Chapter 35

Hell or High Water

It had been more than two weeks since Taryn
had assumed videos had been posted, and still there was no sign of Ben, Greg or
Josh at all. She felt at a loss to explain it. By her calculations, they should
have arrived days ago. She had rerun the numbers in her head, extrapolating how
long it would take for the videos to cross the South American servers onto the
North American ones, and how long it would take for word of mouth to reach her
mother, or the others. She was starting to feel a little frazzled.

With a sigh, she pulled herself away from the table and
walked to one of the small windows in the trailer. She stared out across the
muddy field that they had parked at, thinking. They had done shows here every
night, and the crowds just kept getting bigger. Money was flowing into the
circus since word of her and Sylvie had spread. Idly, she tried to figure just
how much profit Nightshade was most likely making here, and gave it up as
hopeless. Bitterly, she guessed that Nightshade had pulled in several thousands
in profit, and she hoped he got a bellyache out of it!

One good thing about the amount of money pouring in was the
cash bonuses that Nightshade had started handing out. Hers were sent home of
course, to try and help her mother pay for her medical bills. Nightshade had
seen fit last night to pull her aside and tell her that the insurance company
that had been paying her medical coverage had increased their rates, and
enlarged the deductible that her mom had to pay each week. As if! MacGregor Insurance was a reputable firm from Red Leaf, and
her mother was one of their oldest clients! Surely they wouldn't do something
like that to her, no matter what Nightshade said. A small, niggling fear in the
back of her head told her that it could be the
truth. Either way, she couldn't risk it. She had to work hard for Nightshade to
ensure that her mother didn't lose her house and her medicine. Her medicine! Taryn worried that her mother might not be taking it,
stubborn, stubborn woman!, and that she was
overexerting herself. That walk her mother had insisted on, it could have given
her a cold, even pneumonia.

Stop it! She told herself firmly. You're doing nothing but
giving yourself ulcers. Trying to take her mind off her mother, she stared at a
young black-haired handler going along the big top and checking the stakes that
held the ropes in place. It must be a miserable job, she decided. For the past
three days, there had been a rainstorm that had hovered over Rio, minimizing
the crowds moving between tents and on the rides. Oh, Nightshade must be
gnashing his teeth over the rain. The thought brought a slight smile to her
face.

"Something must be good if you're smiling like you just
scored a field goal." Sylvie observed. Taryn blinked,
scored a field goal?

"Oh, I was just picturing how Nightshade must be feeling at
this weather." Taryn replied airily. "He is probably
ready to jump up and down on his hat by now."

Both girls giggled as they pictured an irate Nightshade
jumping up and down on that black ringmaster hat of his.

"Well," Sylvie said, biting back another giggle. "That was fun.
But we really need to think about how we can get more people to come to the
circus. If we can get more of a draw, we get more publicity. Eventually,
someone is going to try to interview us. We can tell our story, Nightshade gets
arrested, and we go home."

Taryn had considered that option,
but rejected it for the same reason she had before. "Nightshade is too smart to
really believe that we are submitting to his rule. He has to have a backup plan
in case we get our story out. I just wish I knew what it was."

Sylvie shrugged like it didn't matter. "You can't stop a
game just because the other team has a hidden strategy. You just have to stick
to yours and hope it's the better one." She said fatalistically.

Taryn nodded in agreement, but she
still felt uneasy. Nightshade had to be planning something, because he didn't
seem worried to her. If she was in his place, she would be sweating bullets
that they would try to escape or get their story out. She would limit all
contact they had (that was easy, they never left the show, and people coming in
were restricted or befuddled by Ginger. That harlot knew how to fog men's minds
to the point that they never remembered anything they did for a week!) and set guards to see that no one snuck in. She had seen a
couple of guards, but that was it. What was more in abundance was the multitude
of security cameras that Taryn saw posted around the
show. There were more than two dozen that Taryn had
mapped out, and she was sure they weren't the only things there. She still
hadn't gotten a good look at Nightshade's security station to know what all
they were dealing with, and that knowledge was crucial to a successful escape
attempt. It seemed hopeless.

A sudden knock on her trailer door gave her a start. Taryn opened the door wondering who it could be and was
surprised to find one of the handlers there.

"'Scuse me miss Taryn." The man said greasily. "But Mr. Nightshade wants to
have a word with you. I think for a morning ride, as'n
he sent this along." He held up a bridle and some tack. Beside the man, on the
bumper, was a saddle.

Taryn tried to think of an excuse
not to go, but the look on the man's face made it clear that she could go
willingly or be dragged out of the trailer. While it might be worth it to see
the man struggle to get her big butt out of the trailer, it would not be worth
extra "training sessions" with Halls. With a sigh, she stepped out to let them
man get her saddled for one of Nightshade's "rides". She should be glad that he
rarely rode her. Though, as far as she knew, he never rode Sylvie. Taryn guessed that he assumed Sylvie would be less
dependent on him than Taryn because of her mother.
Which was true, she admitted somewhat ruefully. With their family in desperate
need for cash, she wasn't going to make a wrong move until she was positive she
could get completely away.

Finished with the saddle, the man then tied her arms behind
her back and installed the reins on her collar. She hated that thing. Except
when performing, she was required to wear it, like she was some dog for
his amusement. Or a slave.

Done, the handler took her reigns and led her over to
Nightshade's trailer, where the man himself was waiting, dressed in a midnight
riding outfit that fit him perfectly, and his usual tophat
firmly on his head. She supposed on anyone else, that hat might look foppish,
but on him it looked…frightening was the only word she could think of. While
performing, Nightshade could project an air of friendliness that pulled people
to him. Only in private did he allow his cold nature to surface, looking at the
world in slight disdain as if they were mere ants to him.

Nightshade slid easily on her back and accepted the reigns.
He looked at the restraints on her arms for a moment before untying them himself.
Released from her bonds, Taryn gasped in some relief
and rubbed them to get the circulation going as she walked out of the open area
between the trailers. Nightshade was an excellent rider and used mainly his
knees to steer her, resorting to reins only when she failed to notice a small
hole in front of her that could have injured her leg. Nightshade walked her
over to the training rink, and began urging her to go faster. Now only able to
concentrate on her running, Taryn began running laps,
figure eights, and even a couple of jumps at Nightshade's direction. When he
finally let her slow down, she was hot and tired, breathing hard.

"That was an excellent run." Nightshade complimented.

Taryn was too tired to do much
more than nod her head. A hot bath to soothe her muscles and a nap sounded
really good right about now.

"You have been a most…respectful prisoner." Nightshade
continued. Taryn was a bit surprised. Up until that
point, he had maintained that they were his employees, although Taryn felt that it was more like an owner to slave than
boss to employee! So why the sudden change?

"You have followed my instructions to the letter."
Nightshade was practically purring. "And while I'm sure that you were following
them for your own benefit, you have been following them, and I thank you. I
decided to show my appreciation of your efforts with a little gift."

His leg squeezed her, and she broke into a trot. A slight
pressure of his knees, and she turned left and went out the corral. Inside, her
mind was whirling with half-formed thoughts and fears. He knew they were trying
to get rescued, that much was obvious. What kind of gift had he brought them?
Whatever it was, she knew it had to come with an anchor attached. She doubted
that he did anything from the goodness of his heart. But what could he have
gotten them?

Nightshade led her almost to the edge of the show. From
here, she could almost see the beach that gave Rio such a powerful attraction.
On the hills surrounding it were the slums filled with the low wage, underpaid
workers that Nightshade and his ilk preyed on. 
Her attention, however, was on a small RV that was parked there. She was
fairly certain it hadn't been here last night, there was some weathering of the
paint, and a few dents and dings that gave the RV an appearance of age, but it
still looked to "new" to her. What was Nightshade playing at here? Then the
door opened to show Halls standing there. Taryn
blinked. Why had Nightshade brought her to see Halls? Halls looked at her, and Taryn was surprised to see what looked like sympathy in
those cold grey eyes. What was going on here?

Her question was answered when Halls pulled a frail and
emaciated woman from the interior of the RV. Holding tight to her, less for the
chance of escape than to support the other from falling down, Halls led her out
of the trailer. Sylvie felt as if someone had smashed her in the head with a
hammer. Tentatively, she reached out and brushed the woman's arm, as if to
assure herself that she was real. Withered skin rubbed against her hands, and
the woman glanced up, eyes full of pain and joy. Yes, joy. Taryn
felt it rising inside her, as well as a tide of despair. Nightshade had her
well and truly trapped here now. With a racking sob, Taryn
collapsed to her kneed and hugged the other woman tightly.

"I'm so sorry, mom. I'm so sorry." She kept whispering,
tears dampening the hair.

"Shhhhh. It's
okay, sweetheart. I'm here. I'm here." Her mother whispered back, stroking her
hair. Clasped in the hug, Taryn felt the noose
tighten around her neck, and knew there was nothing she could do about it now.