Pegasus and the New Olympians (18 page)

‘That’s Circus Circus,’ Frankie explained as he pointed at the large red casino across the street. ‘They allow kids in there. But John and me never go in.’

Joel added, ‘I’ve seen it on TV. Let’s go in.’

Paelen put his hand on Joel’s arm. ‘Not there.’

‘Why?’

Paelen looked up to the black building beside them. ‘It is too close to where we are staying. You never steal where you are living. It may lead people back to you. Trust me. I know what I am talking about.’

Joel frowned. ‘What do you mean, steal? I thought we were playing tourist tonight.’

‘We are,’ Paelen agreed. ‘But we also need money for food.’ He looked down at little Frankie beside them. ‘And we promised to return what we took from you. I never break a promise.’ He glanced back to Joel. ‘To get money, we will need to steal it.’

‘We could always find another bank machine?’

Paelen shook his head wildly. ‘I did that
once
– never again! Those machines eat people. I will not be their next meal! No, we will find some other way.’

As they continued, Paelen felt his thief ’s senses taking over. He hadn’t used them much since he met Emily and Joel. But now he needed them more than ever. Down the strip they walked past casino after casino. The road was jammed with slow-moving traffic and the pavement was crowded with people. Men handed out discount vouchers offering cheap tickets to shows while casino doormen tried to attract the attention of passers-by and invite them inside.

A man handed a voucher to Paelen and said, ‘Cool shoes, dude!’

Paelen frowned. ‘They are sandals, but thank you,’ he corrected the man as they continued walking. He looked at the voucher in his hand. On it were several showgirls in brightly coloured, glittering costumes with tall feather headdresses. Paelen raised his eyebrows in appreciation. ‘Look at this!’

Joel studied the card and smiled brightly. ‘Welcome to Las Vegas! I’d love to see a show.’

‘Then we will,’ Paelen agreed.

Joel shook his head. ‘We can’t. One, we need money to get in, and two, we are all underage.’

Paelen laughed and put his arm around his tall friend. ‘Joel, do you forget who you are with? There is not a door, wall or lock that can stop me. If you wish to see a show, we shall all see a show.’

They continued strolling along the strip and came upon a free outdoor show.

‘See.’ Paelen directed them towards the entrance. ‘I never break a promise.’

They found seats and watched a husband and wife team working with their performing parrots.

The intelligent birds did tricks and talked to the glamorous wife. Frankie was the youngest person in the audience. When the wife spied him, she called him up to the stage to help with a trick. Paelen smiled as their young friend participated in the bird show.

At the end of the trick, the audience applauded and a beaming Frankie returned to his seat. ‘This is the best night ever! Did you see me with that big red bird? It was awesome!’

At the end of the show, the woman offered to take a free photograph of Frankie with the birds. Frankie insisted that Paelen and Joel joined him. Frankie proudly clutched the souvenir photograph of the three of them and the parrots as they walked away.

They continued down the strip and came upon a huge, dominating hotel casino. They couldn’t help but stop and stare in awe, taking in its grandeur. Its white marble facade glowed against the dark night sky, oozing glamour and luxury and a promise of excitement within. At its entrance they spotted several familiar figures lit up under bright spotlights.

‘Joel, look, it is Alexis!’

Before them was a set of Olympian Sphinxs cast in bronze. They looked remarkably like Alexis, with a naked upper torso, wings and lion-body.

‘This is Caesar’s Palace,’ Frankie explained. ‘There’s lots of statues inside. There’s even a big fountain with flying horses just like Emily’s horse. Want to see?’

Paelen grinned at Joel. ‘Well, if they have flying horses, we must go in!’

When they entered the casino, Paelen’s attention was captured by more beautiful statues, all familiar faces from Olympus. They encountered a giant griffin near the staircases and, deeper in the casino, Frankie led them to the magnificent fountain where a marble Pegasus flew out of each side. At the very top of the fountain stood Jupiter. Holding his lightning bolts in hand, he looked powerful and majestic as he gazed down at the crowds below. A Diana statue with a hawk on one arm and her bow in the other stood at one side of the fountain, as did Neptune with his large trident.

‘Jupiter would love this,’ Paelen said, admiring the large fountain.

‘But let’s hope he never sees it,’ Joel finished.

When they entered the main casino they were immediately struck by the sights and sounds. Frankie warned Paelen and Joel to keep a watch for security. If they were spotted, they could be ordered to leave.

Everywhere they looked, were people sitting at slot machines pressing buttons. Their faces were grim as they concentrated on their games.

‘Is this supposed to be fun?’ Paelen asked.

Joel nodded. ‘That’s what they say. But it doesn’t look much fun to me.’

As they moved deeper into the casino and entered a different area, the slot machines were replaced by several gaming tables surrounded by groups of people seated around them. There was a soft murmur in the air as they played cards. Paelen stopped and watched a woman behind one of the tables dealing the cards.

Frankie leaned closer to Paelen. ‘They’re playing blackjack. That’s the game that John and I play. The aim is to get cards adding up to twenty-one. When you do, you win.’

Paelen continued to watch the dealer. When she flipped her own cards, she said, ‘Twenty.’ The other people around the table shook their heads. Their cards and chips in front of them were taken away. ‘Does everyone count cards?’

Frankie shook his head. ‘No, and the casinos don’t like people doing it. If John and me were caught, we’d be banned from the casino.’

Further along was a long rectangular table with tall sides and rounded corners. There were number markings on the table’s soft covered surface. At the end a man was shaking dice in his hands. He threw the dice along the table.

‘I know this game,’ Paelen said excitedly. ‘We play something like this in Olympus.’

They watched the players put down their chips on numbers before the dice were thrown. When the dice stopped some of the people earned more chips, while others were taken away.

‘What are those strange coins they are putting on the numbers?’ Paelen asked.

‘Chips,’ Joel explained. ‘They’re like money. The numbers on them are their value. So if you have the number twenty on a chip, they are worth twenty dollars.’

‘You mean, all around us, those little pieces are worth money?’ Paelen asked in shock.

‘Yep,’ Joel said.

‘But look how much that man has over there!’

Joel followed Paelen’s eyes to a card dealer. There were countless piles of chips in front of him ‘That’s the dealer,’ Joel explained. ‘They always have a lot of chips.’

‘And that means they have a lot of money?’

‘I guess you could say that,’ Joel said.

‘And the same with that man?’ Paelen pointed to a player sitting at the roulette wheel. Before him were several large stacks of chips.

‘That’s right,’ Joel said. ‘Why?’

Paelen felt his heart fluttering with excitement. His fingers itched the way they always did when he was on the hunt. ‘Joel, you and Frankie wait for me over there.’ He pointed to a group of slot machines several metres away.

‘Paelen, what are you planning to do?’ Joel nervously asked.

‘What I do best!’ Paelen grinned.

Paelen turned on all his thieving skills. He could see, hear, smell and taste everything going on around him. It was as though the world had slowed to a standstill and he was the only one moving. His keen Olympian eyes scanned the gambling tables. He looked for weaknesses in either the dealers or players; someone who wasn’t concentrating as sharply as they should.

Then his eyes found their mark. There! He saw a drunk player who spent more time chatting up a waitress than concentrating on the game or his many stacks of chips. Taking a deep breath, Paelen made his move.

With the stealth of a lifetime spent living only by his senses, Paelen walked soundlessly towards the player. Without changing the expression on his face, he stretched out the bones in his right arm to extend it and walked smoothly past the drunk player. His long arm flashed out so quickly, no one saw the long fingers wrap around a stack of chips and pull away instantly.

Paelen moved on to his next victim. And then another. And then another! No one noticed a thing. He walked back to Joel and Frankie and without pausing, whispered, ‘Follow me.’

When they’d reached the other side of the casino Paelen stopped and burst out laughing. ‘That was just too easy! I must do it again!’

Joel was frowning. ‘Paelen, I was watching you. You didn’t do anything.’

Paelen laughed harder and held out his right hand. Opening his fingers, he showed Joel the stack of fifty-dollar and one-hundred-dollar chips resting inside.

‘Wow!’ Frankie cried. ‘You’re rich!’

Joel’s eyes went wide as he counted the chips. ‘There’s over a thousand dollars here. How did you do it? I didn’t see a thing.’

‘That is because I am not just a thief, I am a very good thief !’

‘But you told Diana you weren’t a thief any more.’

‘I lied!’ Paelen’s eyes were bright as his mind raced with the things he could achieve in this strange and wondrous place. His eyes scanned the crowds of the casino. Nothing had changed. No one had noticed a thing. ‘Wait here, I will go and get more.’

Joel caught him by the arm. ‘No. We have more than we need right now. Let’s not be greedy. We can cash them in and get going.’

Paelen wasn’t happy, but he agreed. The three walked through the casino towards the secured counter where chips where cashed into money.

‘This is where we’re going to have trouble,’ Joel said.

‘Why?’

‘Because we’re underage. You’re not allowed to gamble until you’re twenty-one.’

Paelen frowned. ‘I did not gamble, I stole these chips. And I am well over twenty-one; especially if measured in the years of your world.’

‘How old are you?’ Frankie asked.

Paelen shrugged. ‘Actually, I do not know. But I do know I am very old.’

Joel nodded. ‘Maybe, but you don’t look it. I’m only sixteen and I look older than you, but not old enough to play here. We have to find someone to cash them in for us.’

‘Let me try,’ Frankie offered. ‘I do this all the time when John is too drunk. Give me the chips.’

Joel looked doubtful but handed the chips over to little Frankie.

‘Follow me, but stay way back,’ Frankie instructed. He walked away and started to study the players at the slot machines. He stopped before a man whose shaking hand was feeding money into a machine. He was in his thirties and his rumpled clothing suggested he hadn’t changed them in a few days. The expression on his face was desperate.

Frankie went into his act. His eyes grew large and round and his face sorrowful. He showed the man his chips and pointed to the cashier counter.

‘The kid is good,’ Joel muttered as they followed Frankie and the man to the counter.

Minutes later, Frankie returned with a fist full of cash. He handed it over to Joel.

‘There’s only seven hundred dollars here.’ Joel said, counting the cash and frowning. ‘Where’s the rest?’

Frankie shrugged. ‘I gave it to the man. He was out of money and couldn’t pay his hotel bill.’

‘But you gave him more than we have,’ Paelen complained.

‘He needed it,’ Frankie insisted.

‘Then I shall go get us more,’ Paelen offered.

Joel grabbed Paelen. ‘Don’t. Frankie’s right. We have more than we need. Hopefully Emily will be here soon and we’ll be leaving anyway. We don’t need more.’

Disappointed, Paelen surrendered to his friends. ‘Well, what do you want to do now?’

‘I know!’ Frankie jumped up and down excitedly. ‘Let’s go to the Fremont Street Experience!’

‘What is that?’ Paelen asked.

‘You’ll see. It will be great. I love it there, but John doesn’t let me go very often.’

Joel shook his head. ‘I think we should head back and wait for Emily. She could be here any moment and we still have to plan our next move.’

‘Would you relax!’ Paelen insisted. ‘We have plenty of time before Emily returns. I told you, this may be our last opportunity to see this place. I for one do not want to miss a thing. We can go just for a while. Please?’

Joel looked from Paelen to Frankie’s hopeful face. He shook his head and started to chuckle. ‘All right, you win. But if we find Emily has been waiting for us, you’re going to be the one to tell her why, not me.’

‘Agreed!’ Paelen said. He concentrated on Frankie. ‘Lead on.’

The Fremont Street Experience was like nothing Joel or Paelen had ever seen before. It was an outdoor pedestrian mall that was covered with a long, tall barrel canopy that was alive with a brilliant light show that filled the entire area with blazing colours. Loud music blasted from an act on the open-air stage as well as from speakers that coordinated with the light show above.

Thousands of people filled the street, which was lined with more casinos and shops than Paelen could count. No cars were allowed along Fremont, so the road itself teemed with tourists. Countless performers in costume invited the crowds to have pictures taken with them.

‘This is insane!’ Joel said as his wide eyes tried to take it all in.

They gazed around in absolute wonder.

‘I wouldn’t mind one of those,’ Joel pointed to a red Ferrari raised on a platform. It was surrounded by more flashy sports cars and people were having their photos taken with the luxury vehicles.

‘I agree,’ Paelen said, eyeing up the car. He then pointed at a DeLorean with its gull-wing doors open. ‘Or that one! It looks like it can fly.’

As they admired the cars, they suddenly heard screaming from directly above them. A tourist was sliding along a zip-cord cable suspended high above the crowds. The cable ran the whole length of Fremont Street.