Gifted, A Donovan Circus Novel by Liz Long

momentarily rested on a trio of
gorgeous women. Their bronze hair shone through the crowd, their beautiful,
inquisitive faces attentive to Sheffield. I wondered what their gifts were as I
also spotted a large, threatening-looking man sporting large black wings on his
back. The moment my eyes went to his feathered limbs, he looked up and caught
me staring; he narrowed his black eyes and his thick eyebrows furrowed together
while I quickly looked down at my feet, embarrassed.
    After a few beats, I peeked up
again to see his focus back on Sheffield. I continued to search the audience
and saw all types of people. There were lithe acrobats in costume for practice
later; a couple of men who stood three to four feet over the crowd; several
sweaty men who looked like workers, and others who looked human but were
probably anything but. I snapped back to attention just in time to hear
Sheffield sound as though he was about to wrap things up.
    “And finally, we have two new
people joining our troupe from here,” Sheffield said. My ears perked up. Two new troupe members? He never said
anything about another person in our meeting. I thought this was incredibly
exclusive, that I was lucky to get in. I looked around and then realized how
silly that was—everyone here was new to me.
    “I guess she’s technically not
new, but it’s been a few years. Lucy Sullivan—her pop, if you don’t know,
was Lenny Sullivan, a great man and former Donovan circus member. She’s also a
Firestarter.” Sheffield looked around the room and immediately zeroed in on me.
    Oh, no. Please don’t ask me to
wave or something, I thought. I lowered my head in hopes he’d get the hint. I
could hear a few murmurs throughout the crowd and specifically heard my
father’s name mentioned in the whispers. I avoided looking where Keegan and
Nikolas stood, afraid to see how the rest of the Firestarters reacted to the
news.
    “She’s over there somewhere,” he
said, waving in my general direction. “And we also have Gabriel Knight, Rick’s
nephew, finally rejoining us!” A round of applause and I could make out the
back of a blonde guy’s head while getting patted on the back in
congratulations. He looked about as happy to be in the spotlight as I did.
    “Please welcome them and don’t
give ‘em too hard a time. I’d like to keep them around. They’ll both be running
errands for people until they get more comfortable, so if you need help,
they’re happy to do so, right guys?
    “That should cover it. Anyone have
anything they want to add?” Sheffield asked. The room remained silent. “All
right then. Rest up tonight. No stupid stunts. Don’t haze the new kids. I’ll
come by tents to check on routines and changes to make sure it’s what we need
to be doing. Need anything, come find me.”
    Groups dispersed from the tent
in search of food and relaxation.

 

Chapter 4

 
    I managed to get through dinner
without too many stares. Afterwards, Delia encouraged me to grab a sweatshirt
from the trailer and follow her back to the large practice field.
    “What are we doing?” I asked. I
pulled on my sweatshirt and stumbled as I tried to stay with her quick pace.
    “You will see. We do it before
every opening day as long as we have the space for it.”
    “You’re speaking in riddles!”
    She merely smiled at me before
we rounded the campers to the edge of the field. I squinted to see several dark
figures moving around. As I struggled to keep up with Delia, whom I knew
impatiently held back her desire to run, her group of friends came into focus.
The girls had grabbed a bunch of camping chairs and were now making themselves
comfortable in a semi-circle. Keegan, Nikolas, and Finley, I saw, were gathered
around something on the ground. As we got closer, I saw the large brush pile
and realized we were about to start a bonfire.
    “Good timing,” Finley said to
us, “we just got the wood together. Only need a light.”
    “I think Lucy can help