“It’s been too long,” I said to Harsita.
He knew exactly what I was talking about. We both felt a strong urge to see everyone and make certain the elephants were all right. And I missed Marvin more than I cared to admit, and letters weren’t enough.
“There’s something special about a circus, and circus people,” I said, almost to myself. “There’s no reason to wait. It’s never a good time for a farmer to leave.” I wiped a drop of sweat off my brow.
The soybeans and peanuts had been harvested. Ben could handle the tobacco…I mentally ran down my list. When I got to “water the garden,” I took a sip of my tea, then smiled at Harsita. “We’ll surprise them!”
¯¯¯
Lucky warned me in a letter that rumors of the Circus of the Queens were spreading. “They’re saying Papa gambled away our family jewels, or we wouldn’t be in the fix we’re in.” I’d received her letter earlier in the day and was just now reading it to Harsita. It made me angry. It was true that Vladimir’s family had once had a large collection of jewels—but didn’t these people understand that they were probably being worn by the wives and lovers of Stalin or Lenin? “Grrrrrr!” I felt like a mama bear defending her cub.
“They’re also saying Papa sold his collection of playing cards to a French gentleman,” Lucky went on. When I read this, alarms started going off in my head. “Sadly, I believe that is true,” Lucky ended.
Harsita and I tried to prepare ourselves for what we might find when we arrived. We’d meet the circus in Charleston. I hadn’t been there since Spade’s memorial.
“We’ll have to call Officer Harper and thank him once again,” I said. “What a wonderful friend I made, and all because of that trickster of a rabbit.”
¯¯¯
I climbed down from the train. The smell of wild beach roses and jasmine was a heady mix with the salt-sea air. The excitement I felt knowing I was only hours away from seeing the people I loved and Emily and Bess had already added a healthy glow to my face.
It felt good to be free of my daily routine. Even though Savannah has a seaport, I hadn’t taken the time to walk by the water in months. We’d been too busy working to save the farm. “Look, there’s Fort Sumter in the distance,” I told Harsita. “That’s where the first shot rang out in the war between North and South.”
We took a stroll down King Street and followed Broad Street to the water. On this walk, I remembered the way Charleston looked before 1929, when porches of homes were filled with families, children frolicking, lovers kissing, and phonographs playing tunes, many of them by Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.
Harsita and I took our time. We were in a hurry, but yet we were not. We had put our things in a locker at the train station, and I hired a driver for several hours to follow us so we could enjoy the sights and unwind. It had been such a long time since we had done anything frivolous.
After we’d had enough fresh air, our driver took us to get our things, and then we made our way to the show. No one knew that we were coming, so there was no one anxiously awaiting us.
¯¯¯
I looked up at the circus banner that had always been so sharp and crisp, stretched above the entrance. For the first time, I thought it looked dingy and gray. With a twinge of sadness, I hoped it wasn’t a foreshadowing of what was yet to come as I handed over the money for two seats, like anyone else. I wanted to see our circus through the public’s eye. A stranger greeted us and collected our tickets, and we immediately made our way into the big top and sat among the sparse audience. The bleachers were emptier than I’d ever seen them.
“I don’t think anyone saw us.” I winked at Harsita, trying to keep things cheerful. “Our surprise is safe.”
Inside the big top, the setup for the show was much the same, but somehow it too had lost its shine. Everything looked old and tarnished. I was afraid my instincts were going to be correct.
Three clowns rode their unicycles, but there were no dogs jumping through hoops on fire. When Marvin came out, I could feel the blood rising to the surface of my skin, and I knew exactly how much I missed him. Roman’s father Louie did his act with the lions and was brilliant as always, but the only equestrian act was Kyle’s rodeo show. “That Kyle appeals to everyone,” I whispered to Harsita.
“Where are Emily and Bess?” he whispered back. I didn’t know. We’d both been on the edge of our seats, waiting for them to enter with the boy Marvin had hired temporarily to show off what Harsita had taught them.
When Lucky came out with the band, playing the bass drum, I about jumped out of my seat, wanting run and hug her. I kept looking for Vladimir, but I didn’t see him anywhere.
Marvin was as marvelous as he could be under the circumstances. But by now, neither Harsita nor I could wait for the show to be over. I couldn’t believe how much had changed in just one year.
After the tent emptied out, we hurried to find Vladimir and Marvin. A new security guard tried to stop us, but out of the corner of my eye I saw them and started to yell and wave. At first the security guard thought I was nuts, but a few seconds later he saw his boss and the ringmaster weeping as they ran to greet us.
“I’ve missed you so much,” Marvin said, reaching out to kiss me, but when he did, my body went rigid. Instead of telling him how thrilled I was to see him, the first words out of my mouth were, “Where are Emily and Bess?”
I could tell by the look on both men’s faces that I was not going to like what I heard.
Marvin finally spoke up. “They’re gone.”
Vladimir lowered his eyes. “It was feed them or us,” he said, trying to rescue Marvin. I could feel my blood rushing through my veins. My cheeks had passed rosy and gone to bright red. “We were all very sad, but with these hard times come hard choices.” The pain on Vladimir’s face said all I needed to know.
“Where are they?” I asked. “Together, I presume?”
Vladimir looked down without answering and bit his lip.
My tears were welling up. “Oh, no. What happened, and how long have they been gone?”
Harsita started to tremble. He looked as if he might collapse. Marvin got him a chair.
“Remember Jim Baldwin?” Vladimir asked.
My heart sank. “No! Not Big Jim!” Anybody but Big Jim, I thought and remembered what Louie had told me.
“Well, he tricked me again. He sent an agent from Thailand who said that Bess’s previous owners would buy her back, and she could go home. I was so desperate, I believed him. He always wanted a queen; now he has one.” Vladimir was barely holding himself together.
Somehow I managed to find a breath. I still had to find out who had taken Emily. Vladimir knew where I was going next.
“She’s in a small zoo in Mississippi. The only elephant they had up and died.”
“She’s alone?”
“Yes.”
“We have to do something,” I said in a whisper. But I don’t think anyone heard me.
Chapter 41
“I’m lucky Spade wasn’t here,” Vladimir said, looking at his feet. “It wasn’t easy, but I did what I felt had to be done. I didn’t know I was being tricked.” Then he turned and walked away.
Ann Marie and the two Kyles came running to greet us. Kyle Sr. had always been particularly fond of Harsita, and he immediately began with a lively anecdote about Sir Charles and his adjustment to circus life, giving Ann Marie and me a chance to catch up for a few minutes. When Kyle had finished his story, Harsita lifted Kyle Jr. onto his shoulders and asked if the two of them could visit Roman together.
“You can see Papa is still fighting for his life,” Ann Marie said sadly after the boys had left. “Every morning he puts on his guilt with his undershirt. He feels responsible for Spade’s death. The only thing that keeps him from jumping off the ledge is Kyle Jr. When they’re together, he’s like another person, joking and laugh
ing like the father I grew up with.”
“How is Bella coping?”
“You know Mama; she’s Italian, not Russian. It’s her nature to appreciate what she still has. She puts on a good face and tries to make Papa smile by cooking good food. She’s been trying to convince him to drink more wine and less vodka—it’s a more cheerful drink.
“Papa and Marvin have had to sell off so much of the circus, but even if we’re a little wobbly, we’re still standing. Marvin’s missed you terribly, Donatella. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t mention your name. He’s been torn between his responsibility to the circus and wanting to hop on the next train to Savannah.”
There was a pause as I looked at my own feet, wondering if it would have changed anything if I hadn’t gone away. Just as I was opening my mouth to reply, I was saved by an unmistakable shriek.
“Donatella!” Lucky practically broke me in half, hugging me.
“Look at you! I can see that you haven’t forgotten how to laugh,” I said.
“Yes, Lucky is the keeper of humor,” said Ann Marie. “I don’t know what any of us would do without her. When this horror is over, I’m going to push her out the door toward New Orleans so she can write all day and read all night. I know playing the bass drum in the windjammer band is not her life’s ambition.”
I had to agree.
¯¯¯
Our visit was not turning out the way Harsita or I had hoped. I was trying to emulate Bella—let go of the past and be grateful for what we have—but poor Harsita felt lost. There were hardly any animals left for him to visit and none to train, though he gave Ali Baba some of the attention he would have given the elephants. “You’re the only one who needs me,” he confessed.
“Don’t worry,” I reassured him. “We’ll get Emily and Bess back somehow, and I’ll need you more than ever. But for now we have to push their memory away and focus on our friends while we are here. They’ve done their best.”
¯¯¯
The next morning, Lucky came and asked me to come with her to visit Ali Baba. “I’ve taken it upon myself to look after him for Diamond.” As we entered the area where Ali Baba was kept, dust motes gleamed in the slanting rays of early sun, and the air smelled sweetly of hay. “I won’t let Papa sell him, at least.”
“How is Diamond?” I asked as Lucky began to brush Ali Baba down.
“She’s well. I think she’s almost too busy to even realize what’s happened to us. Sometimes I envy her—she got away before the beginning of the end. But I guess it’s good to be with family when the world collapses.” She paused. “I know you’re angry at Marvin for not telling you about the elephants. Please don’t be. He loves you, Donatella.”
“I feel bad about how I behaved last night,” I said, offering Ali Baba an apple. He took it delicately and concentrated on chewing it up, juice dripping from his mouth, as Lucky lifted the saddle onto his back and tightened the girth. “I was so upset I could barely look at Marvin, and I know I made your father feel like a failure. It wasn’t fair of me—he was only trying to protect the circus. The elephants became a luxury he couldn’t afford, and then that ogre Big Jim tricked him. My intellect understands, but my heart still can’t accept it.”
Lucky bridled Ali Baba and handed me the reins. “Take a morning ride. It will clear your head,” she said. “When you return, I’ll make us some hot coffee.”
¯¯¯
Ali Baba and I headed away from the circus grounds, across a field still sparkling with morning dew. The sound of Ali Baba’s hooves brushing through the tall grass was soothing. I leaned closer to his neck and nudged him into an easy canter, my hands on his neck, feeling his muscles moving under his warm, silky coat. When we reached the tree line, I brought him back to an easy walk on a loose rein along the edge of the woods. In the cool shade, my head felt clearer.
We’ll get Emily and Bess back somehow… When I’d said those words to Harsita earlier, they’d been an empty promise. But now I said them out loud and knew they had to be true.
¯¯¯
Bella wasn’t too pleased with the way I’d treated Vladimir and Marvin, and she let me know it. “I understand how much Emily means to you and what she meant to Spade. She and Bess meant that much to Vladimir too, but selling them was the kindest thing to do,” she said as soon as I entered her kitchen. “Vladimir did the only thing he could, no matter how hard it was for him.” She bit her lip and turned back to the counter where she was chopping onions.
“I’m sorry,” I said and touched her shoulder. And with those two words she laid down the knife and turned around. The iceberg that had come between us melted, and we fell into each other’s arms.
“I’ve missed my good friend,” I said. “Life is not the same without you. I know the circus is your home, but remember, Spade isn’t the only one welcome in Savannah. Irina left me the gift of land, and it’s beginning to give us new crops. Whatever I have, I will share with you—never forget that.”
“It’s good to know we’ll never be homeless, but the Circus of the Queens means everything to Vladimir.” She turned back to throw the onions into a saucepan, where they sizzled in melted butter. “As long as there’s a chance it can survive, I have to support him here.” She hesitated. “Please try to forgive Marvin. I don’t know what we would have done without him. He helps hold us together.”
Bella was right. I owed Marvin an apology. I hugged her again, left her to her cooking, and headed out to find him.
¯¯¯
I could hear him calling out orders as workers dragged pieces of scenery into place in the big top. He looked at me with his big eyes when I walked in, clearly disappointed in me.
“If you’ve come to tell me I was wrong, Donatella,” he said, “walk out the way you came in. I just can’t hear it.”
This wasn’t the reunion he’d imagined; I knew I would have to find a way to make amends. Oblivious to the circus workers standing around, I went and kissed him on the lips. Then I unclasped my amethyst necklace and put it in his front pocket—it was my way of saying he possessed my heart.
To my surprise, Marvin kissed me back as if we were alone. Then he grabbed my hand and led me to his tent, where he laid me on his bed and showed me, in no uncertain terms, that I was his.
¯¯¯
Our time in Charleston passed too quickly. Marvin and I talked every night until our heads were so heavy we couldn’t hold them up, and every morning I had to push him out of bed.
One night, just as I was about to close my eyes, Marvin propped himself up on his elbow and gazed steadily at me, his eyes catching the light of the lantern he hadn’t yet extinguished. “Donatella, have you ever thought of becoming my bride?”
I didn’t hesitate, though my answer was a surprise to both of us. “When the soybeans and peanuts flourish on the farm, and Emily and Bess are reunited once again, then I might say yes.”
Chapter 42
Bella’s dinners seemed to have gotten bigger and richer even than I remembered, as if she were trying to stuff herself and everyone else until there was no room for grief. I often found myself talking with her as she cooked, sometimes chopping vegetables for her, though she usually poured me a glass of wine and told me to sit down with it while she did the work. I’d hardly spoken to Vladimir since I confronted him about the elephants, but Bella filled me in.
“Vladimir’s become both Marvin’s mentor and his friend,” she said. “Every day he works with Marvin, he seems happier than the day before. He’s a good teacher, and he enjoys sharing his years of experience.”
Knowing I would enjoy hearing it, she told me how Vladimir bragged about Marvin. “He’s always talking about how much the audiences adore him,” she said. “You should hear him going on—‘Marvin’s like a brother to me,’ he says. ‘He loves this circus almost as much as we do.’ Though with you in Savannah, we both know Marvin’s torn.
<
br /> “Vladimir sometimes says that if times weren’t so difficult, he might turn the entire circus over to Marvin. ‘You and I could take long strolls and sit on the beach playing in the sand with our grandson,’ he’ll say. Of course you and I both know Vladimir would be lost without the circus. It’s what defines him.”
I smiled. Bella was right—we both understood that though Vladimir liked to fantasize about other lives, he was too attached to this one to make a move.
“Still,” she said wistfully, “that doesn’t stop me from imagining the sound of the waves breaking and the warm sand between my toes. And if I had to choose, Marvin would be the guy I’d choose to take over the circus. I love our Kyle, but he has too much to learn.”
Just as I was about to leave, Vladimir walked in. “Sorry I’m late,” he said, kissing Bella. “There was a small problem.”
“Is Marvin okay?” I asked, worried.
“Yes, yes. He’s fine. A zebra broke loose during the show. His trainer slipped and dropped the zebra’s reins. I was about to step into the ring, but the problem got settled without me, thanks to your Marvin.”
Vladimir sat down across from me at the table, and Bella handed him a glass of wine and then poured one for herself and sat down, too.
Vladimir was in a genial mood and had apparently forgotten all about the tension between us. He was in his element as he launched into another story, smiling faintly as he looked into the ruby liquid in his glass. “When I was about ten years old,” he said, “my father had a ringmaster-in-training, like Marvin. He hadn’t been with us long. Anyway, I was off to the side of the ring one afternoon when I saw one of the circus dogs nip the leg of a dancing bear. The bear didn’t take to this annoying small creature very well, and he swooped up the little dog with his big paw and held him in the air. Just as he was about to bat him out into the crowd like a ball, my father jumped into the ring with a jar of honey and a stick. As you can imagine, my father was used to dealing with these things in the circus, and he was quick on his feet, like me.
The Fortune Teller's Fate Page 25
