Framing Felipe Read Free

his
    truck.”
    “I
was
hoping
to
get
some
sleep
tonight.”
    Dana
finally
cracked
a
grin.
“You
and
me
both.
Not
that
I
ever
sleep
during
the
full
    moon.
One
of
these
days
that
dirty
cat
of
mine
is
going
to
get
himself
clawed
up
too
bad
to
    fix.”
    “He’s
smarter
than
that.”
    Her
grin
waned.
“I
hope
so.
Let’s
hope
this
acrobat
is
smarter
than
that,
too.”

    FRAMING FELIPE
–
7
–
Holley Trent

CHAPTER
TWO
    Felipe
Castillo
hid
in
plain
sight…more
or
less.
With
his
back
pressed
against
the
    warehouse’s
brick
wall,
and
black
hood
drawn
low
over
his
brow,
he
probably
seemed
to
    disappear
into
the
shadows.
A
funny
thought,
because
if
he
really
wanted
to
disappear,
he
    could.
Few
people
knew
about
his
rare
gift.
His
brother
Fabian
knew,
obviously,
because
he
    shared
it.
Then
there
were
the
other
freaks
at
the
circus
who
had
their
own
secrets
to
keep.
    And
last,
there
was
the
person
who
exploited
their
gifts.
He
and
Fabian
called
him el
    negrero: the
slave
driver.
    And
really,
that’s
all
he
was.
Even
as
kids,
there
had
been
no
better
word
to
explain
    their
relationship
to
the
man.
He’d
never
been
much
of
a
father
figure.
    From
the
time
Felipe
and
Fabian
were
four,
turning
five,
their
days
were
counted
in
    blood,
sweat,
and
tears.
They
thought
the
circus
training
was
fun
at
first.
The
circus
was
    their
playground,
and
they
had
full
access
to
the
gymnastics
apparatuses.
Under
tutelage
of
    an
acrobat
too
old
and
too
broken
to
perform
any
longer,
the
brothers
learned
to
leap
and
    flip.
They
learned
to
fly.
    But
ringmaster
Jacques
was
an
impatient
man,
and
a
greedy
one,
so
their
net
was
taken
    away
too
fast.
Their
stunts
became
death
defying
much
too
soon.
They
were
two
little
boys,
    risking
their
lives
twice
a
day—and
three
times
on
Sundays—drawing
gasps
from
their
    genteel
audiences
as
they
hurtled
through
the
air
like
blond
cannonballs.
People
could
    hardly
believe
their
eyes
for
the
stunts,
and
rightfully
so.
Some
seemed
to
be
illusions.
They
    weren’t,
but
the
crowd
didn’t
know
that.
    So
they
grew
up
in
that,
getting
pushed
harder
to
do
exponentially
more
dangerous
    things
for
increasingly
jaded
crowds
who
clung
ever
tighter
to
their
money.
    They’d
seen
many
of
their
peers
in
the
travelling
freak
show
become
paralyzed
or
    worse
from
falls.
But,
Felipe
and
Fabian
had
more
than
skill.
They
had
their
own
sort
of
    magic.
    At
least,
that’s
what
Fabian
thought.
Felipe
wasn’t
so
sure
of
that.
If
they
were
magic,
    wouldn’t
they
have
some
luck?
They’d
always
seemed
short
on
that.

    FRAMING FELIPE
–
8
–
Holley Trent

    A
couple
walking
with
arms
linked
passed
in
front
of
him
on
the
sidewalk.
He
eased
    back
into
the
bricks
a
bit
more,
watching
the
young
lovers
until
they
disappeared
around
    the
corner.
    Lucky.
    From
where
he
stood,
he
could
see
the
backside
of
the
circus’s
main
tent,
and
the
    caravan
vehicles
that’d
brought
them
and
all
their
gear
there.
In
one
of
those
campers
was
    Fabian,
probably
pacing.
Fretting.
    He
wouldn’t
be
forced
to
perform
without
Felipe.
They
were
a
package
deal.
But
Fabian
    wouldn’t
be
worried
about
performing,
anyhow.
He
didn’t
live
and
breathe
for
the
circus.
    Neither
of
them
did.
His
brain
would
be
occupied
with
thoughts
of
survival
because
he,
like
    Felipe,
knew
Jacques
didn’t
make
idle
threats.
Jacques
wouldn’t
allow
the
duo
to
shirk
the
    spotlight
for
long.
    Somewhere
nearby,
a
church
bell
pealed
and
the
sound
echoed
through
the