When Steve notices the older kids, he walks back quietly and tries to avoid their gaze.
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You start to look for a safe space to cross the parade when the ringmaster’s float passes directly between you. Right before your sight is blocked, the boy looks terrified. It’s hard to tell with the cacapohony of the parade, but it looks like he’s silently screaming. The float passes, and the boy is gone.
You emerge through the creek enterence just as the ringmaster’s float pauses. He looks like Vincent Price meets Salvador Dali. His mustache and eyebrows clearly waxed and pinched to absurd degree. He draws out a cone that looks to be made of paper, but somehow amplifies his voice to be clearly heard over the din.
Greatings citizens of Perkins! The Circus of Earthly Delights is now open for your enjoyment. Tickets go on sale tomorrow night at sunset. Shows of daring, mystery and humor four times a night under our big top. Games, rides and freaks of nature on our midway. Treats, toys and delights! Absolutely no admission before sunset.
For a moment, it’s like he’s looking directly at Fatou.
For you are the night and the night alone understands you and enfolds you in its arms. One with the shadows!
There’s a crash of cymbals and the float starts to move.
See you soon! he shouts as his float rounds the corner, the last few clowns trailing the parade. You can hear the ringmaster’s speech start again on the next block.
Families start to scatter and return to their homes. Mayor Pampa looks out at the piles of candy wrappers and streamers. Who will clean this mess? Where were their permits?
You can choose who to stand next to (or stand away from your friends). If you’re actively hiding, it’s a difficulty 3 skill check. They’ll spot you in a moment now that the parade has ended.
What do you all do?
Holly stays to watch the parade... why bother getting the others.
Holly
As the parade disperses, you notice Mr. Eads is nowhere to be seen. He must have left with his friends before the ringmaster’s speech.
As soon as the music stops, Steve starts to walk back faster, while trying still to appear composed. He sees some of his friends, but he doesn't want to speak until he finds a small niche in the greenery to slip into. He was very scared of the older boys.
Unfortunately you don’t have the time to come up with a clever plan. It’s a snap decision.
You dodge out of the way of their eyeline. They don’t know the other kids, so they leave the group alone.
Does anyone want to do anything before returning to the party?
Shrugging, Maggie moves back to Holly, Steve and Blake.
Fatou re-joins the group. "Is there anyone else who is going to this circus? I do not think my mother will let me go out alone after dark." She leaves unsaid that her mother would never think to go with her.
"I want to go to this 'Circus of Earthly Delights.' I've never seen a circus in our neighborhood," Steve says, stepping nonchalantly out of a bush. "No need to be afraid of the dark... it's not like there are monsters around."
"Sure! I'll ask Momma as we get back. Do you think they've got an elephant? I've never seen an elephant!"
Holly walks back over to the group. She didn't like clowns, and the one who had handed her the coupon had left her a little unsettled.
Oh, Fatou... You had gone off. Holly says as she discovers the girl returned That guys speech was kinda weird, wasn't it? felt funny?
She rides past Fatou and tries to draw level with blake. Hi, I didn't see you at the party.
Blake laughs. "I'd barely gotten inside when we took off for this... I miss much?"
Blake stays close to Holly as the parade goes by, feeling uneasy as it does. "Long as they don't have any of those funhouse mirrors." He mutters, turning towards Maggie. "Hey, where'd you go off to anyway?"
When you return to the party, and talk to your parents independently (Blake excepted) they have similar responses to each of you: they’re open to the idea of you going to the circus in general but they personally are not available to take you and your friends. They don’t want you going without an adult, but if your friends’ parent(s) are going and they invite you along, it’s ok.
Is there anything anyone wants to do before the party wraps up or should we fast forward to school tomorrow?
"Ah, there was this weird kid, looked sad. Maybe came with the circus."
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Holly quietly shows Blake the Coupon she had. between the two of them, they could probably scrounge together enough for a ticket.
I hope they don't have too many clowns. Not a big fan of clowns* She says as they walk back.
Another kid? Was She from our school? Holly asks Maggie
Seeing the party is almost over, Steve starts to consume as many quiches as he can, pausing only to speak.
"If she was with the circus, we'll probably see her again tomorrow. I guess she didn't get enough 'earthly delights,'" Steve says, laughing.
"Naw, was a boy, never seen him 'fore. Looked somewhat scared, maybe he doesn't fancy clowns either."
Oh, Fatou... You had gone off. Holly says as she discovers the girl returned That guys speech was kinda weird, wasn't it? felt funny?
Fatou pulls a piece of dry grass from her skirt. "Oh, Holly, that is only how cultured people speak. You will see, le cirque is a taste of magic on earth. So much more than your Bruce Coville could pen." She said it because she wanted to believe it. The man's words stuck in her mind, especially after quoting the book herself not minutes before. If it was not, she would unmask the perpetrator for the con artist he was. She wasn't sure which alternative would be more exciting. Maybe it was the test itself, the anticipation of truth, that had her telling her mother that Maggie's parents would chaperone...
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The next day, in homeroom (that you all share) EVERYONE is talking about the parade and the circus. It seems like literally everyone but you has a plan to attend. This time tomorrow there will be a line of haves and have nots and the divider will be circus attendance.
Let me know if you want some free form RPG between yourselves before we get started with the day’s events.
"Now we have to go," Blake hisses to Holly. "We'll never hear the end of it if we don't."
I promise, we will. I'm skipping lunch today, so that's half the ticket already, and if we both go through the couch cushions and walk down main, we should be able to get enough Holly whispers, looking up from her drawing of an arthropod-thing (not even she was sure what it was, or why it had popped into her head)
I wish Fatou was in homeroom, I just finished this Holly says, hefting a book which features a crone and ostentaciously dressed wizard facing of against eachother, with a young girl clutching a broomstick between them. and was gonna let her borrow it.
As she overhears Holly, Maggie starts rummaging in her backpack, drawing a pack of sandwiches and passing one to the girl. "No one's skipping lunch, not on my watch."
"Guess I'll mow Mister Wilkins' lawn this afternoon, scrounge up some nickels for a ticket."
Fatou glides into homeroom and finds a seat near the others. She's wearing knit lavender legwarmers over black stockings and a black box dress with nightshade embroidered on it in matching lavender thread. She pulls her algebra textbook out as well as her notebook and pencil. "Maggie, I told ma your parents were taking us to the circus. I do not think she will call." She delivers the statement into her textbook as she writes into her notebook.
"So you're all coming too?" Steve asked his neighbors. He was pleased to hear that he wouldn't be alone.
During English class, he scribbles a note to his mother that he had found an adult to accompany him and that he would be back later that night.
During Science, he pays little attention to the teacher, trying to calculate the exact moment of sunset, with no success whatsoever.
Fatou manages to complete her homework for algebra in time for her class, which she spends trying to program a game of Mastermind into her calculator.
Stuck behind Steve in biology, Fatou can't help but watch him try his hand at astrometry. Even with their latitude, longitude, and the declination of the sun for today, it would be easier just to look it up in an almanac than to do the trigonometry by hand. After a few minutes of silent smirking--He tries so hard when it is important! I like seeing him like this. I would not interrupt him.--Fatou tries to pass Steve a note.
Need help? circle one:
Yes No
"I'unno... Don't want to get into trouble, there'll be a lot of people there and they may know if we were there alone. Maybe if I beg Momma enough she'll let me go, or we could ask some other grown-up..."
During English class Maggie's mind trails off, bored to tears, and by the end of the lesson her notes amount to a few doodles of dragons. Science class, however, is radically different; she may not be the brightest in class, but she just loves biology, chemistry and astronomy.
Mrs. Ames, the science teacher who replaced Mr. Wilkins when he retired (or was fired to hear Steve tell it), narrowly misses the passed note. She’s too busy dryly lecturing about cell composition and division.
We ould just all say we're going with Maggie's parents, and Maggie say Fatou's are taking us. Holly says, knowing full well she won't need to tell her mother or Ted anything, just leave by the backdoor.
She spends most of Science trying to draw the sunset from one of the pictures at the beginning, and flipping the page of her notebook over any time Ms. Staimas went to check on her.
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Steve takes the note, very much embarrassed at having been observed with his clueless calculations. He circles "no" and hands the note back to Fatou.
There are 12 hours in a day... The sun rose around 7:00... 7+12 is 19... 7 hours after 12:00... I think it was a little before 7:00, so let's say 6:53 pm.
He writes "6:53 pm" in big numbers and circles it.
There are 12 hours in a day... The sun rose around 7:00... 7+12 is 19... 7 hours after 12:00... I think it was a little before 7:00, so let's say 6:53 pm.He writes "6:53 pm" in big numbers and circles it.
So many wrong assumptions there. BTW: Today's sunset is listed in the newspaper as 4:49 PM.
Ok, let's skip ahead to after school. You burst out the doors at 3 PM. If you want to be there when the gates open, you have just under two hours to get permission, get the money and get to the outskirts of town.
For those of you who need parental permission, you'll need to do a Flight or Charm check depending on how you tackle it. Can be a planned action. I'll set the difficulty based on how involved in your life your parent is. Steve and Fatou get a free success (and anyone else who wants to try the "I'll just leave a note and deal with the consequences later" method)
Tickets are $8 each.
Holly has a BOGO coupon, she and one other person only need to come up with $4 (or if you're feeling generous, everyone can pool their money and only owe $6.40 each)
Holly pocketed her lunch money, so she has $2.50 toward the ticket.
Maggie is going to try to mow her next door neighbor's lawn, which I'll narrate in a separate post.
How is everyone else raising their money?
Asking your parents is a Charm skill task (that can be planned action if you rehearse first) with a sliding difficulty based on your family's resources. This will be harder if you also used charm to get permission and impossible if you left a note.
Finding the money is either Grit or Flight depending on where you're looking and how you go about finding it. Looking in your couch cushions can be a planned action, but finding it on the street is always a snap decision.
Mugging other kids for the money (not well advised) is a Brawn snap decision.
Stealing the money from your parents' purse/wallet/coin jar is an automatic success. Not getting caught afterward is a brains/flight/grit planned action depending on how you cover your tracks.
Anything you roll as a planned action will take longer than a snap decision and the clock is ticking.
Blake, you can pop an adversity token to find the money without having to roll by using Treasure Hunter.
Fatou, you can pop an adversity token to be prepared enough to keep $4 tucked in your backpack for emergencies.
After school you run next door to Mr. Wilkins' house. You haven't seen much of him since he retired at the end of the school year. When he answers the door he looks...sunken, like he lost a lot of weight quickly. He doesn't look like he's been taking very good care of himself.
He offers $5 to mow his front and back yard, but only if you use your dad's mower (Fuel is your operating cost, not my responsibility he says. Before he taught science at the middle school he was an Econ teacher at the high school.)
You could probably charm your fee up.
After school, Holly would search through the streets, and arcade, looking for spare change, quarters and dimes and that. maybe bills if they get abandoned. She had a route, she had learned this earlier. no candy, but that you trick-or treated or scavenged for.
1. Selling homework would probably take too long, as most people won't pay in advance...
2. Fountain yes. Do...do wells have change in them? Do you mean like a wishing well? Probably not that. Collecting coins one at a time will be a wet, slow process likely to draw the attention of the mall cops...but there are skill checks that can make all of those less of an issue...
3. Yes there are. How she'll break into it and how much care she puts into not getting caught will determine your skill checks and difficulty.
Crawling around the arcade looking for spare change is a difficulty 3 Flight task, the bigger your margin of success the more you take away. Looking for change on the street is a guaranteed success, but you're pulling in $1 every 30 minutes. If you want to go faster and more aggressive, you'll need a difficulty 8 grit or flight check.
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After school, Fatou heads to the bathroom to remove her stockings. She leaves her legwarmers in her backpack for now. Next, she heads out and rides her bike to the mall. Once there, she takes out her protractor and rolls her doubled-up stocking through it to make a net with a hard flat edge. Once done, she'll head to the fountain, take a quick glance around for security, then wade out to where she sees silver and take a few good scoops before splitting.
That is...very clever.
Give me a difficulty 4 grit check to see how well you scoped out the mall cops before dipping in. A good margin of success will net you more money, but if you do a planned action you can auto-pass.
First things first, the arcade. quarters, and a lot of clumsy kids, and that pinball machine with the broken lock that the owner has't noticed yet.
Well done! With your clever tool, you manage to get $12.42 in assorted coins (mostly quarters) out of the fountain before you splash out. The mall cops never know you were in there...
You manage to lift $3.25 off the floor without anyone noticing. You can try to go into the pinball machine, but that's going to take a separate flight or grit roll, with a difficulty of 8. The arcade is crowded and even if the owner doesn't notice, someone is likely to see you messing around down there.
Steve rips out the first few pages out of his 100-page spiral notebook - the one he had doodled in during biology - leaving about 90 unused pages. He goes outside and stops by a boy he knew all too well.
"Do you want to buy a notebook?" he calls, looking the boy right in his eyes. "You won't regret it!"