"Look at her."
Lance clapped me on the back and drew my attention to the front stage of the carnival's freak show. I'd only come here with my younger brother because of his obsession with Jim Rose, but the moment I saw Lacey. I was hooked.
She was sitting on a barstool on the stage next to a woman with a better beard than I'd been able to grow in my twenty years of life and she didn't look like the other participants. Their faces wore a mixture of sadness, anger, confusion and boredom but Lacey … she was beaming. When the barker came down to her, her smile widened and she swung her waist-length flaming red hair, her green eyes twinkling at the audience.
"Last, but not lease, let me introduce you to the most beautiful woman in our show. Let's hear a warm welcome for Lacey, the Legless Lady." She raised her arms in recognition and polite applause filled the air. The barker continued his spiel about the upcoming show and the curtain swung closed, just as our eyes met.
"Steven, let's buy a ticket."
"Okay." I herded Lance over to the ticket booth, bought two tickets and let my brother precede me inside the tent. The show began a few minutes later and I sat through the performances of the other sideshow entertainers before it was Lacey's turn.
"And now to mystify you with feats of superior strength, here's our beauty, Lacey, the Legless Lady."
The red curtains parted and Lacey came out, her toned and trim body now clad in a sequin-and-rhinestone suit that hugged her torso like a glove. I could have sworn that she was looking for me because when her eyes caught mine, her smile made heat torch my cheeks. She bowed to the audience but I returned her bow, wishing that it was just the two of us in the tent. Maybe I'd get a chance later.
Lacey began her routine, easily using her arms to propel her legless torso up the rope. She paused for effect at the top, then swung to the next rope, just barely catching it. People around us gasped and Lance grabbed my arm, his mouth hanging open.
