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Theta exhaled audibly. Evie had the overwhelming desire to hug Zarilda.
“Well, I cain’t promise Bountiful, but your timing is good. We’re heading out for the season first thing in the morning, headed west. You’re more’n welcome to ride with us. Come on up to the camp proper, why don’t ya? We’ll scrounge up some bunks and something to eat.”
“You’re an angel, Zarilda,” Sam said, following Zarilda and Johnny up the path.
Zarilda laughed. “I’m a medium and a fortune-teller and a lifelong carny. I’m also practical. I expect y’all to work for your passage. Norma Jane got in the family way and ran off with one of my best new tumblers two days ago. I could use another acrobat. You weren’t half-bad as I recall, Sam.”
Sam stuck out his hand for a shake. “It’s a deal. I’m a little outta practice, but I’ll get it back. Or kill myself.”
“Well, if you die, I can charge double for the next show.” Zarilda winked. “We’ll keep it to the ground for now, Sam.”
/> “Sam, are you sure you should be doing that?” Evie whispered. “After all you’ve been through?”
“Everything’s jake, Baby Vamp,” Sam said, but there were dark shadows under his eyes, and Evie was afraid that whatever Sam had seen during his time in the Eye haunted him still.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Zarilda said. “You remember how to do the tricks I taught ya?”
Sam tapped the side of his head with a finger. “Like an elephant.”
“Show me. Hasan!” Zarilda shouted to one of the acrobats, a wiry, dark-haired man with the bearing of a professional dancer. “Let’s do the lift.”
Evie held her breath as Sam straightened into a perfect handstand balancing atop Hasan’s palms, raised high above his head, and held the position longer than she thought possible. Then, with perfect grace, Sam flipped backward in a somersault and landed on his feet.
“Like riding a bicycle,” Sam said.
Theta applauded. “That was the berries, Sam! And here I thought I was the elephant’s eyebrows ’cause I can tap-dance.”
“You are the elephant’s eyebrows, Theta,” Sam said, rotating his shoulders.
“What about me?” Evie asked, throwing her arms around Sam’s neck.
“You’re the full elephant.”
Evie wrinkled her nose. “That was a compliment?”
“And how,” Sam said and kissed her cheek, while Theta looked on, missing Memphis something terrible.
Zarilda jerked a thumb at Evie, Theta, and Isaiah. “What about your friends? They do anything I can use?”
“Isaiah here can see the future. Theta is a bit of a firebug. And Baby Doll here can read objects.”
Zarilda raised both eyebrows. “Lands’ sakes! I meant could you muck a stall or sew a spangle. I didn’t know you’d brought me an entire sideshow, Sam.”
“Trouble is, that’ll get us noticed, and not in a good way, Z. We need to stay hidden.”
Zarilda pursed her lips, thinking. She nodded at Theta. “Well, you sure are a beautiful one. And you can dance?”
“I hope so. I was in the Follies.”
“A real, live Follies girl? All right, then. We’ll get you fitted for some tap shoes. You can dance between acts as Lady Liberty. Isaiah…” Zarilda patted his cheek. “Can you really see the future, sugar?”
“Yes, ma’am. Sometimes. But…”
“But?”
“I can’t always control it. And the future I see, it isn’t always so nice.”
Zarilda brought her face close to Isaiah’s. He could smell her perfume. She smelled nice. Like honeysuckle. “Well, then. Let’s find something else for you to do. You like animals?”
