Chapter 7

The Copper Coin, where dinner is always bad for ya, the drinks pour freely, and the Blues make the soul weep.

“Does it matter if there is more to all this?” Lucille asked, riding in the truck next to Charon with the sun rising in the deep south. They were headed farther into the swamp, far away from any towns, and yet, Charon had a feeling all those towns’ people would come looking for the Hades clan for aid when a sickness took hold, and no one could heal it. Magic might have been dying in the world, but it wasn’t fully gone, leaving witches and demons to still run around in the dark places. Those curses placed on people from those wicked things caused them to seek out aid from darker houses like those of Hades. They hated the Hades Clan, even wished death on them, but if one of their children was cursed by a witch then they would come running for help.

                It seemed the Hades were willing to help anyone who showed up at the door. Charon wasn’t sure why they were willing to help anyone if the whole world hated them, but he had seen odder things in his long life.

                “What do you mean, Clown?” Charon asked, pulling the truck down a back road, with it jumping a little, hitting a pothole or two, but neither of them seemed to care, with the truck kicking up a long line of dust behind them.

                “We were told,” she said as Stanley slept peacefully in her lap, “that Mr. Saturday took Miss Hades kid’s bones for some reason, revenge or whatever.” She had gone south with Charon, believing someone would do great harm to one of her friends. She hadn’t thought about what had happened to Miss Hades before she came to the circus, and it didn’t actually matter to her. She would do anything to help Miss Hades, just as she would have done for Vilas a few months back, but there were questions about these people.

                Questions Lucille wasn’t sure she wanted to ask, but they were being forced in front of her now. There was a lot she didn’t understand with Miss Hades, and she wasn’t sure if Charon knew them either.

                “That’s what we were told,” he said.

                “But if there is more?” she asked. “What if there is something bigger going on between Miss Hades and Mr. Saturday?”

                There seemed to be something deeper going on, but then again, Lucille wasn’t sure if she was merely reading into things. This was her first real time away from the circus since she started working there. There was a whole world out there beyond the circus, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to see any of it, but she had been forced to face it now.

                “I don’t know if there is,” Charon said, glancing over at her, “and don’t know if it matters, Clown, someone is causing one of our troubles, and Azrael told us to handle it. So, we handle it.”

                “Even if there is something wrong about it all?”

                “Even then,” he said. “I trust Azrael, and you should do the same. He only picks good people for the show. He can read people’s souls.”

                “What does that mean?” she asked.

                “He knows if you’re a good person or not,” Charon said. “I’ve seen him pick the right people all my time with him, back when we were in Europe. I trust him, and therefore, you can trust him.”

                “Okay,” she said, nodding and looking ahead. “I’ll trust him.”

                “He trusts you,” he said, and she glanced over at him, but neither of them said a word. She watched the road bend around the old trees, smelled the bitterness of the swamp, and saw nothing before them but a one-lane dirt road. She watched the sun rise higher into the sky, casting long shadows from the trees, and thought maybe, as she studied those shadows, she would see their enemy. Mr. Saturday was hidden in the darkness, but there was nothing.

                She looked out into the depths of the miles of trees, and for a moment, just a flick of an eye, she saw something staring back at her. It was a beast with the face of a man and a lion, with six burning eyes, and the body of a snake or dragon, wrapped between the trees. The claws, the many claws of this monster, dug into the trees as the thing watched her and she watched it.

                She turned to see the monster, but he was gone, and she turned back to the front of the truck, watching Charon forcing it to come to a crawl, but not a full stop. They both saw all kinds of items nailed to the trees close to the road. She saw keys, locks, all kinds of skulls, and a few baby dolls as if the trees had become a shrine of random junk for some odd reason. They drove between the trees to find more random shrines along the side of the road, with a few handwritten signs that said, “This way to the Copper Coins.”

                “We found them,” Lucille said softly, with Stanely starting to wake with a big yawn.

                “We did,” Charon said, rolling the cigar in his long mouth, “but they know we are here.” He nodded at the woods behind all the shrines to a few men and boys following them along the trees. They were all carrying rifles and necklaces. The things on the necklaces were protection runes to keep them safe from evil spirits.

                “Great,” she said, sighing and sitting back in the seat, “we’re going to be in another fight soon.”

                “Might be,” he said, smiling a bit at her. “I need the workout.”

                She huffed, not wanting to agree with him as the truck rounded the bend to several houses with one massive house sitting in the middle and up front. Along the top of the house was the sign, the Copper Coins, where people could eat, even if no one came to do so. Charon pulled the truck to a stop in front of the main house. He turned off the truck as the men in the woods started coming out with their weapons at the ready.

                “Be ready,” he said, opening the door.

                “I’m always ready with you,” Lucille said, getting out of the truck as well when a long woman with many golden necklaces came rushing out of the main house. She put her hands on her hips, staring at Charon, and then looked over to Lucille, studying her for a moment too long.

                “Who’s dream is you, child?” the long woman asked Lucille.

                Lucille wasn’t sure what to say while Stanely turned his cat gaze towards the long woman, and she nodded at him before turning back to Charon.

                Charon chewed on his cigar and said, “Emelina sent us.”

                Everyone started to mumble to each other.

                “You two from the big top?” she asked.

                “We are,” he said.

                “Always knew Emelina would end up there,” she said, turning on her heels and waving for them to come along. “Come, come, got breakfast cookin’ for y’all.”