Strings Of Fate

Chapter 19

The final child's parent was found. A heavyset woman with two other children following in her wake. Both teenagers with unhappy expressions on their faces as their mother dragged them along. Marquez let Rosie deal with them, the ringmaster making the right noises about them being safe in their safe. The mother wasn't happy, and the boy curled up on himself slightly.

The other child and parent slipped out; the boy was happy to talk his father's ear off about how dolphins could be pregnant between nine and sixteen months. Wasn't it weird how animals could have such different times before a baby could be born? The father was happy to nod along to the child's facts and theories. It was a sweeter scene than the other family. The teenagers were fighting with their mother too now about wanting to stay up longer and not wanting to do this, that or the other the next day.

Daniel held his animal carefully. It felt more like glass in his and than clay and so much heavier than either. Sanvish, the pretty leopard man, claimed the trick was just that. It didn't stop the whisper of promise curling in his chest. Marquez's words tugged the line tighter. His fate lay on the table in front of him, and if Daniel couldn't slip it, his face would disappear, and whiskers replace it. How it all worked didn't matter. Terrence had answers but slipping away to ask Terrence the question was proving harder than expected.

He didn't want to be here. He hadn't wanted to come, but something had led him here. The elephant man with his trunk, the wolves with beaming grins, the rabbits, bird and other creatures who had surrounded with him a torrent of warmth and love all day, it all mixed with a strange urge to never leave. Daniel didn't like it. The words begging to let him go home refused to leave his mouth.

Sanvish chattered in his ear as they gathered him up again. Marquez's heavy paw rested on his shoulder while Sanvish's hand lay on the crook of his elbow. The two sprouted him further into the den of the circus, out of the guest areas and into the private zone of caravans and motorhomes. Now was the time. Even if Sanvish's eyes were pretty and something about Marquez had his chest beating hard, it wasn't safe, and Sanvish didn't want something like this. He needed to say it was time for him to return to his own apartment, that he had no interest in bending over and letting the two of them use him as a toy for the evening.

They led him to a decent size motor-home. It looked big enough for the two of them easy enough from the outside, but trying to fit more in was optimistic. Though, Daniel noticed how many of the sleeping areas housed more than he'd thought. Similar sized vans had far more people piling in, many yawning and looking ready to collapse into a warm bed.

"Does it not get claustrophobic? So many people living on top of each other?"

Why did that question come out ok, but the refusal to stay the night stay locked behind his lips?

"When people aren't used to it, sure," Sanvish said, a chuckle in his voice. Everything Sanvish said had a tilt of amusement to it as if the man was permanently happy. It softened with the children and turned more respectful with the parents, but his tone was happy. "It takes me a bit to adjust every time we start the circuit again. Winter Quarters has far more space for everyone."

"Space isn't readily available usually," Marquez agreed. "Cats are lucky. There are six, including yourself. If Yui and Mika cared about being on the circuit, I'd worry, but for now, we're fine. It's six to a home like this." The tiger patted the side of the truck with a fond expression on his face.