Fear Feast

Clowning Around: Main Course

Clowning Around: Main Course

The full moon presided over the dark sky. She was surrounded by her countless companions, the shimmering stars. The night was chillier than usual. A tell-tale wind whipped through the trees, rustling the leaves, stirring up the tall grass. The cold wind seemed to be blowing towards the circus, calling the crowd in. Darius stood in the grass, just outside Jesse and Jamie's bedroom window. The twins had just appeared. They shimmied down the drain pipe one by one and soon joined Darius on the ground. The trio jogged down the street, quickly and quietly heading towards the circus, following the wind.

They arrived just short of midnight. Another minute or so and the new day would be here. Hundreds of excited soon-to-be spectators were milling around the entrance. Word from the next town over had spread to Solemn Valley. The one-night-only performance had been a hit there and now the townsfolk here were ready to get in on the action.

The circus had come to life. Pink, red and white floodlights lit the scene. Two clowns were near the gate, their faces painted white with red noses and pink cheeks and smiles. Their fuzzy wigs were red on one side and pink on the other with a white stripe down the middle. They wore white jumpsuits with pink polka-dots and red collars. Their floppy red shoes completed the look. Jamie still thought they needed more colours.

Jesse muttered, "Aren't we going to be late for the circus? We should've come earlier."

"No," said Jamie in a more authoritative tone than Jesse had ever heard him use, "We' re right on time. We're going to go round the back, where the caravans are and jump the fence then head to the front and blend in with the crowd. We need to make sure all of the clowns are out of their caravans when we jump the fence so we need to do it as close to showtime as possible."

Darius and Jesse could not argue with that but they also could not stand to give "goody-two-shoes" Jamie any credit for his idea either so they remained silent.

The boys followed the perimeter of the fence to the back, ensuring the two clowns were not watching them. They peeped through the pickets. Behind the huge tent, there were about a dozen caravans. No lights were on here. No sounds of footsteps approaching. No clowns were around.

They scaled the fence easily and landed in the grass near a particularly large caravan. The sign on the door read "Splinter Born" in bold red letters. Jamie felt uneasy but he pushed this feeling aside and led the boys around the tent to the front. The noises from the throng of excited guests grew louder. Soon they were swept up in the crowd that was trickling into the tent. No one seemed to notice what they had done. The only workers taking tickets were the two clowns near the gate. Jamie could not even spot them now through the sea of people.

Inside the tent there was a huge circular platform. It was immaculately white with pink and red glitter scattered across its surface. The ascending rows of seats surrounded the platform. Jamie, Jessie and Darius sat in one of the farthest and thus highest rows. They had snuck in after all. They were not about to sit near the front.

The spotlights turned to focus on the platform, the glittering circus ring. The boys were fixated on the ring. The effect was blinding at first but the brightness of the lights dimmed until the glitter merely twinkled at them. A hush fell over the crowd. The tent opening opposite to the entrance led to a backstage area of some sort. Clowns marched in through the opening in two rows of twelve each. They moved in perfect unison. They formed a circle around the platform. Jamie leant forward, staring at the troupe of clowns, their faces impassive. Another clown, not like the rest, entered the tent. He wore a white cape over his costume. There was a magnificent broach pinned to the front left of the cape. It was a diamond skull with a red ruby nose.