“There’s only one place near town with enough room,” Nina said. “The open field behind the Town Hall.”
“Exactly,” Alex said. “Which is where we’ll meet up.”
“After we drop the cauldron off at the Guild House,” Daphne said.
“And convince our parents to postpone dinner,” Alex said.
“I doubt my aunt will let me fix her dinner any later,” Rafael said.
“Maybe she’s in the mood for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich,” Alex suggested.
“Maybe she is,” Rafael said, a smile spreading across his face. “Funny how she forgot how to cook after she took me in. And clean. And do laundry. And feed the animals.”
“It sounds as if your aunt needs a memory charm,” Victoria said.
“Sounds as if she needs a good, swift…” Curses drowned out Daphne’s next words as her bike tire hit a rut and she swerved to avoid a tree. She recovered quickly and barely lost her pace.
A short time later, they coasted into town, raced up Marigold Street, crossed Alex’s backyard, and skidded to a stop at the door to the old horse barn that served as the Guild House.
“Mucus Marmalade,” Nina said, speaking the secret password that would undo the magical charms protecting the door.
Clark hauled the cauldron through the door and sat it down in the middle of the room. The others crowded in, Nina and Ben collapsing into the cracked depths of the monstrous old leather couch against the wall as Raphael plopped himself into one of the mismatched wooden chairs strewn around a patch-work table assembled from odds and ends and spare pieces.
“Push the cauldron into the corner,” Daphne said, pointing to the empty space near the woodstove. In the winter, small magical logs for the fire filled the corner, but in the middle of summer, it was barren. “I have an idea. Give me a hand, Nina.”
As Clark moved the cauldron to the corner of the room, Alex and the others watched as Daphne and Nina darted outside. A few moments later, they both retuned, carrying a potted rosebush between them.
“Mom’s winter roses?” Alex said as he watched them carry the potted plant across the floor and gently slide it onto the cauldron. Late summer light bathed the small plant as it sat between the two windows at the corner of the room.
“Oh, that’s lovely,” Victoria said. “That brightens up the room considerably.”
“And draws attention away from the cauldron to the flowers,” Daphne said.
“Genius,” Ben said. “A potted plant in a pot.”
“Hmmm, very clever,” Clark said, smiling at Daphne.
“Until Mrs. Ravenstar goes looking for her roses,” Rafael said.
“Mom won’t mind,” Nina said. “We’ll tell her we needed to decorate.”
“You’ll tell her,” Alex said. “She’ll never believe that from me. She’ll know something’s up.”
“Leave it to me, Brother,” Nina said with a grin.
Minutes later, the Guild members had dispersed to their various homes seeking permission to postpose their dinners in lieu of watching the assembly of the carnival. As it turned out, Alex and Nina’s mother was far less interested in what they had done with the potted winter rosebush than with the arrival of the carnival.
“The carnival!” Alex’s mother said with an almost childlike excitement. “The carnival hasn’t been to Runewood since I was a girl. I can’t believe your father didn’t tell me it was coming.”
“So what do you think, Mom?” Alex asked.
“I think if my winter rosebush dies, someone is going to find himself grounded,” his mother said, surprising Alex by changing the subject.
“That was Nina’s idea,” Alex said. “I don’t even know how to decorate.”
“The rosebush is fine, Mom,” Nina said. “What about watching the carnival setup?”
“I’d love to watch the carnival set up,” their mother said, her eyes glittering with excitement. “Thank you for inviting me.”
Alex and Nina stared at their mother in silence.
“That was an invitation, wasn’t it?” their mother asked, her eyes going round with innocent curiosity. “To spend some time together as a family?”
“Ah,” Alex said.
“Well,” Nina added.
“You two are so gullible,” their mother said, laughing. “No wonder you both thought the tooth fairy wasn’t real until you were ten. Run along. We’ll have dinner late. Grab some apples from the root cellar before you go. I’ll bring your father something to tide him over. You’re not the only ones who want to see the carnival setting up.”
Minutes later, an apple apiece in their stomachs and two in their pockets, Alex and Nina stashed their bikes at the side of the Town Hall, quickly chanting rune-spells of warding around them to prevent anyone from tampering with them. It was a precaution that had become second nature after a prank had left the Guild’s bicycles with a magnetic desire to crash into each other. Alex and the Guild suspected their rivals, The Mad Mages, but they hadn’t been able to prove anything.
Alex swept the hair from his sweat-covered face as he stood up straight. It was oddly warmer now at the end of the day than it had been earlier. He and Nina walked around the centuries-old brick walls and broke into simultaneous smiles as they saw the carnival trucks spread out in the wide field behind the Town Hall.
The field was slowly becoming a carnival ground. Trucks and wagons parked in a large circle, creating a sort of barrier between the outside world and the place where the carnival was slowly coming to life. The carnival workers,
roustabouts
, Alex remembered they were called, unloaded the wagons and trucks in small groups. A brightly-colored carousel was already assembled, a circular parade of magical metal creatures spinning slowly as they rose and fell on brass poles.
The first thing to really catch Alex’s eye, even more so than the spectacle of the multitude of mysterious carnival elements slowly being revealed as the wagons and trucks were unpacked, was the composition of the carnival workers themselves. The carnies — Alex was already thinking about them in storybook terms — were an even more diverse group than the citizens of Runewood. People from seemingly every corner of the world labored side-by-side with more magical creatures than Alex had ever hoped to see in one place. Elves, dwarves, giants, nymphs, and others Alex wasn’t sure what to call, strode across the growing carnival grounds on various errands.
Alex looked around to see that he and Nina were not the only ones who had decided to watch the carnival come together. A steady stream of people strode from the edge of town to the field. Groups of students off for the summer, running in lazy circles around each other, as adults walked in more restrained, but equally excited, groups of twos or threes or fours.
“Quite a sight,” Alex heard a deep and familiar voice say form behind him.
“Dad,” Alex said with a startled jump. His father liked sneaking up on him and Nina. He said it kept them on their toes.
“How could you keep it a secret?” Nina said, recovering quickly from the sudden appearance of their father. “Why didn’t you tell us the carnival was coming for the Founders Festival?”
“Because I didn’t know,” their father said with a look of equal parts amusement and annoyance. “I found out when I saw the carnival trucks rolling past the jail house windows. The mayor didn’t tell anyone. Says he wanted it to be a surprise. Although, he looked a little surprised himself when he stepped out of the Town Hall to greet them.”
“At least he’s doing something right,” Alex said.
“Mind your words,” his father said. “He’s a good mayor. Most of the time.”
“Right, Dad,” Alex said, heading off toward the carnival grounds. “We’ll catch up with you later.”
“What about dinner?” their father asked.
“Mom is postponing dinner,” Alex said.
“Really?” their father said, raising a questioning eyebrow.
“She’s bringing you a snack,” Nina said.
“Couldn’t wait to see it herself, could she?” their father said, a grin beginning to fill his wide jaw. “She always did love the carnival. Nina, keep your brother out of too much trouble.”
“Seriously, Dad,” Nina said with a mock whine, “I should get a larger allowance if I’m going to be responsible for him all the time.”
“How much trouble is too much trouble?” Alex laughed.
“You’ll know if I find out about it,” their father said with a wave.
Alex and Nina ran along the outskirts of the field, taking in the sights of the still-forming carnival grounds, passing fellow students and older citizens, some just arriving and others staking out the best spots to view the fascinating work in the field. It wasn’t long before they came across the rest of the Guild, waiting for them beneath the wide branches of a sycamore tree.
“How’d your aunt like the peanut butter and jelly sandwich?” Alex asked Rafael as he and Nina stepped under the early evening shade of the tree.
“She’s wasn’t very happy,” Rafael said, “until she heard about the carnival and then she couldn’t eat it fast enough. She made it here almost as fast as I did, and I came as a panther.”
“Seems like the whole gorping town is coming out to see the carnival set up,” Daphne said, gesturing to the still growing crowd at the edge of the field.
“Hmm, we should pick a good spot,” Clark said.
“Up,” Ben said. “We should climb a tree.”
“I rather doubt that will work for me,” Victoria said. “Why don’t I see if the manager will let us take a closer look?”
“That’s a much better idea,” Alex said.
“Then let’s go,” Victoria said, trotting toward the carnival grounds. Alex and the rest of the Guild quickly followed.
As they walked toward the circle of carnival vehicles parked in the field, Alex could see a gang of workers pulling at a large canvas tent. Around the tent, carnie workers began to assemble smaller tents and wooden booths, as well as mechanical rides composed of assorted steel arms and legs that gave no clear indication of their eventual form. Alex could only guess from the names attached to some of the parts what the final contraptions might be.
The Whizzing Wonder. The Giant’s Wheel. The Flying Carpet. The Trojan Horse. The Flying Dutchman. The Spider’s Web. The Dragon’s Eggs.
The names on the sides of the booths and tents were just as exotic and enticing.
The Archer Queen, King Arthur’s Sword, Aladdin’s Lamp, Davey Jones’ Locker, Pandora’s Box, Mediterranean Mysteries, The Forbidden Kingdom, Minotaur Mirror Maze
, and so many more that Alex lost count.
As they walked through the entrance between two wagons and along a wide boulevard created by rows of carnival booths on either side, carnie workers began to notice them. Those bent over tasks stood and stared, those walking with burdens came to a halt, those already at rest followed them with their eyes. Victoria waved at those she seemed to know and each waved back, but did not move to greet her. Finally, they came upon a group of a dozen or so carnies blocking the lane.
As they stopped, Alex noticed how oddly quiet it had become. No one moved. No one spoke. Everyone stared at Alex and the Guild. He wondered if maybe Victoria had overstated her acquaintance with the carnival. Maybe they had offended the carnies by entering the grounds before everything was ready. Even Victoria was taken aback and at a loss for words. As the silence dragged on, Alex became less and less sure of what was happening and what he should do about it.
“That’s him, ain’t it?” an impossibly small woman said. As Alex looked more closely, he realized the two foot tall woman with the large pointed ears and wrinkled face was a goblin.
“Him and his band of mighty warriors,” a wildly tattooed man beside her said.
“What do they call themselves again?” a dwarfish woman asked.
“The Wild Wizards Club,” an elven man said.
“No, it’s The Excellent Enchanter’s Club,” a slender woman with red feathered wings said.
“And our young Victoria right in the middle of them,” a bear-like man said.
“It’s not a club,” Alex said before he could stop himself.
“Actually, it’s called the Young Sorcerers Guild,” Victoria said, raising her head proudly.
“Of course it is,” said a voice from behind them. The man walked around and spread his arms wide before the gathered crowd. He was tall and willow tree-thin with lines of silver-gray streaking his wavy black hair. He wore a red velvet jacket and a black stovepipe hat and held a black-lacquered wooden cane capped with a silver dragon’s head.
“Now stop staring like a bunch of rustic rubes,” the man said to the crowd, his voice booming. “People are supposed to stop and stare at us, not the other way around. What are you all standing here for? There’s work to be done. There’s a carnival to create from nothing but sweat and hard work and magic. You can say your hellos to Victoria when the work is done. And you can gawk at young Alex and his Guild all weekend. Now back to work!”
The carnies scattered and ran back to their labors, most of them waving and smiling at Victoria as they hustled past. She waved and smiled back as the man in the red velvet jacket shooed a few straggling carnies away.
“Sorry about that,” the man said, gracing them with a dazzling smile and giving Victoria a kiss on the cheek.
“What was that all about, Mr. Apollo?” Victoria asked the man.
“They’re not used to seeing anyone more interesting than they are,” Mr. Apollo said. “The last time we saw you and your father, you were a coltish young centaur and now you are a member of the famous Young Sorcerers Guild.”
“Famous?” Nina said, her voice excited.
“How many people know about us?” Alex asked.
“A young boy and his, shall we say, eccentric friends, save a town from the most ancient of ancient evils?” Mr. Apollo said rhetorically. “That’s the kind of story to warm any carnie’s heart, and one they are likely to tell again and again as they travel from town to town. Especially if they know one of the heroines of the tale.”
“Great,” Alex said with a frown.
“There’s nothing wrong with a little fame,” Mr. Apollo said. “As long as you let it go to your pocketbook and not your head. How rude of me, I have not introduced myself. I am Adolphus Apollo, manager and chief barker of the Conundrum Carnival and Magical Mystery Show.”