The Circus Infinitus Stories Volume 1
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About this ebook
This book features the following short stories:
“Welcome to the Circus Infinitus” – an introduction to the mysterious Circus Infinitus and its unique cast of characters.
“Madam Zazuma” – penniless aristocrat Elizabeth Montrose turns to the Circus Infinitus for help to escape from a loveless arranged marriage.
“I Want to Join the Circus” – a small boy decides to run away to join the Circus Infinitus.
“The Monocle and the Morality Police” – Queen Victoria decides the Circus Infinitus is a corrupting influence on the people of London and charges Sir Hubert Fotherington and the IntelliGent with the task of shutting it down.
“The Haunted Funhouse” – Take a tour through one of the Circus’s attractions.
Also Available:
The Circus Infinitus Stories Volume 2
The Circus Intinitus - Broken Promise
The Circus Infinitus - The Bidgee Code
“Maxiumum Terror” – inside the Maze of Mirrors, don’t look too deeply or you might see the darkness inside your own soul.
“A Week in the Life of Victoria-7” – Introducing the Lady with the Seven Faces.
“Goril-Ho-Tep” – Amuna the Mummy leads an expedition into the British Museum to steal a mummified ape.
“Fool’s Errand” – Cousins Reggie Jefferson and Bart Sabbath both desire the ancient artefacts of King Arthur’s Fool, stored within Professor Abbacus’s laboratory – for entirely different reasons.
“A Week in the Life of Violet” – Victoria-7 tries out the Immortality Machine in an attempt to break her curse, and makes herself human once more.
“Gremlins” – After arriving in the United States for the first time, the Ringmaster must seek help from the Zero Corps to save the Circus from an infestation of insectoid monsters from the Immaterium.
Also available:
The Circus Infinitus Stories Volume 2
The Circus Infinitus - Broken Promise
Ethan Somerville
Ethan Somerville is a prolific Australian author with over 70 books published, and many more to come. These novels cover many different genres, including romance, historical, children's and young adult fiction. However Ethan's favourite genres have always been science fiction and fantasy. Ethan has also collaborated with other Australian authors and artists, including Max Kenny, Emma Daniels, Anthony Newton, Colin Forest, Tanya Nicholls and Carter Rydyr.
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The Circus Infinitus Stories Volume 1 - Ethan Somerville
The Circus Infinitus Stories
Volume 1
By
Ethan Somerville
SMASHWORDS EDITION
* * * *
PUBLISHED BY:
Storm Publishing on Smashwords
The Circus Infinitus Stories Volume 1
Copyright © 2010/2017 by Ethan Somerville
www.stormpublishing.net
Smashwords Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.
Welcome to the Circus Infinitus!
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Circus Infinitus! We present to you a barrel of horrors and oddities far beyond the scope of the human mind! Take caution as we are about to start the show! You are about to embark on a journey far stranger than anything you have ever before experienced, containing fantastic mechanical marvels, magic, illusion, acrobats, clowns and creatures from your wildest imaginations! Hold your breath, close your eyes, for the curtain is about to rise…
The tall, thin man paused, raising his arms above his head. His black cloak billowed around him, although there was no breeze, and a strange metallic smell filled the air. The audience, seated in a great semi-circle around the rim, watched as commanded, at the edges of their seats. This was a once-in-a-lifetime show for them, as no-one knew where the Circus would show up next. It just appeared, one morning, in a local field or common, fully set up and bustling with activity, as though it had always been there. Today, it had shown up in Hyde Park of all places. Crowds had been so large that people had had to be turned away by the freakish masked bouncers.
From behind the Ringmaster came a loud grinding noise, as though great gears were moving, shifting. Then followed a deep clunk that sent a vibration trembling through the entire audience. The curtain lifted, and the Ringmaster seemed to disappear into thin air, leaving the audience gaping at the new scene. It resembled a giant laboratory, filled with strange machinery. Great pipes snaked across the ceiling, Steam hissed from enormous engines, hulking in the gloom. Some sort of gigantic ring hung suspended against the back wall – if there even was a back wall to this bizarre place, with its massive rivets, brass fittings and large pressure dials everywhere, A small figure, almost dwarfed by the equipment, stood n the middle of the floor. He was swathed in a long leather coat that reached his ankles, and a broad-brimmed hat hid his face. But when he looked up, the audience gasped on realising that his face was heavily bandaged.
Behold, Professor Icarus Abbacus, Professor of Mechanology, architect of our wondrous circus!
boomed the Ringmaster from places unknown. His voice seemed to reach all members of the audience. "Dreadful experiments have left him hideously scarred, hence the bandages he must wear! They have also left him with a bizarre thirst – for electricity! Without its power to sustain him, he will die!"
With that, the Professor scurried across to a giant Jacob’s Ladder and pulled a lever at its base. Electricity began to sizzle up poles twenty feet high. The onlookers gasped in amazement. The power built to a mighty crescendo and arced from the tips, searing across the room. Professor Abbacus stood with his hands outstretched, his head thrown back as the electricity sizzled into him. A normal man would have been fried. Not Professor Abbacus. He showed the audience that he could not only absorb the power, but send bolts flying from his fingertips, sizzling through the air above the audience.
It might have only been a ten minute demonstration, but by the end of it, the Londoners felt they had already gotten their money’s worth. Only one man, seated up the back, did not look impressed. He had slicked back hair and was wearing a monocle. He licked the tip of a pencil and made some notes in a book on his lap.
The curtain fell, and the Ringmaster reappeared. I trust you enjoyed the Professor’s display. Stay seated for our floor show, comprised of the Fabulous Limboni Triplets, Adella the Amazon, X the Strong man, our delightful dwarf clowns and a whole host of others!
There was another strange grinding noise, and this time when the curtain rose, a more traditional circus ring appeared. People wondered where the Professor’s lab had gone. Such an enormous set couldn’t possible have been moved so quickly, could it? But they knew these questions would never be answered – the circus kept its secrets.
The new ring contained various highwires, trapezes, nets and a large trampoline. Two young men in blue leotards performed amazing acrobatic tricks and flips from the swings. One of the youths had no arms, and no way of being catching his brother. But as they swung through the air towards each other, the boy with the arms somehow released his limbs, and they somersaulted in the air, attaching to the shoulders of the other! Surely that had been a trick of the light! But they continued to perform the same feat during their show, and the audience members decided that they had to be swapping a pair of fake arms. The smartly dressed gentleman up the back sniffed disdainfully as he continued to make notes. He did not look like anything impressed him much.
While the boys performed above, a girl in a pink leotard tied herself in complicated knots below. People began to wonder if she had any bones at all.
A tightrope walker in a red leotard also appeared and began crossing back and forth high above the floor, walking, dancing, jumping and flipping over onto her hands. She had long dark hair and wore a red mask. When she finished her highwire act she performed on the trampoline, seeming to defy gravity as she leapt and somersaulted high into the air. At the end of their show all four took a bow. The boy who currently had the arms lost both in the dust. He called out whoops! I hate it when that happens!
Luigi, if you can’t keep hold of them, let me have them!
called the other youth.
The audience laughed as the two started a scuffle over the limbs. Eventually the contortionist handed them one each. Share them,
she commanded.
What am I going to do with only one arm?
Luigi complained.
Let’s give it up for the Fabulous Limboni Triplets and Adella the Amazon!
called the Ringmaster’s disembodied voice. All four left the ring, and out waddled X the Strongman, followed by a whole entourage of circus folk pulling weights for him on various carts,
He was enormous, almost eight feet tall and as big as a coach. Great rolls of fat billowed over the waistband of his trousers. His skin was as black as coal and completely hairless, glistening with oil. The monocled fellow up the back gave another sniff and made another note. This sordid show was getting worse and worse. Her Majesty would not be pleased at all.
X lifted all the weights, starting with the smallest. Then he grabbed one of the carts and hoisted it over his head. He shook his massive head, appearing annoyed with how easy the task was. Then he stuffed all the weights back into the cart and lifted the entire thing, still with seemingly no effort. Then he shoved one of the carnies into the cart and hoisted it up. The carnie howled in surprise. The audience clapped and cheered.
It seems X desires a challenge,
boomed the disembodied voice of the Ringmaster.
On cue another circus worker emerged from the wings, leading a nervous-looking elephant. It baulked as X rushed towards it, but didn’t rear or run. X scuttled under the animal’s belly and lifted with his shoulders. All four of the elephant’s feet left the ground. The onlookers gasped in surprise. How could one man – even one so large - pick up an entire elephant? The animal trumpeted in fear, although people now suspected the great beast had been trained to do so. X carried it around the ring, then put it down to uproarious applause. Finally he gave a bow and waddled out.
The dwarf clowns came next, delighting the audience with their humorous antics. They tried to perform acrobatic feats, but failed with hilarious results, and ended up in a spectacular pie fight. Several people near the front were showered with flour and water. When the curtain dropped again, everyone was howling for more. Everyone save for the stone-faced chap at the back. He had already filled several pages of his book with neat dot points.
The Ringmaster reappeared. Now the time has come for our water show, featuring the acrobatic antics of our very own Fiji Mermaids! These are not lifeless, stitched-together creations from some seedy sideshow. These are real live mermaids from the Pacific, and today they will be accompanied by the Swamp Girl; part female, part fish!
There was another mechanical grinding noise, and the curtain rose again to reveal a large swimming pool. The audience gasped – where on Earth had that come from? What kind of magic was at work here?
The creatures performing in the pool were indeed mermaids, although smaller than expected, and more like monkeys with fish tails than women. They had huge, piglike tusks growing from their lower jaws. But the Swamp Girl who leapt out of the water with them was definitely humanoid. Her body glittered with green scales and fins rippled from her head. Her hands and feet were fully webbed and she moved back and forth across the pool as fast as the mermaids themselves.
Once again the curtain fell, and the Ringmaster showed himself. I do hope you are enjoying yourselves, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. Our animal acts are up next, but these are not ordinary beasts. These are the strangest, wildest creatures we could find, gathered together for your pleasure. But rest assured we have kept the weirdest being for last.
He disappeared. Another grind, another clunk. The curtain rose, and the parade of animal oddities began. This time the Ringmaster stayed to introduce them all. They included a two-trunked elephant, a horse with tentacles growing from its snout and clawed feet instead of hooves and a polar bear with steel talons. X the Strongman reappeared and wrestled the bear for the audience. He won and planted a great bare foot on the bear’s head. A woman tattooed with tiger-stripes sashayed out. Her thick hair resembled a bushy mane. She even had a tail, and was able to swish it back and forth. Her name was Felina and she was the circus’ beast-mistress. She was followed by an enormous six-legged tiger named Suresh, which she got to perform several tricks; including wrestling X. X lifted this beast high above his head. Would wonders never cease? Where had this circus obtained its amazing acts?
And now you will see the most bizarre sight of all,
the Ringmaster declared after Felina and her retinue of beasts had departed. Not an animal but a man, a human being.
He gestured with his cane, and a small, stooped figure robed in a voluminous coat shuffled out. He wore a broad-brimmed had with a Hessian veil hanging from it, pocked with a single eye-hole. The audience drew in a collective gasp – some had heard of this person. Had he come to join the Circus Infinitus?
This is not make-up,
shouted the Ringmaster. This is real flesh and blood!
The over-coated figure lifted a gloved hand to his head and threw off his hat with a dramatic flourish. Everyone cried out in shock as the Elephant Man revealed his face. A highly domed, knobbly forehead, mismatched eyes, a twisted nose and crooked mouth. He snarled at the crowd, drawing more gasps of fright. Then he whipped off his coat, tossing it to the floor. Beneath he wore only a loin-cloth. He stooped, bony protuberances growing from his back, one arm a huge, clublike limb with an enormous fist, one leg a stumpy twisted growth. He struck a pose, even though it appeared painful for him, growling at the audience again. His illness is a mystery,
the Ringmaster continued, but some say his mother was run down by a wild elephant while he was still in the womb. When he was born, he appeared perfectly normal. Only around age four did he start to change.
The Elephant Man glared at the crowds again, giving an evil hiss – then he staggered and collapsed. Everyone cried out in surprise. The Ringmaster was at his side in a flash. At first the audience thought it was all part of the show. But then the Ringmaster looked up, pale-faced. Curtain!
he commanded, and it fell, cutting off the sight. People began to wonder. The man with the monocle simply made another note.