Clavis Majstar walked with the six from his office back to the top platform. "You must take the Wonderground to Elephants & Castles station in order to meet with the Quarter Council members," the commander instructed. "Good luck." He waved goodbye and left them standing there, bewildered.
"I want to go back now," said Elliot miserably.
"Are you daft?" said Jack with disbelief. "This has already been the best day of our lives!"
"Come on Elliot," encouraged Rose. "Remember that time is frozen back home anyway."
"We need you," said Amelia imploringly.
Elliot brightened with Amelia's words.
"Besides," said Charlie. "I get the feeling that the only way out is through!"
They saw the green-haired station master up ahead.
"The next train is arriving now," she informed them. "Change at The South Circus for Elephants & Castles."
"What do we do when we get there?" asked Elliot.
"Arrangements will be made," replied Tasha. "You will not be able to miss a meeting of the Quarter Council," she said knowingly.
It came as no surprise as the Shadow Kiss rolled into the station and Eeleye's head popped out of an open window.
"Are you guys following me?" he joked. He leaned out of the window and pulled down the door handle. "I trust that Canine Class will be in order," he said, gesturing towards the open door.
"It most certainly will," brightened Jack. "I'm starving."
"As long as you're not going to barricade us inside again!" snorted Rose.
"A necessary evil," flushed Eeleye. "To bring you before the great Clavis Majstar." He bowed in deference in the direction of the commander's office before changing the subject. "The carriage has been freshly cleaned," continued the conductor. "We had an infestation of cupcake crumbs...," he said accusingly.
The six jumped on board sheepishly, each one smiling guiltily at him.
"Sorry, Eeleye," said Elliot.
"No apology needed," replied the conductor. "However, Tog has asked me to inform you that napkins are available under the seats," he said. "Behind the parachutes."
Elliot wondered momentarily why a train would need parachutes but was distracted quickly by the replenished glass cabinet filled with baked goods. Well, mostly filled. Five of the items were already being chewed inside his friends' mouths. None of them had a napkin.
Ten minutes and two doughnuts each later, the internal carriage door creaked open and Eeleye's head followed his hat around the edge of the door. "We are arriving at The Convent station," he informed them. "Two more stops until The South Circus, where you will change for Elephants & Castles."
The soft orchestral tune began to play again. The carriage curtains opened as they slowed to a complete stop. The lights in the carriage were brighter than the station outside and all they could see were their reflections in the windows. They pressed their noses to the glass and cupped their hands to blot out the light from the carriage chandeliers. They could hear running water. A fountain maybe. As their eyes adjusted, they saw that the station platform was illuminated by candles recessed into alcoves in a lump of wet grey rock that formed the rear wall of the platform. There were no passengers waiting to board the Shadow Kiss and nobody left the train. After a couple of minutes, the engine shuddered into life and moved off. At the end of the platform, as they were about to enter the tunnel, Charlie spotted a solitary cloaked figure crouched on a rock, unmoving as if in meditation. As their carriage passed by, the body jolted upright to reveal an ancient woman with wispy smoke-grey hair poking out from under a filthy hood. She glared at him in horror through milky eyes before shielding her face with her long bony fingers and swaying from side to side where she stood. The tunnel swallowed them up and she was gone.
"Did you see that?" asked Charlie, straining to catch a final glimpse as the curtains closed in front of his face.
"A bunch of candles in a wet cave," shrugged Jack. "Hardly the highlight of our tour so far!"
Nobody else had seen the woman. "Never mind," dismissed Charlie as he picked up a vanilla slice.
When the curtains drew back at The Square station, they revealed an oval-shaped plaza, bathed in bright sunshine. They were no longer underground. There were lines of poplar trees dotted along the pathways and the space was filled with hundreds of people. Many were relaxing on grassed areas or seated around egg-shaped pools, dipping their toes in the water. There were fountains glistening in the sunshine, dancing rhythmically and casting rainbows through the spray.
"It looks lovely," said Isla, wishing they could stop for a look round. "And very clean!"
"Not very square though, is it?" said Jack, stating the obvious. A flood of people entered the train at the stop. They chuckled as the wave of passengers clambered and fought their way into Cattle Class. They glanced to the door at the end of their carriage, but nobody joined them.
A few minutes later they could feel the train beginning to slow again. A cacophony of strange animal noises filled the carriage. The curtains came to life again as the train rumbled into The South Circus station. They were hit with a surge of colour and activity as they pulled up. They ground to a halt opposite a pink and white striped train that was being loaded with all sorts of fantastical creatures and characters.
The platform was a hive of activity. Literally. A line of five purple and orange striped bees, each the size of a cow, flew past them and in through the open window of the stationary train opposite, barely squeezing through the gap and buzzing loudly with irritation. Two grooms were struggling with a pair of mint-green horses with necks like giraffes. The arriving train had spooked them, and they raised up on their hind legs, nearly knocking over a lady with gold-coloured skin, wrapped in a silver toga, who was at least eight feet tall. She avoided the hooves and stooped low to enter her carriage, banging her head on the door frame as she passed. Two young girls were riding a pair of immense tigers along the platform whilst standing barefoot, and perfectly balanced, on the backs of the huge beasts. The tigers were blue and white striped and reminded Isla of toothpaste. There were fire-breathers and stilt-walkers, jugglers and sword swallowers, dancers and daredevils, all clamouring for a spot on the departing train. A group of acrobats were loading the goods compartment by cartwheeling, handstanding and forward rolling with scores of brightly coloured and weirdly shaped boxes, cages and crates flying and spinning between them.
The air was punctuated by Tog Twigpepper's gruff, and irritated, announcement.
"The South Circus is your next stop. Not to be confused with The North Circus. Which is not on this line. And is in the North. And starts with an 'N'."
The carriage doors opened and the brass steps unfolded from within the floor space and touched down perfectly on the platform edge. There was grass and a sprinkling of daisies growing on the platform! They could smell popcorn and the burning tang of a recent fireworks display.
Jack grabbed one last chocolate brownie as they stepped down into the chaos. They were struck by explosions of sound from every direction and barely noticed the Shadow Kiss pulling away. There were people and animals everywhere, rushing around in choreographed madness. A floor-to-ceiling poster dominated the platform wall with images of bizarre wildlife and death-defying acts. Top and centre, in magenta letters were the words:
MUNRAB'S CIRCUS
ONE HUNDRED NIGHTS ONLY
In smaller lettering underneath it said: 'Job Vacancy. Myrmecoleon Tamer. Applications to Phineas Munrab.' There was an additional notice clumsily pasted across the poster: 'Show cancelled until further notice.'
They heard a voice cry out from above them. "Five-minute call for the 'Munrab Express'," hollered a woman through an old-fashioned director's megaphone. A towering beehive of candy floss hair was balanced on top of her porcelain face and she was clothed in a Wonderground uniform identical to Eeleye's. Except it was fuchsia pink. She was suspended from the ceiling by a single rope and was spinning gymnastically, inside a large circular hoop. "Please extinguish all fires," she continued. "And ensure all animals go to the bathroom prior to departure."
The circus was leaving town.
Elliot bumped into a barrel-chested man wearing a sparkly three-piece suit and sporting a thick ginger beard that reached his belly button. His moustache was impossibly long and waxed to curled perfection. A small pink bird was perched on the left handlebar of the moustache.
"Excuse me," apologised Elliot, adjusting his glasses.
"Excuse you indeed!" bellowed the man, his cheeks turning the same colour as his whiskers. The man grabbed his belt in both bunched fists and puffed out his chest. "Do you know who I am?" he barked, his voice echoing through the platform chamber.
"Why, have you lost your memory?" Jack said cheekily.
The rest of them sniggered.
"I know very well who I am!" retorted the man. "I am Barbaflamma! The world-famous bearded man."
"World famous?" questioned Charlie. "Even our physics teacher has a beard!"
"But can his beard do this?" proclaimed the man, clearing the space around him with his arms. With great concentration Barbaflamma scrunched up his eyes, pressed the palms of his hands together and gave a low grunt that sounded like he was trying to go to the toilet. The bird on his moustache began to fidget and then squawked in alarm before taking flight towards the station ceiling and alighting on the platform announcer's hoop.
Barbaflamma's beard burst into flames!
The six took a sharp intake of breath as Barbaflamma opened his eyes and took a short bow. As the group began to clap wildly the performer seemed to remember that his beard was on fire. He ran with a speed that belied his size to an ornately tiled drinking fountain with a spout in the shape of a dolphin's head. He gave a sigh of relief as the gushing water quelled the flames and filled the recess with wisps of orange smoke. As he returned to his adoring audience the beard re-grew right before their eyes. However, it was now sky blue!
"World famous!" declared Barbaflamma with pride as he strutted past them towards his carriage and gave them all a wink.
The 'Munrab Express' creaked and groaned its way out of the station. As the train entered the tunnel the creatures that had been leaning out of the windows all retracted their heads with alarmed snorts, squeals and oinks. Barbaflamma popped his head out of the final window. They saw a flash of pink as the circus act's bird divebombed from the station ceiling and took up residence again on his turquoise moustache. Barbaflamma ducked back inside quickly as the tail of the train slithered into the darkness.
It was deathly quiet and much darker now that the circus train and all its lights and sounds had left the station. The looked for a sign displaying the arrival time of the next train. But they found no chalkboards to read, or any arguing twin station managers to ask. They finally managed to bumble their way, more by good luck than management, onto the Streetwater Line platform. They slumped onto the grass, trying to avoid the piles of dung and clumps of straw left by the departing circus. They were alone.
"Are we trapped down here?" whimpered Isla to break the silence. "In the Lowdown I mean. Will I ever see my mum again?"
Amelia huddled in close to Isla and put her arm around her. "Of course, you will," she comforted her. "You saw The Portal Gate doors," she added. "There are literally hundreds of ways for us to get back."
"Amelia's right," agreed Charlie, trying to raise their collective spirits. "Clavis thinks there's a reason for us being here, that it's by design and not by chance. I'd like to find out what that reason is. Maybe we are important."
"Elliot's not important," joked Jack with a wry smile.
"I was just about to say the same thing," laughed Elliot. He picked up a lump of steaming straw and threw it in Jack's direction. Jack dodged the missile and the dung clod splatted satisfyingly on the wall behind his head. Elliot smelled his dirty hand, wrinkled his nose and wiped his fingers on Charlie's trouser leg when he was not looking.
"As long as we stick together, we will be okay," reassured Amelia confidently. She held her open hand out in front of her. The others stood and placed hands over hers. Jack remained seated against the platform tile. They all looked at him imploringly. He sighed and reluctantly got to his feet. He spat on the palm of his hand and added it on top of Elliot's.
"Eugh," reacted Elliot, crinkling his nose.
"Says the boy with horse-giraffe poo on his hands," Jack pointed out. He was interrupted by the long high-pitched whistle of an approaching train. "Two to one it's the Shadow Kiss," he guessed. Sure enough, the bullet-nose of their favourite engine arrowed into the station, snorting steam and growling metallically to a halt. The steps for Canine Class flipped out effortlessly and the six boarded the train before Eeleye had the chance to poke his head out of the next window.
They peered out as the various stations passed by, waiting for Elephants & Castles to come into view. As they rolled into Arch Crossing station, Tog's voice could be heard again throughout the carriage.
"Due to the weather conditions please take extra care on the platform as some characters may be slippery."
They spotted Felonious Moondragon skulking amongst the platform arches. He was struggling, one-handed, with a bunch of dog leads that were attached to seven kittens, each one a different colour of the rainbow and all trying to escape in different directions. In his other hand he held a small crudely painted sign made from a piece of cardboard:
Pure breed
Spectrum Shorthairs
10 qizils
8 qizils
5 qizils – buy one get one
They passed through the intermediate stations at Oswald Gap and Lion's Mound before arriving at The Palace, which was a grand, opulent station with great marble columns in gold and white with bronze statues seated under the arches as if they were holding up the ceiling with their backs. They speculated as to who might live there. One of the kings or queens?
When the train shuddered to a halt again their view was obscured by relentless plumes of steam. As the fog cleared, they saw they were outside again and had arrived on a gaping wide platform that was higher than any train station they had ever seen. The platform appeared to be suspended in the sky and there were repeating signs displaying the station name in the blue and gold colours of the Wonderground:
ELEPHANTS & CASTLES
Tog Twigpepper's monotone drone drifted across the airwaves:
"This is your final stop for this train. When alighting onto the platform please mind the dung. Pachyderms to the right. All other quadrupeds and bipeds to the left."