The loud blaring music echoed throughout the empty fairgrounds, each memory of the circus, a ghost wandering about the once lively colorful scene. With furtive graceful steps, a young girl tiptoed a lovely waltz as she reminisced in the lovely times she once had at the circus years ago. Suddenly the tune came to an abrupt halt, the silhouette of a tall man wearing a tailcoat appeared before her.

                “Hello little lady.” His velvety voice said kindly. The girl looked up, her green eyes shining with confusion from his presence.

                “Hello, sir.” She replied as she curtsied just as she had been raised to do when meeting someone new.

                “And what is your name?” He knelt before her with a kind smile as he tipped his colorful top hat politely toward her.

                “I’m Analie Beaumonte, I ran away.” She curtseyed once again with a small childish giggle, “And you are?”

                “You can call me Spade. Mister Spade, m’lady. May I ask what you’re doing here?” His cockney accent complimented her perfect English despite polar opposite tones both carry.

                Her green eyes gleamed up at him and her cheeks brightened with a smile, “I’m here to join the circus!” Spade smiled at the girl, he did not question what she wanted and did not reject her like any other person would have. From that day on, Miss Analie Beaumonte was known as Pipsqueak.

                Two years passed, the group had grown and grown and the Enigma Circus now consisted of a full staff of performers. There were sixteen clowns, four ringmasters, two acrobats, five freak-shows, an animal tamer, ten animals and seven other performers. They were closer than blood, all rejected wherever else they went, but at the Enigma Circus, they were home.

                “Dinner!!!” Spade shouted from the larger tent which served as a mess hall. Everyone raced to get to the food first, if someone failed to get there in time, they’d have to wait till breakfast to eat again, or eat someone else’s scraps, however it was very rare for scraps to be found at all. First in line, as always, was Rusty the clown. Rusty was a man like a teapot, short and stout, but with a lion heart. Had a child been last in line, he would give him half his serving. Next was Rori, a very quiet tightrope walker. While her very lean figure would suggest otherwise, her appetite was bigger than any other girls in the circus. Next followed Clubs, Curly, Ace, Diamond, Beebe, Scratch, Chewy, Hearts, and the last one to get served, Pipsqueak.

                “Has anyone seen Goldie?” Pip (About the age of eight now) asked her acrobatic partner, Marbles.

                “I ‘aven’t seen ‘er since last night, after the show she just up and disappeared like that, she did!” The young boy replied, snapping his fingers showing his mystification.

                “Wow, should we look for her?” Her green eyes mirrored his. Both their smiles grew mischievously and got up, already knowing the answer to the question. Pip and Marbles both stood and went off to search for the girl.