The Midnight Carnival by Erika McGann Read Free Book Online Page A

you gotta work together.’ Justine picked at her dinner. ‘Drake doesn’t work great with others. He likes to do his own thing.’
    ‘He seems to get on well with Agata,’ said Grace.
    ‘Sure, she’s like a mom to him. But everyone else…’
    Grace noticed then that Agata and Drake sat alone. All the other tables filled up, but theirs remained strangely empty, except for one tall man that now joined them. He wore a long, dark trenchcoat and a hat with a brim that shaded his eyes, fingerless gloves and heavy, leather boots. He sat one chair away from Agata, nodded slowly at her, then set his gaze at Grace and her friends. Grace recognised him as the sorcerer from the main show, who had created a minifireworks display inside the tent with a mix of chemicals and weirdly shaped instruments.
    ‘Who’s that?’ asked Delilah.
    ‘That’s the doctor,’ Justine replied. ‘At least that’s what they call him.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘He was a medical doctor once. Lost his licence though. There were rumours going round… Anyway, he joined the carnival after that.’ The ballerina shook her head. ‘You don’t concern yourselves with him now, you hear?’
    ‘What you do mean?’ said Rachel.
    ‘He’s not… He doesn’t like outsiders. You give him a wide berth and you’ll be fine.’
    The man raised a skinny cigar to his lips and lit it.
    ‘He’s looking at you now.’
    ‘Yeah,’ Justine said, stacking their empty bowls onto the tray. ‘He doesn’t like me neither.’
    The bearded girl got them toffee apples from the dessert table, and they all strolled back towards her tent chewing on the sticky fruit.
    ‘I hope this won’t be your last visit, just cos you’re starting back to school.’
    ‘No way,’ said Una. ‘We’ll be back here every evening as long as the carnival’s here. How long are you staying?’
    Justine delicately picked at her apple, avoiding getting her beard stuck in the toffee.
    ‘Couldn’t say. We don’t stick to no schedule. But I think we’re gonna be here for a while.’
    ***
    Grace’s mum was cross when she finally phoned for a lift home.
    ‘Do you know what time it is? You’ve got school tomorrow.’
    ‘Sorry, mum, we just forgot the time.’
    ‘Did you even get a proper dinner, or have you been eating sugar all day?’
    ‘We had some beef stew.’
    The was silence, then her mum sighed.
    ‘I’ll be there in a few minutes. But this is the last time, okay? No more late nights.’
    Grace waved goodbye to the others and waited by the entrance of the carnival in the dark. The stars twinkled above her, and the whisper of the wind through the leaves of the trees made her smile. She’d had a really good last day of freedom.
    Then another whisper caught her attention. It came from behind her. Creeping back into the park Grace could make out the silhouette of two figures by the first trailer. One voice rose in anger, but not loud enough for her to make out what they were saying. Tiptoeing closer, she ducked behind a tree and strained to hear.
    ‘Patience. It’s out of your hands for now.’ The first voice was deep, forceful.
    ‘But it’s not out of yours.’ The second voice was Drake’s, Grace was sure of it. ‘You could strike now if you only had the guts.’
    ‘Ah, the petulance of youth. Only a fool attacks who knows he’ll lose. Bide your time, lizard boy.’
    There was a growl and one of the figures stalked off. There wasn’t much light from the stars, but Grace saw the hint of green skin. In the shadows the second figure stood in silence, an ember glowing in the dark.
    A cigar, thought Grace.
    She inched her way back to the entrance, making sure her feet made no sound. She tried to put it out of her mind, but she couldn’t help wondering who this doctor was, and what Drake wanted from him.

6
Ask Old Cat Lady
    The strongwoman hauled weights to the stage, the muscles of her arms swelling with every lift, and shrinking with every drop. Every now and then she balanced