as though gravity had lost its hold on her. Kurt clapped his hands, delighted by the show. The two Vogels noticed him and took a playful bow. Then, they returned their attention to their practice session.

"You're next Kurt, so don't go anywhere," Chester said, aware of the child's short attention span.

Kurt glanced over at him, but he stayed where he was, focusing on the stunning skill of the performers before him.

After watching three more catches, Kurt realized it would be much more fun to join them than to simply watch them. Sneaking a glance behind him to make sure Chester wasn't watching, Kurt dashed across the floor on all fours and leaped onto the rope ladder that led to the aerialists' platform. He climbed it nimbly, reaching the platform in well under a minute. The Vogels had just completed another exercise and were taking a short break on the larger platform across the way. Fortunately for Kurt, though, the trapeze they had just vacated were still swaying.

Crouching down, Kurt kept his yellow eyes focused on the swinging bar before him, marking its rhythm. Just before the bar swung back to him, Kurt made a powerful leap, flying through the air like the monkey Eric Wagner had mistaken him for, until he caught onto the swinging trapeze with his long fingers and pulled himself up onto the bar. Once he was securely balanced, Kurt wrapped his long, dexterous tail around the bar and let go with his legs until he was hanging upside down. Then, he began to swing.

By this time, Chester had noticed his absence. Both he and Stefan were searching around frantically when they heard Yvonne Vogel's piercing scream. Looking up, they saw the cause.

"Oh, dear Lord," Chester gasped, his face drained of all color. "Margali's going to kill me!"

"Wow," Stefan exclaimed in awe. "I wish I had a tail!"

Kurt, still swinging from his tail, was completely unaware of the commotion he was causing below him. His focus was solely on the second bar.

His timing was purely instinctive as he launched himself from his trapeze and went flying through the air with his arms outstretched toward the next bar. There was a collective gasp as the small crowd of performers who had gathered below him realized that he wouldn't make it. His arc was already falling and he was still at least a foot short of the swinging trapeze.

Chester turned away, unable to bear the sight of his fall. As a result, he missed one of the most spectacular events in the history of the Szardos Bavarian Circus.

Just as it seemed he wouldn't make it, Kurt flipped in the air and wrapped his spaded tail securely around the bar, swaying back and forth and back with his arms outstretched and a huge upside-down smile plastered across his face.

Margali came bursting into the tent just as the gathered performers raised their voices in an astonished cheer, followed closely by Woodhead, who had alerted her to what was going on.

She froze in place, her violet eyes wide as she watched Kurt launch himself off the final trapeze and land on the main platform. Tomas and Yvonne Vogel lifted him into their arms, ruffling his hair and showering him with praise. Margali, although a large part of her felt like doing the same, was suddenly seized with a sharp anger.

"Chester Vogel!" she shouted, her voice as hard as reinforced concrete.

Chester, not a very tall boy to begin with, seemed to shrink even further as Margali advanced upon him.

"I expected you to be watching him!" she yelled. "What were you thinking! What if he had fallen! He could have missed the net! He could have broken his neck! He could have been killed"

Chester was too flustered to speak.

"I-I-I..." he stuttered.

"Margali," Woodhead said gently, placing a gnarled hand on her shoulder.

Margali spun on him, her violet eyes blazing.

"And where were you while this was going on?" she shouted, her voice sharp. "Some spotter you are! Maybe you should think about sticking to sword-swallowing from now on!"

"Margali," Woodhead repeated in the same gentle tone. "Kurt's fine. In fact, he's better than fine. You saw him up there yourself. He was in complete control the whole time. It was as though he instinctively knew what he was doing."

Margali wasn't ready to give in to the pride she felt for her adopted son quite yet.

"Even so," she started, "he should never-"

She was interrupted by a slightly slurred, childish voice calling elatedly to her from high above.

"Mama!" Kurt called from Yvonne Vogel's arms, his whole face beaming. "Mama, I flewed! I really flewed!"

At the sight of his excited face, the last of Margali's anger faded away and she found herself smiling despite herself.

"Margali," a deep voice sounded behind her and she turned. Sabu Vogel, Chester and Tomas's father, was standing there, his black eyes sparkling with admiration above the large, black mustache that dominated his face. "From what I've just witnessed, I think I can safely say that young Kurt has the potential to grow up to be a truly world-class acrobat. Perhaps, the the greatest acrobat who ever lived. In fact, I would be honored if you would allow me to conduct his training personally."

Stefan watched his mother carefully as she smiled, her pride in Kurt's newly discovered abilities now clearly evident in her face.

"The honor would be mine, Herr Vogel," Margali grinned brightly. "And, of course, Kurt's."

Stefan turned his dark gaze upward to focus on his giggling foster brother far above him. Then, he turned on his heel and walked out of the tent, his hands buried deep within his pockets.

It wasn't that he was resentful of the attention that Kurt was getting or even jealous of his abilities. Not really. What bothered Stefan was that Kurt had climbed the forbidden ladder and swung on the dangerous trapeze without asking permission—in short, he had broken the rules. Yet, Kurt had not gotten in trouble for it. On the contrary, he was being rewarded! Chester had been lax in his duty to watch the boy, yet he, too, had escaped punishment. To Stefan's young mind, this was deeply wrong. Everyone had to pay for their sins. It was a fact of life. His father had taught him that before he'd died, and his teachings had been backed up by the Sunday School where his mother sent him in preparation for his first Holy Communion.

Kurt and Chester could not be allowed to get off without paying any penalty for their wrongdoings. Since it didn't seem likely that Margali was going to do anything about it, Stefan realized it was up to him to carry that penalty out...


Over the next two weeks, a series of strange, unexplained events occurred in the Szardos Circus. First, there was the mystery of the missing bear. Herr Flaumig had been Kurt's favorite toy ever since Bethica Bruckner presented it to him on the anniversary of his first year with the circus, a date they had chosen to use as his birthday since none of them knew the actual day he was born. Herr Flaumig was a handmade, dark blue teddy bear with yellow button eyes, and Kurt had taken to him immediately, often finding it impossible to sleep without his secure presence. Understandably, when the stuffed bear's disappearance was first realized, it caused great commotion in the Szardos family's small trailer...


Kurt had been crying nonstop since he first realized his bear was missing. By now, his voice was hoarse and raw and his cries interspersed with sharp hiccups. Margali and Jimaine had torn the trailer apart in their fruitless search for the bear. Margali was tired and frustrated and Jimaine was tottering on the brink of tears herself. Stefan, however, was nowhere to be found. He had left the trailer for his acrobatics lesson just after Kurt first noticed Herr Flaumig's absence and he hadn't returned since. Margali sighed as she scratched her fingers through her hair, trying to release some of her frustration. She could hardly blame him for wanting to avoid this scene, but she certainly could have used his help in the search.

Mysteriously, after three days of pouting, sulking, crying misery, Herr Flaumig suddenly reappeared on Kurt's cot, just where Margali knew she had left him the day he had vanished. Not one of the circus performers could think who could have kidnapped the bear, or for what purpose. A close inspection of the bear turned up no signs that it had been ripped or re-sewn in any way so Big Jake's theory that it had been used for drug smuggling was abandoned. In the end, the mystery of Herr Flaumig's disappearance was never solved to anyone's satisfaction.

Only two days after peace had been restored to the circus with the return of Kurt's beloved bear, another mystery struck-this one far more disturbing. Chester had been spotting for his brother that day when he realized that one of the knots he had personally tied to hold the safety net in place had been undone and then retied into a much less secure knot that could easily give way under the weight of a falling acrobat. He quickly called to his brother to stop his practice and they both reported the incident to Margali, even showing her the knot. Shocked that such a deliberate act of sabotage had been performed in her circus, Margali and the two Vogel boys diligently questioned every member of the camp, including Margali's own children.

Although Stefan had seemed strangely surprised to learn that Chester had noticed the knot before anything went wrong-which greatly annoyed Chester-he could give no information as to who might have done it. After an entire day of searching and questioning, it was clear to all three of them that no answers, or even reasonable suspects, would be forthcoming. Soon, Chester's knot was included in the same category as Kurt's disappearing bear.


After these two mysterious incidents, life at the Szardos Bavarian Circus returned to normal. Kurt was making astounding progress under the expert tutelage of Sabu Vogel. Margali was even working on advertisements that would list Kurt as an acrobat on the next season's tour. In the meantime, the scheduled date for Stefan's First Communion arrived and the entire circus population was preparing to attend the ceremony at the local church.

"But, Mom, it's too tight!" Stefan protested, struggling against her as she tried to knot his tie.

"I'm a pretty princess!" Jimaine announced, twirling theatrically in her new white dress.

Kurt looked up from his blocks to grin at her.

"A pretty princess," he repeated.

"Mommy," Jimaine asked, skipping over to where her mother was now struggling to hold Stefan's head still as she attempted to tame his wild, black hair.

"What is it, sweetheart?" she asked distractedly, not looking at her daughter.

"Why isn't Kurt getting dressed up too?"

The innocent question asked in a curious, though off-hand manner, caught Margali completely off guard.

"Well," she said, flustered, "it's going to be a long ceremony. I thought he might get bored."

"I want to go to church!" Kurt announced, standing up, his tail inadvertently knocking his small tower of blocks to the floor.

Margali stared at him guiltily, her mind racing to find the words to explain to him why she was reluctant to bring him without hurting him.

"But, sweetheart," she tried, "I don't have a suit for you to wear." She knew it was lame, she knew she was doing wrong, but she couldn't help herself.

"He could wear one of mine," Stefan offered, slightly comforted by the thought of not having to be the only one suffering under the yoke of a tie. "That other one is way too small for me now. I'll bet it would be just right for Kurt."

Margali looked at her children, her eyes desperate with helplessness.

"But—" she started, then she trailed off.

"I know why you don't want to take him," Stefan announced, his voice cold.

Margali turned to him, guilt etched deeply into her striking features.

"You do?" she asked weakly.

Stefan nodded.

"It's because he's got a tail and you don't want to have to cut a hole in my trousers, isn't it?"

Margali stared at him in amazement.

"Uh, er, yes," she said, latching onto the excuse. "That's it exactly."

"But Mom, that's so stupid!" Stefan commented in exasperation. "They're way too small for me anyway."

"Even so, they were very expensive and that's how I feel about it," she said shortly. With that, she turned to Kurt, her deep, violet eyes willing him to understand, to not hate her for what she was doing to him.

"I'm so sorry, baby," she said. "Please know that I want to take you more than anything. It's just that…well…a church is God's house and when you go in you have to be properly dressed. You understand, don't you, sweetheart?"

Kurt's lower lip began to tremble, his yellow eyes brimming with tears.

"But I want to go!" he cried. "I hate my tail! I want to go to church with Stefan!"

Kurt grabbed at his tail and began to bite its end, crying harder as his sharp fangs drew bright red blood.

Shocked at what her cruel words had done, Margali raced to the dark, fuzzy child and scooped him up in her arms, pulling his tail from his mouth.

"Stop that! Stop that Kurt!" she yelled. She was shouting because she was angry at herself, but Kurt thought she was yelling at him. He began to cry even harder. Any words he might have been trying to say were rendered completely unintelligible.

The trailer door opened then, and Woodhead peeked inside.

"I take it the little fellow just found out he's not going to the ceremony," the hunchbacked man observed quietly, his voice barely audible over Kurt's impassioned screams.

"I didn't want it to be this way," Margali said desperately, her eyes full of guilt and pain. "I just—" She noticed her children looking up at her and changed what she was going to say. "You know what could happen, Frank. What else can I do?"

"I'll watch him for you, Margali," Woodhead offered, stepping up into the trailer and reaching out his gnarled arms for the bawling child.

Margali looked down at him, her violet eyes guiltier than ever, yet tinged now with a touch of gratitude.

"Thank you, Frank," she said, handing Kurt over to the stooped man.

"You go to church," Frank said, stroking the child's back in a soothing motion that gradually managed to quiet his sobs. "Have a wonderful time. You needn't worry about us. We'll find a way to occupy ourselves."

Margali nodded, taking a deep breath and turning to her children. "All right, gang, we're going to be late. Everyone into the truck."

As the Szardos family filed out of the trailer, Jimaine paused for a moment to smile at Kurt.

"Don't feel bad," she offered. "I don't really want to go myself."

To Woodhead's surprise, Kurt raised his dejected head, returning his sister's smile through his tears.

"Jimaine!" Margali called from outside, her voice sharp. "Come on! You're making your brother late!"

"Bye, Kurt," Jimaine said, and smiled again. "Bye, Woodhead."

Woodhead turned so Kurt could watch his foster sister climb into the truck and the truck speed away in a cloud of dust. Then he turned his lined, lumpy face to the small, indigo mutant.

"Don't ever let anyone tell you that you aren't allowed in a church," he said.

Kurt looked at him, his yellow eyes still bleary with tears.

"Why?" he sniffled.

"Because we are all God's children, no matter what we look like," the deformed man explained. "And God is pleased to welcome us all into his house, even if we are dressed in rags."

"Why?" Kurt repeated, more curiously this time.

"Because, Kurt," Frank Holzt said, "God's love is unconditional. It knows no bias and is untainted by favoritism."

"Does God love my tail?" Kurt asked, raising his wounded appendage for Frank's inspection.

"Did you do that to yourself, Kurt?" the stooped man asked, shocked.

"Mama said I couldn't go to church because of my tail," Kurt explained, his eyes brimming with tears once again. "Mama said I couldn't have Stefan's trousers because she would have to cut them."

Frank closed his eyes, his heart full.

"She was wrong, Kurt," he said fiercely.

Kurt's eyes widened. He'd never heard anyone say Margali was wrong before.

Frank went on: "God loves you, Kurt. And that includes your tail."

"I want to go to God's house," Kurt said, his voice sulky. "I want to see Stefan's First Communion."

Frank lowered the boy to the ground and took him by the hand.

"Then let's go," he said.

Kurt looked up at the stooped man, an excited grin spreading across his dark face.

"Really? I can go?"

"Yes, Kurt. Come along. My car's this way."


"This is where I come to be alone sometimes," Frank explained to the wide-eyed child seated on his lap. "There was an ancient organ up here once, but they moved it to the local museum about five years ago, when they restored this church. They installed the new one over there on the balcony. In consequence, no one ever comes up here anymore. See?" he said, running one gnarled finger along the edge of the floor and the wall. "You can tell by the dust."

Kurt smiled, delighted. Frank went on, leaning his twisted spine against the dusty wall and peering through the spaces in the railing at the ceremony taking place below them.

"I usually think of this as my private sanctuary," he said softly, "but I'm happy to share it with you, Kurt. As long as we're quiet, we can see everything that happens down there and no one will ever know we're here. That might seem like a lonely thought at first, but to me it's peaceful."

Kurt slipped off Frank's lap and scooted closer to the railing, peering through the spaces in an attempt to pick out Margali, Stefan, and Jimaine from the crowd below.

As he searched, his eyes were drawn to the activities going on at the brightly lit altar. Kurt found himself fascinated by the candles and by the flowers that graced all the statues in the small church, lending them a grace and majesty that made his young imagination soar.

As he watched, captivated, Frank explained the ceremony to him step by step. When Stefan's name was called out and he started up the aisle, Kurt clapped happily. Although Frank was initially alarmed, he sat back with a wide grin as Kurt's small, heartfelt clap was caught and taken up by the rest of the congregation.

"After all," the veteran circus performer reflected as a woman's voice politely requested the gathered families to save their applause until every name had been called, "applause, much like laughter and the common cold, is highly contagious."

As the ceremony came to a close, Frank reached out for Kurt's hand.

"It's time for us to go, Kurt" he said, leading the way down the ancient, cobweb-draped staircase to the back exit of the church. "We've got to get back before Margali sees us, remember."

End of Part Two


And now: Another sneak peak!

EXCERPT from Part Three:

Kurt let out an elated cheer and raced from the trailer, almost bowling over Jimaine and Stefan in his exuberance.

"Guess what?" he called out as he raced towards Bethica's workshop. "I'm the star of the circus!"

Jimaine blinked, impressed.

"Wow," she said, turning back to her brother. "I knew he was good, but I had no idea he was that good."

"No, it's not that," Stefan said.

"What are you talking about?" Jimaine asked.

"You mean you didn't know?" Stefan said, looking down at his younger sister. "This has been Mom's plan all along. It's why she took him in in the first place. Kurt attracts an audience."

Jimaine rolled her eyes.

"Duh," she said. "Of course he does."

"No, I don't mean because he's good." Stefan sighed. "He's a mutant, Jimaine, a very obvious one. People pay to stare at him, they don't much care what he can do. That he's a talented acrobat is just an added bonus. Mom's using him to drag this decrepit old circus out of the gutter, and Kurt's playing right along."

Until next time! :D