Summer's Cauldron (15 page)

“Where are you going?” Victoria whispered.

“I’ll be right back,” Alex said as he slid away and ducked into the metal support columns beneath the risers across the aisle. He considered, for a moment, as he climbed between the metal struts, whether it was a good idea to follow the cloaked figure alone, but he knew if he asked one member of the Guild to accompany him, they would all want to do so. Every second might be the difference between catching up with the cloaked figure and losing it again.

Alex slipped from beneath the risers and through a space between two canvas walls and out into the night. The first thing he noticed was that the carnival was much more quiet, which only made sense, as half of the staff was involved in the play, and a good third of the townspeople were in the tent watching it. The second thing he noticed was the cloaked figure vanishing around a corner at the back of the tent. Alex dashed to catch up, running around the canvas circumference, always just a moment behind the night-black cloak he chased.

In seconds, he had come to the back of the tent. There was no sign of the cloaked figure, but several wagons sat near the wide entrance at the rear of the tent, acting as a backstage to the production within. Costumes filled one wagon. Another bulged with props. Several others seemed to be waiting areas for the actors. Around and between the wagons were various stage pieces and crates. Several carnies stood around the props, looking as though they were waiting for something. At a signal from a carnie near the entrance, the men picked up several large boxes, painted in various colors, and carried them toward the rear entrance of the main tent.

Alex looked around and saw a flash of black cloth slip around the side of one of the wagons. He ran toward the wagon, staying low to the ground. There were a few people near the back of the tent, and none at the backsides of the wagons, but Alex knew to be cautious. As he slid up behind the wagon, he heard a voice. Quiet and indistinct. Almost a whisper, but not quite. Familiar, but unrecognizable. The voice Alex had heard the night before. The voice of the Shadow Wraith’s follower. He still could not tell whom it belonged to. Two other seemingly familiar whispers accompanied it.

“Tomorrow may be too late.”

“We cannot act too soon.”

“Timing is all.”

“But how do we get it from the centaur?”

“Leave that to me.”

“What’s that?”

“What? Nothing.”

“Your entrance. It’s time for your entrance.”

The door at the end of the wagon opened and the occupants disembarked. Alex knew he had one chance. He ducked under the wagon and crawled on his hands and knees to the other side. He popped out quickly and tried to see who was leaving the wagon and walking toward the tent, but the large crates stacked around him made it impossible. He was about to step around the boxes when he heard someone coming from the opposite direction. Two men talking as they walked. They would see him in seconds.

Frantically, he glanced around and saw one of the colored boxes at his side. It had a handle and hinges on the lid. Not pausing to think, Alex grabbed the handle and pulled the lid of the box up just enough to allow him to swing his leg over the lip and slip inside.

Once the lid of the box closed, the sound of the men’s conversation and footsteps vanished. Alex waited for a few seconds and then sat up and placed his hands on the underside of the lid. If he was lucky, the Shadow Wraith’s followers would still be outside and he might be able to get out of the box in time to see them before they went on stage. He now knew that at least one of them was an actor in the play. Alex lifted the edge of the lid to peek through and found himself wishing he’d jumped back under the wagon and risked being seen rather than jumping into the colorful box.

Alex looked out, not at the small circle of wagons behind the great tent, but at the audience within the tent, all staring at the stage. He could see his parents, holding hands in the front row, smiling up at the actors on the stage beside him. He let the box lid drop, slowly and silently.

Magic box
, Alex thought. Enter one box and exit from another. Like the closets Victoria’s father had fashioned at their house. That told Alex where he was, but not how to get out. The box he had climbed into outside the tent must have led to this box on stage, but how could he get back to that first box? He risked another peek from under the lid and confirmed what he suspected. There were boxes all over the stage. He didn’t wait long enough to count them because he could see the lid of another box closing. One of the actors was getting into the box. Which box would that actor end up in? Would it be his?

Alex slipped his lucky piece of broken glow-wand from his pocket and whispered the rune-word for light. A dim glow ebbed forth from the broken piece of glow-wand. It wasn’t much light, but it was enough to allow Alex to search the interior of the box. He had been carrying the small piece of cracked crystal in his pocket for months for just such an emergency. It wasn’t nearly as bright as a full glow-wand, but it was small enough to put in his pocket.

In the dim blue light, Alex saw what he was looking for. A handle on the inner side of the box. He doused the glow-wand with the rune-word for darkness and pulled the handle gently, opening one side of the box. Alex looked through and saw that this side of the box opened into yet another box. He only hesitated a moment before crawling through to the new box and closing the door behind him.

Looking up, Alex saw another box lid above his head. He lifted it slowly and put his eyes to the gap. It was still the audience outside, but this time from twenty feet above the stage. The box he was in must be floating in the air. Not an improvement.

Alex was about to use the sliver of magic glow-wand in his hand when the backside of the box suddenly opened inward toward him. He scrunched his body into a corner as the side door hit him in the nose. The door swung shut, revealing a very startled Leanna.

Leanna opened her mouth in what Alex expected would be a scream and he reached his hand out to cover her lips. He found Leanna had raised a hand, as well. He could feel her fingers around his throat.

“What are you doing in here?” Leanna hissed as he pulled his hand from her face. She yanked her hand away from Alex’s neck and he replaced it with his own. Leanna was much stronger than she looked. As he rubbed his throat, he wondered what would have happened if she hadn’t recognized him.

“Trying to get out,” Alex whispered in near panic. How many other people would try to get into this box? What would happen if the box tipped and they fell onto the stage?

“Do you always do this?” Leanna asked, smiling in the dim light seeping through the crack where the lid of the box met the frame.

“Do what?” Alex asked.

“Climb into things without knowing what will happen?” Leanna said.

“Most of the time,” Alex said. “But it usually works out better.”

“I suppose I can save you a second time,” Leanna said.

“I’ll owe you,” Alex said.

“Yes, you will,” Leanna said. “And I can’t wait to collect. Now we have to hurry. This is the part of the show where I get chased by soldiers through the magic boxes. Follow me and don’t stand up until I tell you to.”

With that, Leanna stood up, throwing the lid of the box wide open. She gasped in surprise and pulled the lid shut behind her. “This way,” she said, opening another side of the box and crawling through.

Alex threw himself after her, trying to crawl around the side door of the box and get it closed. They ended up with their arms and legs entangled, their faces pressed against each other, lips almost touching.

“If you really do this sort of thing all the time, I don’t know what’s wrong with Victoria,” Leanna said.

Another side door began to open inward, pushed by a hand in an armored glove. The force of the door knocked Alex forward, his lips smashing roughly into Leanna’s.

“Maybe that’s the problem,” Leanna said, rubbing her lips with one hand and pushing another side door open with her other arm.

“Sorry,” Alex whispered as he followed Leanna through the side door of the box, making sure it closed before the actor, dressed as a soldier following her, could see them together.

Alex followed Leanna through three more boxes. Each time she would pop up through the top of the box, make a melodramatic exclamation, and then lead him through a side door and into another magic box. On the fourth box, Leanna threw the lid open and Alex saw stars above his head.

“Finally,” Leanna said, grabbing Alex by the hand and pulling him to his feet.

“Thanks,” Alex said. “I thought we were going to be lost in there forever.”

“You should have more faith in your heroine,” Leanna said with a wide grin. “Now get out. I have to be back on stage.”

“Right,” Alex said, throwing his leg over the edge of the box and climbing out.

“Alex?”

Alex turned to see Victoria staring at him from a few feet away, her head cocked to the side in that way she always did when trying to figure something out.

“Hey, Victoria,” Leanna said. “Keep an eye on him. He’s trouble. Good trouble, but trouble.” Not waiting for a response, Leanna pulled the lid of the magic box closed as she sat down within it.

“I came looking for you when you didn’t come back,” Victoria said as she stepped up to Alex. “How did you end up in that box with Leanna?”

“It’s a longer story than it should be,” Alex said, hoping his climb from the box hadn’t looked as ridiculous as it felt.

“You have lipstick on you,” Victoria said, her finger reaching out toward Alex’s mouth, but stopping right before making contact.

“That’s just…What happened was…You see,” Alex said and then stopped, brought up short by the look in Victoria’s eyes. It was a look of sadness.

“I saw the person in the cloak,” Alex said, deciding to start from the beginning. His stomach felt suddenly painful and his face felt like it must be glowing in the dark from the heat in his cheeks.

“And you kissed Leanna?”

“That happened later. In the box.”

“You kissed her in the box?”

“No, the kiss was an accident, because the solider was coming.”

“There were three of you in the box?”

“No. You see, I heard the three people talking again, and then I tried to see who it was and then someone came and I jumped in the box.”

“And that’s when you kissed Leanna?”

“No, that came later. But it wasn’t really a kiss.”

“Then where did the lipstick come from?”

“Well, there was a kiss, but it was totally an accident because we got knocked together.”

Alex stopped. Talking was definitely not helping. He didn’t think any amount of talking would help. Even if he told Victoria she was the only girl he ever wanted to kiss, it wasn’t going to sound right with Leanna’s lipstick on his lips.

“Okay,” Victoria said, breathing out a little sigh and blinking quickly as she turned away from Alex. “What did you hear this time?”

“I’m not sure,” Alex said, “but I think they want to steal something from your father.” Alex had the satisfaction of knowing from the look on Victoria’s face that, at least for a few moments, she had completely forgotten about his accidental kiss with Leanna.

Chapter 12: Spy Games

“I’m still not clear,” Nina said, popping a French fry into her mouth and trying not to giggle. “How did you end up kissing Leanna?”

“It wasn’t really a kiss,” Alex said, looking at the burger and fries on the plate before him and feeling his appetite fade. The Guild had regrouped after the play and settled into their usual booth at Uncle Sal’s Burger Joint and Soda Shop. The place was empty except for the Guild, and Sal seemed very happy for the business. They were supposed to be listening to Alex’s news and making plans. Instead, all they seemed to be doing was talking about his time with Leanna in the magic boxes. “It was more like an accidental bumping of faces.”

“Yes, I’ve heard that happens often,” Rafael said, smirking as he sucked down a strawberry milkshake.

“Well, I believe him,” Victoria said, straightening her shoulders as she looked at Alex. “Alex would never lie to us.” From the tone of her voice, he thought she really meant he would never lie to her. He hoped that was what she meant. And, he hoped she believed it, because it was true. He smiled at her to thank her for her support and she smiled back. It wasn’t the dazzling smile he normally received, it was still tinged by an edge of sadness, but it was enough to bolster his mood.
I really need to kiss her
, he thought.
Soon
.

“Cupid’s clammy kisses,” Daphne said, a French fry waving in her hand. “The followers of the Shadow Wraith are planning to steal something from Victoria’s father to help release that evil thing on the world again and we’re talking about kisses.”

“Daphne’s right,” Alex said. “We need to focus on the problem.”

“Invention,” Ben said to Victoria. “They must want one of your father’s inventions.”

“Daddy has hundreds of inventions around the house,” Victoria said. “I can’t imagine what could be used to free the Shadow Wraith. Much less, how they could hope to find it. Daddy’s workshop is a terrible mess. Although he does have a safe where he locks up the things he thinks might be dangerous.”

“Maybe you should tell your father to add some extra charms to that safe,” Alex said.

“Hmm, are you sure it was Victoria’s father they were talking about?” Clark said, biting into his second burger.

“I don’t know,” Alex said, realizing it was true. He replayed what little he had heard of the conversation between the Shadow Wraith’s followers in his mind. They hadn’t actually said anything about Victoria’s father, they had only mentioned a centaur.

“Well, I doubt it’s me they were talking about,” Victoria said.

“Nathan,” Ben said. “Is it possible they were talking about Nathan? He’s the only other centaur in the carnival.” Alex was glad it was Ben who had asked the question he had been about to pose himself.