The Guild of Fallen Clowns (16 page)

Alan smiled and continued on to his position
outside the Labyrinth. Before closing the door, Cracky called out
to him and said he wanted to talk to him later. He said he would
stop by as soon as things slowed down.

Still flitting about the crowd as he neared
the Labyrinth, Alan spotted Geno repairing a loose metal panel near
the exit of the structure. He wasted no time and slipped up the
exit path toward Geno, clowning with exiting customers the whole
way. Patrons laughed as Boogy pulled multicolored handkerchiefs
from a young girl’s ear. The frenzied laughter drew the attention
of Geno. He stood and watched the clown as Boogy broke free and
walked up to him.

“Hey, Geno, how’s it going?”

Geno looked puzzled by Alan’s new
confidence. He cautiously replied, “Good.”

“Great! Oh, I just wanted to let you know
that you won’t have to kidnap me tonight. I’m looking forward to
seeing what—” Before he finished, he looked around to be sure
nobody could hear him. Then he whispered, “Peepers has in mind for
me.”

Geno still looked confused at the sudden
change in Alan. He slowly nodded and Alan hopped back to the
crowded midway.

About an hour passed before Cracky caught up
to Alan.

“Hey, Boogy, there you are.”

“Hey, Cracky, what was it you wanted to talk
to me about?”

“I just wanted ta see if you were alright
after dose rotten kids beat on you da other day.”

“I’m fine, Cracky. Surprisingly, most of the
kicks didn’t hurt at all. I don’t think they really wanted to hurt
me. They were just stupid kids acting tough. No harm done.”

Overhearing their conversation from the
nearby booth, The Ringmaster said, “I think Geno put them up to
it.”

“Whuchya talking ’bout, Ringmaster?” Cracky
said.

“Yeah, Geno is to blame. I saw him behind
the fence talking to them in the field after you chased them
away.”

“After I chased dem?”

“Yeah, Geno was out there talking to them.
You should fire Geno and give me his job. It will be so much better
with me in charge—”

“Wait a sec, Ringmaster. If Geno was out
dare
after
dey beat on Boogy, what makes you think he put
dem up to it? Besides, Geno recommended Boogy for dis job. Why
would he wanna get him beat up?”

“I don’t know. I just know he’s probably
responsible. You can’t take chances. You should fire him and give
me the job.”

“I’m not firing nobody. For all I know, he
could have been telling dem to stay da hell away from here. You
just want him fired ’cause you think I’d give you his job. You
gotta give it a break, buddy.”

Alan broke in. “Seriously, it’s nothing. I’m
not hurt. A little bruised, but it’s nothing. Kids will be kids.
Everyone just needs to forget about it.”

Without another word The Ringmaster turned
away to help a customer.

“If you say so, Boog,” Cracky said. “But you
won’t have ta worry bout dose kids again. I’m on da lookout. If dey
are smart, dey won’t come wid-in a mile of dis place.”

Cracky continued his rounds and Alan
returned to his job entertaining the crowds outside the Labyrinth.
The hours flew by as he waited for the carnival to close so he
could visit Peepers. As time drew closer, he spotted Geno peeking
out to see if he was keeping his promise to enter unassisted. It
was obvious Geno didn’t trust him and he smiled each time he caught
Geno spying on him.

The last visitors made their way toward the
exit. Geno released the ticket taker and motioned for Alan to come
inside. Without hesitation, Alan marched over and followed him
inside.

At the end of the first corridor, Geno
stopped and turned. “Wait here. I need to collapse the walls.”

“No problem,” Alan replied as Geno
disappeared around the bend.

Soon Alan heard the loud sounds of mirrored
panels sliding in the tracks of the floor and locking into new
positions. When the noise stopped, Geno poked his head around and
motioned Alan in. He entered the room where Peepers’ image was
already waiting inside the mirrors.

“Hi, Peepers. How are you?” Alan said
awkwardly. He didn’t exactly know the protocol for greeting a
ghost.

Peepers glanced down at Geno. Geno took his
cue and excused himself to work on a broken mirror in the far end
of the open room. Peepers returned his focus to Alan, who by now
was starting to feel a little uncomfortable.

“So, uh, Peepers, I want to thank you. As
I’m sure you probably already know, you were right about my talent.
I gave it a try, and as you requested, I sculpted you. It turned
out really good.”

Peepers smiled and stepped out of the mirror
in front of Alan.

“Peepers help Alan. Alan now trust
Peepers.”

“Well, I guess so,” Alan said. “You were
right about my ability to sculpt and I also figured out how you
helped me break my addiction to Clown World. And, since I’m
standing here now, you must have helped me with my fear—which was
you, until now. So, yes, Alan trusts Peepers.”

“Good. Now Peepers need Alan’s help. Alan
can help Peepers and the Guild earn light.”

“Yeah, okay, but how exactly can I do
that?”

“Peepers need Alan’s strong spirit and life
energy to free us from the mirrors.”

“Wait, what does that mean, free you from
the mirrors? And how will this be accomplished?”

“Through Peepers figures, Peepers can enter
Alan’s world and—help people.”

Alan tried to understand what Peepers was
saying. He repeated his words back, filling in the blanks with his
understanding.

“So, are you saying that—if I make replicas
of your sculpture, you can get out of this place and be able to
help people?”

“Yes! Peepers can help fearful people—like
Alan once was.”

Alan smiled when he heard Peepers’ words. He
said them in past tense. No longer did Peepers consider him to be
weak and afraid of spirits. Peepers was responsible for this and
Alan felt like he was going to be empowered with some sort of clown
superhero powers to help other people reclaim their lives and live
without fear. A new strength swelled inside him, but he had more
questions.

“What about the rest of the guild? How will
my casting of your figure help them earn the light?”

Peepers grinned. “Begin with Peepers. The
Guild, in time. Alan help all of us soon, but begin with Peepers.
Peepers will help others.”

From a mirror behind Peepers, Alan noticed
the face of one of the guild clowns show through. It was a
concerned face shaking his head. His arms came into view and waved
him away. He appeared to be saying the word “no,” but Alan heard
nothing. Peepers turned to see what diverted Alan’s attention when
multiple arms wrapped around the strange clown and pulled him back
into the mirrors.

“What was that?” Alan said.

Peepers had only gotten a glimpse before the
clown disappeared. He shrugged. “Clowns play. Poppy broke game
rules.”

“He looked scared. It also looked like he
was trying to tell me something.”

“Ignore Poppy,” Peepers said in a more
agitated voice. “Peepers earn Alan’s trust. Together we help
others.”

“Okay, we can help people. That sounds
great, but how will it work? I make some copies of your sculpture
and do what with them? How can they help people?”

“Present them as gifts to troubled
souls—those who live with fear. Peepers will have power to help set
them free.”

Instantly, Alan thought of old lady
Henderson. If Peepers could help her, Alan would be a believer.

“What is it—like some sort of lucky charm or
something? Will your figure prevent people from having destructive
fears?”

Peepers considered his response, then said,
“Yes, Peepers free people from life with fear.”

“What if people are scared of your figure? I
mean—please don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re kind of scary
looking. People who fear such things won’t want to live with
something that scares them.”

“Alan once fearful of Peepers. Alan no
longer afraid. Trust Peepers.”

“Okay, I guess you know what you are doing.
I just want to be sure I’m not making people more scared by giving
them your figures, or those of the other guild clowns. You all look
pretty creepy. People might not be as understanding as I am.”

“Begin with Peepers. Trust Peepers and we
will help others,” Peepers said as his image floated back inside
the mirror and faded to black.

“Is that it?” Alan asked.

Geno responded from the corner of the room,
“With your help, Peepers will be stronger. He doesn’t have enough
energy to appear for very long. That will change soon, with your
help, of course.”

Alan walked toward Geno near the exit. Geno
tossed a broken piece of mirror glass in a banker’s box and closed
the lid.

“Could you do me a favor and take this to
the Dumpster on your way out?” Geno asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Alan replied as he bent down
to pick up the box. His hands slipped through the box handles. As
he gripped to lift the container, a shard of glass cut his left
hand. He let go of the box and jumped back. Blood soaked his white
glove.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Geno said as
he jumped to his feet. “Oh no, your hand is cut. I’m so sorry,
Alan. You should wrap that up to stop the bleeding.”

Alan eased his clenched fist and removed the
blood-soaked glove to examine the cut. It was deep and about an
inch wide. To stop the bleeding, he balled up the glove and pressed
it into the cut and clenched his fist again.

“It’ll be okay. I’ll just keep pressure on
it and bandage it when I get home.”

“Are you sure? Maybe you should see if the
first aid station is still open. They might be able to bandage it
before you leave,” Geno said.

“No, it should be fine. I don’t live that
far away.”

“Okay, if you say so. Don’t worry about the
box. I’ll take it to the Dumpster. You just take care of your
hand.”

“All right, I’ll see you later, Geno.” Alan
left with the thumb of his right hand pressed into the fabric over
his wound.

Geno carried the box of glass behind the
building and mumbled, “Glass mirrors. What an idiot.”

Alan placed two buckets of silicone on the
porch of Krauss House and confidently knocked on the front door.
The repaired Peepers sculpture was secure in his other hand. He was
ready to learn, and he wouldn’t let Lailah scare him away
again.

Mary opened the door and saw the two buckets
beside him.

“Oh wow!” she said. “You really did get the
economy size, didn’t you?”

“Well, I was just taking advice from my
teacher. You said I would save money by buying in bulk.”

“Yes I did, but this means you’ll have to
stick with it and make more sculptures,” she said. “I also see that
you brought your Peepers sculpture back. Were you able to fix
it?”

Alan looked down at the wrapped figure.
“Yes, it wasn’t that bad. Ten minutes and he was good as new.”

“I’m so glad to hear that. I was heartbroken
when it fell down the steps. You did such a good job on it. I would
have been crushed if you weren’t able to fix it.”

Mary held the door open, took the blanketed
sculpture from him, and let him lead the way upstairs to her studio
with the heavy buckets. He placed the buckets on the floor as Mary
gently rested his sculpture on the table.

“I timed this perfectly, Alan. I just opened
my two-part silicone containers and I’m ready to start mixing.
We’ll get your sculpture secured and you can follow along with me.
You can start by opening your buckets. We’ll be mixing a one to one
ratio. For later stages we’ll add a thickener, but for now we just
need to measure out equal parts of A and B.”

Alan peeled the plastic strip securing the
lids to the buckets while Mary set up some cups, mixing sticks,
brushes, and a scale. With the strips removed, Alan grabbed the lid
of one bucket and started pulling up sections until the lid was
free. He placed the lid on the table and started working on the lid
to the second bucket. Mary unwrapped the Peepers sculpture and set
it upright on a flat board.

Suddenly, the house trembled as it did the
previous day and the lid Alan placed on the table slid off and
landed on his hands as he was opening the other bucket. Jolted from
the lid hitting his hand, he quickly pulled away. The bandage over
his injured palm stuck to the bucket and his cut re-opened. Not
realizing what happened, he didn’t notice when blood dripped into
the open bucket.

Mary looked at his bloody hand and rushed to
his aid. She grabbed his hand and reached for a paper towel to
cover the wound.

“Oh my god, Alan, what happened?”

Alan was still trying to figure out why she
grabbed his hand. Then he looked at it and realized the bandage had
come off.

“Oh, that didn’t just happen. I cut it last
night at the carnival. The bandage must have come off while I was
taking the lid off the bucket.”

Mary took his other hand and pressed his
fingers into the paper towel. “Rinse it clean in the bathroom. I’ll
be right back with a Band-Aid.” She guided him into the hallway and
aimed him toward the bathroom as she continued downstairs.

Alan turned the handle and held his hand
under the flowing cold water. As the fresh blood washed away, he
noticed a pair of dancing porcelain Japanese figures on the counter
beside the sink.

"How's it look?" Mary asked as she stepped
beside him and started opening the bandage.

Alan looked back to his hand. "It's fine,
I'm just a klutz."

She turned off the water, grabbed his hand
and dried it with a clean washcloth. "Nonsense. It could have
happened to anyone," she said.

As she tended to his cut, Alan looked back
at the Japanese dancers. "Did you make those?" he asked.