Broken People (3 page)

“And try not to look surprised.” Rake
smirked.

“Your fees are different than mine,”
Nicholas said. “So, basically, you need a puppet. Very well, I can
do that. It’s the least I can do to repay Big Dino’s
generosity.”

“Yeah. When will you admit you’re one of us
and ask for a big headline?” Spinner asked.

“Oh, I don’t know about that. I wouldn’t
want the ad to catch my creditors’ attention. It’s hard to live off
magic these days. Even kids can’t be fooled anymore.” Shaking his
head, Nicholas pulled a chair to sit down. “Where’s this client of
yours?”

“I sent Jacko to show him around,” Spinner
said. “He wasn’t thrilled, so I doubt Jacko will manage to delay
him much longer.”

“Do we know anything about him?” Nicholas
crossed his long legs and linked his hands on top of his knee.

“He was sent by Miss Aurore,” Rake said.
“There’s bound to be a catch.”

Rake refilled his glass and held the flask
out to Nicholas, but the magician declined, shaking his head and
covering the glass with his hand. He’d never seen Nicholas drink
much anyway. While Spinner chatted about getting a new and,
presumably, important job, Rake watched Nicholas from his corner of
the table.

Nicholas’s relaxed stance said nothing about
his thoughts as he nodded, pretending to understand Spinner’s
technical jargon. The magician’s chameleon skills were so good,
they even made Rake feel at ease in his presence. And Nicholas
wasn’t doing anything special to achieve that. It was a gift. Rake
shook his head.
That
was why they needed him.

The door leading to Big Dino’s bedchamber
opened silently, and Cielo slipped out.

“Any change?” Spinner asked.

The girl closed the door, careful not to
make any sound, and pushed a blonde lock behind her ear. “No,” she
whispered, her eyes downcast. “No change since yesterday. I
replaced the drip because it was clotted. It should hold him until
morning.”

Spinner thanked her with a nod. Nicholas’s
dark eyes followed her while she limped around the table. People
didn’t usually notice the clumsy girl with sea-colored clothes and
a timid, little smile. But Nicholas did, and he left his chair in
time to gallantly hold the door open for her. Cielo’s smile became
less reserved, only to fade a moment later.

“And here is our headquarters,” Jacko’s
voice came in from the darkness. He climbed up the steps of the
car, taking them two at a time. The clown’s patchy jacket brought a
hint of color into the otherwise spartan room. “Come, come, Mr.
Armstrong, before we all catch a cold.” Jacko waved his hand at
someone still waiting outside. “We circus people can’t afford
medical insurance.” He glanced around the room. “Hey, Cielo … Oh,
Mr. Renard, you’re here, too …”

Nicholas ignored the comment and focused his
attention on the visitor. “Good evening, sir. It’s always a
pleasure to meet one of Miss Aurore’s friends.”

“Dale Armstrong,” the man said, entering the
car.

The name didn’t ring a bell. However, the
visitor’s leather jacket concealed a gun on the left side. No
surprise there. No one in their right mind would venture into this
part of town unarmed, especially this late at night. The irony was
that the train station area became safe when the circus was
visiting, but a stranger wouldn’t trust that.

With a murmured “Goodnight,” Cielo left the
car without making eye contact.

“How is Miss Aurore doing?” Nicholas asked
with an affable smile. The magician was one of the few people who
was never unsettled by the Golden Lady’s presence.

“She’s … fine,” Dale said. “She recommended
I see someone called Big Dino?”

“Big Dino is indisposed,” Spinner said, “but
you can talk to Mr. Renard over here. He’s Big Dino’s right-hand
man.”

“Nicholas Renard.” Nicholas held out his
hand and added, “Nicholas le Fleuriste is my stage name. You must
have seen the posters in town.”

They shook hands, the visitor refraining
from adding his input to the conversation. Instead, he looked
around the room, his eyes stopping briefly on each of the men. His
cold assessment put Rake on guard. The man was either a killer, or
a damned great actor. He’d make a fine match for Nicholas.

“These are my … associates,” the magician
said. “Rake and Spinner.”

The “associates” nodded, grunting. Neither
of them offered their hands.

The awkward silence was broken by Nicholas,
“I’m afraid they know more about the technical parts of the
business than I do, but I’ll do my best to accommodate you. What
seems to be the problem?”

Dale looked from one man to the other. “My
friend had an accident. His arms got badly burned. He needs to
regain his hands’ dexterity as soon as possible.”

“Are we talking about full prosthetics, or
muscle and nerve regeneration?” Spinner asked.

“The latter would be preferable. He needs
ninety-five percent accuracy in his movements,” Dale said. “And I’d
like to stress the
soon
part.”

“Nerve regrowth can take time,” Spinner
said. “We’ll have to see how serious the damage is before we
promise anything.”

“It’s serious, though the bones weren’t
damaged. Can’t you speed up the process?”

Spinner and Rake exchanged a glance, and
then Spinner said, “We can … up to a point. When can you bring your
friend over?”

“He’s waiting in the car in the parking lot
near the train station.”

“Oh dear, you left him out in the cold?”
Spinner jumped up. “Do you want to add pneumonia on top of it?
Let’s go and get him!”

“I’ll gather some boys to help.” Jacko
rushed out the door.

“One second,” Nicholas said, all
business-like. “We need to discuss payment first.”

Dale stopped on his way to the door. “Give
me a number. I’ll pay you after my friend passes the test.”

“This can get expensive,” Nicholas said.

“Miss Aurore is vouching for me.”

“In that case…” Nicholas’s gesture towards
the door prompted Spinner to lead Dale into the darkness
outside.

Rake stayed behind. Miss Aurore was good for
her word.

“You know, I don’t feel like I’ve been of
much help.” Nicholas returned to the table to finish his drink.

“It went as well as expected.” Rake
shrugged.

He hadn’t been worried about the meeting.
Everyone knew what they did when they were not performing. Clients
from all over town came knocking on their door, usually for little
things like minor adjustments or small components failing, but a
big job sometimes appeared, too. Like now. “Are you going into town
tomorrow to rent the theater hall for your act?” Rake asked.

“Yes. I’ve got an appointment with the
mayor.” Nicholas took a sip from his glass. “I don’t expect any
problems. He’s let me rent it for the past few years, too.”

“Good. Rent the whole building.”

“Are you serious?” Nicholas let out a
startled laugh. “What for?”

“Spinner got all excited about it, but
that’s difficult work we’re asked to do, and we don’t have the
funds for it,” Rake said.

The magician spun his glass, making the dark
liquid swirl. “I thought the circus had some money stashed
away.”

Since Nicholas handled the accounts, he
didn’t just
think
, he
knew
, even if he couldn’t
access it, but Rake let it go.

“It does. But with Big Dino out … We need to
bring something to the table besides our skills. We can’t rely on
Miss Aurore for everything.”

Nicholas nodded, but his eyebrows were still
raised. “So what do you plan to do?”

“We’re going to put on a show,” Rake said,
bracing himself for … He wasn’t sure for what. Maybe more laughter
since this was not his area of expertise.

“Are we?” Nicholas made a pensive face,
pondering the idea. “Listen, Rake, I can’t hypnotize an entire hall
of people to prevent them from running away screaming. I’m good,
but I’m not
that
good.”

“You don’t have to. We’ll put on a classy
show. We’ll have to leave the animals behind, but the girls will
enjoy the change. We will tell the clowns to clean up their
language. The other acts will do, even if we have to do a tame
version.”

“I—” Nicholas ran a hand through his hair.
“I don’t know. I can’t see it happening. It’s a huge load of
work.”

“That’s why we’re renting the theater for a
week,” Rake said. “Plenty of time to rehearse. It doesn’t have to
be perfect. Just good enough to be deemed decent by the
locals.”

“
If
they come. And
if
we get
permission from the authorities to do such a show,” Nicholas
said.

“They’ll come. Everyone who ever wondered
about what we’re doing here but didn’t dare cross the river will
run to buy tickets if it’s a legit show. Those who aren’t
interested but care about their social standing will come, too. It
will be a full house. As for permission … well, you know the mayor.
You can get it from him.”

“Assuming I do it,” Nicholas said, “he’ll
insist on putting on a classy show. We can’t go with the acts we
have now.
I’m
changing my act each time I perform in a real
theater instead of a tent, and you know my tricks. There’s nothing
outrageous about them.”

Not on the surface
. Rake knew
Nicholas’s act, even the one the magician did when he wasn’t
performing. It wasn’t something obvious, but being mostly made of
metal, Rake felt it better than most people. It gave him hope he’d
made the right call by delegating the power to him.

“Fine, then,” Rake said. “You know what
these people want. You were upper-class once. You understand them,
so make sure our acts have class. You’ll be our art director.”

Nicholas choked on his drink. “Me?” He wiped
his lips with the back of his hand.

“Yeah. So have Miss Aurore book the theater
for us, promise the theater owner thirty percent of the profit to
let us use it, arrange the whole concept of the show, and if you
can pull all that off, you can keep ten percent for yourself. Hey,
you can pay some of your debts this way.”

“What will Big Dino say?” Nicholas asked,
but he was clearly tempted by the offer.

“Don’t you worry about Big Dino,” Rake said.
“Think about the profit you can make.”

Nicholas picked up his top hat and gloves
and, shaking his head, left Rake to make preparations to receive
their client.

As he sprinted up the City Hall steps,
Nicholas felt more optimistic than he should have about this new
adventure. But the beautiful sunny morning resembled spring rather
than fall, and the city buzzed with life around him, putting him in
a good mood. Even the delicious aroma of fresh croissants failed to
make him long for home because, for once, he had other things with
which to occupy his mind.

He’d spent the night pondering their
predicament, and while the feasibility of the action was debatable,
he had to admit it was a bold move. The only downside he saw,
besides not being able to do his regular shows, was that some of
the acts might require his assistance, but he’d been careful for
too long. He could use a change.

If they were allowed to do the show, the
locals would see the circus folk were people like them—just with
better enhancements. Maybe the next time they stopped by, they
wouldn’t be forced to pull up on an abandoned track far out of
town. The circus could surely use it, as the past few years had
been tough because of the war and the population being tight with
their money. And what was good for the circus was good for all of
them.

Of course, this was all propaganda, part of
the pep talk Rake had given him before leaving the train. Rake had
been playing with his knives at the time. Nicholas didn’t fear him
or any of the crew members, but he did want to keep his place at
the circus. With Big Dino hibernating and no one else officially
appointed in the boss’s place, Nicholas needed to tread carefully
for a while.

He shifted the small chrysanthemum bouquet
to his other hand and, after knocking on the office door, he walked
in. “Madame Odette, thank you for scheduling the appointment on
such a short notice. These are for you.”

The middle-aged, plump woman sitting behind
the desk became flustered when Nicholas offered her the flowers.
“Not a problem, Mr. Renard. Mayor Ternchiev is eager for news from
the east. Real news, not like the media.”

“I’ll be happy to give him news, though I’m
afraid it’s not good.” Nicholas put on a grim face and took off his
gloves. “Is he in?” He nodded towards the heavy, wooden door at her
right. “I hope I’m not late.”

“No, no, go right in.” Madame Odette waved a
hand and pushed her glasses up her pointed nose. “He’s expecting
you.”

Nicholas smiled to himself as he entered the
larger office. One didn’t have to use any special type of “magic”
to have people accommodate you. In most cases, it was enough to be
nice. A different kind of “nice” was needed when dealing with Mayor
Ternchiev, though.

“Monsieur le Maire?” Nicholas cleared his
throat to announce his presence to the older man, who was busy
reading the headlines rolling across a screen.

Bushy eyebrows rose before small eyes,
buried in thick layers of fat, followed. “Mr. Renard, is it that
time of year again?” Ternchiev turned off the screen and lowered it
back into the desk.

“I’m afraid it is.” Nicholas grinned and
pulled out a chair to sit. They were not quite equals, but he
didn’t want to let the mayor fool himself into thinking he held all
the cards. Nicholas had a few aces up his sleeve, too. “We’ve made
it here again. I don’t suppose the rules have changed since last
year?”

“I’m afraid they haven’t.” Ternchiev raised
his shoulders in a half-apologetic gesture. “I lead this city, but
I can’t force the people to change their minds. If they don’t want
to see
your
people, there’s nothing I can do. After all, I’m
only a servant of the people.”