Read Online Girl in the Shadows by Gwenda Bond - Free Book Online Page A

Remy. Remy gazed up, starry-eyed. Dita punched his arm. “You knew and you didn’t say anything!” she said.
    Remy didn’t look away from his girlfriend.
    Who could blame him? It was hard to look away from her, riveting-high above us. She placed each foot so surely, continuing to walk upward at a slight angle. The crowd around us cheered in delight at the spectacle.
    It wasn’t her bridge walk, but it was just as grand. In fact, I liked this more. It made her more a part of the circus. I couldn’t have spoken for the rest of the company, but I got more excited with each step she took.
    Soon it would be our turn.
    Soon we would take custody of this audience.
    She’d done us all the best favor in the world—as long as we were up to the challenge of not being a letdown after this.
    There was a lesson for me here: Jules had come out of nowhere and made herself a name by being bold. What she was doing up there was dangerous, and she did it anyway. Watching her, I felt like I could do the same.

seven
    The midway was set to stun.
    A modern sideshow act had its fire-eaters onstage as I passed, all six swallowing flames they’d designed to burn a variety of colors while wearing elaborate, fantastical makeup and costumes that made them as much creatures as people. It was far cleverer than the goth Renaissance Faire twists I’d seen on these things at showcases back home.
    I was nervous, given my catastrophic audition. But I didn’t have a choice. My job required me to attempt a trick, pray I got it right, rinse, repeat. After seeing what Jules had done, I’d run back to the Airstream to grab my straitjacket. Before using it, I wanted to try something simple, find my performing legs again.
    I picked a spot between stages, set the straitjacket down on the ground behind me, and removed a fresh deck. Then I waved to a family walking by. “Would you like to help me with a quick trick?”
    A little boy grabbed the arm of a bearded man beside him and said, “You have to, Dad!”
    The guy shrugged. “Sure.” As they came closer, he added, “I’ve never seen a girl magician before.”
    No kidding. “Prepare to be extra-amazed, then,” I said, forcing a smile.
    I gave a showy shuffle of the cards, then removed my handcuffs from my pockets and secured my left wrist, clicking the cuffs shut. “Test these, please. And close the right side.” The man completed the task.
    We’d attracted more of a crowd, which made me part relieved, part extra-nervous. The people spread in a semi-circle around me and my volunteer. I fanned the cards, hoping they were impressed by my wearing handcuffs while I did it.
    My plan was to execute the same trick that had eluded me at my audition. It was simple enough aside from the cuffs, and I needed to prove to myself that I could do it when it counted. “Pick a card,” I said, “but don’t let me see it.”
    The man dithered over which one to choose, moving his hand back and forth. Finally, he plucked a card free, cupping it close to him.
    “Look at it. Remember it,” I said.
    He did, peeking carefully—as if that would prevent me from figuring it out. The little boy tugged on his arm, and he bent to show it to him too.
    “Now put it back into the deck.”
    He straightened and slid it carefully back among the other cards.
    I showboated with my shuffling, earning gratifying applause at one point. I made the cards dance to the extent possible with the cuffs, a controlled waltz from side to side in front of me, up and down, arranged and rearranged. “You’ve seen me thoroughly shuffle, correct?”
    The bearded man nodded, and the crowd did too. My worry remained, but I saw the thread of something else, the thread of what I wanted. Amazement.
    I pulled on the card I was certain would be the man’s. I let the rest of the cards fall dramatically around my feet. And I held up that single card.
    “Was your card the two of clubs?” I asked.
    The man smiled. “It was. It was!”
    The rest of the