Beast Master's Circus

by Andre Norton

  He found her by the carra cage. "Laris, I see the show's shutting down. When do you leave?"

  She smiled at him. "Not for weeks yet. Dedran says we're all tired. We're to take a break. We'll stay here for a few weeks and rest up before we go on to Trastor. We have quite a long season there."

  Logan studied the ground. "Do you ever get any real time off? I mean, can you leave the circus?"

  "Not for good." Her reply was quick.

  He looked up. "No, I mean, could you spend time on our ranch? I could teach you to ride. Would Dedran agree to let you come and stay with us for a few days?"

  "We could ask him." She wasn't sure how to play this. Let Dedran give her the cues. Logan led her in search of the circus boss and once they found Dedran, asked straightforwardly.

  "My father would be pleased if Laris could stay a while with us. We'd show her Arzor. She'd be quite safe." Yes, but would the family be safe from her, Laris thought sadly. Dedran was considering.

  "I have no objection. My ward is a sensible girl and I'm sure you would see she came to no harm." He watched Logan react to the words. The boy was becoming attracted. All to the good. He'd be less on his guard, and the others, seeing him so, would accept the girl more swiftly. He glanced kindly at his little piece of bait. "When would you like to leave, my dear? I can have Girran take your orders. Tell him anything he must do to care for the beasts."

  "Is it all right if I take Prauo?" He nodded and she turned to Logan. "Will anyone mind if I bring him?"

  Logan grinned. "Storm said you'd probably want to. He won't try killing anything without your say-so, will he?" She shook her head firmly. "Then it should be fine. Be ready the day after tomorrow. I'll come with the crawler to collect you about midmorning." His smile widened. "It'll be great to have you at the ranch, and don't worry. You'll have a wonderful time with us."

  He left Laris with Dedran and hurried away. The girl kept her face blank knowing Dedran was looking at her. "You know what to do?"

  Laris nodded. "Check out all the security systems," she recited for him. "Map the layout of both places. Learn the routine and who's where and when. What if they have a safe or something? Should I try for the code? It might help if Cregar can confuse their local patrol about the real target."

  Dedran looked approvingly. "Well thought. Yes, if you can get the safe code do so. But take no chances. Besides, even on these rural planets, many these days have security systems that are quite sophisticated. Not around their property but certainly protecting a safe. If it's that secure, then Cregar will have no time to play about."

  His last words were emphasized and Laris hid another shiver. She knew the guild methods of opening such security. It often required only the hand which would make a print. More technical systems required a live hand. That too could be arranged, as could the owner's voice. Few refused to cooperate when shown a family member and told the alternative. The guild was known for its ruthlessness.

  But she would enjoy this brief time away. She could pretend that she was an ordinary girl visiting friends. Prauo could run free, be happy, and hunt where permitted. He'd never had the chance to do that before. Logan was on time and she seated herself with him while Prauo jumped easily onto the back of the crawler.

  "Do you have many of these?"

  Logan shook his head. "Nope. Just this one for hauling loads. Arzor uses a minimum of technology. It breaks down, has to be fixed, and it's very expensive to import. On the ranches we get around on horseback. The rangers and security have copters. But only a few."

  "Security, that's what you call your local patrolmen?"

  Logan looked a little surprised. "Men. What about women?"

  "Oh, on Kowar they'd never have let a woman join. They only have patrolmen."

  "Kowar? Is that where you come from?"

  "Sort of." She changed the subject. "What's that bush? It's so pretty."

  He started to tell her about the plants they passed. Then the land. By the time they were almost at the ranch he'd forgotten the question she'd never answered. But Laris felt she must decide. Should she tell them the truth if they asked again? She could do so safely. The only thing she had to hide was her exact status with Dedran. He'd claimed her as his ward with the Quades. That was respectable. Some planets didn't hold with the bond-system.

  She thought Arzor might be one of them. And still more worlds did not approve of bonding underage children. She'd keep silent on all that but if they asked again she would tell the truth about the little she remembered of the times before Meril then Kowar's De Pyall refugee camps. She had just made the decision when the crawler passed the Quade ranch gates and halted at the top of the rise. Logan pointed.

  "Home," he said softly.

  Chapter Five

  Laris seemed to drop into the Quade ranch as if she had been born there. She learned to ride with a speed that made it seem as if she'd had only to be reminded of her skills. That did her no harm with Storm or his father. Prauo was aloof but sensible with the other beasts of Storm's team. His longer legs and rangy body carried him miles alongside Laris's mount as he hardened to the exercise. He hunted with her, the two so clearly attuned that Storm nodded approvingly.

  For Prauo it was all delightful, but it was the girl whose soul expanded in the freedom. She reveled in being able to ride down the miles; in the new sights, sounds, and scents. And in the quick give and take, the clatter and chatter of family life. Logan was with her everywhere. It was he who taught her to ride, accompanied her on those rides, and who sat beside her at meals.

  They talked, sometimes casually, sometimes with more seriousness, discussing events on other planets as seen on the newscasts. Laris started to realize she had a good mind. She could argue a point and make her reasons plain. And from the camps and overheard conversations at the circus on an assortment of planets, she had a hard-headed appreciation of what could be contributing circumstances to the problem as disasters unfolded. She'd been there five days when her own origins came up again.

  "Logan said you came from Kowar?" Brad Quade looked at her kindly. Laris heard the unspoken part of the comment, that she did not look like a Kowar settler. They'd mostly been from the Asiatic parts of old Earth.

  "I said 'sort of,'" she noted. "I don't really remember. Dedran adopted me out of the De Pyall refugee camp on Kowar. I'd been in camps for years. That was just the latest. But I was at the camp there for the last two years so I think of Kowar as where I came from, I guess."

  Brad looked interested. "What do you remember from before that?"

  Laris leaned her chin on her fists. "Not a lot." She thought back. "I was on a ship with others. No one I knew. I was eight or nine. We landed at Meril and I was there maybe a couple of years. Before that another camp. Ermaine I think. The camp before that they called De Pyall as well. It might have been on Yohal. My mother was still alive. I think I might have been four or five."

  Storm looked up. "What happened to your mother?"

  "She died," Laris said briefly. "She got sick. I think there were a lot of deaths in that camp. A woman looked after me for a while. She went to a different ship when they moved us again."

  Brad's voice was gentle. "Don't talk about this if it distresses you."

  The girl shook her head. "It's old. It doesn't bother me."

  "Then, what do you remember about your mother? What did others call her when they spoke? Did she ever tell you stories of some place?" Brad leaned forward. "Do you remember any names, words that don't match other places you've been?"

  Laris looked back-into the blank times. The times when she must have been loved and protected. When maybe she'd had a family of her own. They were still as they had always been for her ever since. Blank.

  "I think I was sick when my mother was. I don't remember much about her. No names or people. Sometimes I think I dream. But I can't remember anything when I wake." She shrugged. "It doesn't matter."

  Brad nodded. "But you know your name," he said quietly.

 
She answered without thinking. "I'm Laris. I've always been Laris."

  "Yes." The tone was contemplative. "Yes, you are. Your name is the first thing you learn as a child and probably the last thing you forget. If it could be discovered where you come from, would you like to know?"

  She thought about it. Knowing wouldn't cut her any slack with Dedran. But it would be nicer, good to be able to say that she was Laris of a particular place, not just a camp stray. She felt a sudden surprising flare of hunger. She'd like to know. She said so and Brad nodded.

  "I'll make inquiries."

  It was two days later before something dawned on the girl. If Brad started at the De Pyall camp on Kowar, the records there would show that she'd been bonded, not adopted. She thought of trying to persuade Brad to drop the idea, but it was probably too late. Anyway she could always say she'd just signed papers. That she'd thought it was an adoption. After all, she'd been twelve. Uneducated, ignorant, straight from a camp. Brad would believe that.

  She was wrong but it would be months before she found out how wrong. It wasn't spoken about again until she was due to return to the circus for a day.

  "Laris, we'd like you to come back to the ranch once you've seen the animals are well. Would you like to do that?" Brad's smile was gentle.

  "Yes. If Dedran says I can. It's fun on the ranch." Her rare grin lit up her face. Beside her Logan bit back a sigh. He loved to make her smile. Laris smiled seldom and often tentatively, as if she wasn't sure she should. Considering what his father had discovered so far that wasn't surprising. Camp records had disclosed that the girl had been about ten when she arrived on Kowar. No known family. She'd left again at twelve.

  Brad had checked how it was that a twelve-year-old had walked out of a refugee camp. He'd found her bond registered with another office. Except that the bond claimed her as sixteen. All of them could guess the reasons for that. Logan would have discussed their discoveries so far with Laris but Brad forbade it.

  "I believe Laris knew she was bonded but hopes I won't have discovered that. She lied, probably out of shame; being bonded is quite a stigma on some planets. A child learns pragmatism in a refugee camp and accepting a bond was probably her only way out. Letting her know we've found out would spoil her time here. She wants to know where she came from and who she is. Leave it lie, son."

  Logan had. At almost twenty-one he was discovering reasons why people could be fragile, but it had made him gentler with her. Storm, guessing at more than Logan could know of what Laris's life had been like, remained suspicious. A child growing up in the camps learned to care about their own needs first. Ethics would have gone to the wall as Laris fought to survive. He watched her with Prauo and later with the meercats and Surra. She was a natural. The animals liked and trusted her and she seemed to know by instinct what they wanted. After that thought his gaze on her sharpened; it could be he was right in his belief, that she had the true beast master empathy as well.

  Maybe that was why the circus boss had bonded her. Anyone whose livelihood or passion was beasts would pay highly for someone that good. Perhaps his allowing her to visit the ranch was simply an employer making sure a valuable employee was content. He let his suspicions lapse temporarily and rode out with his wife, his brother, and Laris the next day. Tani was on Destiny, the silver three-quarter duocorn mare which was her usual mount.

  Her coyotes put up a merin deer and all of them chased it laughing, not too serious in the pursuit. Minou and Ferarre joined in the spirit of it as the deer ran, their tongues lolling out in amusement. The deer doubled, twisted, and finally shook them off. She paused to look back at them from a small rise as her pursuers halted. Laris started to laugh.

  "She looks so surprised. As if she thinks we're all mad." Her laugher was infectious and even Storm chuckled.

  "It will keep her in practice."

  "Oh," Laris said in mock-amazed tones. "So that's why we chased her. We're exercising the wildlife. Maybe we should find a few more. After all, Logan said that it's the growing season. The animals could be getting fat. Don't you think it would be a kindness to keep that from happening?"

  "Couldn't we just set up a gymnasium for them?" Tani murmured. "That way they can exercise and we don't have to do half the work."

  Storm looked at her. "Deer, deer. Aren't we lazy."

  Logan groaned at the pun. "Puhlease. I only had breakfast a while ago. I may be sick." Laris was laughing again, a joyous carefree sound which somehow warmed them all.

  "It isn't breakfast," she said sweetly. "It's as I said. Logan's just exercising the wild..." she paused and added the final word, "life."

  This time they all moaned. Tani snorted. "Laris, you're being corrupted. That has to be one of the worst puns I've heard in years." Laris giggled. Storm studied her from the corner of his eye. She looked like a child when she was happy. But she wasn't. Brad said from the records she must be somewhere between sixteen and seventeen. So far he'd traced her to Ermaine. Still no more name than Laris. No planet of origin. No family listed.

  He knew what it had done to him to be alone before he found his stepfather and half-brother. What had it done to her? It hadn't broken her. But things like that could warp and twist in ways which often weren't apparent to an outsider. Then too, small children could be amazingly resilient. Maybe she'd come out of the camps mind-whole. Brad thought she had, and his stepfather was a shrewd man. Storm sat back as his mount ambled after the others. Logan liked her. But Storm was very fond of his younger half-brother. He didn't want the boy hurt.

  Ahead, Laris dropped from her horse to reach out slowly within a small jumble of recently cracked rock. Prauo came trotting back to stare at her find. She cradled it in her hand and showed it to them, eyes wide with pleasure.

  "I saw the sun catch it. Look, isn't it pretty?"

  Storm glanced at the cat's-eye gem. "It's valuable too."

  "Oh," she hesitated then held it up to him. "It was on your land."

  Storm realized that both his wife and brother were glaring at him. He shook his head. "Finders keepers."

  Logan took it from her carefully and turned it over in his fingers. "That last frosty night, it would have split the rock this was in." He touched her arm. "Storm was teasing. It's pretty but it's the green ones which are really valuable. This is gold. It isn't a large stone either. It would take ten or twelve of them to make a green one's value. But it's yours. You found it. Just don't start digging holes like a Djimbut to see if you can find more."

  Laris took the gem back. She admired the gold color with the black line like a pupil which split it in two. She pointed. "Is that why they're called cat's-eye stones?"

  "Yes. Look." Prauo had moved to her side and was looking to see what his sister-without-fur had. "It would look just like one of his eyes if it was purple," Logan pointed out.

  Laris nodded. "But I'd rather he had his own eyes than I had this. It's very pretty though." It was, she thought. And Dedran would have it from her as soon as he saw it and once they were away from Arzor. "What's a green one worth?" If this one was still quite valuable it might give her a chance to escape. She could keep Dedran from knowing about it if she was careful.

  Logan thought a moment. "Don't see many green cat's-eye stones. But I think the last good-sized one went for about five thousand credits on the market. That gold one would be worth around a hundred credits maybe, considering the size."

  Laris kept her face blank but Storm saw the sudden glitter of her eyes. That had surprised her. To a camp child a stone worth only a fraction of the value Logan had quoted on a green cat's-eye gem was still real riches. He was right. To Laris it meant jumping ship and still having enough to survive at least a half year on the stone's price. It could mean safety, freedom from Dedran and the guild. The guild wouldn't look for her. And they might keep Dedran moving on, too busy to turn back and seek her out.

  Smiling, she dropped the stone in a pocket. She nudged her horse up alongside Logan's mount and continued an earlier conversa
tion. Tani dropped back with Storm.

  "Has Brad found out any more about her?"

  "Nope. He's still chasing through Ermaine's bureaucracy. They closed the refugee camp they had there about seven years ago. Just over a half year after Laris was shipped out. They claim that a lot of the records were dumped after five years."

  "Claim?"

  "Uh huh. Brad thinks they're holding out for a bribe to look."

  Tani smiled unpleasantly. "Let me at the com when we get back," she said, referring to the ranch's method of communication, not only locally, but also planet to planet. "Aunt Kady would enjoy lighting a fire under a few bureaucrats. The ark's important to most planetary governments. Aunt Kady asks, Aunt Kady gets. And if I can tell her we've got tissue samples from two Terran dogs she hasn't found before, she'll get those records if she has to go there herself. I don't think she has many carra samples either."