Cirque Periculum

Chapter 10.1

The train still barreled on through the early morning when Connor got up. The events from the night before seemed to be distant from his mind as he keeled over laughing from Adam and Kirklane showing off their powers.

Kirk had just teleported out of the train and tried to go back, but ended up falling in a lake and teleporting back into the caboose, where he then had to walk through eight cars dripping wet to get back.

Adam spent the morning bouncing pulses off the walls and making all of us glow.

Connor thought back to his first night at the circus. "Why do we glow when we touch that pulse, but no one else does?"

"It's because we have gifts and they don't," Adam said, shrugging.

"I don't remember seeing Mr. Barge glow, or Mr. Summertin."

"Mr. Summertin has runes drawn on the edge of the stage and sewed in their clothes that prevent them from glowing. It makes it more mysterious." Adam threw another pulse at the wall.

Connor nodded, wondering why they would go through all that trouble more a little mystery.

Kirk walked out of the bathroom in the back of the car, dressed in dry clothes again. "These people are all about mystery. They don't tell the rest of us anything unless they have to," he said as he threw his wet clothes in a bag.

"Like the artifact?" Adam whispered.

Kirk glanced at the still-snoring Mr. Barge and nodded. "If you wouldn't be able to contribute anything important, you aren't informed what's going on."

Connor huffed, "Even when you contribute they still don't tell you anything."

Kirk laughed. "You really think that Mr. Summertin wanted you to come? He was just worried something would have happened if you stayed."

"Why was I put on watch duty then?" Connor shot back.

"Because he didn't want you getting in the way. You saw what happened with Riley and Adam."

"What about me and Adam?" Riley shut the sliding wall separating the boys and the girls and walked over to them. "If you're talking about the incident, I've already heard enough about it."

Connor shoved down the urge to ask about last night. "You guys didn't get in too much tr-"

"Did you see Kirk this morning?" Adam shouted over Connor's blunder, trying to laugh. "He popped outside and then fell in a lake and then he came back, but he ended up in the wrong car and had to walk all the way back dripping wet and it was so funny!" His laughter sounded forced, so Connor elbowed him.

Riley didn't notice. "That's why there was water all over the floor in our room!"

Kirk nodded, gazing out the window with a red face.

"Anyways," Riley said, "do you guys know when we're getting there?"

"I think we're on a peninsula right now," Kirk said. "I hope the bridge is working today, I don't want to get there by boat again."

Riley laughed. "You got so seasick last time!"

"And you didn't help me at all!"

"I thought you were just joking around!"

"Yeah, I was just playing around while I was throwing up off the side of the boat."

"Woah Kirk," Connor said. "I didn't think you knew what sarcasm was!"

They all laughed. Riley said, "He's about the most sarcastic person I know."

"Granted you haven't gotten out much," Kirk muttered. Adam burst out laughing.

Riley walked over to the window. "Look, there's the station!"

Adam shoved her out of the way to peek out at the horizon lit with the orange sunrise. Connor pushed against him to see.

The trees broke away to water as blue as the sky above it. A lighthouse stood at the edge of the water and docks lined the shoreline. Few people had begun to mill around, other than the fishermen that were already on the lake fishing.

The train slowed as they approached the shoreline. Connor looked straight down through the window and saw the ground fall away to waves rolling past.

"What are we driving on?" Connor asked.

"It's to turn the train around. It goes off-shore and into this little bowl thing that has a track that spins around," Riley said. "That means the bridge is closed."

Kirk groaned. "Not again!"

Adam laughed. "Is it really that bad?"

"We all rent three-man fisherman boats. You feel everything in those."

The train stopped moving and a second later it felt like they were moving sideways. The scenery spun around them until they were facing the opposite direction.

"Let's go get ready to get on the boats," Riley said as the train started to move forward again.

A large yawn and groan erupted from Mr. Barge, who rolled over and sat up. "Are we there?"

Adam nodded. "We're about to stop."

"Oh good. Then I had better give you boys these. Riley, I think Amanda has one for you." Mr. Barge crawled over to his bag.

"I'll see you guys in a minute," Riley said before closing the movable wall.

Mr. Barge handed each boy a swimsuit and a pair of shorts and told them to go and change into their swimsuits for the boat ride.

The train stopped and Riley, Adam, Connor, and Kirk all gathered around the door leading outside. They were all silent, and Connor guessed it was because of the night they had had before. Adam seemed to be deep in thought until he broke the silence.

"Wait a minute!" Adam exclaimed. "There's four of us now! How are we going to all fit in a three person boat?"

***

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