Free Rescuing Mattie by S. E. Smith Page B

picked up speed in an effort to get away from the gaze that she could feel following her. She shook her head and forced herself to remember the announcement that had changed everything she ever thought she knew about the universe.
    Walter’s announcement had shaken the lot of them, well except for Marvin, Martin and Sebring, their wife who seemed to have already known about it. That was one of the things she loved about the circus, no one condemned anyone else for who they were or what they believed. Mattie didn’t know anywhere else where two men could be married to one woman and it not be frowned upon.
    She remembered Walter’s booming voice as if it was yesterday. “I’ve got something to say to the lot of you. As always, what is said here, stays here. Every single one of you have signed a confidentiality contract. This is especially important with what I’m about to tell you,” he had warned.
    “Knock off the royal decree and just tell us what you want, Walter,” Jerry, the Tattooed Man, had yelled out. “You know none of us would screw you over.”
    “Yeah, besides if someone tried you know the rest of this sorry lot would kill them before you even got a chance to,” Bombing Bill laughed out.
    “Plus, you know worse things about us than anything we could ever say about you,” Marcus the Magnificent added with a grin.
    “Just wanted to remind you,” Walter responded amid the added comments and laughter. “I’m packing the circus up and moving it.”
    “Hell, Walter,” Shakira the Strong called down from where she was sitting near the top of the bleachers. “What’s the big surprise about that?”
    Walter stood before the hundred or so crew members who had been with him for years and looked at them with a serious expression that calmed everyone in seconds. They knew when Walter had that look on his face that something serious was coming down. They grew even more uneasy when Nema came up to stand next to Walter with tears in her eyes.
    “The surprise is I’m taking the circus off this planet,” Walter said quietly. “Jo has returned. Some of you know that. I’ve talked to Nema and Ricki about this. Jo, Star and River were kidnapped by aliens. Jo has returned to get her parents. Nema, Ricki and I, along with a few others, have met this alien. After some serious thought, I’ve decided that the circus needs a new start. I want to take it somewhere it has never been seen before. I want to take it to a planet called Kassis, maybe even to other worlds if we can.”
    “Wait a minute,” Bill called out. “You want us to go with aliens that kidnap humans? To another world? How do you know they aren’t going to do some… you know… weird stuff to us?” He asked.
    Mattie remembered all the murmurs of concern. Walter patiently answered each one. Eventually, Tony, Kid, Suzy, and Curly had stood up and talked about their meeting with the alien male called Manota. Mattie had remained quiet.
    The discussion had gone on for hours before a vote was taken. It was one of the few times that Walter did a silent one. He had been determined that no one would be pressured into making such a life altering decision.
    The votes had come back one hundred and six for, zero against. Mattie had been one of the last ones to hand her vote in. She knew no one would blame her if she voted against it but the thought of losing the only family she had, besides her animals, was a huge influence on her decision to go. As far as she had been concerned there was nothing on Earth to keep her there but the circus. Where it went, she went too.
    *.*.*
    She had to admit, so far it had been surprisingly easy to fit in on-board the spaceship.
    Warship, she silently reminded herself as she murmured an apology as she ran by the leader of the aliens and Jo’s husband, Manota.
    “Excuse us,” Mattie called out as she passed him. “They needed exercise,” she added breathlessly, sweeping a hand over the dogs trotting around her.
    She