And that was where their tragic love story began, because she had said yes.
The train whistle blew three sharp shrieks, cutting through the memory. They would be departing within ten minutes.
“Less chisme. More packing,” Pilar, ever the older sister, ordered.
Esmeralda grabbed whatever items she could lift and brought them into the sisters’ wagon. She placed the bejeweled shoes she held next to Camila’s cot. An open gift box caught Esmeralda’s attention. Cellophane wrapping lay crumpled beside it.
“Is this the gift the ringmaster gave you?” she asked over her shoulder.
She had yet to tell the sisters that she was in the Running as well. There hadn’t been a proper time between knocking out her first love and framing him for burglary. Esmeralda had beenso distracted that she hadn’t even glanced inside the box she had been given.
The compact wagon rocked slightly when Camila placed another column down. She dusted off her hands and stepped beside Esmeralda. She peered at the four cloth cuffs resting on a nest of glistening confetti.
“Yup,” Camila said. “The greatest ringmaster of the most magnificent carnival there ever was hasgenerouslygifted us with cuffs to wipe our sweat on.” She plucked one up. The stitching glimmered in the early morning light like the ink used on Esmeralda’s cards. “But they are rather spectacular.”
“Let me show them!” Pilar said.
Camila flung one of the cloth cuffs to her sister. Pilar missed the catch but quickly plucked the cuff off the wagon floor. She brushed off the dust and slid it onto her wrist before holding it up. Wiggling her fingers, she grinned.
“Is it doing something?” Gabriel, always the innovator, had to know.
“The second I slip these on, my arms feel light as air,” Pilarsaid.
“That’s saying something. You’ve got bigger muscles than me,” Gabriel added.
“Not hard to do, but I’ll take the compliment,” Pilar teased. “Watch this.” She walked over to one of the columns. She bent low and scooped her arm around it.
Esmeralda gaped as Pilar stood, holding the heavy column as if it were made of feathers.
“Amazing,” Gabriel whispered. “What does it feel like?”
“Like it weighs next to nothing.”
“The ringmaster gave you enchanted cuffs?” Esmeralda asked in awe. No one had a clue where the magic came from or how it worked. As far as she knew, magic didn’t even exist outside Carnival Fantástico. Esmeralda didn’t care about its origins. It was there and it could benefit her. That was all she needed to know.
“What did you get inside your gift box?” Gabriel asked her.
“Yourgift box?” Pilar asked with an incredulous tone. As if Esmeralda couldn’t possibly have been chosen for something as momentous as the Running. Granted, Esmeralda was still in shock, but that didn’t mean Pilar should be in shock as well.
She batted her lashes. “Silly me. I nearly forgot to mention it. I’ve been selected for the Running too.”
A moment of stunned silence permeated the wagon. Then Camila screamed. She jumped up and down and wrapped an arm around Esmeralda’s neck, tugging her in for a too-tight hug. Esmeralda stiffened. She was never the affectionate type.
“What will your act be?” Pilar asked. “Surely reading cards won’t do for a crowd of thousands.”
“Shut your yapper, Pilar,” Camila said through her teeth. “I’m sure Esmeralda has a plan.”
“Of course I do! Lots of them, actually.”
She had one: Do whatever it took to become the ringmaster’s new lead act.
To keep things fresh and exciting, the ringmaster only let his performers and staff work within the carnival for a single year. That was how long it took to tour all of Costa Mayor. But his lead acts got to stay on and gain wealth and fame until theywished to leave. Melanie the Marionette, though, had been the main attraction for less than twelve months before she suddenly quit. Meanwhile, other lead acts in the past remained with the carnival for years.
The whistle screamed five times. The train carrying all of Carnival Fantástico would be departing in minutes.
“I better get to my wagon,” Esmeralda said. “It’s been a long night, and I’m beat.”
The girls and Gabriel waved her off. They teased her about dreaming of her first love. But Esmeralda’s mind was far from Ignacio Olivera. All she cared about right now was finding out what lay inside her cellophane-wrapped box.
