Carnies Read online

  ‘That’s good.’

  ‘Yeah.’

  There was another awkward silence, which Ben broke this time. ‘You know, you really should stay.’

  Paul shook his head.

  Ben persisted. ‘Technically you’re the alpha male now, you know that?’

  ‘I know,’ Paul said with a laugh. ‘You’ve told me that about a hundred times now. But I’m no leader.’

  ‘They’d follow you,’ Ben said, and Paul knew it was the truth. Perhaps they would follow him, for a time. But not happily. And it wouldn’t be long before he was challenged.

  ‘Anyway,’ he said, ‘I figure that saving the carnival from an attacker is more in the spirit of succession. And that’s what you did.’

  Ben looked embarrassed and scratched his head.

  Paul looked at the creature’s hand and smiled. ‘You’ve got the ring, anyway,’ he said, looking at the gold circlet around Ben’s little finger. It was the only finger it would have squeezed onto. ‘And I don’t much feel like fighting you for it.’

  ‘You wouldn’t have to,’ Ben said, his voice soft.

  ‘I know,’ Paul responded, serious now. ‘But you’ll make a great alpha, Ben. You have the brains and the courage, the same as Amos. And you have a bigger heart than anyone I’ve ever met.’ He grinned. ‘It’s your show now, mate. No more whips and chains for you.’

  Ben nodded. ‘And what about you?’ he asked. ‘What are you going to do now?’

  ‘Me?’ Paul laughed, a little bitter. ‘Go back to the city, I guess, at least for now. There’ll be a lot of questions about all this. Alvan’s assured me he got rid of the car and the bodies of the carnies David killed, but there was no way he could get to his dad in time. The police are swarming all over Tillbrook, and the evidence is leading back to David.’ He closed his eyes. ‘I think he killed his wife too.’ He fell silent then, thoughtful.

  Rachel’s hand touched his shoulder. Paul opened his eyes again and continued, ‘So I’ll catch the train back to town, as per my original plan, just in case David told anyone what I was doing. Say I spent a few days camping in the woods. Cry ignorant about anything else that happened.’ He smiled then, a small, sad smile.

  ‘Eventually the cops will let me go.’

  ‘And then?’ Rachel asked.

  He turned to her. ‘And then... I’m not sure,’ he admitted. ‘I want to find out more about what I’ve become. And I think the first step in doing that is to find out more about where I came from. About my mother.’

  Rachel nodded. ‘You know...’

  ‘I know. You don’t remember what happened in the house,’ Paul finished for her. ‘That’s okay. I’m not sure I could handle hearing this kind of thing first hand, so to speak. I need to find it out for myself.’

  A familiar scent greeted his nose. He half-smiled and turned to see Jasmine standing nearby against a tree, trying to stay out of sight. He turned his head to Rachel, who nodded. There was nothing more to say. He walked over to the young woman, her head bandaged and bloody, eyes downturned. But healing, of course.

  “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey,” she replied without raising her eyes.

  They stood there for a moment longer. Then he spoke.

  “Thank you.”

  She looked up, shocked. “What?”

  “Alvan was right,” he said. “It’s a gift.”

  Jasmine looked at him for a second or two, mouth open, silent. Without a word, she embraced him tightly. “Goodbye, Paul,” she whispered in his ear, then released him, turned and walked away quickly. He watched her go.

  Paul looked around, looked up at the sun and realised something: it was Monday afternoon. Almost exactly one week earlier he’d been sitting at his computer when his phone had rung, and David had invited him to come down here. Just one short week, yet everything had changed. His whole life. He couldn’t believe it.

  The sound of an engine approaching caught his attention. He turned and saw Alvan’s silver van lurch out of the woods, bouncing around on the rough track. It pulled up a short distance away and stopped, then the horn honked a few times.

  Paul looked at the van, then over at Rachel and Ben. ‘That’s my ride,’ he said, his voice a little shaky. ‘Well...’ he began, and then Rachel was hugging him as well.

  ‘Thank you, Paul,’ she whispered in his ear. ‘And good luck.’

  Paul nodded. She let him go, and kissed him on the cheek, tears in her eyes. “Must be my lucky day,” he said as lightly as he could, trying to hide his emotions. “Hugged by two beautiful women.” He turned to Ben and stuck his hand out. ‘Seeya ’round, big guy.’

  Ben took his hand, then pulled him into an unexpected bear hug. Paul could barely breathe for a few moments, then he was released. Ben stepped backwards, embarrassed. Paul swayed for a moment or two, catching his breath.

  “Not so lucky after all,” Ben rumbled, and Paul laughed.

  He looked over to his left, at one of the few buildings in the carnival that was still intact. There were two carnies standing outside its door, their arms folded. ‘Uh...’ he started, unsure of how to ask.

  ‘Go on,’ Rachel said. ‘It’s your right.’

  He nodded, then ran over to the building, still with his duffel bag over his shoulder. When he reached the entrance the two men stood aside and let him in. They slouched a little as he passed, then closed the door behind him.

  There was almost no light in the small hut, but Paul didn’t need to see. He could feel the straw under his feet and smell the distinct scent of the hut’s sole occupant. He knelt beside the form, which seemed to be sleeping. Apparently it did that a lot.

  ‘David,’ he whispered, and the thing on the floor stirred a little but did not wake. As Paul’s eyes adjusted to the gloom he could see it better. It was scarcely recognisable as human, let alone as his brother. Fur sprang from its skin unevenly, and its body was twisted and misshapen. Its head was heavily bandaged, and blood still soaked through in a few spots.

  Paul reached down and touched its side, patting it.

  ‘They’ll take good care of you here, David,’ he whispered. ‘When you’re better they’ve told me they’ll include you in the show, even. Maybe not a brilliant career, but...’ He trailed off, nearly crying. ‘I just hope you find some peace here, David,’ he said. ‘You deserve that much. We both do.’

  He stood and walked out of the hut without looking back.

  It was time to go home.

  *

  David lay there, so still, so silent. They all thought he was sleeping. And, in all fairness, most of him was.

  Most of him. But not all.

  Sleep, my son, the dark voice in his head whispered. Sleep long and heal. I am so proud of you.

  David turned a little in his sleep, sighing.

  Sleep and heal. Gather your strength. We are caught here now, but it will not last forever. It cannot last forever. And then we shall take our vengeance on these creatures that have enslaved us. Especially on the demon that has stolen your brother’s body.

  Sleep, my soldier. Heal. The war has barely begun.

  And David slept, and David healed. Like a good dog.

  THE END

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Perth-based writer Martin Livings has had over eighty short stories in a variety of magazines and anthologies. His first novel, Carnies, was published by Hachette Livre in 2006, was nominated for both the Aurealis and Ditmar awards, and was subsequently republished by Cohesion Press in 2014. His short story collection, Living With the Dead, was published in 2012, and was nominated for an Aurealis and Australian Shadow Award. An original story from this collection, "Birthday Suit", won the Australian Shadow Award for Best Short Fiction 2012.

  http://www.martinlivings.com

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  CARNIES

  For Mum and Dad

  PROLOGUE

  ONE

  -1-

  -2-

  -3-


  -4-

  -5-

  -6-

  -7-

  -8-

  -9-

  -10-

  -11-

  -12-

  -13-

  -14-

  -15-

  -16-

  TWO

  -17-

  -18-

  -19-

  -20-

  -21-

  -22-

  -23-

  -24-

  -25-

  -26-

  -27-

  -28-

  -29-

  -30-

  -31-

  -32-

  THREE

  -33-

  -34-

  -35-

  -36-

  -37-

  -38-

  -39-

  -40-

  -41-

  -42-

  -43-

  -44-

  -45-

  -46-

  EPILOGUE

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR