. All I had to do was run around being chased by two clowns in a bull suit, with the audience screaming for my safety. A trapeze artist swung down from the sky and scooped me up to the cheers and shrieks of the children. That was my act. And thatâs the pull. That was where I learned what it is to be loved by the crowd. Youâll soon understand it too, Leon. Thereâs nothing like it. Itâs what sends the famous mad. The huge chasm between being the object of pure hysterical adulation and spending the rest of the time the same way as every other mortal, squeezing your pimples and being disappointed by the people you love.
âI knew when I set up the Wonders that it shouldnât be a circus, but I wanted to bring elements of a circus to it, the things missing from the entertainment of todayâso flat and easy and fake. Thatâs why the logo, Leon. I wanted to bring radiance, humor, aching tiredness and satisfaction and pain and mystery and the knowledge that the performers would have to do it all again tomorrow. Hard physical work makes humans sing. My father taught me that as well.
âWhen you sit on the wooden strutted seats in the audience at the circus looking up, mouth open like a flycatcher, what you see in the air above you, flying in bird formation, are tiny delicate trapeze artists in sparkling costumes. The girls standing on ponies that canter around the ring seem to be made of glitter and air. That is part of the magic. Get up closeâthese people are muscular and thickset and have bunions and bad teeth. Theyâre sinewy but can bend themselves over backward without a thought. Theyâve got unbreakable will. Thatâs what you need to make it in the business.
âAnd thatâs the other thing, Leon. If you think about the ones I choseâyou, Kathryn, Christosâwhat linked you wasnât only the bizarre transformation of your bodies. It was theimmense pain, the long tedious recovery, the endurance and determination that kept you all alive. You may look fragile. I was never fooled. You three have gone through so much alreadyâyou are the toughest people I know.â
She stretched over to the side table and picked up her phone.
âFor a while I actually considered calling our show the Enchanted Circus, in memory of where I came from. Even now I canât see sawdust on a floor without my heart contracting. Iâm an old woman, Leon, but I still miss the dirt and the aching muscles and the cowboys and trapeze wires and corny music and the sticky sweet smells. And my father. That cruel old bastard, I miss him still.â
She switched on the phone and began downloading information. The conversation was over. It was the longest speech Leon had ever heard her give. It occurred to him that Rhona probably felt like a freak sometimes. Sheâd grown up in a world so alien to his that she might have come from another planet. Perhaps every human being was a freak. Hadnât he read that every person has at least a handful of damaged genes? That all humans embody a myriad of natureâs mistakes?
L AUNCH DAY WAS approaching, and Kyle and Rhona had drawn up a list of questions that were not to be asked by journalists or interviewers.
âMembers of the media will always try to slither around and pose a question you donât want to answer,â Rhona told the three weary Wonders, who sat lined up opposite her like puppies at obedience school. One distraction and she could lose them. âIâve seen it all in my time as a producer. You need a few techniques to divert the conversation. The reporters will be given these lists well before they meet you so they can prepare other questions. If they go off script, smile. Shake your head. Talk about how much you love the city youâre in and how welcome theyâve made you feel. Or answer the question you wanted them to ask.
âSo, the forbidden topics. Christos, as we discussed, we will not
âI knew when I set up the Wonders that it shouldnât be a circus, but I wanted to bring elements of a circus to it, the things missing from the entertainment of todayâso flat and easy and fake. Thatâs why the logo, Leon. I wanted to bring radiance, humor, aching tiredness and satisfaction and pain and mystery and the knowledge that the performers would have to do it all again tomorrow. Hard physical work makes humans sing. My father taught me that as well.
âWhen you sit on the wooden strutted seats in the audience at the circus looking up, mouth open like a flycatcher, what you see in the air above you, flying in bird formation, are tiny delicate trapeze artists in sparkling costumes. The girls standing on ponies that canter around the ring seem to be made of glitter and air. That is part of the magic. Get up closeâthese people are muscular and thickset and have bunions and bad teeth. Theyâre sinewy but can bend themselves over backward without a thought. Theyâve got unbreakable will. Thatâs what you need to make it in the business.
âAnd thatâs the other thing, Leon. If you think about the ones I choseâyou, Kathryn, Christosâwhat linked you wasnât only the bizarre transformation of your bodies. It was theimmense pain, the long tedious recovery, the endurance and determination that kept you all alive. You may look fragile. I was never fooled. You three have gone through so much alreadyâyou are the toughest people I know.â
She stretched over to the side table and picked up her phone.
âFor a while I actually considered calling our show the Enchanted Circus, in memory of where I came from. Even now I canât see sawdust on a floor without my heart contracting. Iâm an old woman, Leon, but I still miss the dirt and the aching muscles and the cowboys and trapeze wires and corny music and the sticky sweet smells. And my father. That cruel old bastard, I miss him still.â
She switched on the phone and began downloading information. The conversation was over. It was the longest speech Leon had ever heard her give. It occurred to him that Rhona probably felt like a freak sometimes. Sheâd grown up in a world so alien to his that she might have come from another planet. Perhaps every human being was a freak. Hadnât he read that every person has at least a handful of damaged genes? That all humans embody a myriad of natureâs mistakes?
L AUNCH DAY WAS approaching, and Kyle and Rhona had drawn up a list of questions that were not to be asked by journalists or interviewers.
âMembers of the media will always try to slither around and pose a question you donât want to answer,â Rhona told the three weary Wonders, who sat lined up opposite her like puppies at obedience school. One distraction and she could lose them. âIâve seen it all in my time as a producer. You need a few techniques to divert the conversation. The reporters will be given these lists well before they meet you so they can prepare other questions. If they go off script, smile. Shake your head. Talk about how much you love the city youâre in and how welcome theyâve made you feel. Or answer the question you wanted them to ask.
âSo, the forbidden topics. Christos, as we discussed, we will not
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