Do you like stories with mystery and suspense? Strange and “wyrd” ones? Well, if you do, keep reading and enjoy Eggcentricsagas. If you are just joining Eggcentricsagas, you might want to start from the beginning: A La Mano: Part 1-The Treasure
“We’ll wait here for him,” said the boy in the turban and smiled at her. The monkey, however, ignored her as he was busy picking at his companion’s headdress. When his foraging displaced the hat, the boy scolded the monkey, “Kapi!” After feeling the top of his turban, the kid readjusted it on his head. “No more peanuts,” he told his pet.
Displeased with this statement and situation, Kapi uttered a short screech and jumped off the boy’s shoulder. He scampered up the back of the train car and disappeared into the interior. Seconds later, he came barreling out shrieking loudly. Charlotte watched as he clawed his way back onto the boy’s shoulder and tried to hide behind the turban. Then she looked at the man with a grumpy face that had followed the monkey and now stood on the back platform above them.
The tough spoke gruffly, “Boy, keep that varmint out of here unless you is sleeping!” Then he noticed Charlotte and stated, “We don’t like your type here neither.”
Showing a little nerve, the boy replied firmly, “Mr. Angel said for us to wait here for him.”
Charlotte took note of the fact that the name of the man with the green eyes was Angel. She also noticed that the ill-tempered man’s demeanor abruptly changed when he heard it. Meanwhile, a dwarf had appeared and stood beside the man.
The grouch’s weather-beaten face softened slightly. “Well, I certainly don’t want to argue with Fast Eddie.” A short, nervous laugh erupted from him. “Him being magic and all…” The ruffian grinned at his companion. “Right Dandy?” Then he patted the small man’s head rudely.
Dandy forcibly swatted his hand away and said sarcastically, “You’re an idiot. Do you really want to mess with Snake Eyes?” He nodded his head towards the noise of revelry inside. “C’mon, are you playing dice or what?” The taller man chuckled and returned to the riotous game in the train car. Dandy suspiciously eyed Charlotte from head to toe and then retreated to join the circle of gamblers.
Charlotte turned to the boy and stuck out her hand. “My name is Charlotte. What’s yours?”
The boy smiled at her and answered, “Rajiv.” He shook her hand vigorously.
“Nice to meet you Rajiv. Your monkey’s name is Kapi?”
He nodded.
As he said nothing else, Charlotte tried to glean more information by offering some. “I saw you earlier. I was trapped under that tent.” As she recalled it, she remembered Kapi the Monkey taking her jewelry. “Kapi stole my bracelet with a rhinestone heart. Does he still have it?”
Sudden realization hit Rajiv. “That’s where he got it.” Shaking his head, he replied, “No. Mr. Angel has it.”
Charlotte thought about him and his cane. “You mean Fast Eddie, Snake Eyes?”
Rajiv said crossly, “Don’t call him that. Edward Angel is a good man.” He seemed vexed with her.
Obviously, the man with the green eyes had made quite an impression on the boy. To diffuse his irritation with her, she said, “I called out for help but you left. What were you doing out there in the woods?”
Rajiv’s expression turned to one of embarrassment. “I didn’t know you were there, I swear. I had been in her tent earlier and it was empty except for this.” He pulled a folded up pamphlet from out of a hidden pocket in his loose-fitting white cotton shirt and handed it to Charlotte. She read the cover.
The Witches’ Dream Book and Fortune Teller 25 cents
Madam Glass says ‘Create your own Fortune’
Under the script was a sterotypical picture of a soothsayer. She was staring into a crystal ball with an eye in the middle of it.
“Madame Glass?” Charlotte gave Rajiv with a quizzical look. “That man asked me about her before he attacked me. Who is Madame Glass?”
Rajiv looked at her as if she was a simpleton. “You know, the fortune teller that went missing.”
Charlotte shook her head in response. “That horrible man thought I knew her too. He thought she was my friend Betsy. He kept calling her Elizabeth Holt. But she doesn’t go by that name. I mean, it is her name but she’s Betsy to everyone. You know a nickname…”
A dubious look was on Rajiv’s face. Charlotte sensed that he thought her cuckoo, so she tried to clarify. “He got really mad about her. I didn’t know why so I just tried to play along.” Charlotte thought about George the Strong Man and a shiver ran down her spine. “I don’t know what he would have done if you hadn’t showed up in time…”
“What do you mean you don’t know Madame Glass? That was her tent you were trapped in.”
This information perturbed Charlotte greatly. How was that possible?
It was Rajiv’s turn to ask questions. “How did you get under the tent? Were you in there when the tornado hit?”
“This is gonna sound crazy but when the wind storm hit, I wasn’t in that tent.” Charlotte paused. “I was in another tent. The Hall of Mirrors.”
Rajiv tilted his head. “Huh?”
Charlotte sighed and reluctantly admitted her uncertain notion. “In another carnival. I mean, not this one…” She waited for his reply.
“What?!”
She had anticipated his reaction of disbelief. Feeling the rush of blood into her face, she told her story trying to make sense of it herself. “The tent I was under after the tornado was not the tent I entered before the storm.” The expression on the boy’s face became more perplexed so Charlotte hastily filled in details. “You see, Betsy and I went into the Hall of Mirrors but she ran ahead. I got lost. The wind storm began breaking the mirrors in the tent. So, I started running and got hit in the back of the neck with something. It really hurt and I guess I passed out.” Just thinking about the incident brought phantom pain to her. Scrutinizing the boy’s expression, she thought, he thinks I am insane. Charlotte explained, “I woke up under the tent of this so called Madame Glass. Not the same space.”
Rajiv said nothing. Crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes, he stared at her.
The pain in her neck intensified and her chest constricted. Stuttering, Charlotte spit out the outlandish idea that had been niggling at her mind. “In fact, I am not sure… if I am still… in the same time.” Her heart pounding, dreading that he might confirm her theory, Charlotte asked him the exact date.
Shocked by his reply, she collapsed.
Next: The Magician’s Hat: Part 10-The Magic Man
