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Evra’s fear went away as the evening wore on, but he was slow to return to norht I had to take his knife fro potatoes for dinner; I was afraid he ers off

After we’d eaten and helped clean the dishes, I asked Evra about thewith his snake

He didn’t answer i to, but in the end he sighed and began to speak

"Mr Tiny is the leader of the Little People,"he said

"The suys in the blue-hooded capes?"I asked

"Yup He calls them Little People He’s their boss

He doesn’t come here a lot - it’s been two years since I last saw hiives me the creeps when he does He’s the spookiest ht to ht the first tireed "But wait till you’ve spoken to him It’s hard to explain, but every tihter, skin, and roast me"

"He eats people?"I asked, freaked out

"I don’t know,"Evra said "Maybe he does,he wants to eat you And it’s not juststupid; I’ve talked about it with other members of the Cirque and they feel the saety when Mr Tiny’s around"

"Well, the Little People must like hiht?"

"Maybe they’re scared of him,"Evra said "Maybe he forces them to obey him Maybe they’re his slaves"

"Have you ever asked them?"

"They don’t talk,"Evra said "I don’t know if it’s because they can’t or if they don’t want to, but nobody in the circus has ever been able to get a word out of them They’re really helpful and they’ll do whatever you ask but they’re as silent as walking dummies"

"Have you ever seen their faces?"I asked

"Once,"Evra said "Usually they don’t let their hoods slip, but one day I was helping a couple of them move a heavy machine It fell on one of the Little People and crushed hih he e ali,"Evra said quietly, stroking the snake "Full of scars and stitches all cruiant had squeezed it with his claws He didn’t have ears or a nose, and there was soray and dead-looking, and his eyes were like two green bowls near the top of his face He didn’t have hair, either"

Evra shivered at theabout his description

"What happened to him?"I asked "Did he die?"

"I don’t know,"Evra said "A couple of his brothers - I always think of theh they probably aren’t - caain?"

"They all look the same,"Evra said "Some are a little smaller or taller than the others, but there’s no real way of telling them apart Believe me - I’ve tried"

Weirder and weirder I was really intrigued by Mr Tiny and his Little People I’d always liked mysteries Maybe I could solve this one Maybe, with my vampire powers, I could find a way to talk to one of the hooded creatures

"Where do the Little People come from?"I asked

"Nobody knows,"Evra said "There’s usually about four or six of them with the Cirque Sos in new ones It eird that none were here when you ca to do with ?"I asked

"I doubt it,"Evra said "It was probably just a coincidence Or fate"He paused "Which is another thing: Mr Tiny’s first name is Desmond"

"So?"

"He tells people to call hiether with his last name,"Evra told me

I did Mr Des Tiny Mr Des-Tiny Mr

"Mr Destiny ,"I whispered, and Evra nodded seriously

I was dying of curiosity and asked Evra a bunch more questions, but his ansere li about Mr Tiny, and only a little more about the Little People They ate meat They smelled funny They moved around slowly most of the time They either didn’t feel pain or couldn’t show it And they had no sense of humor

"How do you know that?"I asked

"Bradley Stretch,"Evra answered darkly "He used to be with the show He had rubbery bones and could s stretch