How she managed to sleep for nearly a whole day on nothing but a wool blanket and a pillow was beyond her
How she managed to sleep for nearly a whole day on nothing but a wool blanket and a pillow was beyond her. When she was about to sleep, she made Mr. Tall promise that no one but he would enter the trailer unless someone was dying. It was clear that he was confused of why, but none the less agreed. That was why, as she sat up, she guessed that no one could wake her and Mr. Tall, for whatever reason, did not step in to do so. Maybe he was busy, or maybe he felt as though she needed that rest.
Either way, she awoke when the sun was setting just like before. Nearly a whole day she slept! Stretching, she scratched her head and brushed her hair down with her fingers. It wasn't a lot, but she was living with a bunch of freaks now…who would care? And by the way she did not bounce around; she assumed they had stopped to rest for the night.
She stood, wobbly from not standing so long, and walked over to the door. Once she opened it, she was hit by moonlight. For a moment, she felt serenity possess her. That moment, however, disappeared when a voice spoke up, "I see you are awake."
Looking over to her left, she nodded. "Yes…Where are we? How long was I asleep?" Mr. Tall stood there in half the shadows, watching her. What was she supposed to call him besides his last name? Surely he didn't want to tire it out…For now; she ignored that and waited for an answer.
"Where we are is a location you've never heard of. As for how much you slept, I would say a little past a day."
"Why didn't you wake me when we stopped?" Ashley walked with caution on the ground, unsure of there were pot holes or something. Her eyes were hooked into the man's; she couldn't pull away to look down for her safety even if she wished to.
The man grinned, showing his gray teeth. "Because we just stopped a few minutes ago. I daresay you slept because of the fact that we traveled. We are making some food near the fire, which would be a good chance for you to meet the other performer. Don't worry, Larten will be there. I have some…business to attend to."
Carefully, Ashley walked over to where the glow of the fire was. She hid behind a nearby trailer, watching the people. There was a thin man, thinner than a rail she was willing to bet. There were two women, one beautiful and the other strict looking. There was a boy about her age if not older who shimmered slightly in the fires light…with scales!
There were too many people there…the shyness was getting the best of her. Walking backwards ever so slowly, she made sure she was hidden by the shadows before jogging away. She'd talk to them when Mr. Tall was near…that way he would introduce them without any awkwardness.
Somehow she had forgotten the way back to the trailer she shared with the older man. Biting her lip, she found herself somewhere on the outskirts of the camp. As she stepped to the right of a small tent, she felt her scream choke her.
In front of her by a few feet was a cage, holding a vicious looking hairy man. He snarled and tried to break from his chains, drooling as he watched her. Ashley stepped back but could do no more, entranced by the animal man.
"Miss Rouse!" A voice broke her out of her thoughts, making her spin around and jump almost two feet in the air.
"Mr. Crepsley!" It was nothing short of a miracle that she managed to stop from stuttering. Something about this man's presence gave her comfort, a feeling of safety. "I…got lost. I couldn't find the way back to the trailer and…what is that?"
The pale skinned man looked at her for a moment, the moon lighting only half his face. "That is Wolf Man. You may not believe me at the moment, but he really is a wolf man; not an over hairy human. I would not go near him too often if I were you, Ashley."
She nodded, half of her believing him and half…well, skeptical.
As they walked back to the fire, Ashley felt reluctant in her steps. Whether Crepsley noticed or didn't mattered not for they ended up sitting near it. The beautiful woman (the stricter one had cleared away apparently) offered them both two sausages. Ashley muttered a 'thank you' and blew on it, biting into it carefully.
"Ashley, this is Truska, the bearded lady. This is Alexander, the thinnest man alive. This is Evra Von, snake-boy. Everyone, this is Ashley Rouse, Mr. Tall's new assistant." Mr. Crepsley took care of any embarrassing introductions.
The red hair girl smiled, the shadows of the flame making her hair look like fire itself. "Hello…" They all greeted her warmly, making her feel a little more relaxed.
When they went back to talking, Evra scooted over to her and smiled. "Hi…So what's your talent?"
"Talent?" Ashley echoed stupidly.
"Yeah, talent. I mean, mine's being a snake boy. Plus I can do this!" His long thin tongue darted out and traveled up his right nostril.
Ashley burst out laughing, "Ew! That's so sickly awesome!" She couldn't stop giggling, bringing the unwanted attention of several performers. When she calmed down, she hesitated for a moment.
In all honesty, she had almost forgotten this was a traveling circus. Even if she was an assistant who would do some work, that might have included going on stage. What was her talent? Did she have one? Of course she did…just not a weird one like this.
"I don't…know." She muttered softly.
Evra sensed her sadness and quickly interrupted it, "Do you want to see my snake? Come on!" He grabbed her hand to help her stand but she pulled away. A blush covered her face as she stood by herself.
"Sorry…not used to…a gentleman." She grinned weakly, running after the snake boy as Crepsley watched with curiosity.
When she stepped into his tent, she felt something slide up her leg. Looking down, she gasped loudly but did not shriek like others might have. Despite her freaking out about spiders, she seemed calm about snakes. "She's…she's beautiful!" Ashley whispered as Evra picked up the snake, wrapping it around himself.
"May I…hold her?"
The boy grinned and nodded, wrapping it around her like a dress. "Be careful you don't step on her tail. By the way, how old are you?"
Ashley smiled, "I'm fifteen. You?"
"Fifteen. Oh look, you look like a perfect pair!"
She wasn't sure if he was being serious or poking fun, but she laughed anyway. They spent a few hours in his tent, sitting down and talking of snakes as well as other things. As they talked, she suddenly asked, "I hope I'm not being rude, Evra, but…how did you end up here?"
"Mr. Tall saved me." He replied simply.
"Saved you?" She blinked, "What do you mean?"
Evra thought for a moment, obviously trying to make what he was about to say short but fulfilling. "Well first off, do you trust him?"
Ashley crossed her arms under her barely existing bosom, "That's a stupid question! I barely even know the man; I just met him two nights ago!"
"But do you trust him?"
"…He has the presence of trustworthiness, yes."
He nodded, "That's what I felt when he first came. I had lived with another circus for a few years, maybe six or seven I think. The owner was cruel; he hit me, barely fed me, got paid by people just so they could laugh and throw things at me. Well one day, I was sitting in the corner of my little cage and Mr. Tall came. He did nothing but stand there, watching me. He didn't smile, laugh, talk or…throw things. Nothing.
"Finally at the end of the day, the circus owner, the cruel one, asked him if he wanted to buy me. Mr. Tall basically…" He stopped, looked from his snake which he petted to the girl. "I'm not sure if I should tell you the rest. He just saved me, sheltered me in here."
Ashley nodded, surprise in her eyes. She ran a fingertip over the snake's scales, feeling it's roughness and smoothness. So every man, no matter how great or tall they are, have committed sins before. In her mind, she pictured Mr. Tall killing that circus owner…but shrugged it off. Assuming makes an ass out of you and me, the one saying goes.
"What about you?"
"What about me?" She looked up, startled by his sudden question.
"How did you end up being his assistant?" A soft smile lingered on his face, "In all my years here, I've never seen him even want an assistant. In fact, last time we tried to convince him to get help from a person instead of Little People, he snapped and snarled."
Making a mental note to ask who the Little People were later, she shrugged. Something inside her, warmth of sorts, spread through her body. He had taken her as an assistant when he really did not want one. "Well…These boys dragged me to that old theatre. They wanted to tease me so I ran into…literally into Mr. Tall. Next time I know, I wake up from my faint and he offers me a job. I didn't learn why until later when my only friend got adopted. Instead of being alone, I came back here. So…here I am."
"So he saved you from being alone?"
Ashley commented dryly, "You're as sharp as a marble Evra Von." She remembered the nuns telling that to Mary at times.
Suddenly the two broke out at soft giggles at that saying, which turned into chuckles which erupted into laughter. They couldn't stop laughing at that simple silly phrase for a few minutes.
Ashley was holding her sides while Evra was wiping away tears as their laughter died down. Alexander walked in, surprised by the noise, "What's so funny?"
Evra smiled, "Nothing, just talking about marbles." The two shared a secret giggle.
Alexander shook off a confuse look. "Well Mr. Tall needs to talk to the both of you, now."
As they walked over there, Ashley following Evra since she got lost the first time, she muttered, "I hate that."
"Hate what?"
Startled, she looked up, "Huh? Oh…I didn't even realize I spoke my thoughts. Well…You seem like you can keep a secret. When I hear his name…especially just now, my heart tightened as though, forgive the expression, a cobra was constricting it."
Evra looked at her thoughtfully and his eyes lit up, as if he realized something or thought of an idea. Quickly however, he shook his head, dismissing it. "Well, that's weird. Anyway, come on."
They entered the trailer, Ashley trailing after Evra. "Good evening you two. While we are camped here for tonight, I have jobs for you both. Evra, do you think you can manage hunting for the Little People just for one night? I would ask Ashley but…" An unheard comment was exchanged, both nodded. "Ashley, I need to speak to you alone."
Once again, the feeling of a cobra hugging her heart appeared. Nodding, she watched Evra leave before sitting on her pillow. "Yes…sir?"
"Larten tells me you met some of our performers. Do you have any questions?" He asked as calm as the sea before a storm.
Ashley nodded, tucking her short hair behind her ear. "Yes sir. Um…first off, what should I call you? I mean, I'm sure Mr. Tall must get old after a while."
"It's my name so I see no reason why it would get old. If you wish, you may call me 'sir' or whatever you wish."
A thought struck her out of nowhere. "What about 'master'?"
Silence.
Her face turned a light pink as she bit her lip. "I mean…um…Just ignore that. Um…what will my job be when we stop to camp?"
The man wore an amused grin on his face, a hint of laughter in his voice. "If you know how to wash laundry, you will help with that. If not, or if we do not have a lot of clothes to wash, you can help clean dishes."
Ashley made a face, "But that's like the Orphanage chores! Isn't there anything more…exciting?"
The man chuckled this time, sending shivers down her spine. "You can feed Wolf Man, if you wish. No? Then that is settled."
Ashley stood up and asked, "Sir…what is…what is the Little People?"
Mr. Tall stopped for a second, paused in his stride, before walking outside with her following. "You will learn soon enough. Any more questions?"
"A million, yes but I doubt you want to hear them all. My most pressing one is…will I be on stage?" Ashley's cheeks turned a shade darker than her crimson frizzy hair when he chuckled again, a hint of mocking in it.
"Well what would you do on there? What kind of strange gift do you have?" Mr. Tall asked as they paused near a tent.
Ashley inhaled slowly, looking at the ground. Thinking for a full two minutes, in which time Mr. Crepsley appeared near to talk to his old friend, she could think of only one thing. "Well…I know how to dance but I don't think you would consider it…a strange gift."
"Humor her, Hibernius." Crepsley spoke softly, watching the girl look down at her feet.
Mr. Tall nodded, "Dance for us."
"Right now? Here?"
"Yes."
Taking off her sandals, she hesitated. Something was missing…she wore a skirt which was needed to dance…she had her hair down (as if it could be put up). But she was missing… "Music! I don't have any music to dance to."
Suddenly in her mind, she heard some. It started off as a soft violin, which grew louder as she stepped to its rhythm. Then the sound of a tambourine, which she adored, was thrown it quite loudly. Drums were heard, making her hips move on their own accord. Her eyes were half closed as she moved her arms as well; doing the opposite direction her hip went. (A/N Note: Listen to "Gypsy Violin" from the Queen of the Damned CD I think. About 3:04, that's the part where this next paragraph occurs.)
Suddenly, towards the middle, the violin sped up which made the drums, as soft as they were, copy. She closed her eyes completely, letting her mind's music take control of her body. Spinning around in a circle continuously, she as though nothing could stop her! She spun and spun and spun again…looking like a blur…(3:32 where this and next paragraph occurs.)
Then she felt her feet warm up ever so slightly. She couldn't stop to check what it was, wouldn't dare dream of it! But she felt a hand grab her forearm, dragging her away from the spot where she stood. (3:50 in the song.) Startled, she looked up and saw four versions of the two men. Something was lighting their faces up…something bright…
"Fire!" She whispered, looking back at where she had danced. The ground, the grass and soil and all, was now burnt. The fire still burned, not as wildly as before but still alive. She moved foreword, seeing no one could put it out…not even with water!
As if she had dealt with this before, calm and collected, she placed her hand over the fire! But no sizzle happened, no scream of pain or agony followed from being burned. In fact, it was the opposite; the fire died.
She stood up, dizzy from spinning, unharmed by the fire, but looked at the crowd that had gathered. A dark blush covered her face. "That was…my strange gift."
Next chapter: Explanations…well, sort of. More Mr. Tall explaining about the Cirque Du Freak. Evra and her talk. Then we go into a time skip.
