Chapter 37

On With The Show!

Mary struggled to raise her body out of bed. Every muscle in
her body strained, and her face was taut with effort, to no avail. With a sigh
she sank back into the soft mattress of the trailer bed. It was surprisingly
comfortable, deep and soft. It felt more like the bed of a fancy hotel or home
bed than one for a trailer. Nightshade must have spared no expense in preparing
it for her. Of course, from what Anna had told her of him, it certainly sounded
like him. A careful and meticulous planner, he had even painted the inside of
the trailer in warm and happy reds and golds, making
the inside seem bright and cheerful. There were no iron bars on the windows,
and she doubted the door was even locked, but her disease ensured that she
would not be able to run away at all.

Near the bed was a large screen TV, almost thirty inches it
seemed to her. Mary wondered what kind of channels she would get here. Someone
had left the remote on a small basket hanging on the wall next to her. Pulling
it out, she turned and flipped it on idly. Perhaps the programming would give
her a clue as to where she actually was. The people bringing her hadn't been
forthcoming about it, and during the plane rides she had been dosed with
sleeping pills. The screen flickered a second and then the image grew and
stabilized, and she forgot all about looking for programs.

The screen showed her Taryn at the
edge of what appeared to be a large dirt ring, in the middle of which there was
a stand. With a chill, Mary realized that she was watching the show being done
in the performance tent. Hungrily, she stared at her daughter, drinking in her
features. She was dressed in what looked like a soft buckskin shirt with fringe
on it, similar to Sylvie's but darker. Her hair was done back in a long braid,
and had bright strings woven into it. A brightly colored headband
adorned her head with long feathers stuck in it. Her skin was darker than she
remembered it being, it must be stained with something, probably tanning
solution. On her horse hide there were several white pictograms in the shapes
of eagles, a sun, and other things. Similar markings were painted on her cheeks
and her nose. She looked like a Native American, Mary thought wonderingly.

Taryn walked near the edge of the
ring, and then vanished behind the curtain. The camera shifted and pulled back,
startling Mary. It must be being operated by someone, she reasoned. It was
unnecessary, and Mary sniffed disapprovingly. This flagrant show Nightshade was
putting on, trying to prove how in control he was, was disgusting. He already
had complete control, and his attempted thoughtfulness did not impress her!
Speaking of which…

The ringmaster himself, Nightshade
himself, strode out into the ring. The sound wasn't turned on, or the camera
recording didn't have a mic, but it really wasn't an
issue. Mary could picture his serpent's voice echoing grandly to the audience,
weaving his spell over the crowd. Gah! It was just as
bad watching as being in the crowd. Nightshade pointed off to his left, and a
gaggle of clowns came running into the ring, bouncing and throwing bladders at
each other. When the last one had tumbled out of the ring, a group of trapeze
artists came out and performed spectacular aerial feats, throwing each other
across the tents and spinning somersaults. They finished with a spectacular
flourish, flinging one girl high enough she actually brushed the top of the
tent and catching her safely, before scrambling down the high wire. Mary shook
her head. Those people were completely crazy! Finally, the lights turned
towards the ring as assistants an out and placed barrels out in the stage. Mary
leaned forward, excited. This was it! Her daughter was going to perform.

First out was Sylvie. Mary felt
stunned as Sylvie successfully negotiated the course with ease and spun around.
When had she learned to do that? That shock was nothing compared to the
astonishment when Sylvie pulled a rifle from the sling on her back. What in the
world? Although there was no sound, Mary could see the rifle bucking in
Sylvie's hands as she performed trick shot after trick shot. Mary admired how
steady her hands were, how every target she aimed at seemed to go down. It was
a rather incredible display of shooting, though Mary wondered what madness had
possessed Nightshade to teach her those skills, and for that matter, why Sylvie
hadn't used them.

Midway through Sylvie's act, Taryn came out. Mary felt her heart painfully thump against
her chest as Taryn came galloping out at breakneck
speed. Her mouth was working, and Mary wondered what she could be saying, or
screaming. Passing the barrels, Taryn zipped to the
other side opposite of Sylvie with a spear clutched in her hand. Mary watched
as Taryn whipped around and threw it at her target,
the archery target that had been set up. Her form was perfect, Mary thought, as
she watched the spear fly straight and true. It struck the bulls-eye almost
dead center. Running together, Taryn and Sylvie ran
one lap around the ring to what had to be thunderous applause and darted
through the exit. Mary barely noticed as the camera shifted back to Nightshade.
For an instant, she had seen a close-up of her daughter's face, and the beaten,
scared look on it threatened to break her heart.

<o> </o>

Taryn
trotted into the trailer and tossed her headband onto the table. She felt
exhausted, Nightshade had insisted on doing three shows that day instead of the
normal two. And had them run a special "show" for a group of fancily
dressed gentlemen that had showed up after the last show had been done. Taryn wondered idly who they were, no doubt some of
Nightshade's suppliers come to gawk at the freaks. Taryn
felt her a bit of her old bitterness come back, and then let it slide. It
seemed so petty to her now. There were far more important worries to be on
about, she didn't have time to worry about prejudices and how people saw her.
The more people saw her as Nightshade's tamed pet, the less likely they were to
look any closer and that was fine with her. She had to get a plan together
soon.

Taryn
walked to the small refrigerator Sylvie had requisitioned from the quartermaster.
Taryn knew it had cost her two weeks' pay to afford
it, but when she had offered to help Sylvie had merely shrugged. Don't worry about it. She had said. I'm doing this for the both of us. You just
keep sending your money home and let me worry about the expense here. Taryn had been grateful for the fridge. It was so nice
being able to get a fresh snack of mangos or papayas instead of being able to
eat only oatmeal. Selecting a couple of apples, Taryn
returned to the mattress to think.

Nightshade's security was tight. Taryn already knew that, but it had gotten tighter since
Nightshade had announced the travel plans for Africa. Everyone seemed excited
at the move; fresh scenery, rich cities, and plenty of fools willing to spend
money in the carnival. Everybody had looked at her and ]Sylvie
with large smiles. They were sure they had the ultimate lure to bring people
in, no one could resist them. As they were leaving several of the performers
had clapped them on the haunch and given them sunny smiles. As they were
leaving, Nightshade had made a casual announcement that he had added three new
security guards for the show, and planned on adding two more before the trip.
He said that he was simply taking precautions for the move to Africa, and that
he wanted to ensure that nothing went wrong while they were over there. When Taryn left, she saw them taking orders from Big John. Big,
hulking brutes of men they were, with long arms that bulged with muscle beneath
their shirts. Their thick eyebrows and square jaws gave them a fearsome
appearance, and Taryn skirted them as far as she
could everytime she saw them. Many of the other
performers did as well, Taryn noticed.

The only bright spots to her day
were her daily visits with her mother. After being kept away for about a week
due to her mother's "need for recovery", Halls finally relented and let her
mother out of the trailer for about an hour. Taryn
had felt the same chaotic welter of emotions she always felt when seeing her;
overjoyed at seeing her again after so long, shame that she had been drug into
the middle of this, pain at her pitiful condition, and despair at ever seeing
her home again. As for her mother, she just seemed glad to see her. They talked
like they hadn't done in years, Taryn covering
details about her life in the carnival and her mother covering all the latest
happenings at home.

"A―and
Josh?" Taryn asked fearfully.

Her mother sighed. "Ben has had
him very busy searching for you on his computer." Mary told her gently. "Anna's
said that he's showed up for classes very late, and has often skipped school
altogether to focus on getting you home." Taryn felt
a warm glow in the pit of her stomach. He really missed her. But what if he
found out she wasn't a human anymore! Would he still desire her? Would he even
want to know her?

Her fear must have shown on her
face, because her mother gave her a sad smile. "If he really loves you, than he
will always want to be with you, no matter what you look like."

How's Mrs. Grogan doing anyway?" Taryn asked desperately to change the subject.

A sudden stillness fell over her
mother. "She's…fine. I haven't seen her since I was kidnapped during the
battle."

Her mother's last words caught Taryn's complete attention. "What battle?!"
Taryn could sense that her mother was cursing not
watching her tongue.

"It seems that in order to cover
up my kidnapping and give them time to get away, Nightshade's man instigated a
fight between two of the gangs in Red Leaf. It spiraled out of control, very
fast. While I was still able to watch TV before they came, over a dozen people
had been killed and the town's business center had been torched."

Taryn
felt stunned. She had had no idea the lengths Nightshade would go to kidnap her
mother. Sorrow filled her at the thought of all those lives gone and ruined
because of her. How many more had to suffer and die because of her?

The thought nagged at her all day.
She could find no answer. Nightshade was almost desperate to keep her.
Attendance at his show, and thus his ego, was at an all time
high. Every show she was in was packed to the rafters. There were people lining
up at the fences to try and catch glimpses of her and Sylvie, as if they
thought she was some sort of illusion. Accusations of that stopped after
Nightshade had allowed several audiences get close to her and even touch her
horse hide. The feel of their hands on her disgusted Taryn,
it had taken all her will not to flinch away. Later she had taken two showers
to wash away the feel of them on her. Taryn had
brought her fears to Sylvie, and she had shrugged uneasily. We can't be responsible for Nightshade's
actions. She had said. But we'll keep
our planning as low-key as possible. Taryn wasn't
sure how much more low-key they could be. With her mother a prisoner there was
no way she was going to leave her, and having Sylvie's parents or Ben come
rescue them seemed impossible. They had too much to worry about at home.
Nightshade had them well and truly trapped.

<o> </o>

Outside the carnival, a shadowed
figure watched the coming and goings of the guards intently. After the last one
had gone around the corner, it raised a luminous watch face and read the time.
Nodding in satisfaction, it turned around and slipped away between two
warehouses.