Michael could be heard scrambling through the books in the library, talking to himself every now and then. Jessica smiled to herself as she looked at the cover of the scrapbook, lightly running her finger over the gilt drawings on the leather cover—seashells, pearls, dolphins, and foamy waves bordered the edges. So lovely. It obviously was a treasured family piece, but had remained hidden in a trunk in the attic for decades.
And she opened the tome to the first page…
A newspaper clipping on the first page caught her eye.
Local fairgrounds to welcome Volturi's Circus of Oddities.
Straight from Chicago!
Mermaids, Sirens, Mind Readers, and more!
Jessica skimmed the article to learn a traveling circus almost a hundred years before had made its way to where she was supposed to meet the he and she that she had talked to just a few moments prior.
A cold chill ran down her back as she turned the page.
Two four-color placards filled the open pages, one advertising The Great E, a performer guaranteed to read the most closed mind and reveal the deepest thoughts. The other advertised, for only ten cents, one could meet mermaids—amazingly rare ones, for these mermaids were without tails!
"A mermaid without a tail?" Jessica muttered to herself. "How preposterous."
The thought of Weeki Wachee mermaids floated through her brain, but to rural Washingtonians a hundred years ago, even the possibility of a real, live mermaid must have caused quite a stir, regardless of the form of the lower half.
"I wonder how they sold the audience on tailless mermaids."
"We sometimes wore cloth ones. The fact we could be underwater for inordinate amounts of time made it believable."
Jessica clutched the scrapbook to her chest, and frantically looked around for the source of the feminine voice.
"Sorry. My husband doesn't want me interfering, but I knew you would have questions as you read through the book."
Jessica nodded as she turned the page. Ticket stubs and more short newspaper writeups of The Great E filled each side.
Miraculous ability to read even the youngest or oldest mind!
Your darkest secrets brought out, if you dare!
One dollar to try to stump The Great E - $50 if you succeed!
A dark, smudgy lithograph accompanied the writeups, yellowed with time, and fuzzy due to the era it was created. What Jessica could make out was wild, wavy locks of hair sticking out from a newsboy cap, a slight arrogance in the eyes, and arms folded across the man's chest with the shirtsleeves rolled up to reveal bare forearms.
"The Great E?"
"God, he hates that name."
"Then why use it?"
"When you run away from home to join the circus so you don't have to follow in your father's footsteps, you can't exactly use your birth name."
"True, true."
Jessica gently ran a finger over the tickets and articles before turning the page.
"What did his father do?" she asked distractedly, reading additional snippets.
"Bloodsucking lawyer."
"Hey! I'm a lawyer." Jessica's eyes were wide with self-righteous indignation.
"I know, but you are nowhere near a bloodsucking lawyer. You have a sense of social justice Edward's father never had."
"How do you know that?"
"Let's just say you've been on our radar for quite some time."
