Chapter 10
Ignacio
He thrashed through the wheat field. That brat, that villain, the person he once thought held his future in her hands, the girl who had framed him and sent him to jail, was getting away.
He stumbled to a stop. The sun had crested over the eastern side of the valley, casting the sky in a dusky pink. There should have been wagons and booths in this very spot, but the carnival was gone. There were no towering tents. No whirling roller coasters. The marquee he’d walked through upon entry was nowhere to be seen. The only hint that there had ever been a carnival at all was glistening glitter near the train tracks.
In the distance, he heard a blustery howl of a whistle. His head snapped to the left. Just beyond the small hill he saw puffs of pearlescent smoke from a train’s engine stack. People often mused that magic pushed the locomotive to impossible speeds. If he had any hope of catching up, he needed to sprint.Now.
Ignacio took off at a crackling pace. His muscles moved on instinct. Father had kept him on a strict exercise regimen sincehe could walk, but the six months spent training with the Blackbirds had made him even faster. He tucked his head low and sliced his hands through the air, pushing his body past the edge.
When he made it up the hill, he saw the massive train.
The locomotive gleamed like obsidian. The boxcars it pulled were painted in purple hues or the same black-and-white stripes as the Big Top. After those came caged carts filled with slumbering beasts. Behind them were wagons chained on top of trailers of various sizes and makes, trailed by even more boxcars.
Thankfully, the train wasn’t moving at its full momentumyet.
Ignacio pushed his legs harder than ever before. He needed to cover the space between himself and Esmeralda.
Gritting his teeth, he doubled down.
He couldn’t let this opportunity slip away. Not when it was so close.
Someone whistled. People popped their heads out of wagon windows and from the tops of boxcars. Ignacio saw the surprise etched on their faces. The incredulity. They didn’t think he could catch up. But once he set his mind to something, there was no stopping him.
He raced through the weeds and hurdled boulders. He was getting closer.
“Almost there!” a person yelled from within the train.
“He’ll never make it!” someone else shouted.
A young man with curly hair cupped his hands over his mouth and hollered, “Best hurry! The valley drops off into a gorge!”
Ignacio chanced a glance at the tracks leading north. Hisstomach dipped. He’d forgotten about the massive canyon that flanked the valley. His family home in Río Norte wasn’t so far from this very basin, and yet, he’d never come this way. Father didn’t allow Ignacio frivolous explorations when he was young.
The only escapades he’d partaken in were sneaking out of his room at night with Esmeralda and lying upon his roof to gaze at the stars. Just once were they able to steal off and leave the manor grounds. They spent a single night laughing and running about the boardwalk like two regular teenagers in love. That had been enough for him. Being able to look straight into Esmeralda’s deep brown eyes had felt like the most adventurous thing in the world.
The toe of his boot smashed into a stone he didn’t see. Pain lanced through his foot.
“Dammit,” he growled.
This was what happened whenever Esmeralda slipped into his mind. Stubbed toes and stinging memories of broken promises.
“Hurry up, man!” that same curly-headed boy yelled.
Ignacio thrust himself onward. The train was moving faster now, but he was trailing right behind it. He hopped onto the tracks. He was almost there. Yards away. Now only feet.
The door to the caboose banged open. A tall man with a distinctly coiled mustache stepped out onto the small platform. Ignacio recognized him at once from the posters he’d seen. He was Carnival Fantástico’s ringmaster.
“Need help, kid?” the ringmaster yelled over the train wheels grinding against the tracks.
“Is that an honest question?!” Ignacio panted. His lungs were starting to constrict.
The ringmaster laughed heartily. He grasped the copper railing and leaned forward, his body hovering over the ground. He extended an arm. “If you can reach me, I’ll let you board.”
Let me board?Not even King Amadeo himself could stop him from boarding right now.
A blaring whistle sounded from the front of the train.
