I swallowed hard, wondering where to start. “All of it,” I answered as I shook my head. “Why do the current performers have to leave? Why does one of the performers on the old posters look just like me? What is going on in the dark caravan—the one with the Menagerie? And…” I took a shaky breath, holding back tears as I spoke, “Why do I feel like I’ve known you and Laurent for years, possibly even longer?” I breathed in deeply. “And, furthermore, why do I feel like I have… feelings for you… both?”
Rex released a long, solemn breath, staring into some unseen void as the gears turned inside his head. Slowly and deliberately, he faced me, resting one hand against the rail. He stuck the other in his pocket, feigning indifference. When he opened his mouth, he paused, clearly thinking a bit longer about what he wanted to say.
“Well, I’ll tell you something you probably don’t know. Laurent and I, none of the troupe knows this, but we… we’re actually… brothers.”
I blinked, somewhat taken aback. “O-Oh.”
“Don’t sound too disappointed,” Rex chuckled. “After all, you didn’t specify what secret I could tell you.”
I frowned at him. Of all the secrets I did want to know—this wasn’t on my list and really had nothing to do with anything, as far as I was concerned. “That’s not really much of a secret and it’s also not that much of a surprise even if you look nothing alike. You… well, you act like brothers.”
“We might not look anything alike, but we share the same parents. Unfortunately, ol’ Laurent didn’t get my good looks.”
I snorted, glad to see a humorous twinkle in Rex’s bright blue eyes.
All the while, I tried to make sense of what Rex had just told me. “Why would you tell me that?” My eyes narrowed slightly, because as secrets went, it wasn’t a particularly good one and, if anything, I wondered if he’d admitted as much to keep me off the scent of something juicier, something more important, something he didn’t want me to know.
Rex swiped a hand down his jaw and then breathed out a deep sigh. “You asked for a secret and I told you one.”
“You know that isn’t what I meant,” I fired back. “And I gave you perfectly good examples of questions I want answered.”
“I’m not at liberty to answer those questions.”
He looked at me then with a defiance in his eyes which only burned me even further. Taking a deep breath, I frowned at him as anger started welling up within me. Then, without saying anything more, I turned on my heel and marched back to the caboose door. But then I paused because there was something he needed to hear, something I needed to get out. “I’m going to find what I’m looking for eventually, whether you help me or not.”
As I ripped the door open, a strange whistling shrilled in my ear. I could barely hear anything else, but even so, I could’ve sworn Rex replied, “I know you will. You always do.”