The Fiery Ring

by Gilbert, Morris

  Chase just shook his head, but something dark glowered in his eyes—like a permanent shadow. “You shouldn’t be getting in the cage with that tiger.”

  “Why, she wouldn’t hurt anybody!”

  “She can kill you, Joy.”

  “But Karl’s always in there with me.”

  Chase did not answer but turned away. “I guess I’d better get to work,” he said.

  Joy had felt alienated from Chase in recent weeks. She knew he did not like her getting in the cage with Mabel, but she thought there was more to it than that. He had made it known that he did not like Karl Ritter’s methods of training animals. He felt they were cruel and dangerous. Joy wasn’t sure what to think, but now she said simply, “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be all right.”

  ****

  At the performance that afternoon, Joy played a new role for the first time. As usual, she had ridden Ruth in the spec, then had been a watcher at the animal cage along with Chase and Benny. No problems there—the act had gone well. Immediately after that she had rushed to change into a tight-fitting silver costume covered in gold spangles. She no longer felt uneasy in the immodest circus costumes, accepting that it was all part of the show. She wore a spangled top hat and a coat with a frock tail also covered in spangles. She loved putting on this particular costume, and now she met Gypsy Dan, who grinned and winked at her. “You ready to send me to my death?”

  “Don’t talk like that, Dan.”

  “You know I’m just kidding. You look great. Go on out and get the crowd to liking me.”

  As Joy moved toward the entrance of the arena she thought about how Gypsy Dan had asked her to become a part of his human cannonball act. She had been reluctant at first until he had explained that she wouldn’t actually be doing anything with the cannon. Her part was very simple.

  Joy started paying attention when she heard Colonel House saying with a dramatic flair, “ . . . and this young lady holds the life of Dan Darvo in her hands. If she does not aim the cannon right or does anything at all wrong, we’ll have a tragedy on our hands. So I give you Miss Joy Smith!” Joy smiled and ran to the back of the cannon, which was mounted on a large truck bed, turned a pirouette, and took a bow.

  “And now, Mr. Dan Darvo, the human cannonball!”

  Gypsy Dan came running lightly out into the spotlight wearing a sparkling white uniform with a cape. The young ladies in the audience always cheered and applauded louder than anybody else for this handsome, dark-skinned man with dark hair and flashing eyes. Joy helped him remove his cape and handed him his silver helmet. He fastened it on, then leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek, surprising her. “Just a little extra special bonus for being my helper.” He winked, then climbed swiftly to the top of the ladder and slid feet first into the barrel. He paused to wave to the crowd and then disappeared.

  She had actually done nothing yet, nor would she do anything really, but she understood that her part was simply to help create the illusion. The cannon was already pointed in exactly the right place. The net where Dan would land was securely in place. The control knobs on the back of the cannon were absolutely meaningless, but she would fiddle with them for show before the cannon was fired.

  The colonel shouted out, “And now the final adjustments will be made, and in a few seconds you will see a human body doing what no human body was ever made to do. It will become a projectile—not of death, we trust, but there’s always that possibility.”

  Joy turned wheels and pulled switches, none of which did anything to the cannon. Finally she heard Colonel House say, “When you’re ready, Miss Joy, you may send our brave friend into flight.”

  Joy put her hand on a large lever. She paused dramatically and then pulled. There was a loud explosion—and a gasp from the crowd—while Dan was flung into space by a hydraulic spring inside the cannon.

  Joy held her breath as the human projectile flashed out of the cannon and arced into the air. He held his body perfectly straight, his hands before him in the manner of a diver. As he rose higher the crowd uttered a sustained “Ahhhh!” Joy had watched this many times, but her heart still seemed to stop. As always, Dan made a perfect slow turn and landed on his back in the net. Joy began applauding as he sprang to his feet, flipped over the edge of the net in the manner of an aerialist, and then took his bows. He came running back and pulled off his helmet. When Joy reached out to him, he kissed her hand and then turned to wave at the audience. The applause was long and enthusiastic, and when the two left the ring, Benny got into the cab and slowly backed the truck that was hauling the cannon out of the arena.

  “You did great,” Dan said to Joy, giving her a big hug.

  “I didn’t do anything, Dan. Just pretended to push buttons.”

  “Are you going out with Ritter?” Dan asked.

  The sudden question took Joy aback. “Why . . . what do you mean?”

  “I mean are you two going together?”

  “You know we’re not. I’ve been a few places with him but that’s all. It’s nothing like that.”

  Dan reached out and put his hand under her chin. His black eyes were dancing as he said, “You went out with him just two days ago.”

  “Yes, he took me to an ice show. It was the first one I’d ever seen.”

  “Watch out for him.”

  “I’ll watch out for you, Dan Darvo. You’re the one who gives girls trouble.”

  ****

  Joy was exhausted after the evening performance. The day had been long and hard. She had taken another lesson from Karl after the afternoon performance, and then had worked with Dan, learning more about the elephants. She headed back toward Ella’s trailer as the crowds filed out and the equipment was put away. She was mentally reviewing everything she had learned about elephants in the past year. I used to think that big hook Dan uses would hurt the elephants, but you couldn’t hurt an elephant with a thing like that. The hook was used only to give the animals direction and not to hurt them. She smiled at her own innocence. If people realized how strong those animals are and how impossible it would be to hurt them with the hook, they wouldn’t think like that.

  She had almost reached the trailer when Oz caught up with her. She looked down, smiled, and said, “You sure were good today, Oz.”

  “You think so? I try. Hey, Joy, there’s a meeting. Everybody’s got to be there.”

  “What’s it about?”

  “Don’t know. Come on. It’s over at the cook tent.”

  Puzzled, Joy went with Oz and found a considerable number of people there. Colonel House saw her and announced, “All right, Miss Smith, we’ve called this meeting just for you. You have created a problem.”

  Joy blinked her eyes, and she felt everyone watching her. She racked her brains trying to think of something she had done, but could not. “What . . . what did I do, Colonel House?”

  A silence fell, and the Colonel glared at her. Joy glanced around and saw that Chase was standing over to one side, also watching her with a sober expression. Everyone seemed to be angry with her, and she whispered, “I don’t know what I’ve done. What kind of problem have I caused you, Colonel?”

  Much to her surprise, Colonel House suddenly grinned. He had a fine grin, and he called out in his best ringmaster voice, “You’ve become a beautiful young woman—and that’s always trouble. Happy birthday, Joy!”

  Joy found herself surrounded by people—some touching her arm and several kissing her on the cheek, including Gypsy Dan and Karl Ritter. She glanced around to find Chase standing back, a smile on his face.

  “You did this, Chase. You’re the only one who knew it was my birthday.”

  “Guilty as charged.” He came over to her and took her hand. “Happy birthday,” he said.

  Joy was disappointed that Chase did not kiss her on the cheek as some of the others had, but she had no time to talk to him. Annie came out bearing a huge cake with eighteen candles on it, and there were drinks for everyone. Annie had fixed stacks of sandwiches and
a baked ham, and they had a delightful party. She finally got a chance to speak to Chase, who was sitting down beside Angel Fontaine. “I use the pen you gave me on my last birthday every day, Chase.”

  “Well, I got you another present this year.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small package, this time wrapped in red paper. It had a small bow on it, and when she opened it she found a delicate silver ring with a small turquoise stone. “I got it from one of those Indians that was with the circus for a while. He made it himself.”

  “Oh, it’s beautiful, and it fits perfectly too!”

  She reached over and kissed Chase’s cheek, and he blinked with astonishment. “You didn’t have to do that,” he said, grinning.

  “Take what you can get,” Angel said, laughing, then she turned to Chase and said, “My birthday’s on August the twenty-second. Write it down.”

  “I’ll remember.”

  Chase left the party early. He was happy he had engineered the surprise celebration for Joy. He was almost halfway back to the trailer he shared with Oz when a voice turned him around. He stopped and said, “Hello, Stella.”

  “You left the party early.”

  “Yes, I’m a little tired.”

  Stella fell in beside him. “You gonna check the cats?”

  “Yes, always like to put them to bed. You know, those cats get upset if I don’t visit them after every performance and last thing at night.”

  “You’re good with them, Chase—much better than Ritter.”

  Chase did not answer, for there was no answer to it. “I’ll never get in the ring again.”

  “That’s a shame. I’ll never forget the first time I saw you in that ring, Chase. There must have been a dozen tigers. You had everybody in the palm of your hand, including the animals.”

  “Ancient history, Stella.”

  The two made their way to the menagerie, and Chase spoke to every animal. Some of them were already asleep, but others pushed their heads against the bars. Stella followed him, occasionally reaching out and touching one of the gentler ones.

  When he was finished with his rounds, he turned and saw her watching him in a peculiar way. She stepped close to him, and in the semidarkness he saw that her eyes had grown large and her lips were parted. “Chase,” she said in a sultry voice, “do you ever think about the times we had together?”

  “I try not to.”

  He turned to walk on, but Stella caught him, pulling him back to face her. She put both hands on his arms, caressing his muscles gently. “Why don’t you want to think about it? Those were good days.”

  “Better not to think about things like that.”

  “You mean because I’m married?”

  “That’s reason enough.” He removed her hands gently and turned once more to leave, but she planted herself firmly in front of him.

  “It’s not a marriage, Chase. Maurice just wants somebody to take care of him. He’s sicker than people know, and it’s all he can do to get out there and be the ringmaster. I have to take care of everything else. I need more than that.”

  “He’s your husband, Stella, and he’s a good man.”

  “I know he’s a good man, Chase, but he’s an old man.”

  She put her arms around his neck. Chase knew he should pull away and leave while he still could, but the memory of their times together came flooding back and he remained rooted to the ground, his hands at his sides. She pulled his head down and drew nearer. Chase caught the fragrance of her perfume and felt her lips on his, soft and demanding. He surrendered himself to them, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her close. He knew it was wrong, but he told himself he couldn’t help it. He dropped whatever inner restraint he was struggling with and succumbed to the luxury of her embrace. They remained in each other’s arms for a long time, until he heard a noise and lifted his head. Stella had heard it too, and she dropped her arms and stepped to one side. Together they saw Joy, standing dead still at the corner of the animal cages watching them.

  Chase saw the pain and disappointment in Joy’s eyes and wanted to call out to her. But without a word she whirled and ran away.

  Stella brushed her hair back with her free hand, then looked at Chase and laughed. “She’s easily shocked, isn’t she?”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Hotel Peabody

  The last of March found the circus located in West Memphis, Arkansas. This small town was separated from Memphis by the Mississippi River. Joy had gone earlier in the day to watch the mighty river as it flowed by. Rivers had always fascinated her, and she had spent over an hour simply sitting on the bank and watching the magnificent flow of the Father of Waters.

  She had returned in time to help with the noon meal, then had done her part in the matinee. She had fallen into the routine of the circus world. There were very few variations, and it seemed that her time was almost as regimented as that of a soldier. At first it had seemed to her she would grow weary of repeating the activities time and again, but it had not been so—she loved circus life.

  After the matinee she had spent some time working with Mabel. She had grown very fond of the beautiful tiger and was now trying to teach her to walk backward on her hind legs. Mabel could stand on her hind legs, but whenever she tried to go backward she stepped on her tail.

  “No, no, Mabel, hold your tail up.”

  Without thinking, Joy stepped forward and lifted the tiger’s tail. Mabel suddenly fell on her front feet, turned, and reached out with her paw. It caught Joy’s sleeve, and the claws ripped the sleeve all the way down to the wrist. “Oh, Mabel, look what you’ve done!”

  “It could have been worse.”

  The voice caught Joy unaware, and she turned to see Chase, who was watching her attentively through the bars. She was embarrassed he had caught her at such a moment and said testily, “She didn’t mean to do it.”

  Chase was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a light blue cotton shirt. He shook his head and said, “I know she didn’t mean to do it, but I’ve been trying to tell you, Joy, an animal can hurt you without meaning to.”

  “She would never hurt me.”

  “Suppose she’d gotten her claws in the flesh of your arm. She wouldn’t have meant to, but they would have ripped it wide open just the same.”

  Deep down Joy knew Chase was right. He had more knowledge of these animals than anyone she knew, but she was too stubborn to admit it at this moment. “It’s just a shirt. I can patch it up again.”

  For a time she continued to work with Mabel but was very aware of Chase’s eyes on her. Finally she gave the command, “All right, back into the cage, Mabel.”

  Obediently the tiger turned and walked into the tunnel that led back to the menagerie. Leaving the big cage, Joy started back to the menagerie to make sure Mabel got properly caged. Chase walked alongside her and said, “I haven’t seen much of you lately.”

  “I’ve been busy.” Joy’s reply was curt, and she was aware that she was behaving badly. Chase said nothing but turned and walked away without another word.

  Suddenly Oz was beside her. “What’s the matter with you? You’re right snippy with Chase lately.”

  “Nothing, Oz. I’m just in a hurry.”

  Oz had to take two steps to Joy’s one, but he trotted along beside her, looking up to study her face. “You know, when you and Chase first came here everybody thought you were lovers.”

  “I know. I spent enough time trying to convince people otherwise.”

  “Well, I guess you convinced everybody. Anyway,” he said, “I ain’t sure Chase has gotten over Stella.”

  “She’s married, Oz.”

  Oz reached up and caught Joy’s hand. He had large hands for such a small man and was very strong. He pulled her around abruptly, and dryness rustled in his words. “I’ve heard a time or two when a woman being married didn’t matter to a man.”

  “Let me go, Oz!” Joy protested.

  But Oz held her still. “Being married doesn’t mean much to Ste
lla.”

  “Well, why don’t you talk to Chase, then? Tell him he’s asking for trouble.”

  “I try not to mix in other people’s business, but since you mentioned it, let me give you a warning about Karl.”

  “I’ve heard all that too,” Joy said. “We’re just friends.”

  “Karl’s a nice guy, but he’s never happy to be ‘just friends’ with women.”

  Joy wrenched her hand loose with an effort and shook her head. “You’d better go practice your act and stop minding everybody’s business, Oz.”

  As she walked away rapidly the memory of Chase and Stella kissing after her birthday party flitted through her mind. She knew she’d been upset ever since then and was being unusually snippy with everyone. The incident had been more than a week ago, but she still thought of it every time she saw either one of them. She had not realized how strongly she felt about Chase until that night. The sight of them holding each other had greatly angered her, and she could not get it out of her mind, nor could she help the coolness she showed now to both Chase and Stella. With Stella it did not particularly matter, for she had little contact with the woman. But up until that night Joy and Chase had spent time together every day. They had always had things to talk about, and now that their communication had been interrupted, Joy felt empty, and it bothered her.

  “Were you practicing with Mabel?”

  Joy turned and found Karl coming toward her. “Yes, I was trying to teach her to walk backward.”

  “Hard to teach a tiger that. They always step on their tails.”

  Joy laughed loudly. “That’s exactly what she does.”

  “Hey, what happened to your sleeve? Did Mabel do that?”

  “She didn’t mean to,” Joy said defensively. “She was just going to pat me, and her claw got caught.”

  “Ruined a good shirt,” Karl observed. He was wearing a pale green shirt and a pair of dark brown trousers and looked very handsome indeed. “I’ve been looking for you,” he said. “I’ve always liked Memphis. Why don’t we go out for a late supper after the performance tonight?”