Chapter 32: Blue Sky
"It's a circus festival, Wolfgang. If I can't walk around here, where can I?"
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Wolfgang asked. He had been crossing the way from the main tent to Circus Gehlhaar's trailer when he ran into Kurt, Lars, Ivan, Petra, Gretchen, and Amanda all walking towards the opposite end of the pier. They had little Amiri Black with them too.
"This is the only day our schedule let's us see Alexi and Oleg perform. Moscow State is either right after or right before us on all the other days." Kurt said.
"Yeah, but the tent is behind you." Wolfgang pointed to the yellow tent a short ways in the opposite direction.
"We wanted to get ice cream first." Lars said.
"Where, out there?" Wolfgang asked as he gestured towards the open midway, which was teeming with people. "Kurt you can't go out there like that."
Kurt glanced down at his clothes. He was wearing warm-up clothes and his Brighton Circus Festival jacket. It was exactly what everyone else was wearing. "Why not?"
Wolfgang hated echoing Margali's paranoia, but people were unpredictable and crowds were especially so. He was trying to formulate and answer that didn't sound like an insult when Kurt interrupted his thoughts.
"It's a circus festival, Wolfgang. If I can't walk around here, where can I?"
Kurt did have a point, Wolfgang thought. And wearing the sweatshirt jacket that identified him as a performer in the festival certainly helped explain his appearance. Wolfgang shrugged. "Just don't be late you guys." He said.
The assembled group promised they wouldn't and laughing and talking amongst themselves began threading their way through the maze of trailers toward the boardwalk. Wolfgang realized that all four of the show's leads had just wandered off the circus festival grounds into a place where there were God knew how many distractions. It would be easy to lose track of time, especially that bunch. They better not be late, he thought.
The group made their way along the edge of the pier where the crowd was thinner and it was easier to walk. While people glanced in their direction to look at Kurt, they then turned away without incident. It made Kurt wonder if people wouldn't just react like this to him all the time. He had no idea. The few times he'd gone out in public where it wasn't a performance he had been covered from head to toe.
They walked all the way to the edge of the pier where they could see the ocean stretching out to the endless arc that was the horizon. Sailboats and powerboats of every size and variety speckled the water. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was a beautiful day.
"Shouldn't go get our ice cream?" Lars asked. "We don't want to be late."
Kurt looked at the crowd milling around the various booths. People had to push past each other to move around. He would be walled in on all sides if he went in there. "I think I'll stay here." Kurt said. There were quite a few people on the boardwalk, but not nearly as many as there were in amongst the concessions.
"Will you be okay?" Amanda asked.
Kurt rolled his eyes. "Of course I'll be okay. Vanilla please."
He watched the five of them, ushering Amiri along with them, push their way through the crowd with the practiced movements of people who did that sort of thing all the time. He had actually hoped Amanda would stay, but he didn't want to make it sound like he was scared to be alone. He wasn't and he hated the way everyone was always crowding around him, hiding him. He wasn't a kid anymore, he could take care of himself. Besides, he was Nightcrawler. People would recognize him, they would know his costume and pass by like they had been doing all afternoon.
After watching Amanda disappear into the throng Kurt returned his gaze to the ocean. The sky was so blue that it was hard to tell where it ended and the water began. There was a slight breeze and he closed his eyes, enjoying the contrast of the sun's heat with the salt scented air. Around him he could hear the white noise of many conversations going on at once, occasionally punctuated by a burst of music or a child's laughter. It was wonderful. If a day like this didn't make one believe that God existed, what would?
Kurt leaned with his elbows on the railing and his chin cupped in his hands. He looked out at the horizon and then closed his eyes again. It was almost better that way. He hoped that it took them a long time to get ice cream. He didn't know if he would ever get to do something like this again. It was marvelous to stand out in the open enjoying the sunshine just like everyone else. It made him feel…normal. A frown crossed Kurt's face but he pushed the thought from his mind. He was who he was. Why let that spoil such a perfect moment?
All too soon he heard the footsteps of his friends returning. It seemed that they had only just left.
"That was quick." Kurt said, his eyes still closed. "I thought I was the only one who could tele…" He opened his eyes. "Port. Umm, hello." He switched to English for the greeting because it wasn't Lars or Amanda or any of the others who stood next to him, but three strange boys. They were only a few years older than he was and wore the kind of baggy pants and chain wallets that he always identified with Christian. They weren't carrying skateboards though.
"What are you supposed to be?" One of them asked. He had dark hair, which he spiked up and tipped with red.
Kurt swallowed. He'd been in these situations before. People didn't like to be scared, or didn't want to deal with the idea that he was different, and they sometimes reacted with hostility. Following Wolfgang's advice, he had always managed to defuse these encounters. He just hoped he could get rid of them before everyone came back because if he didn't Amanda would tell Margali and she would lock him in their trailer for the rest of eternity.
"I'm not supposed to be anything." Kurt said. "What I am is the Incredible Nightcrawler. Have you come to ask when the show starts?" He had never gotten the hang of making jokes in English; there were so many puns and plays on words that he just didn't get. He decided to play it straight.
"You're a circus freak?"
"Six thirty." Kurt said, ignoring the boy's comment. "But I would come early. We usually sell out."
"Nice tail. Did you make it yourself?"
Inwardly, Kurt rolled his eyes. That was the best they could do? "Well, it's been lovely chatting with you, but I really must go. Auf Wiedersehen." Kurt took a step away from the railing, but he was grabbed by the shoulder and pushed back.
"We don't like Germans here. And we especially don't like German circus freaks."
"Really? I wasn't aware that this place belonged to you." Kurt said. "I'll have to keep that in mind next time I want to visit." He tried to turn away and was again pushed back into the railing, more roughly this time. The boys had closed in around him.
"Do you know what we do to circus freaks who mouth off?" Spiky hair asked. They were even closer now and Kurt was pressed as far back against the railing as he could go. He realized there was no way he was going to get rid of them and he was going to need help if they kept threatening him like this.
"Lars! Amanda! Ich brauche helfen!" Kurt yelled their names as loud as he could. He didn't know if they were even near by, but it was worth a shot. No one came.
"Sorry, I don't see any other circus freaks here." One of them, he had a t-shirt that said "Independent Trucks" on it, grabbed him by his jacket.
Kurt realized that the only thing to do was run. He slipped his arms out of the jacket, climbed onto the railing and leaped over their heads.
"What the…"
Kurt didn't stay to listen. He landed on all fours and started running on his hands and feet. He was faster that way; he didn't care how strange it looked. He was faster and more agile than they were so they probably hadn't even had time to react to his escape before it was too late to catch up. But he wasn't about to check and see if they were following him.
It surprised Kurt when he felt a hand close around his tail and he was yanked off his feet. It threw him off balance and he scraped his knees as he fell to the wooden boardwalk. It hurt like stubbing your toe. Kurt balled his hands into firsts for a moment trying not to say every curse word in every language he knew. The one who had pulled his tail, Independent Trucks was on the ground too, his eyes wide.
"That's… That's attached to you." He said.
Kurt could see the boy's friends catching up. He wasn't going to wait for them. The boardwalk was above the beach now, sitting on thick stilts nearly 30 feet above the sand. It was a little too chilly for swimming and the beach was dotted with a few couples here and there. They strolled arm in arm, swinging their shoes in their hands, oblivious to what was going on above them. Kurt flung himself towards the railing. All he had to do was go over it. Then he could climb under the boardwalk where they couldn't follow him. He would wait for Amanda and Lars and everyone else to come back and everything would be fine.
It didn't work. He'd just reached the railing and put his hands on it when he was roughly pulled away. "Autsch!" He yelled in surprise reaching for the rail again. He was even more surprised when they lifted him off the ground and threw him over the top of it.
For a moment Kurt thought he could catch it with his tail, but he missed. That cost him precious seconds. If he could right himself, he could land. He would be okay. They would have had their fun and he could return to the trailers and pretend nothing happened. The ground rushed up too soon. He'd gone over railing headfirst and it looked like he was going to hit the ground that way too. Kurt put his hands out to brace the fall even though he knew it was the wrong thing to do. He hit the sand, his arms folded beneath him, and the impact knocked the wind out of him. There was an explosion of pain and he couldn't catch his breath, but it was over. He just needed a moment to get himself together.
The Circus Gehlhaar group returned from the concessions and walked back along the outside of the boardwalk. Three boys walked past them and one of them clipped Amanda on the shoulder. He kept going without apologizing.
"Hey!" Amanda said, but they were walking too fast. "Jerk." She commented under her breath when they were out of earshot. Petra shot them a dirty look as well.
Lars looked around. "Is this the right place?" He asked. The end of the pier where they'd left Kurt was empty. There was no one there.
"Where did he go?" Petra asked.
Lars shook his head. "I don't know." Kurt's ice cream was melting onto his hand.
"Maybe he's already at the tent?" Amanda said. "He could have gone to save us seats."
Lars looked around again. Why would Kurt tell them to meet him here and then leave? It didn't seem like him, but it was probably getting close to the Moscow Circus's show time. Perhaps Kurt thought he was doing them a favor; that was more in character. "I bet he did. Let's go meet him before his ice cream melts all over the place."
They turned and walked toward the yellow tent leaving the boardwalk behind them.
