The kitchen table the next morning was eerily quiet. Barnum and the girls picked at their food. Charity didn't even sit at the table.
Finally, after several minutes of silence, Charity spoke. "Caroline, why don't you and your sister go pack your bags? Grandma and Grandpa will be here in a few hours."
"I don't wanna go," Caroline whined. She turned her tearful eyes to Barnum. "Daddy, please—"
"Caroline," Charity snapped.
"We're leaving?" Helen asked.
"Just for a little while. Mommy and Daddy have some grown-up matters to discuss."
"Can I take my dolls?"
"A couple."
Helen beamed and, breakfast forgotten, ran from the table. Charity turned narrowed eyes onto Caroline who, weeping pitifully, went along with her sister.
Once the girls were gone, Barnum sighed. "Charity, I thought about what you said last night and I—"
Ignoring him, Charity went to the countertop and picked something up. She slammed the newspaper on the table in front of her husband. The front page glared up at him.
Phillip Carlyle, Famed Playwright-Turned-Circus-Boy, Attacked at Home; Parents Suspected of Attempted Foul Play
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if anyone gets the tv reference in this I will love you forever
YOU ARE READING
Burn (Barlyle) (COMPLETE)
FanfictionPhillip pushes Barnum away after the fire. Barnum struggles with what to do about the secrets of that night.
