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The soft sound of Anne's booted feet, creeping quietly down the creaking timbers of the passage that was lined with rows of polished oak doors, echoed throughout the evening husk which was lit up by the eerie glow of the outside moon.

Hitching the strap of her bag higher up on her shoulder, a small smile played around Anne's lips as she followed Barnum through the darkening shadows that were being cast across the floor.

"Sorry about the poor welcome," Barnum called out in a loud whisper as he stopped in front of one of the many doors. Shuffling around in his pocket for the keys, he continued, "Usually, everyone's up and out to meet a new member of the team but rehearsals this week were quite draining so they all wanted to turn in early."

Anne nodded understandingly. "It's okay. Thank you for taking me in, Mr. Barnum. You're very kind."

Barnum chuckled as he tossed Anne the key ring for her door. "No, thank you for your contribution to my show. I can't wait to see what you can do. I've never met a trapeze artist in person so, as you can tell, I'm pretty stoked."

Anne ran a nervous tongue over her lips. "Well ... er ... I wouldn't call myself an artist ..."

"Nonsense!" Barnum waved her away. "Anyone skilled enough to jump around on ropes is an artist, my dear. Now come, come, you should rest up. You must be exhausted. You'll need the sleep too. Tomorrow will be a long day."

Anne gave him an appreciative nod before turning and pushing her way into the room. Quietly, she closed the door behind her, set her bag on the floor and did a full 360 as she surveyed her new surroundings.

The area was almost as large as her entire house combined! A soft, springy mattress mounted on a polished bedstead had been set up in a corner of the room. A chest of drawers and a few roughly-hewn shelves, upon which a stack of linens and undergarments laid, graced the opposite end of the wall. A large, floor-length window, decorated with beautiful floral curtains, cast its face over the gravel street below.

Anne wanted to twirl around and laugh and giggle like an immature little child. Never had she experienced such luxury!

Seizing her bag, Anne set to work and in a matter of moments, she had rearranged her things on the shelves and made up her bed. As she shrugged off her shawl and pulled her cream-coloured blouse up over her head, she heard a flitting noise whoosh by her ear.

Startled, she dropped her blouse onto the floor and allowed her eyes to trail searchingly across the ground.

Then, she spotted it.

A piece of paper.

Anne knelt down to retrieve it, confused as to its sudden appearance. As soon as her fingers made contact with the smooth substance, she flipped it over and paused, realising that W.D had slipped it beneath her shawl earlier that day.

A sharp intake of breath blocked her throat as she peered closely at the image displayed.

It was a black and white photograph of Grandmother Wheeler, W.D and herself standing in front of their apartment after the purchase. Grandmother had her hand resting on W.D's shoulder, as he was way too tall for her to do anything else, and had her other arm wrapped around Anne's slim waist. Anne was in a fit of giggles as she tried to keep her hair out of her eyes and W.D was trying to suppress a smirk at his sister's silliness. A bright smile had stretched its way across Grandmother's face as she revelled in the warm, sparkling presence of her family.

A single tear found its way out of Anne's eye and traced the outline of her cheek. They all looked so happy, so youthful, so full of life and gusto...

But not anymore.

After this, Anne felt that, in all good conscience, she couldn't really enjoy her new room.

Although she hadn't felt the tugs of drainage on her system, Barnum must've been right when he said Anne was exhausted. She slept, deeply and soundly, until the sharp rapping of knuckles against her door awoke her mid-morning.

"Aye, getcha yoursself outta bed, missus, breakfast's ready!" an imprudent, accented voice hollered.

A few moments later Anne, her curly locks done up in a loose bun and her bare shoulders covered with her shawl, descended the stairs leading into the main room of the building. A few picnic tables had been set up next to a stack of hay bales where a group of oddly-dressed people loused around, yelling and laughing at each other. Anne hesitated at the foot of the stair-well, not liking the looks of things at all, but the enticing smell of fried bacon and steaming porridge entered her nostrils, causing her to step forward.

"Well, look who it is!" someone called out. "It's the new girl!"

Anne sent the group an awkward wave before Barnum jumped in to the rescue. "Now, now, don't be shy," he encouraged as he ushered her forward. "Let me introduce you to everyone. Guys, this is Anne Wheeler. She will be our gymnast and trapeze expert."

"Hi Anne!" "Hey." "Anne, hmm? Pretty name, ya gal." "Trapeze? You've got to be kidding me." "I've never seen a trapeze act before." "That's so cool." "Oh my god, Mr. Barnum, you've scored a good lil one this time!"

Barnum waved his hands around, indicating for everyone to settle down. "Anne, this is my man, Charles Stratton," he motioned to a tiny dwarf, suited up in a red neck-tie and velvet vest. "He plays an elephant-riding general on my show."

Charles grinned and sent Anne a mock bow. "How do you do, m'lady?"

"This is O'Clancy," Barnum pointed at pretty much the opposite of Charles. He was a giant of a man who must've been nearly eight feet tall. Anne nearly fell over trying to look up at him.

"This is Lettie Lutz." Anne's eyes wandered over to an extremely plump woman who sported a bushy black beard and a set of sparkling, merry eyes.

Desperately, Anne tried to keep up as Barnum called out the names of the ballerinas, the dancers and their ensembles, the office workers, the caretakers and all the others but her head was spinning from the swarm of information and she couldn't take anything in.

Her gaze bounced from a man covered with inky black spots to another man whose skin was completely covered in long fur to yet another man who was so huge he could've rested both arms comfortably on his bulging stomach and had room to spare.

Barnum hadn't been lying when he said that his museum was filled with extremely unique and rare people.

Anne had never seen such a range of colours, shapes, sizes and differences then what she saw in the group assembled before her.

But, for some reason, she longed to be a part of it all.

"And, of course, you know Bec."

Anne immediately snapped out of her stupefied faze to turn large, wondering eyes on the good-looking lad who was donned with an emerald suit and a navy blue tie and was lounging against the golden straws of a nearby hay bale.

"Yes, we have met," he smirked as he looked Anne up and down. "I'm glad to see you back."

Anne nodded but didn't have the chance to reply before Barnum guided her over towards the food. "Let's get you something to eat, shall we?"

As everyone resumed their conversations, Barnum scurried off to fetch Anne a fork, leaving her to stand alone awkwardly in the middle of the group.

"Hey," a gentle drawl reached her ears just as the soft surface of a silky-rich material draped over the bare skin of her arm.

Gasping in surprise, Anne spun around to see Bec staring at her, a flicker of amusement in his ever-watchful gaze.

She frowned. "Yes?"

Leaning forward, Bec moved closer to Anne and allowed his lips to slightly brush the tip of her ear. For a moment, he didn't say anything, he just listened to the furious pounding of Anne's heart. Then, a low chuckle resounded in the back of his throat. "I'm glad you made the right decision, Anne."

Then, just as quickly as he'd approached her, Bec withdrew, a satisfied smirk twisting its way around his mouth.

Trying to regain her breath, Anne shook her head and turned her back on him, confused as to what had just happened.

In coming here, she may have gotten a little more than she bargained for.

Gif: Bec as he addresses Anne.

Question of the update: Who, out of the minor characters like Lettie or Charles, is your favourite and why?

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