MALLORY

Chapter One

See, the real story started on the morning of my eighteenth birthday. Birthdays aren't a big deal to the circus crew, but I always remembered mine. I'm not sure why. It might have been how it was the only reason I was ever important before I came here. The only way I was different. I mean now, well now I'm a famous knife thrower, and heaps of people know who I am, but I guess birthdays are more of a personal thing for me.

On this particular day, we'd arrived in this new town. It was a little place. It had lots of green grass which was perfect for the set up, and was nice to sleep on. It was only a small place, so we knew we wouldn't be staying long. Our first night there was disappointing, because not even a quarter of our stands were filled. Despite the advertisements plastered everywhere, the town was just not big enough to satisfy us. Old Ma said it would be our last night there. She didn't like failure.

'No point staying any longer.' She'd muttered. 'We can be more appreciated elsewhere.' And because Old Ma is practically the boss, even over the ringmaster Master Demian, we were ready to leave before sunrise that same night. By the early morning we were already on our way to the next town.

Unfortunately, the next town was quite a bit away from Woodwyn, so I was stuck in my little caravan for a while, just notching in the hours into my wall. There was nothing wrong with my caravan. It was nice and bright inside. It had a large bed. Lots of cushions. A bench and a table. It was liveable, but it was no place for a boy to sit and wait in. Luckily for me, we had to stop halfway through our journey. My caravan stopped with a little jolt, so I peered out my caravan window and saw Ed and Demian setting up the rugs and cushions for everyone to sit on. Les was setting up the tea urn. I jumped out of my carriage in curiosity.

"Whats going on here lads?" I asked, and Demian finished laying down the last rug before looking at me.

"Its Ma." He said. "O'Donovan says he heard a ruckus in her caravan so he jumped my cart and got me."

"Ruckus?" I looked over where her now quiet caravan stood still. "Is she still in there?"

"Yes, and when I asked if I could come in she refused me. She wont let any of us in, but when Sadie asked her to come out in her own time she said she'd just take a minute. Its all waiting for her to come out now."

I nodded. Ma very rarely got stressed or anxious. Whenever she did we all got a little bit worried because although she was usually spritely, her bones were getting old and even though she hated to admit, she was weakening. Ill-mindedness was not healthy for someone of her age.

So we waited. All of us. Honey, Jez, Jimmy, O'Donovan, Sadie, Binky, Ed, Les, Veronica. Honey and Jez tried to read each others palms under Veronica's instruction, Jimmy and Ed were talking about the horses, Demian, O'Donovan and Sadie were discussing what could be causing Ma's upset in low voices, Binky was playing on her unicycle. I sat alone. I was not the youngest here, Honey and Jez were fifteen, but I was the only one my age. Ed and I used to be like brothers, him only being two years older than me, but over the years we've distanced as brothers. I mean, everyone in this circus loves each other, and we're all family, but it would be nice to have someone I have stuff in common with, like my age.

Eventually, Old Ma did come out. She smiled at us, and walked over.

"Wheres the tea?" She asked, and Honey rushed to pour her some tea into her little tea cup. "What have I missed?" She asked, sipping on her tea.

"Not much." Ed said. "Just stressing over your scene."

"Oh!" Old Ma, said, laughing. "Don't worry about me! I just misplaced my favourite kaftan and got myself upset. I looked a mess, and thats why I wouldn't let you in. Sadie, dear, be a darling and get me a sugar cube?" Sadie stood and reached for the sugar pot.