Circus Solace Read Online Free PDF

throat where fear starts to grow.
    “Oh. Oh! Oh-oh-oh,” went the clown, cutting him off. “Well, old things are a crime in a new town, just the same way that old ways have no place in a modern metropolis like Moon Dip Falls. You’ll put that offensive offering in the garbage disposal, sir , or else your lease on this building will take its place down the shredding-chute. What will it be?”
    “Look, my son and I were just having lunch,” Pa said. He rose out of his seat and immediately the damaged duo of twins sprung up in-front of Cirrus. Even so, he didn’t flinch and Matt felt a surge of pride for Pa that burned almost as brightly as the rainbow cake that sat on the table which had caused all this mess.
    “Well, you look like a stranger and you don’t know the rules, do you now. Bartleby!” The one on the left pulled out a sheet of paper and dropped it on the table.
    “Those are the rules to live by if you live here,” the clown said, the hysteria suddenly dropping out of his voice. For a moment he sounded as if he were addressing a town meeting about mundane matters. “If you stay, you learn, if you remain ignorant you leave the way you came.” 
    “We’re not leaving,” Pa said quietly, though his voice was just as clear as the clown’s. “We’re on the top of the hill and that’s where we’ll be.” Matt noticed it then: the clown’s eyes bulged, just for a second, before he recovered.
    “Well, well, well and heaven’s-to- Betsy, that old pile, eh? Well, you take care not to choke on all that dust or get lost in amongst all those weeds, won’t you now?” The two men laughed in slow, thudding chunks to the left and right of him. It sounded to Matt like two anchors dropping slowly to the floor, wheezing with rust.
    “We’ll be fine as we are ,” Pa said and for a moment there was silence. In the next, the clown pulled out a shrunken flap of something from one pocket and a small silver pump from another. In a flash he placed one into the other and a balloon lit into life. In the next moment, the clown drained the helium balloon back to a flap and took a step forward to Pa. He opened his mouth and let out a long, high pitched scream. His tongue was dark at the edges and yellowed at its core. When it was over, he took a step back and looked expectantly to the two bulky guards who both laughed on cue. He turned and left without a word and the men followed him out. It dawned on Matt the clown hadn’t even acknowledged him the whole time.
    “You okay, Matty?” he said, finally breaking his glare fr om the window, as the car screeched away. Matt managed to nod and felt a small surge of Pa’s bravery pulse through him.
    “I’m sorry,” Marcus said as he reappeared at the counter. His hands were still shaking and even though he loomed over the counter, he somehow seemed small.
    “I’m sorry if we got you in any trouble,” Pa said, waving off the apology. “It was our fault.”
    “No, it wasn’t but you watch yourself now, boys,” Marcus answered. “Now he’ll think you’re trouble.” He wiped his hands with a cloth and Matt saw streaks of rainbow appear on it. It was sad and beautiful at the same time. It made Matt’s heart ache.
    “Maybe we are,” Pa said and gripped Matt’s hand tightly. Matt saw something new in his eyes now, beyond the sadness of the last few months or the cautious happiness of the road trip and the last few days. Now, with the mayor, it had changed again. Matt saw determination in Pa’s eyes and something else, too: steel.
                                              *
    For a few days, Matt and Pa worked on the house. The more they worked, the less they seemed to notice the tilt and Matt was sure the harder they toiled, the more level the place became. With the windows and doors opened, the scent of the breezes drifted in. It was a gentle smell; a mix of freshly spilt lemonade and just cut flowers. Even when Pa brewed