Like Sheep
Chapter Two
It was time to get ready for the day, and the circus opened at two o'clock. Nathaniel arrived
extra early so he didn't burden Amber any more than he already had the day before on his "date"
with Christine. And if he knew Amber as well as he thought he did, he was positive she would
already be at work preparing the elephants for their big performance.
The circus was abuzz with animal noises when Nathaniel walked through the back gates. He
smiled: he was happy to be back at the circus after his wild night with Amber. God that girl was
a good fuck. Nathaniel wasn't sure if he was going to see her again, other than casual sex, but
damn. She was demanding and hot and spoiled and expected nothing less than perfection, but
Nathaniel was well equipped to fulfill her needs.
Despite his night with Christine, Nathaniel was feeling fully rested and eager to get back to
work. And heaven knows Amber was going to want something in return for covering for him, so
he was prepared to accept her terms.
When he found her in the big top handling Bessie, the "matriarch" of the awkward herd, he
approached her with cautious steps.
"I can hear you, you know," she chuckled. "Don't worry: my headphones are out."
"Oh so you're not going to take another swing at me?" Nathaniel teased.
"Not unless you get annoying," Amber smirked.
Nathaniel pretended to scowl. "Ha-ha very funny Elefanti."
"Oh you know you love it. So what's up?"
He peered at her. He seriously needed to stop staring, but he couldn't help it. Seeing Amber was
like a breath of fresh air in Gotham City. Between the mob, who they both unfortunately
worked for, and corrupt cops, it seemed like no one was honest any more. Amber reminded him,
always, that there was still hope.
"So how was your date?"
Nathaniel grinned widely. "It was fucking fantastic."
"She's that good of a lay?"
"Ooooohhhhhhhh yeah. If you could only have seen her-,"
Amber glared at him. "You really have no problem talking about your sex life do you?"
"Not really," he smirked.
She shook her head and went back to rubbing down Bessie. Bessie's wise brown eyes looked at
Nathaniel and he felt compelled to reach a hand out and stroke her trunk. She gave a low
rumbling sound and moved her trunk slightly to rest the tip just above Nathaniel's right
shoulder, sniffing him.
"How have they been? Any better?" he inquired quietly.
Amber froze momentarily before returning to her work with a breathless exhale. "The baby
seems to be fine, but Bessie and a few others have been stressed lately. They've started swaying
their heads again, which, as you know, is a sign of insanity brought on by confinement."
Nathaniel sighed heavily. "I wish there was something we could do for them. For all the
animals."
Amber was quiet a moment. "This is your job," she finally said.
"It's your job too."
She didn't say anything farther: she picked up her bucket and her scrubbing tools and headed for
the supplies room that was located in the far left corner of the main animal quarters with the
monkeys. Nathaniel stayed behind with Bessie as he continued to stroke her softly.
In the main animal quarters Amber quickly put the scrubbing utensils back into the closet and
went outside to dump the bucket out. She still had at least seven elephants to wash, assuming
she wouldn't have to re-wash them, but she liked to use fresh water for each of them and she got
fresh scrubbing sand. They always ran out of the sand faster than Petrofsky liked, so she hid it
from him by buying the sand herself right out of her paycheck.
Amber went back into the quarters and her eyes widened when she saw Peter standing by the
supplies closet, a smile on his face and his hands in his pockets.
"Peter…." Amber began. "Uh, what's up?"
"Just wanted to see how you were doing," the other blonde replied easily. "So how have you
been?"
"Pretty good. And yourself?" Amber asked.
"Good, good, despite what those eco-freaks wish," Peter grinned.
Amber forced a smile and went around him to get the bag of scrubbing sand.
It was at that moment Amber's cell phone vibrated. Her pupils dilated and her blood ran cold.
Luckily Peter didn't seem to have noticed, as he was studying the macaw's cage with some
distaste. Amber frequently wondered why he had even chosen to work at a circus since his
disgust with animals was evident.
"Have you heard?" Peter said suddenly.
Amber started. "Heard what?"
"Another person's been killed by the Joker," he elaborated. He wasn't looking at her but rather
staring off into the space just to the right of her.
"Yes. I have heard."
"It's a pity the Batman hasn't turned himself in," Peter commented dryly.
"Do you seriously think that'd stop the Joker from killing people?"
"If the Batman turned himself in he'd have something to lure the joker in with: his true identity.
And once the Joker goes looking for whoever Batman really is, the police could capture him.
Batman would be put in jail, obviously, but then again….It's a sacrifice I'd be willing to make. At
least the Joker would be gone."
Amber took a deep breath, trying to control her annoyance. "Aren't you a fan of the Joker's? He
wouldn't stop killing people even if Batman did turn himself in. The Joker would have no reason
to stop."
Peter looked amused. He came toward her and folded his arms.
"I'm not a fan," he said quietly. "I just have an affinity for the theatrical."
"His theatrics are sick," Amber snarled, turning away. With a yelp she tripped over a misplaced
crate and fell on her arm. She hissed in pain and tried to push herself up. She felt Peter gripping
her and pulling her upward. They looked up at the sound of footsteps running their way.
"What happened?" Nathaniel demanded as he trotted into the main quarters.
"I tripped, it's not a big deal," Amber groaned.
"Should I get the doctor?" Nathaniel huffed.
"She'll be fine," Peter said.
Nathaniel's eyes darted to Peter and then back to Amber. "El?"
"I'm okay," she sighed and got to her feet. She winced as she straightened up but was eager to get
away from Peter. He gave her the creeps sometimes.
"Come on," she muttered to Nathaniel and limped toward the exit. He picked up the bucket and
the sand, and then followed her through to the big top with a thrown glance over his shoulder
at Peter.
Peter ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He checked his watch and saw something
gleaming out of the corner of his eye.
It was Amber's phone.
He frowned and bent down to examine it. It was a basic pre-paid cell phone with a little zebra-
and-elephant charm hanging from a little nook on the right side of the phone.
With a curious eye, Peter pressed a button on the dial-pad and watched the screen light up.
Displayed clearly was a message: "New Message from MAX".
With a shrug Peter opened the message and read it quickly. It said:
We move in on Wednesday.
"What the hell?" Peter murmured before pocketing the cell phone. He'd give it to Amber later, he
reasoned, as he headed off to take care of his chores.
Later that evening Amber was leading the lead acrobat's white mare back to the stable when she
suddenly realized her phone was no longer in her pocket. She had completely forgotten about it
in all the hustle of maintaining the circus' small herd of elephants. A panic rose up deep in her
chest and she tried to remember when she had last seen it.
I was getting the sand…..and then Peter came in…..
Amber froze. She discovered that she must have dropped it when she fell. She quickly led the
mare to the stable and tucked her safely in, giving her an extra sugar cube as her way of saying
"good job", and nearly ran back to the main animal quarters. She frantically searched the area
where she had landed but didn't see her phone anywhere.
"Shit," she snarled.
Next she ran to catch up to Nathaniel before he left for the day, and she discovered that he had
no intention of leaving since there was a baby monkey sleeping in his arms as he carried it to its
mother. She flushed with embarrassment as she understood that her urgency to get to her friend
before he left was unneeded.
"El? Are you okay?" Nathaniel asked worriedly.
Amber frowned. She had been noticing throughout the day that Nathaniel had been
uncharacteristically soft with her, and she had caught him staring at her a few times. She wasn't
sure what had gotten into him, but she pushed that aside for the moment.
"My phone's missing," she told him.
"Well, did you check-,"
I've checked everywhere it could be," Amber rasped. "And I still can't find it."
Nathaniel looked a little surprised at the panic in her voice, but didn't comment on it,
thankfully.
"Let me go put this little guy away and we can go check out the lost-and-found, okay?"
Amber nodded, words failing her. She didn't want to contemplate what would happen if
someone like Peter, or the ringmaster, got a hold of-
Wait. She hadn't asked Peter, and he had been with her in the main quarters….
Whirling around, she saw Nathaniel heading quickly toward the main animal quarters, but she
couldn't wait for him. It was urgent she get her phone back in case she received a message
someone working at the circus could figure out.
Amber headed towards Peter's usual haunt: the fire-circle where some of the clowns and the
ringmaster gathered to complain about the animals they worked with and drink their salaries
away. She hated going there. The smell of alcohol was suffocating and the members of the circle
got a little crass whenever Amber approached them, but if Peter knew where her phone was, it'd
be worth it.
Sure enough, Amber was able to make out Peter's white hair by the light of the fire as she came
closer. Her heart was thudding painfully in her chest and she considered turning back the way
she came when several people began watching her. But she couldn't risk being found out. After it
was all over, she didn't care who knew, but it wouldn't be good for her mission to be stopped
prematurely.
"Peter," Amber hissed. "Can I talk to you?"
The other blonde looked up. "Sure."
She led him away before the trademark cat-calls could start. When they were a good distance
away from the fire, Amber put her deep blue eyes, wide with barely-controlled panic, on him.
"Have you seen my phone?" she blurted out.
Peter frowned. "Hmmm? Oh your phone? Yeah…I picked it up in the main quarters. I forgot I
even had it."
He pulled Amber's phone out of his pocket and gently handed it over; but there was still a frown
on his face.
"Oh thank god!" Amber breathed. "Thank you so much Peter!"
"You're welcome…..and you got a message from Max. I kind of read it."
Amber could have fainted. "Why?"
Peter thought quickly. "It was open when I picked it up, the message I mean. Sorry," he lied.
"It's…okay. I've got to go. Thanks a lot Peter."
He finally smiled at her before going back to the fire circle.
Amber made her way back to the employee parking, her breathing unstable and a headache was
starting to form behind her left eye.
Max had texted her….and Peter had seen it.
"Hey! Hey, AMBER!"
She jumped and spun around.
Nathaniel was running toward her, a look of annoyance on his face.
"Where have you been?" he demanded. "I was looking for you everywhere! I thought you needed
help finding your phone?"
"I-uh, I found it. Peter had it."
"You could have told me you were going to find him!"
"S-sorry," Amber stuttered.
Nathaniel exhaled slowly. "It's okay. Are you, um, heading home now?"
She nodded vigorously and started toward her car again.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?" Nathaniel called. He was a little worried about how Amber
was acting: she seemed a little off.
Amber slid into her car on the driver's side and checked the message Max had sent her. Her
hands were shaking as she read the short script, and then exhaled a sigh of relief. There wasn't a
lot that could go wrong in two days, and she highly doubted Peter knew anything that would
jeopardize whatever Max had planned for Wednesday. While there was a chance Peter would
get wise to her actions, he wouldn't have enough time to actually do anything.
As Amber headed home, she heard Peter's voice in her head:
"I have an affinity for the theatrical."