Episode XC - Cross Words

They camped on the Great Desert Road that night, still surrounded by the lights of the outlying regions of Searingsands, Shadedstreams a distant mound of stars.  Stories were told around camp fires and performers and porters drank and ate and enjoyed each others company whilst the non-sentient members of the menagerie squawked and hooted and howled at the violet moon.  Ellis had grown to enjoy such times and was making friends with many of the circus' crew, with the obvious exception of Nadiyya.  He retired to his corner of a wagon late and slightly the worse for some hot spiced wine.  By the time he woke up, late the next morning, they were on the move once more.

They made good progress,  but even so it took them until evening before they were in Shadedstreams proper.  They couldn't just speed along the highway like any other travellers.  They were a circus and there needed to be performances and procession, the full panoply of pomp and practised panache on parade as they made they way into the district.  Everyone had to know what they were there for, or else their cover just would not add up.

Ellis had already seen most of what the performers had to show, but there was something about the way they came alive before a new audience that made the spectacle impossible to turn away from.  He watched, transfixed, from the back of his wagon, Gulliver and Theophilus at his side, as animals and dancers, acrobats and contortionists, singers and musicians and actors all took the stage along the edge of the convoy, teasing the crowds with a flash of one show, a blast of another.  Just enough to make them want some more.

No wonder Kerring's circus was in demand from the Kahn, Ellis thought, amazed.  It really was a good circus and he could only wonder how the greedy merchant had managed to get his hands on it.

Kerring himself was on display too, of course.  As master and ringleader it was his job to shout out to everyone they passed about the wonders and marvels of Kerrings' Circus of Delights.  He put on a good show, but Ellis could see the sweat dripping off him and though it could easily have been from the heat, he knew it was nerves more than anything else.  There was a lot more at stake for Valter Kerring than just the success of a show, that was for sure.

So, as evening arrived once more in all its amber-jade glory they reached something akin to a border a crossing point.  It was packed with wagons, automobiles, mobile stalls, animals and a  great, surging crowd of very angry sounding people.  The circus convoy came to a halt a little before the edge of the crowd, leaving a gap just in case and Ellis made his way to the lead wagon to find out how they were going to progress.  By the time he got there Kerring and the Former Baron were standing outside it, arguing fiercely.

“We are not turning back!” the Former Baron was shouting, “We do not give up on our mission at the first sign of any set back!”

“But there’s no way we’re makin’ it through this lot, jus’ look at them!”

“We will find a way, because that is what we always do.”

“You don’t think all these people will jus’ move outta the way, do ya, Franck, ‘cos if so then you’re an ‘ell of a lot madder than I ‘ad give you credit for!”

A small crowd of porters and performers was forming around them, whilst two of the Kahn’s guard, also disguised as porters, watched Kerring with deepest suspicion.

“What’s happening?” Ellis asked as he pushed through the throng towards the enraged Former Baron.  “Why are there so many people here.”

“ ‘Cos o’ this stupid bloodless war,” Kerring replied before the Former Baron could even turn to face Ellis, “everybody wants to be on the other side of the fence, don’t they, jus’ in case things start getting’ a lot less bloodless, if you know what I mean.”

“They mostly have family or business interests in the other district and are understandably quite upset that they cannot pass through.”

“But Franck ‘ere thinks that they’ll let us through regardless.  Mad!”

“As long as we can get word to the Khalif about the circus, they’ll let us pass.”

“An’ you think that an ‘umble crossin’ guard will be in touch with ‘im, do ya?”

“There are ways and means, Valter, and if you haven’t worked that out by now then no wonder you’re in the position you’re in now!”  The Former Baron turned away so quickly his hat very nearly fell off his head.  He began righting it as he marched toward Ellis, saying, “come on, my boy, let’s go speak to the guards and see if we can’t prove this monstrous gas bag just how wrong he is!”  All Ellis could do was tag along.

It took quite some time to actually reach the crossing guards.  There were so many people in the way, all seeking their own escape from Searingsands into Shadedstreams for whatever reasons, that to get anywhere in that angry crowd one had to behave as part of it, shoving and elbowing one’s way forwards an inch at a time.  By the time the had made it to the front Ellis had gained several bruises and heard a diverse range of new insults and expletives.  It did not put him in the best frame of mind to deal with a group of obstinate, officious military types, but apparently that was the lot drawn for them.

“We need to cross the border,” the Former Baron said to the first guard he could get within earshot of, a surprisingly fat young man who looked like he might have been drafted in more as a physical barrier than as a soldier, “it’s a matter of some urgency.”

“Oh really?” the guard replied with an expression of practised boredom.  “And why would that be?”

“We’re part of Valter Kerring’s Circus of Delights and we’ve come specially to perform for the Khalif.”

“Well that’s a shame,” the guard replied, his face still a mask of ennui, “because the Khalif has given express orders that no one is to cross the border for any reason whatsoever.  Perhaps if he had given it some thought he might have made some special exceptions known, such as travelling circuses and shoe peddlers, but he didn’t give us any of the small print.”

“Are you mocking me, young man?”

“Nope, just not letting you cross the border.”

“We’ve come by request!”

“So have I, only I have a piece of paper and a commission to prove it.  What have you got, save your hat, which is very fine, by the way?”

“Why thank you – but that’s not the point!  We’re a circus!  Everyone loves circuses.”

“My mother doesn’t.  Whose to say the Khalif doesn’t either.”  The bored young man took a step forward, becoming for just a moment like a great, wobbling mobile mountain, then said, “Look.  Are you going to pester me all night?  I have a great many more people to refuse, you know.”

“Why you little… I mean you large… I mean…”

“Give it up, Von Spektr,” Ellis interrupted, pulling the old man back into the crowd, “he’s not going to let us through, nor will any of them, I suspect.”

“Well, that’s just inconvenient,” the Former Baron replied with a look of sudden, wild anger, “very inconvenient indeed, and mostly for them.  It’s time for the back up plan!”

“Which is?”

“Instead of entering Shadedstreams by subtlety and stealth, we simply invade.”  And with that the Former Baron began elbowing his way back towards the circus, leaving Ellis feeling puzzled and more than a little nervous.

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