AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Absolutely, sir!” Randall was too excited to care about being called out.
“If it eats you, I’m not paying for your funeral.”
“Understood, sir.” Randall hesitated. “Sir?”
“What?”
“What is it?”
“It’s some newfangled creature they found in eastern Europe. They call him Bat Boy, but fuck if I know what he really is. As long as he makes me money, I don’t care.”
“Right.”
“Go on.” Mr. King waved.
Randall didn’t hesitate to grab the entire crate and bolt off to his trailer as fast as he could. Whatever was inside felt rather light—maybe two hundred pounds at most, and part of that was the crate. “Don’t worry, little one,” he whispered urgently. “I’ve got you. I’ll take care of you.”
He wasn’t sure, but he thought he heard the creature squeak.
Inside the privacy of his trailer, Randall set the crate down next to his bed. He got another bowl of berries together, his nerves thrumming away. He was finally going to see this mysterious creature, but more importantly he was going to save him.
Maybe not from whatever Mr. King was planning, but at least from death.
There was a split second where Randall honestly wasn’t sure what was worse, but he made up his mind to do what he could to help this poor creature.
He had to try.
Kneeling before the crate, he offered another bowl of fruit out.
The creature’s little winged hand pulled it out of sight, and Randall could hear soft chewing noises. It didn’t sound as frantic as before, and he considered this a victory.
“Hey,” he said softly, “there’s plenty more where that came from. I’m going to take care of you, all right? I won’t hurt you, I promise.”
The only reply was a quiet grunt, and Randall swore it sounded doubtful.
“I swear. I won’t. I just want to help you.” Randall frowned at the crate, and he decided it was time to get a look at the creature he was trying to help.
The poor thing had been trapped in here for days—the smell wasn’t too much unlike what Randall recalled from living on the farm, but it was definitely unfit for any living thing to be trapped inside in such close quarters.
The bowl came back empty.
He refilled the bowl with more strawberries. “Here. Eat these, and I’ll be right back.”
In addition to the big bed and big everything else, Randall was in possession of a very big tub. He raced out to Cookey’s mess tent to start the arduous process of gathering hot water for the bath. He carried buckets in twos and threes, pouring piping hot water into the tub.
Drusilla and the rest of his circus family were already peppering him with questions, truly just as curious as he was to know what was inside that crate. He politely brushed them off, telling them he was still working on helping the creature and that he would report back when he could.
He also made it very clear that he was not to be disturbed.
Being a man who regularly broke giant chains made it very easy to enact a threat with the utmost subtlety, even if he wasn’t truthfully a very violent person.
With the last of the water added to fill the tub, Randall turned his attention back to the crate. He had almost added bubbles to the bath, but he was worried that whatever was inside the crate wouldn’t like them.
For now, the comfort of a hot bath might be enough.
Either way, it was time to finally see what he was dealing with.
“Hey, I’m gonna get you outta there, okay?” Randall addressed the crate. He noted that the bowl had been returned and was empty once more, and he was glad he’d gathered so many berries. He also made a mental note to go into town as soon as he could to get more fruit.
