The Carnival of Lost Souls : A Handcuff Kid Novel by Laura Quimby

sleeve to show Jack how the device worked. He squinted down at his wrist and said, “North Wall.” The ink on his wrist began to bubble and twist as the lines warped to life. The dial spun and the arrow pointed behind them. “Last night we passed through the wall tothe north. It’s heavily guarded.” Jabber pointed to the large
N
and a small image of a wall appeared to hover above his skin. “To the east and west is the Never-Ending Forest—masses of trees that are constantly growing outward. They are a maze, impossible to navigate. We are headed south to Mussini’s base camp. From there all the towns are south until the Black River, and that is as far as the forest goes.”
    “Impressive.” Jack ran his finger over the flat inked surface of his own tattoo.
    “Impossible is more like it.” Jabber snapped the reins. “Figuring out the magic made me Mussini’s right-hand man. He trusts me and only me.”
    Jack didn’t care about bonding with the Amazing Mussini. All he cared about was getting out of there, and figuring out the compass might help him do it. The image of the strange beast that Jack saw last night standing at the North Wall came back in an instant. He would have to bide his time until he could figure a way out of the underworld.
    Compass or no compass, Jack didn’t have a clue where he was. But he knew one thing, and that was there was always a way out. Even this forest had a trapdoor. He just had to find it. Jack looked on the bright side; at least he wasn’t dead.
    Yet.

 
    From his many foster homes, Jack knew the drill when it came to being thrown into new surroundings. He needed to blend in, stay out of trouble, and keep his head down while he plotted his escape. He was concentrating on an escape plan when the wagon groaned to a halt. Jack heard movement coming from inside.
    Jabber nodded toward the wagon and said, “The others.”
    The others. These must be Mussini’s minions
. How was Jack supposed to blend into a group of minions? Jack took a deep breath and jumped down to the ground. A tiny hand slid the curtain open. He braced himself for whatever terrible creatures might suddenly appear from inside the wagon.
    Jack expected a good freak show. Minions shouldhave slithery tentacles for arms, bulging, bloodshot eyeballs, and rows of sharp tiny teeth to gnaw on bones. He was seriously hoping at least one of them would have horns, so when they appeared from behind the curtain and began climbing down, Jack almost felt cheated. Talk about getting shortchanged in the weird department. They didn’t look like minions: They looked like regular kids.
    The first to climb down was a pretty girl. She wore a long dress and black button-up boots. Her clothes and manner gave Jack the feeling she was from another time, born long before he was, though she looked the same age as him. She jumped down the last foot from the back of the wagon and landed softly on the ground. Her long mahogany hair tumbled down her back as a hair comb came loose and dropped into the leaves. Jack picked up the comb. When he tugged on her sleeve to give it back, she just ignored him, so he slipped it into his pocket to give to her later.
    A boy jumped down into the leaves and grabbed on to Jack as he stumbled forward. “T-Ray,” the boy said with a salute. T-Ray looked about eleven, maybe twelve, but his clothes looked modern enough. He wore army-green pants and a long-sleeved gray T-shirt. His black hair was buzzed short on his head, accentuating his dark skin.
    “Come on and give us a hand,” T-Ray said to Jack. “I won’t bite, but Runt might, so you better take these.”
    T-Ray shoved two quilted bundles into Jack’s arms.
    “Who’s Runt?” Jack asked, but the question seemed to answer itself as a boy’s head popped out of the wagon’s curtain.
    “I am!”
    They all laughed at the younger boy with a tiny scowl on his face and blond hair poking up wildly all over his head. “And I was sleepin’ till you all