Page 8 (2/2)

"I doubt it," I said "Tommy wanted to come to the Cirque Du Freak the last time it was in town He’s here for the match tomorrow He must have heard about the show and picked up a ticket - easy when you’re a celebrity"

"But isn’t it a bit too coincidental that? he’s here the same time as us?" Harkat persisted

"He’s here because his team’s in the cup seineered that - even the Lord of the Vahed "I really aet about Toot in without us seeing him?"

"Yes," Harkat said "It was impossible to identify? everyone who entered A child could have easily? passed without us noticing"

"Then we’ve got to go inside and look for hih your friend To to worry about, let’s not teht see you Leave it to me"

While I waited outside, Harkat entered the tent and patrolled the aisles, checking the faces of every audience ot under way More than half an hour passed before he eed

"I didn’t see him," Harkat said

"Maybe he wasn’t able to sneak away from home," I said

"Or maybe he sensed ere? suspicious of hi except? keep watch the rest of the tiain"

Although it was anticlilad Darius hadn’t shown I hadn’t been looking forward to threatening the boy It was better this way, for all concerned And the ht about it, the more ridiculous our reaction seemed Darius had certainly known more about us than any child should, but ht books or found out about us on the Internet Not many humans know about the true marks of a vampire, or that Little People exist, but the truth (like they used to say on that famous TV show) is out there! There were any number of ways a clued-up kid could have found out the facts about us

Harkat wasn’t as relaxed as I was, and he insisted we stay outside the entrances until the show finished, in case Darius turned up late There was no harhout the rest of the show, listening to the gasps, screams and applause of the people inside the tent I slipped away a few minutes before the end and collected Harkat We hid in a van as the crowd poured out, and only eed when the final excited custoathered with e crew in a tent behind the big top, for the post-show party There wasn’t a celebration after each performance, but we liked to let our hair down every once in a while It was a hard life on the road, driving long distances, working doggedly, keeping a low profile so as not to attract attention It was good to chill out every so often

There were a few guests in the tent - police officers, council officials, wealthy businessht palms, to make life easy for us

Our visitors were particularly interested in Harkat The norrey-skinned Little Person This was a chance for the special guests to experience so different, which they could boast about to their friends Harkat kneas expected of hi the their questions

I sat in a quiet corner of the tent,ready to leave when Jekkus Flang pushed his way through a knot of people and introduced uest he’d just led into the tent "Darren, this is the world’s best goalkeeper, Toood friend and felloorkroaned and closed my eyes So asp with recognition Opening my eyes, I forced a s out of his head - and said, "Hello, To to drink?"