Afterthought by M J Marlow (red white royal blue .txt) 📖

on her lips as she started to protest. “If you do not perform for the carnival, my pet, I have given Pietro permission to add you to his brothel, as he did my sister, Elaine.” He shook his head. “She was not happy at my decision to do this to you. I needed to remind her who was in command in our family.” He yanked her to her feet and led her out of the wagon. She saw that their wagon was fastened into a long line of other wagons. People sat on the back stairs or front driver’s area or on the stages formed by letting one side down and resting it on concrete blocks. Edward led her up to the very first wagon and shoved her to her knees in front of an immense man with thick purple and silver hair that hung to his waist. He was dressed like a pirate, Evangeline thought, as he rose to his feet and smiled widely at the offering that Edward had brought. He raised Evangeline’s eyes to his but spoke to Edward. “You have told her the options, my friend?” he asked as he ran his thumb over her lips and she shuddered in revulsion. “A virgin! What a treasure you hold, Edward.” “She will perform, Pietro,” Edward told him the decision he had made for his captive. “She has a voice like an angel, and she plays the lap harp, so I thought…” “We have not used that harness for quite some time,” Pietro smiled. “We shall have to see if it is intact.” He clapped his hands and barked out orders. A few minutes later, a man arrived carrying a pair of wings covered with actual feathers. Attached to them was a gold harness with a mesh front. “Make her hair and eyes gold ladies. Make her sparkle like the very stars in the heavens. Then bring our angel back here to be placed in the harness.” The women yanked Evangeline to her feet and took her into a wagon. They washed her hair and applied a dye that turned her black hair to gold. A pair of lenses was brought out that made her eyes appear gold. She could see through them, but everything was now bathed in a golden light. The sprayed something all over her hair and body and she looked at her skin shimmering in the light like she was fashioned of crystal. Rainbows danced on her arms and she was horrified and fascinated at the same time. They led her out and she was put into the harness. She felt something cold along her spine and then she was being pressed back against the wings. The harness tingled and she felt the wings move. Edward put a golden shackle on her ankle with a long chain as the wings began to flap. A moment later, she was off the ground. “Until we are certain you will not fly off on us, little angel,” Pietro laughed as she pulled against the leash; “you will remain caged and shackled.” He clapped his hand. “Bring the cage for the pretty angel.” He came up to her and grabbed her chin. “There is only one rule in the carnival, angel. Obey Pietro. From this moment on, you do not speak to anyone. Your voice you will save for the singing. If you break this rule, you will be whipped. Is this understood?” “You have no right to do this to me!” Evangeline sobbed. “Let me go home, please?” “This is your home now, angela mia,” Pietro smiled as he ran the butt of his whip along her jaw line slowly. “Because you are adjusting, we will not punish you this time.” He saw her trying to pull off the harness. “Save your strength, little one. Everything you wear now is fastened to your body. There is no removing it until I so choose.” He watched the child’s eyes fill with tears. “You are my property now.” “It was his doing,” Evangeline sobbed. “Please let me…” She could see he was not listening to her and she quieted. “That’s a good girl,” Pietro nodded. He came over to stroke her cheek. “Do not be afraid. Pietro takes good care of his animals. As long as you do as you are told, there is no reason for you to be hurt.” “I want to go home,” Evangeline cried as she tried once more to get the man to listen to her. “You don’t want to be party to kidnapping, do you?” “How you got to us, child,” Pietro told her bluntly, “is not important. You belong to us now.” He looked over at Edward coldly. He had not been aware that Edward had brought this child to him against her will. He shrugged. It didn’t matter now. Once she had been turned over to him, her old life was over. He would do the only thing he could do for her and punish the man and his accomplice for her. “You remember your command, angela mia?” Evangeline nodded. “Then we shall place you in your pretty cage and you shall be cared for like any of the other animals.” He snapped his fingers. “The robe!” He looked at one of the women and she ran and returned with a sheer white halter garment. This was put on over the harness and hung down low in back to accommodate the wings. The skirts were slit from mid-thigh to the ankle. A collar of neck-width gold was put on Evangeline’s neck and Pietro proclaimed himself satisfied with the result. Two men brought out a cage and Evangeline backed away from it. Edward pushed her forward as a man opened the door. The floor was covered in hay like any other animal’s cage. Evangeline was shoved inside and the end of the chain was padlocked to a thick iron ring near the door. There was a padded ledge along the back and a padded swing in the center. She saw a woman bring a container of water and slide it inside of the cage. She returned with a bowl of stew with no gravy and raised a section of the bars to slide the bowl inside. She took them to the ledge and sat down to eat. The drugs went into effect as she finished the last piece of meat and she passed out cold on the cage floor. “You involved me in a kidnapping, Edward,” Pietro smiled coldly as they looked in at their sleeping captive. “It is now time for your punishment.” He smiled as his men came out of hiding and grabbed Edward. “We have been without a performing bear for quite some time, my friend,” he laughed at the struggling man. “You and your sister shall be two.” “What about the girl, Pietro?” one of his men asked. “Are we returning her to her people?” “Only if they come asking for her,” Pietro replied. “We have no idea who they might be, do we? “We could ask her,” the man replied. “She is one of us now,” Pietro stated firmly. “For her there is no going back.” He nodded to the man as he turned to go to his wagon. “We leave for Paris in the morning. See that all is secured for the journey.” The journey to Paris took four months. The carnival traveled two days, ran for five days and took off again. So Evangeline performed for her strange captors sixteen times before the wagons finally pulled onto a freighter in Bristol and sailed off towards ports unknown. She had been shocked when she had heard her voice the first time. Pietro had added some drug to her food and water that had raised it two octaves. She sounded more like a bird than a human being, and she realized this was on purpose. If anyone who knew her heard her sing, they would not know her. She wondered where they were as the wagons pulled into an auditorium and began to set up for a three month long engagement. As always the public was allowed to come visit the animals and performers at set times during each day before the performances began. Evangeline heard the excited chatter of children and their parents more somber tones. As usual there was the Ooh and Aah as people saw an angel for the first time. She was combing out her golden hair when she heard voices of children. She turned and saw several children accompanied by nuns. She approached the bars and crouched down to reach out to them. A little dark-haired, dark-eyed girl came up to the cage fearlessly and Evangeline stroked the girl’s hair and smiled. She loved children so this part of her act was not hard. “I see you admire our angel,” Pietro said as he rushed over. He looked at her harshly and Evangeline knew he would hurt her if she said anything. He had whipped her several times over the past four months for forgetting her command and speaking to someone and she did not want to hurt again. “Is she not beautiful?” “She’s not a real angel!” the little girl said stiffly. “God wouldn’t let you keep an angel in a cage!” Pietro looked down at the little girl and he laughed. The sound sent the child running to cling to one of the nuns. The carnival owner looked at his ‘angel’ and saw the anger in her eyes. So, he smiled to himself, she cared for these little ones. He leaned in close and whispered to her that the little ones would make very fine performers if she didn’t behave. They were orphans and no one would miss them. She bit her lip and hung her head and he knew he had her cowed. He raised her eyes to his with the butt of his whip and saw that she would obey him. He nodded and turned to the crowd. “Perhaps you would like to hear our angel sing?” he asked the crowd. The people clapped and nodded and he unlocked the cage. “Come out little one. These nice people wish to hear you sing.” Evangeline stepped out of the cage and someone brought her harp. She sank down on the stairs and sang one of the songs Pietro had chosen for her repertoire; fairly unknown folk songs that would not raise any suspicions as to her parentage. The harp was specially designed to start to play on its own after the string sequence had been played completely through once and repeat until she finished singing. So she finished the engage sequence and set the harp into its specially designed holder on the outside of the cage. Then she unfurled her wings and began to dance. She raised her hands heavenward with a look of intense longing on her face. They began to flap and she was off the ground, flying an aerial ballet that had the people watching enchanted. She felt the yank on her ankle and looked down in regret. She landed and let the wings fold around her, hiding her from view. The applause, as always, was like a knife in her heart. She wanted to be free to dance and sing by her own choice. “You shouldn’t keep the angel in a cage!” That was the little girl again. Evangeline smiled to herself, hidden in the cocoon of her wings. Pietro made some placating sounds and the nuns took the children on. Evangeline felt as if her heart would break. She went back into her cage and curled up on the ledge, sobbing silently as she wrapped her wings around her shaking body. She heard the door close and looked up to see Pietro standing there. “You were reluctant, Angel,” he said simply. She nodded and knew what was coming next. “You will perform then under the rainbow influence.” Evangeline shook her head and backed away