He looked over toward the camp, eyes bright with curiosity. "This is most fascinating." He sighed. "What other bizarre examples of the human form do your numbers include?"

"If you mean, 'What other sort of performers are there? the answer is tons," I told him. "We have a bearded lady, of course."

"A wolf-man," Evra said.

"A man with two bellies," I added.

We went through the entire list, Evra mentioning some I'd never seen. The lineup of the Cirque Du Freak often changed. Performers came and went, depending on where the show was playing.

Sam was very impressed and, for the first time since we'd met, had nothing to say. He listened silently, eyes wide, sucking on one of his pickled onions, shaking his head once in a while as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"It's so cool," he said when we finished. "You must be the luckiest guys on the planet. Living with real circus freaks, traveling the world, privy to solemn and magnificent secrets. I'd do anything to trade places with you…"

I smiled to myself. I don't think he would have liked to trade places with me , not if he knew the full story.

"Hey!" he said. "Could you help me join? I'm a hard worker and I'm really smart. I'd be an asset. Could I join? As an assistant? Please?"

Evra and me smiled at each other.

"I don't think so, Sam," Evra said. "We don't take on many guys our age. If you were older, or if your parents wanted to join, that would be different."

"But they wouldn't mind," Sam insisted. "They'd be delighted for me. They're always saying travel broadens the mind. They'd love the idea of me going around the world, having adventures, seeing marvelous, mystical sights."

Evra shook his head. "Sorry. Maybe when you're older."

Sam pouted and kicked some leaves off a nearby branch. They floated down over me and a few stuck in my hair.

"It's not fair," he grumbled. "People always say 'when you're older. Where would the world be if Alexander the Great had waited until he was older? And how about Joan of Arc? If she'd waited until she was older, the English might have conquered and colonized France. Who decides when someone's old enough to make decisions for himself? It should come down to the individual."

He ranted on for a while longer, complaining about adults and the "corrupt frigging system" and about the time being ripe for a young people's revolution. It was like listening to a crazy politician on TV.

"If a kid wants to open a candy factory, let him open one," Sam stormed. "If he wants to become a football star, fine. If he wants to be an explorer and set off for strange, cannibal-populated islands, okay! We're the slaves of the modern generation. We're —"

"Sam," Evra interrupted. "Do you want to come see my snake?"

Sam broke out into a smile. "Do I?" he yelled. "I thought you'd never ask. C'mon, let's go." Leaping down out of the tree, he ran for the campsite as fast as he could, speeches forgotten. We followed slowly, laughing, feeling a whole lot older and wiser than we were.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Sam thought the snake was the coolest thing he'd ever seen. He wasn't at all scared and didn't hesitate to wrap her around his neck like a scarf. He asked a bunch of questions: How long was she, what did she eat, how often did she shed her skin, where was she from, how fast could she move?

Evra answered all of Sam's questions. He was a snake expert. There wasn't a thing he didn't know about the serpent kingdom. He was even able to tell Sam roughly how many scales the snake had!

We gave Sam a guided tour of the campsite after that. We took him to see the wolf-man (Sam was pretty quiet outside of the hairy wolf-man's van, totally frightened by the snarling creature inside). We introduced him to Hans Hands. Then we ran into Rhamus Twobellies practicing his act. Evra asked if we could watch, and Rhamus let us. Sam's eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw Rhamus chew a glass into tiny pieces, swallow it, piece it back together inside his belly, and bring it up his throat and out his mouth.

I was going to grab Madam Octa and show Sam some of the tricks I could do with her, but I didn't feel too great. The lack of human blood in my diet was getting to me; my stomach grumbled a lot, no matter how much food I ate, and I sometimes got sick or had to sit down suddenly. I didn't want to faint or get sick with the tarantula out of her cage; I knew from experience how deadly she could be if you lost control of her for even a couple of seconds.

Sam would have stayed forever, but it was getting dark and I knew Mr. Crepsley would be waking soon. Evra and me had jobs to do, so we told him it was time he went home.

"Can't I stay a little longer?" he pleaded.

"Your mother's probably looking for you for dinner," Evra said.

"I can eat with you guys," Sam said.

"There isn't enough food," I lied.

"Well, I'm not very hungry, anyway," Sam said. "I already ate most of my pickled onions."

"Maybe he could stay," Evra said. I stared at him, surprised, but he winked to show he was only pretending.

"Could I?" Sam asked, psyched.

"Sure," Evra said. "But you'll have to help us with our jobs."

"I'll do anything," Sam said. "I don't mind. What is it?"

"The wolf-man needs to be fed, washed, and brushed," Evra said.

Sam's smile went away.

"The wuh-wolf-muh-man?" he asked nervously.

"It's no problem," Evra told him. "He's pretty quiet once he's been fed. He hardly ever bites his helpers. If he does attack, keep your head away from his mouth and stick an arm down his throat. It's better to lose an arm than your —"

"You know," Sam said quickly, "I think I do have to go home. My mother said something about friends coming over tonight."

"Oh. That's a pity." Evra grinned.

Sam backed away, gazing in the direction of the wolf-man's cage. He looked sad to be going, so I told him to stop.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said.

"Do you want to come over in the afternoon and hang out with us?"

"Yeah!" Sam said right back, then paused. "I won't have to help feed and clean the…?" He gulped loudly.

"No," Evra said, still smiling.

"Then I'll be here. See you tomorrow, guys."

"See you, Sam," we said together.

He waved, turned, and left.

"Sam's cool, isn't he?" I said to Evra.

"He's a good guy," Evra agreed. "He could lose the whole sounding smart thing, and he's kind of a scaredy-cat, but otherwise he's cool."

"Do you think he'd fit in if he did join the show?" I asked.

Evra snorted sarcastically. "Like a mouse in a house full of cats!"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"This life isn't for everyone. A few weeks away from his family, having to clean toilets and cook for thirty or forty people… He'd be running for the hills."

"We do all right," I said.

"We're different," Evra said. "We're not like other people. This is what we're cut out for. Everybody has a place where they belong. This is ours. We're meant to…"

He stopped and began to frown. He was looking over my head at something in the distance. I turned to see what was bothering him. For a few seconds I couldn't make out anything, but then, somewhere far off, coming through the trees to the east, I saw the flickering light of a burning torch.

"What is that?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," Evra said.

We watched for a few minutes as the torch came closer. I saw figures moving beneath the branches of the trees. I couldn't tell how many there were, but it had to be at least six or seven. Then, as they came out from under the trees, I saw who they were, and goose-bumps sprang to life all over my neck and arms.

They were the small, blue-hooded people that Steve and I had seen the night of the show, the ones who helped sell sweets and toys to the crowd and assisted with the acts. I'd forgotten about those strange blue-hooded helpers. It had been a few months since that night, and I'd had so many other things on my mind.