Julek and Tosia spot something impossible hidden on the magician Leon’s carriage. When they sneak backstage, the locked-up secret under the circus dome begins to move.
Julek and Tosia could hardly sit still while they waited for the Big Show to begin beneath the bright dome of the Magic Circus. Everyone in town had been talking about it for days: the dazzling tricks, the strange trained animals, and the magician Leon, who had arrived with a carriage no one had seen before.
They found seats in the front row, close enough to smell sugar from the candyfloss and the warm, buttery popcorn drifting through the tent. When the music burst out, clowns raced into the ring, spinning plates and tossing balls high above their heads. Tosia laughed when the circus dog leapt clean through a hoop, and Julek let out a whistle so loud a woman nearby turned and smiled.
Then, in the middle of the act, the lights flickered and went out. A hush rolled across the tent. From somewhere behind the curtain came the slow creak of wheels, and Leon’s old carriage rolled into the arena, painted black and gold, all sharp angles and shadow. Julek leaned forward. Something flashed at the back of the carriage. A silver key, small and bright, was stuck in the wood as if someone had pushed it in a hurry.
Even after the applause and the break, Julek could not forget it. Neither could Tosia. While the crowd drifted toward the snack stalls, they slipped backstage and ducked beneath the wooden platform where the carriage stood waiting in the dimness. The air there was cool and smelled of sawdust and paint.
"Do you see it?" Tosia whispered, pointing with a trembling finger.
"The key," Julek said. "And the door's open a little."
He had only just said it when a soft metallic scrape came from inside the carriage. Something shifted in the darkness, slow and careful, as if it had been listening all along.