Free Circus of The Darned by Katie Maxwell Page A

shocked.

    "OK, no plucking stories," I said, waving my hands for Isleif to stop. "Dating advice from a Viking ghost I can just barely survive, but no apple plucking! I don't want to hear anything about your daughter's boobs."

    Isleif looked insulted. "They were very nice. High and firm and—" I started to walk away. Isleif yelled for me to stop. "I have not finished! As I said, i told Anna the time was right for her to be wed. I had always intended that she marry Ljot's son, but he went and got himself killed by a
    mad boar. Ljot had another son, but he was a bit light in the head."

    "Daft." Ljot nodded. "No brains whatsoever. He got that from his mother."

    "Anna insisted she be allowed to look around for a husband," Isleif continued. "But she didn't know how to proceed with the one she'd chosen. So I told her—and this is the wisdom I'm
    passing along to you—the best way to catch yourself a husband is to rip his clothing off, and
    have your way with him." Isleif sat back, a pleased look on his face like he'd just explained the greatest mystery of the universe.

    "Um," I said, not wanting to insult him. The other Vikings were nodding their agreement.

    "That's how my second wife caught me," Finnvid said. "She followed me to the lake one summer morn, wrestled me to the ground, stripped me naked, and sat—"

    "Thanks for the advice," I said really loudly, giving Finnvid a look that he evidently didn't get, because he just grinned at me. "I'll… uh… take it into consideration."

    "You're not really going to rip Benedikt's clothes off, are you?" Soren asked a few seconds later as I was walking back toward my trailer.

    "Of course not!I'm brand new to this whole girlfriend thing. There's no way I'd attempt as advanced a technique as clothes-ripping-off."

    Soren shot me a questioning look from the corner of his eye. "You're joking, ya?"

    "Yes, I'm joking." I stopped at the steps to the trailer. "Honest, Soren, it's not a big deal. Ben and I are going out on a date, just a date.Probably dinner and a movie. No biggie at all."

    Soren didn't say anything, but his eyes were troubled. I didn't know what I could say to him that was the truth and yet would help him over the crush, so I didn't say anything. I socked him on the shoulder and told him he could help me find Tesla.

    "I thought you and Benedikt already looked for him?" he asked, socking me back.

    "We did. But I was thinking last night—here we are in a fair full of people with all sorts of freaky powers, and I'm not using any of it."

    "You touched the hobble," he pointed out.

    "Yeah, but that didn't tell me much. I'm going to see if Tallulah can tell me anything."

    "She's a medium, not a diviner. What you need is someone who can tell you where to find
    Tesla."

    "Tallulah has Sir Edward. She says he can see everything from the Akashic Plain."

    "The what?"Soren's nose scrunched up in confusion.

    "Akashic Plain.It's kind of like limbo. Imogen told me about it last week. I'm going to see Tallulah later. You want to come?"

    "Sure, if I have my chores done."

    "No prob. My mom should be back any minute, and then I'm going to have to spend some time
    dealing with leaving her circle last night. I'm lucky she didn't slap the itching spell on me this morning."

    Soren trotted off and I used the next half hour to wash and get dressed, taking a few minutes to scarf down some green tea, toast, and two apples. I felt at twinge at the last one, since I
    automatically set one aside for Tesla."Poor old boy. I hope you're all right," I said just as the door opened and my mother came into the trailer.

    "Oh good, you're up," she said, a glint in her eye warning she was going to read me the lecture of a lifetime for leaving her circle before she'd broken it. She plopped down her bag of Wiccan stuff on the table, along with a familiar nylon object. "I found this halter in the clearing. I assume it was Tesla's."

    I burst into tears. I know what you're thinking, but it wasn't