Free Circus of the Unseen by Joanne Owen Page B

He voice was deep and steady, with a gentle lilt. ‘Little Rose.’
    â€˜What did I tell you?’ Scarlet smiled.
    Fabian scratched his stubble and turned to her, now looking more agitated than curious. ‘What did Matushka have to say about this? Why did this girl arrive at the wrong time? Is she supposed to stay, or should she have left?’
    My heart sank. I guess I’d been hoping he’d talk some sense, like a normal person who’d know what to do to make this weirdness end. But, at the same time, I found myself thinking that I could listen to Fabian all day. He had a perfect storytelling voice. It sounded like  …  like unsweetened honey, or something; smooth and sharp at the same time. I reckoned he’d never actually been to England, but the archaic way he phrased things was really charming.
    â€˜What did Mother say?’ he repeated, actually sounding angry now, and I mentally slapped myself for daydreaming.
    â€˜Well, that’s the thing  … ’ Scarlet bit her lower lip.
    â€˜You mean Mother doesn’t know? You haven’t told her? What were you thinking, Scarlet?’
    â€˜Don’t raise your voice at me, Fab. I did what I thought was best. I thought Mother would have known about her and come last night. But she didn’t, and I couldn’t just kick her out, could I? So I suggested she rest until Mother came. Then she fell asleep and now it’s morning.’ Scarlet looked at the sky. ‘Though it hardly looks like it. What’s up with the sun? Why is it so dim?’
    I’d never seen the sun so pale either. It was almost silver. A faint, lunar-looking disc, low down in the sky. Eerie and beautiful – but I just wished they’d get on with doing something to help me.
    â€˜And the sun setting was late last night too, wasn’t it?’ Scarlet glanced at me. ‘But you can’t blame me for letting her spend the night here, can you? I really thought Mother would come.’
    â€˜Perhaps she didn’t because of these irregularities with the light, and the animals,’ Fabian suggested. ‘I understand why you did what you did, but you need to see her immediately, Scarlet. This newcomer is not your doll.’
    I was about to tell him that I definitely wasn’t anyone’s doll and just needed directions, when Accordienka bounded towards us and waggled something in her father’s face. She dropped whatever it was. As I went to pick it up, she snatched it away and hid behind his legs.
    â€˜She doesn’t mean to be rude,’ Fabian explained. ‘But she’s very precious about her little doll. Her mother gave it to her, you see.’
    â€˜No worries.’ I shrugged, wondering if the mother was still around, because it seemed to me that there might be something between Fabian and Scarlet. They’d make a stunning couple.
    â€˜You never let her out of your sight, do you, my darling? You look after each other, don’t you?’
    I shivered. A full-body shudder that started as an icy tingle in the base of my neck and ran all the way through to my toes. I touched my doll, and thought of what Granny had said about it looking after me, and I thought of the story she’d mentioned, the one about Vasilisa. I’d have to read it as soon as I got back, as soon as Mum had calmed down.
    â€˜So, we shall go to Mother, yes?’ Fabian rubbed his hands together. ‘We shall go and explain, all of us together.’
    â€˜Thank you, Fabian. I’d prefer not to go alone.’ Scarlet planted a kiss on his cheek. ‘Can always depend on you to stay calm. Never get in a flap, do you? Just give me five seconds and we’ll go.’ She dashed back up the steps to the wagon.
    While Scarlet was faffing around inside and Fabian and Accordienka went to see her horse, I walked a little way along the path that followed the river. The air was hot and heavy, and the trees were