"That's not what I mean!" said Monk in exasperation. "Do you really buy all this shit about the freaks coming from other worlds?"

"Who cares where they come from?" asked the Dancer.

"Don't you understand what I'm saying to you?" insisted Monk.

"Sure. It's just not very important. Are you going or staying?"

"I'll give you a hundred-to-one it's a bunch of bullshit!" said Monk. Then he flashed a guilty little smile. "But just in case it ain't, wild horses couldn't keep me off that ship." He turned to me. "What do you know about all this, Tojo?"

"They're aliens," I said.

"Who's going along? Thaddeus said it would only be people he needed. Of course," he added with a wink, "I'll bet another hundred-to-one that he suddenly finds one hell of a need for Jenny."

"He'll be talking to Diggs and Gloria and some of the others," I said unhappily.

"Good!" said Monk. "I can't imagine going on the road without the Rigger, no matter how far away the road is."

And I couldn't imagine why Stogie was on the list and I wasn't. Of course, he'd work in the strip show, and I wasn't much good at anything except tending to a batch of sick tourists who were probably going straight home, but still . . .

"How about Alma?" asked Monk.

"I don't think so," I replied.

"That's one way to get rid of 'em once you're tired of 'em!" laughed Monk.

"And I'll bet you he's not taking Big Alvin either."

"He's not on the list," I said.

"Gloria's going to need another protector," said Monk. "I think I'll give the job to Bruno."

There was a knock at the door, and a few seconds later Diggs came in. He threw his coat on a chair and walked over to join us.

"Gloria's in there now," he told me, "and Thaddeus says he wants to see Swede next."

"Swede?" said Monk. "What the hell do we need him for?"

"You sound like you believe all this shit," said Diggs.

"It's a bunch of bullshit," said Monk. "But it is a fascinating idea, isn't it?"

"I'd have to learn a whole new batch of card games," said the Rigger.

"Well, if you think you're too old . . ." began Monk, an amused expression on his face.

"You sound just like Thaddeus!" snapped the Rigger.

"What do you mean?"

"He got me so mad I said I'd go just to show him that there isn't anyone anywhere that can con a mark like Jason Diggs." He shrugged. "So I guess I'm going," he concluded wryly.

The next few minutes were devoted to the future, as Monk and Diggs started laying bets on what kind of life forms they'd run into, and I started considering what I was going to do with my life, now that my family was leaving. It wasn't much of a family, it was filled with frauds and misfits and grotesques, but it was the only family I had, and suddenly I began to feel very empty inside. Memories of my childhood and my classmates and the sanitarium began racing through my mind, and I felt like I was going to cry, so I put on my coat and quietly walked out the door where no one could see me.

Gloria was just coming out of Thaddeus' trailer, and I tracked down Swede and sent him over. Then I noticed that someone had set up the Hothouse, and I stopped by to warm up. Alma was sitting there, all alone, huddled up in her overcoat.

"Hi," I said.

"What's happening, Tojo?" she said. "Why is he talking to Gloria?"

"He wants her for the new division."

"Someone told me you have the list. Am I on it?"

"No, Alma," I said. "You're not."

"And Queenie?"

"No."

"I thought for a minute he was going to try to split us up." She paused. "Where is this new division going, Tojo?"

"Pretty far afield," I said.

"I'm not blind, Tojo," she said. "I've seen what we've been toting around with us for the past two weeks. How far afield?"

"Very far," I answered.

"Who is he taking?"

"A bunch of people. Anyone he thinks can pull their weight with the show."

"What about Queenie and me, then? Why isn't he taking us?"

"You'll have to ask him, Alma."

She nodded, and we sat in silence for a few minutes. Then I heard footsteps approaching, and a moment later Thaddeus entered the tent.

"Tojo, where the hell have you been?" he said. "I still have to see—"

He broke off in midsentence when he saw Alma.

"Hello, Thaddeus," she said.

"I didn't know you were here," he said uncomfortably.

"I was just saying goodbye to Tojo. I guess I'll be saying goodbye to most of my friends, won't I?"

"Not to your best one. You belong with her, and she belongs here."

"But why, Thaddeus?"

"You've been a stripper long enough."

"I don't understand," she said.

"I've got enough strippers, and Romany is killing the meat show. Starting tomorrow, you and Queenie are running the games, unless you can convince him you're enough of an actress to put you in the specialty tent. But whatever he does, you're not going to be pawed by anyone from now on, unless you want to be."

"But we could work your games."

He shook his head. "I'm not taking anyone with any ties here. You've got Queenie, and Queenie's got family."

"That's not the reason," she said.

"All right. You couldn't earn your keep."

"Are you taking Priscilla?"

"Yes."

"Then that's not the reason either."

"It's over," he said, looking into her eyes. "It's my fault, and I'll take the blame for it—but that doesn't alter the fact of it."

"It doesn't have to be," she said without conviction.

"I thought we settled that a couple of nights ago. Queenie loves you. I'm not going to fight her to get you back."

"I wouldn't let it happen," she said firmly.

He sighed deeply. "You couldn't stop it from happening, Alma. All my life I've wanted what people told me I couldn't have. Why the hell do you think I'm going with Mr. Ahasuerus?"

"But—"

"It's settled," he said sharply. Then he smiled. "You're making it very difficult for me to be noble."

She looked at him for a long moment. "All right, Thaddeus," she said. "If that's the way it has to be."

"That's the way it is," he answered.

She ran a hand through her hair, took a deep breath, and tried to change the subject. "Does Mr. Romany know how to run a carnival?"

"Not very well," admitted Thaddeus. "He had a pretty bush-league operation when we found him. Of course, he was trying not to attract attention then, but just the same I think you'll have to help him in the beginning." He, too, seemed relieved by the change in subject, and addressed it eagerly. "I bought my rides back with the money we made off the aliens. The son of a bitch I sold them to held 'em for two weeks and sold them back for twenty grand more than he paid; I wish I'd have known I was going to need them again. Anyway, you'll have the rides and you'll keep most of the games, and of course Romany will have six or seven groups of aliens through here every year, so I imagine you'll make out okay. It's not as if he's shelling out a goddamned cent for the thing."