Evening draped over the riverside marshes, and the red and gold tent loomed up like a promise. Simon's circus had come for the third time this year, but today a different tone prevailed. Lila, in charge of props, walked around the sawdust and checked the trolley wheels, ropes, lights and locks. Then the last truck pulled up, white and without signs, on which the tarpaulin sounded like a drum. On the sides someone had written in chalk: Atlas of Invisible Tricks. - 'Don't move anything without my signal,' cried Mr Simon in a raspberry tailcoat, barely out of the arena. He was announcing the premiere of a new number, invented by an illusionist called Armand, who supposedly never shows his face. Lila signed the list of boxes and already felt one vibrate, as if a swarm was rumbling inside. On the lid was a stamp: Open only when singing, and a small brass key slot. The rehearsals were going smoothly. Jarek juggled the five tentacles until the wood swished and glistened with resin in the light. The Arc Sisters flew on the trapeze and the clown Flake practised a number without saying a word, uplifting the audience imagined only by gesture. Nadir stabbed knives into the spinning boards, and Zoja practised that strange snare drum on the snare drum, which was supposed to mimic a heartbeat. - 'Watch out for Armand's mirrors,' muttered Zoja. - They draw in stares, not people, but sometimes that's worse. Lila laughed nervously, then saw a flash in the only mirror backstage that no spotlight could give. The mayor, firemen and half the town had arrived from the evening, smelling of sugar and smoke. Lanterns smouldered on the lashings of the tent and the orchestra tuned their trumpets. - 'When the snare starts, bring the box to the centre, don't look, wait for the password,' whispered Mr Simon, pressing a heavy key into Lila's hand. It was as warm as a coin held by someone for too long. - 'It only sings when someone is really scared,' he added, as if that would reassure her. Lila nodded, but she could already feel a vertical draft in her stomach. The arena lit up. The numbers flowed one after the other, coherent as a braid of movements, lights and breaths. The audience screamed when the sisters landed, fell silent at the knives, laughed when Flake caught invisible apples into an invisible basket. As the last of the laughter subsided, the spotlight fell on the white box. - Ladies and gentlemen, the Visitor that no one has seen! - Simon's voice rang out. Lila stepped in, hearing a soft murmur inside that matched her pulse. - 'Lila,' whispered someone from behind the boards, the voice thin and very close. She turned, but the orchestra was playing and the crowd did not stir. Simon raised his hand with a gesture of haste. Lila slipped the key into the socket as the lid shifted from the centre, as if someone was already holding it on their fingertips.