Web of Dreams (Casteel 5)

knives around her?"

"Yep."

"I could never do that. And what if her husband

got mad at her?" I asked.

Luke laughed again.

"That's a big joke around the tents. It's not as

dangerous as it seems. There's a technique to it, just as

there is for most anything in the circus, but that's what

I love about the circus--the illusions, the makebelieve world, the excitement."

"It sounds like fun. What do you do?" "I just took on a part-time job, just for a short

while, just to be around it. I want to be a circus barker

one day. You know, the man who calls to the people."

He jumped up and cried out, "Come one, come all, to

the greatest show on earth. We have one-eyed giants,

a snake lady, the smallest man in the world, the

bearded lady, Boris the lion tamer, the greatest acrobatic team in the air!" he recited as if he were standing on a platform. People nearby turned our way, but he didn't seem to care that he was attracting

attention.

"How'd I do?"

"Very well."

"Thanks. I practice all the time, but it's hard

because where I come from, people don't know much

about circuses. They don't know much about

anything," he said sadly.

"Where are you from?"

"A place in West Virginia known as the

Willies. It's in the mountains above the town of

Winnerrow," he said and saw that despite what he had

said about the people back there, he had a warm

feeling in his heart for his home.

"Why do they call it the Willies?" I asked. It