Jack Staples and the Poet's Storm Read online

  Outside the wagon, Jack stopped. “How do you know my name? And how did you know it was my birthday?”

  “Oh, I know lots of things about you! But don’t worry, we’ll meet soon enough.”

  “Didn’t we just meet?” Jack was beginning to wonder if the girl might be a bit loony. “Who are you?”

  “My name is Al—” She stopped, then offered a roguish grin. “My name is Blade. Now, we had best be going. We don’t want you to miss the show!”

  “Oi! You two, wait right there!” A girl in a crimson cloak stepped out of a large green wagon a short distance away. “What were you doing to my elephant? How dare you come back here!”

  Blade grabbed Jack’s hand and began to run. “We’d better hide,” she said. “That one’s got a real temper on her!”

  Eleven months and twenty-eight days later

  When Alexia ran off with the younger Jack, the memory solidified in Jack’s mind. She was about to introduce him to Ollie. And she was about to tease him, a lot. He grinned at the absurdity of it. It was so strange to be remembering things as they happened. The moment they were on their way, Jack darted over and climbed into the coat the younger Jack had left. He was surprised to find it tight in the shoulders. Have I really grown so much in just a year? He hurried to his mother and wrapped his arms around her, doing his best to hold back the tears.

  She smiled at him. “What is it, my Jack? What’s going on?”

  “I’ve missed you so much!” he blurted. So much for being subtle! But he didn’t care. From the corner of his eye, he saw Parker dart off to the next enclosure.

  “I didn’t go anywhere, silly! Parker and I have been watching the crocodile. Have you seen it yet?”

  “I love you, Mother,” Jack whispered, not letting go. “I just want to make sure you know.”

  “Of course I do! But I always like hearing it!” She knelt in front of him and thumbed the hem of his coat. “This is getting tight on you. I suppose I shall have to make you another now that you are eleven years old! You’re growing like a sprout.” She stood and scanned the crowd. “Now, shall we gather your brother and find a seat for the show? I hear it’s spectacular.”

  “Yes, Mother,” Jack said, feeling fresh tears forming. “But I want to say thank you!”

  “For what?” She stopped and knelt again. “What’s going on, Jack? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

  Jack exhaled, calming himself. “No, I just want to say thank you for all of it. You’re always looking out for us. You’re always there for us, and I don’t know if I ever thanked you.”

  “What else is a mother to do?” She pulled Jack close and hugged him. “I love you. You know that, right? And I’m desperately proud of you.” She stood again. “Now, where has Parker gone?”

  Jack took a deep breath. He knew he had to leave before the younger Jack returned. But he couldn’t make himself move.

  “Do you see him?” His mother scanned the surrounding crowd. “I told him not to wander off.”

  Jack shook his head. He was afraid if he spoke, he would burst into tears. He fixed the picture in his mind, his mother standing there looking for Parker. Jack knew Arthur must still be busy with Parker. That was the true reason they had come. Jack and Alexia were merely keeping the younger Jack and his mother busy.

  “Ah, there he is, next to the ostrich pen. Come, my boy. Let’s collect him and get inside.”

  Jack trailed behind his mother, then darted over to the fence post. The younger Jack was already there, searching the ground for the coat. Jack quickly climbed out of it, then turned his back to the younger Jack, pretending to study the grizzly.

  “Is this yours?” he asked, holding the coat out behind him.

  “Oh yes, it is!” the younger Jack said excitedly. “I was looking for that.” He snatched the cloak, then ran off to find his mother. “Thank you!” he called back as he ran.

  Jack let out a relieved breath as he turned to see Alexia grinning at him.

  “What’s so funny?” he asked.

  “You were so cute!” Alexia burst out laughing. “I wanted to pinch your cheeks the whole time.”

  “Oi! You two! Stop right there. You’re going to tell me what you were doing to my elephant, you bull-brained ninnies!” A younger Alexia was stalking angrily toward them.

  “At least I was cute,” Jack said. “You’ve always been scary!” Both children laughed as they ran from the younger Alexia. All we need to do now is find Arthur and get out of here! Jack was so happy, he could barely contain himself. He’d been able to talk to his mother one last time, to say the things he wanted to say.

  He began to laugh as they ran past the exotic animals and gawking patrons. So long as Arthur had been able to give Parker the Poet’s Coffer, their mission would be a complete success.

  Chapter 4

  Siblings

  Alexia was giddy with excitement. The circus had been her home for almost six years, and she’d loved every minute of it. The night the circus burned to the ground had been devastating. These animals were her best friends, and many had been killed or injured in the fire.

  With everything that had happened since, Alexia never dreamed she’d see the circus again. But this was better than she could have hoped. She was able to see it as it truly was, before the fire. To top it off, Jack had taken them to the past, where the world had yet to go mad. The Assassin’s Shadow had not swallowed the sky, the weather was normal, and there was no fear of a sudden earthquake or tornado springing up.

  She’d wanted to kiss Jack when she heard his plan. He’d seen the Poet’s Coffer before, when he saw a vision of his brother running away from a great darkness, clutching a wooden box.

  Alexia was so thrilled to be back, she didn’t care what Jack had seen. And she didn’t want to go back to the future, where the world seemed to be crumbling. Her life in the circus had been carefree. She hadn’t realized how much she missed it. Spending her days with the animals and her evenings performing before jubilant crowds had been a magnificent life.

  Alexia darted behind the zebra corral, followed closely by Jack. They hid in the shadows as the younger Alexia ran past. It was crazy to be back in time, hiding from herself. “She won’t keep searching for us,” Alexia whispered. “The show’s about to begin.”

  “We need to find Arthur and get out of here,” Jack whispered.

  Alexia’s heart sank. She knew he was right. They needed to defeat the Assassin. More importantly, she needed to free her friends and find her mother. But she wanted to stay in the past.

  “There.” Jack pointed at the giraffe enclosure near the entry. Arthur was milling about with his hands in his pockets, trying to look natural. Alexia could see Ben, the money taker, sitting at the entry. She’d never spent much time with the man but had always liked him. Ben had a keen eye for spotting trouble. More than once she’d seen him arrive just in time to break up a fight before it could begin.

  “You wait here,” Alexia whispered. “I’ll get Arthur, and we can leave the back way.” Before Jack could respond, Alexia shrugged out of her brown cloak and stepped into the light. “Grand fine evening,” she said as she glanced at the gathering clouds.

  Ben blinked, then glanced at the circus tent. “Aren’t ye supposed to be gettin’ ready?”

  “What are they going to do, start without me?” Alexia grinned. “I came to collect my cousin.” She glanced at Arthur, who was watching nervously. “Well, Cousin, are you going to stand there all day? We can’t keep the good people waiting.”

  “Yes, Cousin,” Arthur said. “It was wonderful of you to invite me.”

  “You be careful in there.” Ben grimaced. “There’s something mighty strange about tonight. It’s almost as if the shadows …”

  “As if what?”

  “Never ye mind. I’ll keep ye safe. Just be careful in there, Blade.”
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  Alexia leaped up and spun her body around in a double-twisted backflip. She landed with arms wide and a rueful grin. The few patrons not yet in the tent clapped their hands in delight. “It’ll take more than shadows to knock me off balance!” She gave a flourish of her crimson cloak.

  Ben nodded, then tipped his hat and turned to stare into the darkness. “Ye better go. I don’t want Master Julius to have me head for making ye late.”

  Alexia grabbed Arthur’s hand, then walked toward Jack.

  “You’re the right Alexia, right?” Arthur whispered. “I mean, it’s really you from the future and not you from the past?”

  Alexia sighed.

  “That went well,” Arthur said. “I put the coffer and Mrs. Dumphry’s note in Parker’s pocket while he was gawking at the rhino. He didn’t notice a thing. But I’ve been wondering … Why didn’t you or Alexia do it? Why did all three of us need to be here?”

  “I don’t know,” Jack said, “but that’s what I remembered, so that’s what we did.” He placed an arm around Arthur’s shoulders. “Right, then, should we go back to the others?”

  “Not yet,” Alexia said. “I want to see something first.”

  “We should get back as soon as possible,” Jack said. “You heard Mrs. Dumphry. We need to get out of here quickly in case the Odius comes.”

  “You can go if you like, but I’m staying a little longer.” Alexia snuck around toward the entrance of the great tent.

  “What is she doing?” Arthur whispered.

  “I don’t know,” Jack said, “but we can’t leave her.”

  By the time they rounded the tent, Alexia was already standing atop a large covered wagon that had been positioned tight against the side of the circus tent. Jack began to climb as Alexia pulled a small flap of the thick canvas aside and peeked in. Jack hoisted himself up beside her and looked inside. The crowd roared as the younger Alexia walked into the tent and threw her arms wide.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t cry when she died,” Alexia said, and Jack realized she was watching his mother. “I don’t think I had any tears left.” She scrubbed at the wetness on her cheeks. “You had a really amazing mother, Jack.” She met his eyes and smiled. “And I’m proud to have known her, even for just a short time.”

  Jack felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. “There’s something I have to tell you,” he said without thinking. “She’s …” He was surprised at the wetness in his own eyes. “It’s just that … well, I didn’t know how to tell you before, but she’s your mother, too. You and my brother, Parker, were switched at birth. I don’t know why, but I’m sure of it. Time told me when I was in the Forbidden Garden. You are my sister.”

  Alexia’s smile faded and she stared at Jack as though she’d never seen him before.

  Arthur Greaves hoisted himself up. “I really think we need to go,” he said. “Mrs. Dumphry and the others are waiting.”

  Jack’s breath caught at the dangerous look in Alexia’s eyes. The two children sat staring at each other, completely unmoving.

  “Did you hear what I said?” Arthur placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “We need to go. It’s not safe.” Rain began to fall, and still Alexia didn’t say a word. “Wait, what did I miss?” Arthur leaned in close, studying his friends.

  “You’ve known this for days, and you choose to tell me now?” Alexia said.

  “I didn’t know how to tell you,” Jack said. “I thought … I don’t know. I should have said something earlier, but I didn’t know how.”

  “I’m not sure what’s happening here,” Arthur said, “but isn’t the tent about to start on fire? This isn’t the best place to have this conversation. Let’s continue talking after we get back to the future.”

  Inside the tent, the younger Alexia stepped on the rope between the two platforms as both lions roared loudly. The tumblers spun, the crowd gasped, and all three children sat in the thickening rain. She’s right, Jack thought. I should have told her.

  The covered wagon shook violently. Jack looked down to see a gorilla bounce off the side and lumber into the darkness.

  “What on earth is that doing out of its cage?” Arthur’s eyes followed the gorilla. “And what is that?” He pointed into the darkness.

  Jack wiped rain from his eyes, searching the darkness. His heart sank. At least thirty Shadow Souled were stalking between the wagons. They moved slowly, stopping every few paces to sniff the air. There were a number of Oriax, a Shadule, and something Jack didn’t recognize—a beastly creature with rippling black, metallic skin. Every few steps it contorted into the shape of something recognizable, then twisted again into something monstrous. It was a black lion, then a monster, a fanged rabbit, a spiked turtle, and a monster again. The creature never kept its shape for long, and the only constant were the pale eyes ringing its head.

  “What is it?” Jack breathed. The monster became a spider, a child, a monster, a horse.

  “I told you we should have gone,” Arthur whimpered. The metallic creature had stopped near the grizzly enclosure. The poor bear cowered on the far side of the cage. The monster contorted into the shape of a wolf and smelled the ground.

  A ball of fire shot through the night to explode against the wolf’s metallic side. The creature snarled even as it dissipated into a cloud of black mist. A rather large blackbird that had been perched on a nearby fence post screeched and flew away. Jack’s eyes locked on the shrieking bird as it rocketed through an open flap near the top of the great circus tent.

  The mist congealed as Mrs. Dumphry stepped out of the shadows and sent a spiderweb of fire into the Oriax. Andreal’s ax and Wild’s bow cleaved a bloody path through the dark servants.

  Jack watched the mist gel into the monster once again. The rippling creature ignored the battle, stalking toward the entrance of the tent. Mrs. Dumphry was too busy fighting the winged Shadule to see what the monster was doing.

  “That must be the Odius,” Alexia said. The beast had become a lion and was padding slowly forward. Inside the tent, hundreds of men, women, and children gasped and cheered, unaware of what was happening just outside.

  The Odius stood before the entrance of the tent in the form of a monster. It sniffed the air and snarled, its metallic skin rippling.

  “It smells you!” Alexia gasped.

  “Then why is it walking toward the—” Jack realized what was happening. The Odius smelled the Jack from the past.

  “We have to stop it!” His throat was desert dry. What happens if the younger me gets killed? Do I die as well?

  He leaped from the wagon and landed on his knees in the thickening mud, then lunged to his feet as Alexia landed deftly beside him. Arthur tried to climb down but lost his balance. But Jack’s eyes were on the black snake that slithered into the circus tent. He sprinted after it, but when he entered the tent, he skidded to a stop.

  He stood in warm lantern light, wiping muddy rain from his eyes. Alexia stopped beside him as the younger Alexia at the center of the tent walked along the tightrope. With each step the crowd gasped in wonder. Above it all, the terrified blackbird slammed itself into the tent ceiling again and again.

  There! Jack saw the snake slither beneath the bleachers. He scanned the crowd and found his mother, brother, and the younger Jack. Their eyes were on the spectacle at the center of the tent. The lions, tumblers, and the younger Alexia demanded the attention of everyone but the two children from the future.

  Jack sprinted toward where he’d seen the Odius disappear, then dove beneath the seats. His heart sank. The creature was already nearing the younger Jack.

  Jack was dimly aware of the crowd gasping from the other side of the bleachers. He half crawled, half ran after the rippling snake, though he was sure he wouldn’t be able to catch it in time. And what would I do if I caught it? It was a cold thought. Mrs. Dumphry had said the creature was impossible to kill. Yet still
he pursued it. He couldn’t just stand there and watch himself die.

  Jack could see his own feet on the other side of the bleachers. The younger Jack stood alongside his brother and mother as the crowd bellowed. The Odius didn’t slow as it neared the seat, but rippled again, contorting into a sleek jaguar.

  I’m too late! I didn’t even get to say good-bye to Father. The jaguar leaped at the younger Jack’s legs with teeth bared. “No!” Jack shouted. The Odius was in midair when something very peculiar happened. Just as the creature’s nose bumped into the younger Jack’s leg, Jack heard his note and felt a sudden burst of wind. The Odius rocketed backward, howling in surprise. Jack braced himself, but a split second before the Odius crashed into him, the creature disappeared in an explosion of light.

  Jack stood for a long moment, totally perplexed. The crowd thundered as the tightrope-walking Alexia spread her crimson cloak wide. Jack could see her from between the younger Jack’s legs.

  “That was weird,” Alexia said breathlessly. “Did you do that?”

  “I don’t know,” Jack said. “I think so, but I have no idea how.” The children stood side by side watching the younger Alexia and not saying a word.

  “You had no right to keep it from me,” Alexia said.

  Jack turned to face her.

  “You came back here to hide the Poet’s Coffer and say good-bye to your mother. But you never gave me the chance to say good-bye.”

  “I—” Jack’s throat caught. “You’re right. And I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say.” Jack could see Parker holding his hand in the shape of a lion’s claw. The show was over, and the nightmare was about to begin. “We need to go,” he said carefully. “Beast and Killer are about to escape, and we need to find the others.” The two great lions crouched low on the sandy ground, their eyes glued to the shrieking blackbird.