Kayla’s Father called Mr. Kardinali – a fat, bald man wearing a formal suite and smoking a cigar. James remembered him as the show’s presenter, the one who opened the circus. When he entered the tent he jumped back with awe.
“What happened here? Zapini, what did you do?” he asked Kayla’s father who proceeded to explain the event and posed his new idea to keep James. Firstly Mr. Kardinali showed worried about the man and the legal questions. Was he OK with it? Was someone coming after him?
“Let’s say we have a pact. We’ll do it just for a week, one whole week. Plus, what will happen when we turn him back, Viktor? He won’t go around telling people that he was transformed into…this!”
Kayla was silent for the whole time, quite embarrassed of her actions. Mr. Kardinali ended up agreeing, moved by the money interest that might have been involved. That same night he asked his men - the acrobatic team, more precisely to clean the lions’ cell. They hadn’t had the beast for years; they used it mainly to store things. Reuniting back with the wizard and his daughter in the tent they proceeded to discuss James number.
“So…do we just present him at the freak show or make him do tricks too?” Mr. Kardinali asked.
“What do you think, Kayla?” the wizard teased combing his goatee with his fingers.
She shrugged.
“Ribbit, Ribbit!” James answered.
The wizard immediately raised an eyebrow; James was now sure he could understand him, and swallowed dry.
“Both. We’ll have him in the cage carry so kids can throw peanuts and a number at the main show. What about some tricks…Jumping, leaping, catching flies with his tongue. Kayla, why won’t you train him?”
“Me?!”
“Ribbit!”
“Excellent” Mr. Kardinali said.”Well, I’ll make some boards; tomorrow we have our first show starring…The Exotic Man-Frog of the Amazon. What about it?”
James felt his heart sink when the three laughed at it. Even Kayla! He couldn’t believe the turns that his life was giving.