“You have done so much for me, without the slightest intention,” she said, smiling, her eyes sparkling. “You might not believe it, but you have saved my life. You keep saving my life every morning you allow me to wake up in this house, under your roof, and every night when you allow me to wrap myself up in blankets under that same roof.”
Edmund didn’t know what to say to that. But he knew what to do. He grabbed her hand, and squeezing it gently with his own, he planted a kiss on her skin. It felt softer than the smoothest silk.
When he lifted his gaze, he had seen her blush for the first time ever. She looked like a fresh rose, early in the morning, blessed with morning dew. At that moment, he knew that there would never be anyone else for him.
Whatever her secret was, he would find out.
He would find out, and he would share that burden with her, forever if necessary.
Chapter 17
It was the last show of the evening, and even though Broderick’s coin purse was heavier than the previous night, he still wasn’t satisfied. His palms ached to hold the icy metal, about the only thing which had the capability to warm his heart.
The people were asking for her. The other freaks were doing their best to keep the crowd entertained, but it was no use. He could hear their voices manifesting her name, just like a ghost that appears out of nowhere. For that was what she was to them. A ghost. The pale woman. The reason their fingers itched to point at someone different, someone whose very soul was borne simply for their amusement.
To them, she was mere entertainment, something that filled the void in their otherwise bleak lives. To Broderick, she was everything, and her name rested on his lips with the fire of love and hatred intertwined.
He still remembered that look of hate in her eyes when she realized what he was about to do.Get away from me!She screamed. Her nails dug into his lower arms, in an effort to push him away from her, as if he were some rabid dog about to attack her. His lips pouted in an attempt at a kiss, tightened to the point of whiteness. As white as she was.
That was when she stopped singing, thinking he had fallen asleep, pushed the door open and rushed out of his carriage as they were on their way to their next destination. And, ever since then, his life had revolved around getting her back. Getting his own life back, because he realized that without her, his freak show was doomed to fail. The bearded lady or the strong man were nowhere near as entertaining as a woman who seemed to belong to another world, the ghost world.
Damn her!
He barged into his wagon; his eyes already having adjusted to the obscurity that reigned inside. He could see faint outlines of furniture, so he knew how to move without bumping into anything. Immediately, he reached for the candle, which rested on the table. With one swift motion of his fingers which held a flint and tender, a small beacon of light appeared.
At that moment, Broderick’s eye fell upon a dark figure which was sitting in a small armchair in the corner, where the light barely reached.
“Who’s there!?” Broderick jumped backwards, almost dropping the candle.
There weren’t many things Broderick Loveless was afraid of. The world had treated him like an enemy, an outsider almost from the very moment he had drawn his first breath. His own mother had shied away from him, uneasy at the sight of his unbalanced body, and a face full of scars. He had never known love or tenderness. So, he learned how to live without it.
Luckily, he knew how to return the favor and treat the world equally. A part of it was learning not to be afraid, even when one had much to lose. The world was his enemy, so he vowed to take advantage of it any way he could. Ironically, his name had always been a perfect portrait of his inner self, the empty shell of a man who only had eyes for the silver and golden flicker of coins.
Trying to recognize the intruder, his hand trembled, as he extended it into the darkness. For a moment, he wondered if it was one of the freaks, finally mustering the courage to sneak into his room and attack him. Or perhaps rob him blind, whichever came easiest. Broderick vowed not to make it easy on anyone who tried that, even if that meant losing a part of his own livelihood.
Finally, a face was revealed, as the entire body leaned forward. A face he knew too well. A face that, hopefully, came to shed light on the only matter of importance in Broderick’s life.
“Bah!” Broderick growled, waving dismissively with his free hand. “Why do you sit in the dark, like a dog waiting to bite?”
Ewing didn’t get up. It seemed like he didn’t even hear Broderick speak. The golden colored top of his walking cane blinked in the candlelight. Grimy fingers with dirty fingernails wrapped themselves around it, like cobwebs.
“I found ‘er,” Ewing said in a voice that grated one’s ear, ignoring Broderick’s initial comment.
Broderick stopped, mid-motion. His hand trembled once more, but a different emotion seized him this time. A tidal wave of excitement washed over him, so much that he could barely refrain himself from grabbing this man by the collar and shaking that information out of him.
Broderick moistened his lips. “Where is she?”
“First,” Ewing adjusted himself on the armchair, tapping the cane against the wooden floor just once as he did so. The hollow sound echoed throughout the wagon, menacingly. “There be a small matter of payment.”
“Ya owed me a favor,” Broderick hissed. “We agreed.”
“You agreed,” Ewing bared his teeth, and now Broderick could see the ones missing, leaving little black holes in that soulless grin. “I agreed t’ be paid.”
“Damn ya t’ Hell!”
Broderick dug into his pocket, his fingers finding the coin purse. He threw it on the small table that separated them. As the purse fell on it, the coins clanked tantalizingly, calling out to both men equally.
It was a slow night, much like all the previous ones, ever since Rosalie had escaped. People would often refuse to go in and see the freaks once they’d realized that Rosalie wasn’t in the show. He’d kept telling them she was merely sick and to see the others, but that never worked. However, Broderick knew that what his coin purse contained now was more than a man like Ewing could earn in a week. It’d be enough, Broderick had no fear.
