Thanks to everyone who has reviewed/added me to their favourite list/added me to their author alerts, it means a great deal to me to know that there are people who are reading and enjoying my stories. SuperGirlGwenRose – you're right, I did use 'rather' (giggle) rather a lot in the last chapter. This just demonstrates the importance of checking over your work, as it's so easy to miss little things like that. Glad you are still enjoying the story. Now on to the next chapter;
Chapter 6 – The Night Crawler
There was a moment of awkward silence in which Margali, Tonino and Klaus all stared up at where Kurti was crawling across the ceiling of the caravan. Jimaine laughed and pointed towards him, which suddenly roused Margali from her bemused trance.
Come down, little one, it is not safe for you up there, she communicated telepathically, suddenly feeling terrified for Kurti's safety. She felt worried that Kurti would fall and hurt himself, or that he would accidently cut his hands or knees on a sharp piece of wood or metal. Margali wanted to scream in fright and panic, but she knew that it would do no good, and would quite possibly scare Kurti and make him lose his concentration and fall. Margali swallowed nervously, and did her best to remain calm. Kurti did not seem to be hurt, or even afraid. In fact, he was happily crawling across the roof of the ceiling as though it was the most normal activity in the world. Margali smiled up at Kurti reassuringly, hiding her concerns as best she could. Kurti looked down at her, and began to giggle. She held her arms out towards him, and smiled up at him reassuringly, invitingly. Kurti smiled happily, as he looked down at Margali. Come to me, little one, come down into my arms.
Kurti dropped down, and Margali caught him with a relieved sigh. She examined his hands, knees and tail carefully, desperately hoping that he was not hurt. His hands and clothes were filthy, but that was to be expected. She could not remember the last time she had cleaned the roof of the caravan, as it had hardly been the most important or urgent job within the circus. Thankfully, Kurti himself did not seem to be in the least bit hurt, and he grinned up at Margali, before relaxing happily in her arms. Still, Margali decided that it was best to be sure, so she touched his forehead lightly, and searched his thoughts, trying to discover if he was in any pain or discomfort. She gave a sigh of relief when she felt nothing but contentment and a feeling of comfort and warmth. Still, Margali decided that she would take him to see Maja later, just to be certain. Margali rocked Kurti gently in her arms. "There, that's better," she said, desperately trying to sound a lot calmer than she felt, "you are safe now."
"But are the rest of us?" Tonino demanded as he stared at Kurti sceptically. His blue eyes looked worried, and he had his arms folded over his chest.
"What do you mean?" Margali asked sceptically.
"That's not normal," Tonino said, "it's not normal for an infant to go wandering across the ceiling of a caravan as if it's some sort of joke or a stroll in the park."
"Nothing about Kurti's normal," Margali replied, shrugging her shoulders dismissively, "what's so great about being normal, anyway? We live in a circus, we're supposed to celebrate diversity and those that have skills and talents outside of what some might consider normal."
Tonino shook his head, and pointed at Kurti. "That thing is not human," he said, "Maja claimed that it was only a few days old. That means that it shouldn't even be crawling yet, let alone going for a stroll across the roof of the caravan!"
Kurti began to cry when he heard Tonino's harsh tone of voice, and Margali tightened her grip on him protectively. "Do not worry, my little night crawler," she whispered soothingly, "we were concerned for your safety; that is all. You are safe now."
Tonino stared at Kurti sceptically. "Night crawler?" he asked.
Margali shrugged her shoulders again. "Why not? If he wants to crawl in the night, I guess that makes him a night crawler," she said.
Tonino frowned, and glared at Kurti sceptically. "That child has put a spell on you, Margali," he said worriedly, "its preventing you from thinking clearly, and its making you want to protect and defend it. That thing is dangerous, if you are not careful, it will kill us all."
Margali glared at Tonino angrily. "I believe, Tonino, that sometimes you forget just how powerful I am," she said haughtily, "my mind cannot easily be controlled, least of all by a newborn."
"Perhaps," Tonino conceded, "but how can that thing possibly be a newborn? Newborns don't crawl! Newborn's certainly don't climb up walls and dangle from the ceiling!"
Margali shrugged dismissively. "Maja said that everything she assumed about Kurti was little more than guesswork," she said. "Perhaps he is older than she thought. Perhaps his mutant ability manifesting early has led to his other abilities manifesting early, or perhaps both."
Tonino sighed, and then looked down at where Jimaine and Stefan were watching them uncertainly. He looked back up at Margali, and placed a reassuring hand upon her shoulder. "But what about our own children?" he asked, his tone suddenly vulnerable. "What about Stefan and Jimaine? Would you endanger them, just to keep this little one safe?"
Margali glared at Tonino again, and shook her head. "Neither Stefan nor Jimaine were ever in any danger," she told him angrily.
"But they could be," Tonino said worriedly, "if this one is already crawling, how long before it does more than that? How long before it finds a knife and attacks them?"
"I won't let that happen," Margali assured him, "and don't worry, I've looked inside Kurti's mind. He loves Jimaine and Stefan, and would never intentionally harm either of them."
"But, as you keep on telling me, he is an infant," Tonino replied, "he could still hurt them unintentionally."
"Um," said Klaus, obviously feeling awkward about interrupting their argument, "someone has always been watching Kurti. I think we would be able to stop him from hurting himself or anyone else."
Tonino turned his attention towards Klaus, and glared at him angrily. "Like you stopped him from climbing up to the ceiling?" he demanded.
Klaus looked down awkwardly, and held up Stefan's toy giraffe guiltily. "Stefan dropped this," he explained quietly, "I bent down to pick up Longneck, and when I looked up, Kurti was crawling across the ceiling. I only took my eyes off of him for a minute."
"And in that minute he could have killed Stefan or Jimaine," Tonino growled, "it is obvious, Faoladh, that you cannot control what that thing does."
"Um, Faoladh?" Klaus asked uncertainly.
"It's an old Irish folktale concerning werewolves," Margali explained dismissively, "and it's not important right now." She turned her attention back to Tonino. "Klaus couldn't have possibly realised that Kurti could climb up to the ceiling of the caravan, no one could have predicted that. It's not his fault."
Tonino looked from Klaus to Kurti, and then turned his attention back to Margali. "Are we running a charity for unwanted mutants now?" he demanded. "This is a circus, we cannot afford to take in every waif and stray with a sob story."
"Klaus pulls his own weight," Margali replied, "he has been working as my errand boy ever since he arrived here. He is not a charity."
"Errand boy?" Tonino asked sceptically. "Is that what they're called now? Isn't he a bit young for you?"
"Um, perhaps I should go somewhere else?" Klaus suggested uncertainly, suddenly looking very awkward.
"You know perfectly well that an errand boy means just that," Margali told Tonino angrily, "we are not all like you, spending our free time gallivanting off with nubile young teenagers young enough to be our own children."
Tonino suddenly looked down guiltily. "How long have you known?" he asked quietly.
Margali shrugged dismissively. "About pretty young Erika? Oh, long enough. You should have known better than to try to hide your wandering ways from a sorceress."
Tonino shook his head. "Things have been so hard lately," he said, "you're always busy with the circus or the children, you never have time for me anymore. You're not the person I married."
"Of course I'm not," Margali replied, "I'm older, and I have responsibilities that I didn't have in my youth. I have to devote my time to my children and to my circus; I can't spend all of my time with you anymore."
Tonino sighed. "Well, that is another issue, which must be dealt with, but not right now. Right now, we have more urgent matters that must be discussed," he pointed towards where Klaus was biting his lip nervously. "If that Faoladh cannot even watch an infant without calling for help, he is a poor excuse for an errand boy."
Margali sighed. "It's not Klaus' fault," she said. "None of us could have predicted that Kurti would be able to climb up to the ceiling. Now we know that he can, and so we can take precautions to make sure that everyone is safe."
"Even if you are right about that, we still cannot afford to take care of a child that is not useful to our circus," said Tonino, pointing towards Kurti uncertainly.
Margali sighed, and shook her head. Unfortunately, there was a certain amount of truth in Tonino's words. The circus was barely surviving, and the last two shows had scarcely made enough money to cover costs. She stared down at Kurti for a long moment, and then began to smile. It was a crazy idea, but it might just be the solution to all of their problems. "My little night crawler," she said fondly, "how would you like to be a star?"
