A sharp whistle pulled our attention to the center ring. Having finished with the twins, Laurent cleared his throat loudly before turning to address the rest of us.
“All right, everyone! We have less than an hour before the gates open. I need everyone in costume right away!”
No one reacted or ended their conversations, clearly ignoring his request, something I found odd considering he was supposedly the one in charge.
“Get going now!” Rex snapped, his voice echoing through the space. A hush fell over the tent as everyone stopped talking and got up to exit, racing to their sleeping quarters to get into costume.
Halfrieda huffed loudly. “Ya gonna watch us tonight, love?”
“Oh, you zimply must,” Valida insisted.
“Yes, I’d love to watch you both.” I felt the iciness of Rex’s gaze land on me, but when I looked up, he’d already turned away.
I hustled out of the big top behind them, trying to keep up with their brisk pace. There was an undercurrent of fear within me—no doubt owing to what had happened with that old woman earlier, something I still didn’t have an answer for and doubted I would ever.
Regardless, I felt safe with Halfrieda and now Valida and I stuck closely to Halfrieda’s side. Feeling me close to her, she looked down and gave me a smile.
“You stick with me, kid, an’ you’ll be just fine.”
I gave her a smile in return and pressed a little closer.
Laurent walked past me, tipping his hat my direction, the black rose still tucked behind his ear.