Circus Summer (Circus of Curiosities Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

that it’s Thomas. If there’s one person who would never do anything to hurt me, it’s him.
    “Thomas, I…”
    “I thought you promised to talk to your mother? I thought I’d told you how dangerous the circus could be, but you’ve still signed up!”
                “I had to,” I say.
                Thomas shakes his head. “No, you didn’t have to. That’s the point. They can’t make people join in their sick games, so they have to have volunteers, and you’ve done it. Don’t you care what happens to you?”
                “Why do you care?” I shoot back.
                “Of course I care what happens to you,” Thomas replies. “I care a lot. I don’t want you to get hurt. And what if you do? Who’ll take care of your mom? Your brother? They’ll be heartbroken. Not to mention how I’ll feel.”
                “I’m sorry,” I say. “I have to do this.”
                I think about explaining about Mom, and about how much the circus could do for us, but Thomas knows that. We went through it on the beach. I wanted to say how I hunger for something more outside of Sea Cliff. Sick games or not, the Circus of Curiosities was a way for me out, a way for me to find a cure for my mother. Besides, I don’t get the chance, because he has other things on his mind.
                “So,” he says, “Zachary Niles signed up too.”
                “Yes,” I reply, and I can’t help smiling at the thought of Zachary. Thomas knows how much of a crush I have on Zachary. He knows I’ve felt that way since I was just a little girl.
                “Is that what finally pushed you over the edge to sign up?” Thomas asks. “I know you like him.”
                “Since I was six,” I say, and that gets a tender smile from him at the memory. I’ve known Thomas so long, he never seems to be able to stay angry at me for very long. “Are you really so angry at me for signing up? I talked to Mom like you wanted, and you said it yourself…you can’t stop me.”
                “That doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Thomas says. “I think this is a lot to go through just to get Zachary Niles’ attention. You could be hurt doing this, Leela.”
                I think about Mom, and about Mason. “I know, but this is what I have to do. It’s the only thing I can think of that might make things better for once. Promise you’ll cheer for me?”
                The corners of his lips curl up into a smile, reluctantly. “You don’t have to ask.”
     
     

 
    Chapter 4
     
     
    T he truck calling for performers is just the start. The next day, more trucks start to roll into town, heading through Sea Cliff so that people watch them out their windows as they go by. I’ve never seen so many motor vehicles in one place before, or such a variety of different vehicles. There are quiet ones that seem to be electrically powered, despite what the Invaders would do if they spotted them, and other ones with wind turbines on their roofs. There are horse drawn carts bringing up the rear, and others drawn by things that I’ve never seen before. There are people walking alongside the trucks, juggling or turning flips or simply waving as we all stare at them in their brightly colored, pieced together costumes.
                When I see them, I’m on my way to school, and I follow them for a little way. They head out to the edge of town, to an area not far from the beach where there’s open green space. It isn’t in the town, exactly, but it’s close. Everyone walks that way when they’re going down to the beach. I guess that the people who run the Circus of Curiosities want people to be able to visit. They’re already pitching tents as I watch, hammering home posts and scaffolding skeletons to wrap cloth around like the paper around a birthday present. I guess that’s an