The Fiery Ring

by Gilbert, Morris

  “What did you do?” Joy interrupted.

  “I was a bareback rider, but I got thrown and hurt. Had to quit. Good thing I was married to Pete. I couldn’t perform anymore, so I started working in the cook tent.” She looked down for a moment, regret in her blue eyes. Then she shook it off and said, “It was a real tough break for Chase.”

  Joy sensed a tragic story coming, and when Annie hesitated, she asked, “What happened, Annie?”

  “One of the tigers went wild one night. The lights went out for just a minute, and the tiger lunged at Chase. When the lights came back on, the other cats were beginning to jump off their perches. He was lucky he didn’t get killed!”

  “How awful for him.”

  “It ruined him. He was clawed up pretty bad. Was laid up for three months. He tried to come back, but he couldn’t do it. He’d lost his nerve, and in his business, that’s all a man has. He walked away from the circus without a word. Just left everything. That was two years ago, and this is the first anybody has heard of him. Where did you run into him?”

  “In South Dakota.”

  “Does he drink all the time?”

  “No. I haven’t seen him have a drink in all the time I’ve known him.”

  “I remember the night he left. I wasn’t performing then, but I was watching. Everybody was. Chase tried to go into the cage, but he couldn’t do it. Pete was standing there beside me. Chase came over, and his face was white as paper. He said, ‘Pete, get somebody else. I’ve lost my nerve. I’ll never go in a cage again!’ He disappeared that night, and this is the first we’ve heard of him.”

  Joy was so caught up with the story she had forgotten the steaks. Annie called out, “You’re burnin’ those steaks! Get to work, girl.”

  ****

  Karl Ritter was speaking with a beautiful young woman when Stella House interrupted them. She said, “Karl, this is Chase Hardin. Chase, this is Karl Ritter.”

  Ritter was surprised. “Why, sure! I saw your act several times. Always thought you were the best.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Ritter.”

  Stella said, “You need a helper, Karl. Chase needs a job.”

  Ritter stared at Chase. “But you can’t be serious! I mean, I just need someone to clean cages and move the cats in and out of the big cage.”

  “I can handle that.” Chase knew Ritter was familiar with his background and said, “I got out of the animal training business, but I’m pretty good with sick animals—and I don’t mind cleaning the cages.”

  Ritter was a fine-looking man pushing thirty. He had Nordic good looks—blond hair, piercing blue eyes, strong features, tall and well built. He was usually self-assured, but this troubled him. “I need a helper, Chase, but people will talk. I mean, you were the best!”

  “Ancient history,” Chase said. “I can handle it.”

  Ritter looked at Stella, then shrugged. “Fine with me, Stella.”

  “All right, Chase,” Stella said in a businesslike tone. “Get settled in and then we’ll talk terms.”

  Ritter watched Stella as she turned and walked away, and Chase could almost read his mind. He knows that Stella and I were lovers—and he’s wondering how to deal with me. “I’m ready to go to work, Mr. Ritter.”

  “Just Karl is fine. Come along. I’ll introduce you to the cats—but you’ll remember some of them. . . .”

  ****

  Joy had worked furiously getting the tables set and the food out. She was aware that everyone was staring at her, and more than one of the men had grinned and made a pass at her, but she ignored them.

  Through the tent flap, Annie watched the young woman as she moved around the tables efficiently, pouring coffee and refilling plates. Joy was moving about so quickly she was out of breath when she came back in.

  “Slow down, girl!” Annie admonished her. “No sense in killing yourself.”

  “I don’t mind. Work never hurt anybody.”

  Annie lifted one eyebrow. “No, it didn’t, but most people these days don’t know that.” As the women worked side by side, Annie asked, “Do you have a place to stay yet, Joy? You can share our trailer. Even help me do some of the cleaning. You’ll have to sleep on the couch, though.”

  “That’s fine,” Joy said. “I appreciate it.” She looked outside and said, “Look, there’s Chase.”

  Joy put a steak on a plate and carried it out to him. Chase had taken a place at a table next to Oz and across from Gypsy Dan. “Here, Chase. Did you and Mr. Ritter work something out?”

  “We’re all set. I’ll start right after we eat.”

  “Will you be careful not to work too hard?” she asked. “Your ribs won’t take it.”

  “What’s wrong with your ribs?” Gypsy Dan asked, leaning forward.

  “He had an accident and got some ribs cracked,” Joy explained.

  Oz whistled. “That’s a bad one. I had that happen once. The test’s center pole slipped and nearly killed me. Nothing worse than cracked ribs.”

  Joy left, but from time to time she glanced out at Chase. He was eating slowly. She saw a big man with blond hair and steely blue eyes approach Chase’s table. “Is that Karl Ritter?” she asked Annie.

  “That’s him.”

  Joy went out to the tables and approached the trainer. “Mr. Ritter, I’m Joy Smith.”

  Ritter stopped and smiled at her. “Good to meet you, Joy. You’re helping Annie, I understand.”

  “Yes. I . . . I know Chase wouldn’t tell you, but he’s been hurt. He’s got some cracked ribs.”

  Ritter was surprised. “He didn’t mention that. Hey, Chase, you should have told me.”

  “They’re healing up just fine.”

  Ritter smiled at Joy. “Thanks for telling me. I’ll look out he doesn’t do too much.”

  Joy smiled, relieved. “That’s nice of you, Mr. Ritter.”

  “Just first names in the circus. Karl is fine. Welcome to the big show. Hope you can cook as good as Annie.” He turned, made his way to a table, and took a seat.

  Pete Delaney had been listening to this. “Didn’t know about the ribs, Chase.”

  “I’ll be okay. Thanks, Pete.”

  “You got a place to bunk yet?”

  “Not yet.”

  “He could stay with me,” Oz piped up. “I’ve got room.”

  “That sounds good. Thanks.”

  Pete Delaney left, and Joy wanted to speak to Chase, but everyone seemed to be watching them. Instead, she turned and went back into the cook tent, and as she left, Oz said, “You ain’t gonna have it easy, Chase. It’s been a while since you worked with the big cats, and then there’s that history with you and Stella. Think you can handle that?”

  “That’s been over for a long time, Oz.”

  “If you say so. But it’s going to be rough cleaning out cages when you been a star.”

  “I can handle that too.”

  Phineas Oz was a small man but had a large amount of wisdom. He knew something was going on in Chase Hardin, but he didn’t know what. He stared at his friend for a moment, then said, “Okay, just holler if it gets too bad.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Fall From Grace

  As soon as Joy awoke she plucked her journal from the suitcase, then picked up the fountain pen Chase had given her for her birthday. She leafed through until she found the last entry and then wrote:

  March 26, 1927

  Well, I’m a part of the circus now. I don’t know how it will work out. Chase doesn’t seem happy, but at least we found a place to work until Travis gets back. Somehow I think it is Sister Hannah’s prayers that are helping us, and although I feel about a million miles from God myself, it gives me a good feeling to know that she’s still on our side.

  Joy read what she had written, then added:

  I try to forget what Albert Tatum did to Travis and me—but I just can’t! I’ll always believe he stole my daddy’s farm, though I can’t prove it. And I know he stole all of Mama’s furniture! I don’t know how, but
someday I’ll make him pay for all he’s done to us!

  Hearing sounds in the bedroom of the trailer, Joy capped the pen and closed the book, then put both back into her suitcase. By the time Annie stepped outside fully dressed, Joy was ready to greet her. “Good morning, Annie.”

  “You sleep all right?”

  “Oh, just fine.”

  “We don’t fix any breakfast here at the trailer. We go over and cook for everybody else, and then have a late breakfast ourselves.”

  “That suits me fine.”

  As the two women left the trailer, dawn was just beginning to break, lightening up the eastern sky. When they reached the cook tent, Annie said, “Why don’t you start the fire, and I’ll make the batter. It’s pancake morning.”

  Joy nodded and built up a fire in the stove, then asked, “What else can I do?”

  “Why don’t you cook the pancakes, and I’ll fry the ham.”

  No sooner had Joy flipped the first batch of pancakes than she heard the murmur of voices outside as the circus people gathered around the tables. The griddle was sizzling hot by now, and soon the pancakes were being sent to the tables in a steady stream. She got into the rhythm of it, pouring out a dozen pancakes at a time on the large griddle, serving those that were ready, then coming back in time to flip the others. It was not hard work for her, and she threw herself into it with gusto.

  While setting down a platter of pancakes on one table, she stopped to speak to Chase, and he asked her, “How are you making out with Annie?”

  “Oh, just fine. What about you?”

  “Yes, I’m okay. It was good talking with Oz again.”

  There was no time for more conversation. The circus people ate fast and worked fast. Soon everyone had eaten, and Annie said to Joy, “Now, let’s sit down and have a bite. I think we deserve it.”

  They dug into tall stacks of their own pancakes with cane syrup and thick slices of ham. Both women ate as though they hadn’t had a decent meal in a month. Annie did most of the talking while they ate. She finished her last bite, took a sip of coffee, and nodded. “You’re a hard worker, Joy. I’m glad you’re here.”

  “It’s good for me and Chase too.”

  “I guess everybody’s curious about you and Chase.”

  Joy shook her head. “I know they are. Everyone has managed to ask me if we’re sleeping together.”

  “Well, it’s a natural enough assumption.”

  “That may be, but honestly, we’re not.”

  Annie smiled at the intensity of the young woman’s reply. “How old are you, Joy?”

  “Just turned seventeen.”

  Joy liked Annie very much and felt grateful for her hospitality. At Annie’s questions about her past, she opened up a little, but her answers were still guarded and evasive. She said nothing about losing her family, only that she had been unhappy at home and had been forced to go out on her own. She spoke of the incident on the train when Chase had come to her assistance and been badly beaten.

  Annie listened with interest, then asked, “If Chase was down, what kept those guys from turning on you?”

  Joy smiled and said demurely, “I discouraged them.”

  “How’d you do that?”

  Joy laughed out loud. “I shot one of them.”

  Annie’s eyes flew open. “You didn’t!”

  “Yes, I did. My father gave me a thirty-eight. It’s an old family treasure. I had no doubt that creep on the train was going to hurt me, so I just pinked him a little. I’m a very good shot. And then I made them jump off the train.”

  “Good for you!” Annie exclaimed. She liked the girl’s spunk. “And so you stayed with the woman you told me about until Chase was able to move again?”

  “Yes. Sister Hannah Smith. She’s no relation of mine,” Joy added hurriedly.

  Annie sipped her coffee again and said, “I’ve always liked Chase.”

  “Have you known him for a long time?”

  “Oh yes. We were both performers before I had my accident.”

  “What was he like then?”

  “Not like he is now. He’s been beat down so bad now that the hurt shows in his face. Back then he was on top of the world. He was a star of the circus world, Joy, and he could make those tigers do anything—and I mean anything!” She went on describing a younger Chase and concluded, “He’s changed so much, I hardly know him.”

  “I’d like to have known him then. Do you think he’ll ever get over it?”

  “I don’t know. It doesn’t seem likely. Once someone in the circus loses his nerve, it’s usually for good.” Annie rose to her feet and said, “Help me clean up, and then you can have the rest of the morning off.”

  “All right. I’d like to look around.”

  ****

  The circus world fascinated Joy. She discovered an area called Clown Alley, where the clowns practiced. She stood watching them for a long time with great amusement. With Oz shouting directions, they were working on an act that simulated a burning building and involved throwing a baby off the top of it. Joy could not help laughing as the clowns ran around wildly.

  She moved on into the big top itself and was enthralled by the sight of an aerialist troop practicing their act at a dizzying height above the floor. She had never seen anything like it! There were four of them: a man and woman perhaps in their late thirties and a boy and girl probably in their teens. The man caught the boy and the girl as they sailed through the air after turning somersaults, and the woman stood beside the man, seeing that the trapeze got back in place to catch them as the flyers returned. Joy was so immersed in watching that she was startled when a voice said, “Hi. Watching the Martinos, are you?”

  Joy turned to see a girl perhaps no older than she was. The girl had blond hair and large green eyes, and was dressed in tights and a body suit.

  “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

  “They’re good, aren’t they? You must be Chase’s friend.” Without waiting for an answer, she said, “I’m Angel Fontaine.”

  “My name’s Joy Smith. What do you do in the circus, Angel? Are you a flyer like them?”

  “No, a wire walker. My mother and dad and my brother Bert and I.”

  Joy suddenly said, “Well, go ahead and ask.”

  Angel blinked with surprise. “Ask what?”

  “Ask about me and Chase. Everybody else has.”

  Angel noted the rather sharp tone and laughed. “Well, it’s only natural. Chase stays gone for two years without a word and then shows up with a girl. Naturally we’re curious.”

  “We’re just good friends.” Joy pronounced the words slowly and carefully so there would be no mistake.

  “I’ll take your word for it. I saw you over in the cook tent this morning at breakfast. You’re not a performer?”

  “Me? No, nothing like that.” She looked up at the aerialists and shook her head. “I think you’d have to start when you were just a baby to do a thing like that.”

  “That’s right,” Angel said. “The circus works that way. Most of us have circus backgrounds. My grandparents were wire walkers, and Dad and Mom just took over. I’ve never known anything else.”

  “Did you know Chase when he was here before?”

  “I sure did.” Angel smiled broadly and then laughed aloud. She seemed like a happy girl and very outgoing. “As a matter of fact, I had the world’s biggest crush on him. I was only fourteen when he was with the show. I made a real pest of myself, but he was always nice.”

  The two girls stood talking for a few minutes. When Angel turned to leave, she said, “Too bad about Chase. He was the best.”

  Joy said good-bye to Angel, and then wandered around until she found the animal cages, which Annie had already informed her was called the menagerie. Chase was cleaning one of the cages with a garden hose. She immediately went up to him and greeted him.

  Chase shut off the hose and said, “Hi. Taking a tour of the circus world?”

  “Yes. I met Angel.”
>
  “She’s a nice girl. Her whole family’s very fine. Been in show business forever, I think.”

  “She said she had a crush on you when she was younger.”

  Chase smiled slightly and shrugged. “That happens a lot. Who did you have a crush on when you were just a kid?”

  “The quarterback of the football team, I guess.”

  “Did you ever go out with him?”

  “No, he never even saw me.” She looked over at the tiger that had come to press its head against the cage. “Why is it doing that?”

  “She wants to have her head scratched.” Chase went over and scratched the big cat’s furry head.

  “Can I do that?” Joy asked. “Sure. Why not. This is Mabel, a good friend of mine.”

  “She was here when you left?”

  “Oh yes. She was always my favorite. Mabel, I want you to meet Miss Joy Smith.”

  Joy reached in and ran her hand over the tiger’s head. The animal made a rumbling noise deep down in her throat, and Chase said, “That means she’s happy.” Joy continued to rub the tiger’s head. “She’s so beautiful!” she whispered. “And she’s just like a big kitten.”

  “No, she’s not,” Chase said firmly. “She’s a wild animal.”

  “But she’s so tame.”

  “Don’t ever make that mistake. Animals like Mabel here can be very well behaved and seem to be affectionate, but in a flash that wildness can leap out, and suddenly they’re not pussycats anymore. They’re killing machines. Look at those teeth.” He pulled the tiger’s head up, and Mabel opened her mouth. “See those teeth? You wouldn’t want her to bite you with those pearly whites! And get a load of these claws. Sit up, Mabel.”

  Mabel sat up and waved her paws in the air, making Joy laugh with delight. Chase grabbed her paws and said, “Once these get into you, she doesn’t have any way to get them out easily. She just pulls back, and whatever they’re in rips wide open. If that’s your face, then good-bye face.”

  Joy was struck with Chase’s affection for the animal as he continued to talk about Mabel. At one point she interrupted him. “You really love her, don’t you, Chase?”