Somerset, Kentucky:
Lux loved the sound of the crowd as she performed for them. She does a few backflips and jumps through fiery hoops. She even takes several pies to the face from other clowns performing with her.
By the time the performance was over, the children in the crowd wanted to take pictures with her. She took as many pictures as she could before she had to go and change. As the last kid waves at Lux, she waves back and heads into the clown’s tent to clean up.
“They loved you tonight, Lux.” Bebe looked at Lux as she walked into the tent.
“It was a team effort, Bebe. I couldn’t have done everything I did tonight without all of your help and training.” Lux sits down at her makeup station and starts removing her clown makeup.
Bebe shakes her head as she walks over to her station. She knew Lux was being modest. None of them was nimble and brave enough to jump through hoops set on fire, like Lux did. Sure, some of them could juggle torches without any problems, but willingly jumping through rings of fire was another bravery altogether.
By the time everyone was done taking their clown makeup off, people were tired. Lux was the last one to leave the tent. She was drinking a cold drink she kept in the cooler she brought with her when she left. Lux has made it a habit to tour the circus and check on the guards they hired to protect the circus and their personal vehicles.
As Lux is making her rounds of the circus and the perimeter. She spotted some movement near several vehicles belonging to the high rope performers. She quietly tiptoes over to a spot where she can see who it was and notices some guys with a portable powered saw. They had a bag in one hand and were kneeling next to the vehicle.
“Oh, so you think it's going to be that easy, do you?” Lux reaches into her pants pocket and pulls out a few firecrackers and explosive pellets she kept with her to do tricks with.
She lights the firecrackers with a match and tosses them towards the men. She also tosses the explosive pellets. Just as the firecrackers go off, scaring the men, the pellets hit the ground next to them, exploding as well. The two men jump, drop their portable power saw, and run off.
Lux tries not to laugh as she watches them run off like scared rabbits. Several guards run to her location when they hear the firecrackers and pellets going off.
“They ran off in that direction.” Lux points in the direction the two men ran off towards.
Greg looks at Lux. “How many were there?”
“Two, the first one was as tall as Frank and was getting ready to crawl under Mark’s SUV to remove his catalytic converter. He had a power saw and a bag with him. His companion was standing guard, watching out for him.”
“How did you come across them?” Greg looks at Lux with a suspicious expression.
“I was doing my normal routine of checking the perimeter of the circus and the parking lot when I spotted two people about to remove the cat from Mark’s SUV.” Lux knew Greg was just being cautious.
“Then it must have been you who threw those fireworks and explosions.” Greg knew Lux was a tricky person.
He knew she had been hanging out with their new magician, acting as his assistant. He had to admit the guy was pretty good. He had some good tricks that even he hadn’t seen before
“Well, I’m heading to bed. Good night, Greg.” Lux turns and walks towards her converted van.
She checks her trailer and makes sure her Z car is intact. She still needed to have it painted. Lux walks into her van, strips out of her clothes, and takes a nice, cool shower. Afterward, she puts on her nightclothes, lies down on her mattress, and slowly falls asleep.
Over the next two days, Lux serves as David Angel’s assistant as he performs his magic shows. She was briefed quickly on some of the tricks he was performing. The skimpy costume she had to wear revealed a lot of her skin and her figure. She was still getting used to being on display like that.
She helps him with the tricks and illusions during his performances. When she is alone, she practices some of the tricks and escapes that David taught her or that she observed herself. She was thinking about adding a few of his tricks to her new routine. She spoke to Slappy about doing so.
She knew Slappy didn’t care what she did, as long as the routine made the audience laugh. All he cared about was making people laugh. She learned that he was one of the oldest clowns around and had worked with some of the best.
The day they were supposed to pack it up, Lux got word from Mr. Goldman and Frank that they were staying an extra week. It wasn’t the first time Mr. Goldman had done this. Lux figures it was due to how much money they made. Because, if they weren’t doing good. Mr. Goldman would extend their visits and performances to make up for it.
She grabs her assignments for the day and goes to work. Normally, she took the weekend off because the performance would be so busy. Instead, she wanted to catch up on some minor repairs.
Lux helps out at some of the concession stands. She loved helping out, even though she wasn't paid for it. She got food and soda checks she could use any time she wants instead.
She takes Sunday off and enjoys mingling with the crowd that comes to the circus. When Lux spots a few kids trying to win a big teddy bear at one of the games, she steps in and helps them win it.
The person who runs the game knew Lux wouldn’t always do that to his stand. Plus, she has done some free repairs for him when he was having problems. So, he didn’t mind returning the favor.
For the next few days, Lux acts as David’s assistant and wears the skimpy outfit. She learns more of his secrets and adds a little more to the act to distract the audience even more. She knew David liked it when she held the crowd's attention.
After the performance, David looks at Lux as she moves about, cleaning up and resting for their next performance. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am. I’ve also been practicing what you have taught me and what I have learned online from some of the videos other magicians have posted about certain tricks.” Lux has been trying to learn everything she can about being an assistant and the tricks themselves.
“Well, if you keep it up, you might become as good as I am.” A smile appears on Davi’s face as he looks at Lux.
“Thanks, but I’ll need years of training to become as good as you, David.” Lux waves as she leaves the stage to go and grab a quick bite to eat before their next performance in a few hours.
Lux couldn’t believe she was developing a new skill set, besides being a clown. She loved being a mechanic and enjoyed working on things, but being a performer like David was something new to her. Maybe she could make a living out of it.
By the time it was time for the next show with David, Lux was prepared. She ad-libs a few things to improve the act. The audience loves it when she does it, and David does what he has to do.
By the time the week comes to an end. Lux helps tear everything down and pack the tents. She was glad they were moving to another town.
Frank informed her that they would be spending three weeks at the next location and that she could take some well-earned time off to do whatever she wanted.
By the time she got back to her van, she and three others were the only ones left to convoy to the next town. Lux starts her van up and follows the other two Rv’s as they convoy to the next town.