The Ladies of the Secret Circus by Constance Sayers (the little red hen ebook TXT) 📕

waves. She let her mother zip her into the blue gown that made her waist look tiny. Perhaps she had lost more weight than she’d thought. One of the things that hadn’t made it into her new house was a scale. Once zipped, she tugged on the gown, which fit her like a glove.

“You’ve lost weight since your wedding gown,” confirmed her mother.

Lara studied her collarbones, which were far more pronounced than they’d been. A wave of nausea gripped her. Maybe it was too soon to be doing this. The gala… Ben. He had been her lifeline for information about Todd, but they’d become entwined over the last nine months. Complicating things with him risked losing her closest ally. Often, knowing Ben was home alone in his apartment, she’d strung together a bunch of songs for him—“Lovesong” by the Cure (only off the Mixed Up album), “Go Your Own Way” and “I’m So Afraid” by Fleetwood Mac, “When I Was Young” by Eric Burdon and the Animals, “Invisible Sun” by the Police, and “Rumble” by Link Wray. It was reassuring knowing that he was on the other side of the airwaves listening to her well into the night. As the months wore on, Lara couldn’t imagine not talking to him. She valued—and needed—his opinion on everything. The subtleness of this shift struck her. How had she allowed this to happen? She had sworn she wouldn’t care about someone again. And yet.

Lara felt flushed and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Are you all right?” Audrey was pulling her own dress down over her head, a platinum strapless beaded number with a plunging back and a slight mermaid cut. She turned for Lara to zip her.

“I don’t think I can do this?” Lara fell back on the bed.

“Sit up. You’ll crinkle the dress,” said Audrey. “I need to be zipped.”

“I might be fainting, Mother.”

“Doubtful,” said Audrey. “Zip, zip.”

Lara sighed deeply and raised herself high enough to zip Audrey into her gown. Her mother looked stunning. “I know something that will change your mind about this whole evening.” Audrey dug into her purse and held out a box. Lara opened it, knowing what was inside: Cecile’s pearl choker. “Someone needs to see you in this.”

A pang of sadness overtook her as she touched it.

“That choker is yours,” said Audrey. “It has no connection to him.”

“I’m afraid everything has a connection to him,” said Lara under her breath. She looked up. God knows, the woman was trying. “You are the world’s most thoughtful mother.” She reached out and took her mother’s hand.

Audrey leaned over and kissed her daughter on the forehead. “I’d give anything to take your pain away.”

“I know you would.” Lara stood and shook herself. She felt very conflicted now, torn between her past and present. Oddly, as she was embarking on her first date, Todd seemed closer to her tonight than he had been at any point in the past months. Lara pushed those thoughts away and focused on her mother. Her hair was gathered in a French twist, and she had chandelier earrings dangling to her chin. If she was involved with Gaston Boucher, he was a lucky man.

“So, Gaston Boucher?”

“Look at the time,” said Audrey, handing Lara a mask. “I need to find my shoes.”

“They’re on your feet,” said Lara, laughing before she turned and headed down the long hallway. “Someone’s in love.”

Mother and daughter made their way down the street toward City Hall down past the old Kerrigan Falls cemetery. As the sun set, the alabaster slabs, obelisks, and weathered cherub statues shimmered with a gold glow. Cecile and Margot were both buried on the southern side—the newer wing of the cemetery.

Lara peered through the tall iron gates. “Do you know if Peter Beaumont has a gravestone?” She was surprised to find herself thinking about him tonight.

Audrey stopped walking and opened her bag, pulled out a lipstick tube, and took one final swipe across her lips. “He does,” she said, pointing. “The grave is empty, of course, but his mother needed somewhere to go to honor his memory.”

So far, Fred and Betty had resisted any memorial for Todd. Lost in thought, Lara stared at a marble bench under the weeping willow tree, its branches overgrown and heavy.

“Peter’s grave is on the south side, near the back entrance of the church. It’s a small stone, easy to miss if you aren’t looking for it,” said Audrey, snapping her evening bag shut and walking on, like she couldn’t bear the sight of the graveyard.

A scatter of pale stones in all sizes and shapes bordered the chapel. Lara wondered how it was that her mother knew the exact location and details of Peter Beaumont’s grave.

“Something strange happened the other night,” said Lara, nearly running to catch up. “When I told Dad about it, he was upset.”

Audrey stopped again. “What did you do?”

Lara frowned at the accusation. “I didn’t do anything. I was cuing one of the Dangerous Tendencies albums, and there was a song when you ran the album backward. I mentioned it to Dad, who said they hadn’t done backmasking on the Tending album, so to prove his point, he cued the record up and there was nothing. But then I tried…”

“And—” Audrey’s voice fell like she knew where Lara was going with the story. “The song was there.”

“He said it was Peter Beaumont’s song.”

“Peter?” The look of alarm on her mother’s face caused Lara to step back.

“And the song I heard had never actually been recorded.” Lara started to hum a few bars.

Audrey turned pale.

“You know the song?”

She nodded and turned, walking down the street, holding her stomach.

“Dad believes Peter was sending him a message.”

Audrey stopped walking again.

“The way he looked at me,” recalled Lara, observing the change in her mother’s face. “It was like he’d seen a ghost. You know, like you’re looking at me now.”

Audrey’s voice was low, yet no one was around to hear them. “It was magic, Lara. Just like the enchantment of