The Fiery Ring

by Gilbert, Morris

  “No, he ain’t,” Doak said firmly. “You ain’t seein’ clear, Miss Joy. I’m plumb disappointed in you.”

  Joy wanted to tell Doak he was wrong, but in her anger and hurt, she couldn’t speak, so she just turned and walked away stiffly, the triumph of the performance having been spoiled by the scene between Stella and Chase.

  ****

  After the evening performance, Dan invited Joy to take a drive with him. The evening performance had gone better than the afternoon performance. The cats had cooperated, and they had received a tremendous reception from the crowd. But afterward Joy had been cool toward Chase, saying no more than was necessary. Now she wanted to get away from the circus and readily accepted Dan’s offer.

  The two of them drove around the streets of Atlanta until they found a café that stayed open until midnight. As they sat down, Dan winked at the waitress and said, “What have you got for a celebrity?”

  The waitress, a small, perky-looking blonde with enormous blue eyes, stared at him and smiled. “Are you the celebrity?”

  “Me? No. She is—Miss Joy Winslow, the most famous and daring wild-animal tamer in the world.”

  “Aw, you’re puttin’ me on,” the waitress said doubtfully. “She ain’t no animal tamer.”

  “Sure she is.” Darvo reached into his shirt pocket, pulled out some tickets, and gave two of them to the girl. “You come out tomorrow night with your boyfriend, and you’ll see this young lady here in a cage with thirty wild tigers and lions. It’ll scare you to death.”

  “Gee, I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars!”

  Joy smiled at Darvo. “This is the real hero here. This is Captain Dan Darvo, the human cannonball. Shot out of a cannon, he flies a hundred and thirty feet through the air into a wet sponge.”

  The two had fun teasing the waitress, and after she had taken their order, Dan slumped down in his chair. “After a show I always feel pretty limp, don’t you?”

  “Absolutely boneless,” Joy nodded. “But you’ve been at it so long.”

  “It never changes. Something can always go wrong. Why, last week I nearly got crunched between Nell and Alice. I got in the wrong place, and those two bulls just about crushed me.”

  The two talked show business for a while. Dan was enjoying his return to the human cannonball act now that his broken bones were completely healed and Travis had left to go to Bible school. He was grateful that Joy’s brother had been able to fill in like that, but he was glad to have his old job back. After their food came, Dan dug in with enthusiasm. He saw, however, that Joy was not eating, and he asked, “What’s the matter, doll?”

  “Oh, nothing,” she said, picking idly at a french fry.

  “You’re out with a good-lookin’ guy like me, the best date in the whole circus, and you’re down in the mouth? I know what’s wrong with you.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  “Yes, I do.” Dan took a big bite of the steak before him, chewed it for a moment, then swallowed. “You’re sad because you know you’re never going to get me to marry you.”

  Joy couldn’t help laughing. “Well, you’ve got some ego, Dan Darvo. I’ll say that for you.”

  “I’ve got your number, Joy. You’re the marrying kind. Not what I’m looking for.”

  “I know that, Dan, but you’ll find a woman you’ll really fall for someday. Then you’ll marry her and live happily ever after.”

  “Do you really believe that storybook stuff?”

  “It can happen. Look at Pete and Ann.”

  “You got me there. They’re just like honeymooners all the time, but folks like that don’t come along very often.” He picked up his coffee cup, swirled the black liquid around, and stared into it, then finally looked up with a serious expression. “You’re wasting your time with me, Joy. I like you, but it’s pretty clear that your heart’s someplace else,” he said softly.

  Confused by this, Joy said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Sure you do.”

  “Let’s talk about something else.”

  “No, let’s talk about this. You’re in love with Chase, and you’re mad because Stella is trying to draw him in.”

  Joy could not answer for a moment. “Is that what everyone’s saying?”

  “Not everyone’s as smart and as observant as I am.” Dan smiled. He put his hand over hers and squeezed it. “You can tell Uncle Dan. It’s just between us. Think of me as your father.”

  “I don’t think I’d trust you quite that far, Dan. Besides, what if he still loves her? He certainly acts like he does.”

  “You’re a pretty smart girl, Joy, but I think you’re reading him wrong.” Dan released her hand and picked up the cup again, but he did not drink from it. His face serious, as it rarely was, he said, “He doesn’t love Stella.”

  “He’s got a funny way of showing it. He’s at her trailer all the time.”

  “You think that’s because he wants to be there?”

  “Of course.”

  “You’re wrong about that. Look, I know Chase pretty well. I knew him before, and there was a time when he would have stuck his head in the fire for Stella. He was crazy gone on her, but let me tell you. I don’t know how to say this exactly, but it was a thing—well, it was a thing of the flesh. They were on fire for each other, and I guess Stella still is. She’s got a lot of passion in her, and she wants to kindle the ashes up again, so she’s out to build a fire in her old flame.”

  Joy stared at Gypsy Dan. There was a deep wisdom in his eyes, and she knew he understood people. He had told her once that he was a real gypsy, that he could read the fate of people in their palms. She did not believe this, of course, but she believed that his natural intelligence and years spent in the midst of the circus world had given him special insight. “I think you’re wrong, Dan. I think he loves her.”

  “No, he doesn’t, but she does have a power over him. You think a man can just walk away from a woman when she doesn’t want him to?”

  “Of course.”

  “Well, you’re wrong about that. I don’t know what it is, but a man can be the strongest guy in the world. He can weigh two hundred pounds and be able to pick up the back end of a truck, but a little woman weighing a hundred and ten pounds can make him do anything she wants him to. Women have that kind of power over men, and Stella’s using it. She’ll get him, too, if you don’t wake up.”

  Joy stared at Dan. “What are you talking about?”

  “I mean you’ve got to use what you’ve got, babe. You’ve got the advantage. You work with Chase every day, and he feels something for you. It’s obvious. Right now he’s in kind of a daze. Oh, I know he’s gotten off on some religious kick, and I think it’s real, but from what I understand even God’s good guys get in trouble. You remember your brother preached about Joseph when that woman was after him? She tried everything she could, and most guys would have fallen right into it. Joseph was smart to run away, but Chase can’t run. This is his life. So if I were you, I’d wiggle a little curve at him and flutter my eyes. That’s what I’d do if I were you.”

  “I wouldn’t want any man I’d have to trap or chase.”

  “You don’t have to trap him or chase him, but you have to give him a sign. Let him know you’re interested. Chase doesn’t think of you as his woman because you haven’t given him a sign. Give it to him, Joy, give it to him.”

  When Joy got home that night she made an entry in her journal:

  March 2, 1929

  Dan took me out tonight and told me I should try to win Chase, but he’s not right. He doesn’t know as much as he thinks he does. Chase is still in love with Stella. He may not know it himself, but I know it, and I think she knows it. I can never let him know that I’m in love with him.

  ****

  Two weeks later Joy celebrated her nineteenth birthday, but this time there was no time for a party. Several of the performers, remembering last year’s celebration, came by to give her a hug, including Chase. She
thanked him for his greeting, but felt the wall that had come between them. She remembered, on her seventeenth birthday, how he had given her the fountain pen, and on her eighteenth the silver ring with the turquoise setting. She still wore the ring, and she used the pen almost every day, and it grieved her that they weren’t as close as they once had been. Their work brought them together constantly, but the closeness and affection they had shared at one time were gone.

  She was even beginning to think that Gypsy Dan had been right. She could see now that Chase was fighting against his natural inclinations. Everyone was waiting for the time when he would go to Stella’s trailer—and not come out until morning. That had not yet happened, and Joy was fiercely grateful for it.

  ****

  All that spring and into the summer, the big-cat act went spectacularly well, so well in fact that a well-known weekly news magazine, the Mid-Week Pictorial, took pictures of Joy and Chase and put out a big spread. Everybody read the Mid-Week Pictorial, so the circus began playing to packed-out crowds as people came to see the famous duo.

  Joy was excited by the attention she had gotten in every town now since the magazine had pictured their act and written a lot of nonsense about them and their private lives. She took great delight in the performances themselves. The coolness between her and Chase had not improved, however.

  They arrived in Springfield, Illinois, on July tenth. They were scheduled to be there for five days, and the people of Springfield turned out in huge numbers. Every performance, even the matinee, was a straw crowd—every seat full.

  After the last performance on their second day in Springfield, she had come down off of Ruth and started toward her trailer when a voice caught her attention. “Miss Winslow—!”

  She turned to see a tall middle-aged man approaching her. The well-dressed man took off his hat, revealing his bright red hair with some streaks of gray in it. Joy was accustomed to people seeking her out after every show, but she was tired and purposed to cut the conversation short.

  “My name is Tom Winslow. You don’t know me, but I think we may be related. Are your parents Bill and Elaine?”

  Joy responded, “Why, yes. Tom Winslow—you must be my dad’s brother.”

  “That’s right. I met you when you were about six years old, but I haven’t seen you since. I’m sorry about that.”

  “My dad talked about you a lot. He said you two were real close when you were young.”

  “That’s right.” Tom Winslow shook his head sadly. “One of the griefs of my life is that after Bill left home, we never saw each other again—and we never wrote. How are your parents?”

  “You didn’t hear?” Joy said, stunned that he would not even know about her family’s deaths. “My parents and younger sister were killed in an automobile wreck—over three years ago on my sixteenth birthday.”

  Shock ran across Winslow’s face. “I’m so sorry to hear that,” he murmured.

  People were crowding around trying to get Joy’s attention. “This isn’t a good place to talk,” she said, “but I would like to talk with you.”

  “That’s why I came. I read the article about you and your partner in Mid-Week Pictorial, and I wondered if you were my niece. I had to come to find out for sure. Could we go out and have a late supper maybe?”

  “That would be fine.”

  ****

  Joy found herself liking Tom Winslow very much. She learned a lot about him while they ate. He was a lawyer, she discovered, and his children, James and Miriam, were the same ages as Travis and she. He told her about some of her other relatives. “My sister Betsy is married to a man named Wesley Stone, and they have a son named Heck. My sister Lanie is married to Lobo Smith. Their son, Logan, was an ace in the war. Shot down twenty-nine planes.”

  “Why, I’ve read about Logan Smith! They called him Cowboy Smith.”

  “That’s him. We’re all very proud of Logan. He married a Frenchwoman named Danielle Laurent. They’re very happy now living in this country. And, of course, there’s my brother Phil. He was always a favorite of your father’s. They were very close, but Phil and his wife live in France most of the time. He’s a famous painter now. And that leaves my brother John. He married a woman named Jeanine Quintana. They’re missionaries in Africa and have two children.” He leaned forward and said, “So you really have a big family.”

  “And I don’t know any of them. Why did Dad separate himself from all of you? Do you know, Mr. Winslow?”

  “Just Tom’s fine. He got into a little trouble when he was a young man. It was just foolishness, and most of it wasn’t his fault, but he always felt like an outcast, so he left. We all tried to talk him out of leaving, but he was hurt by what he had done to the family and couldn’t face us. I think it was a mistake. I always loved your father. We all did.”

  “I wish we could have been closer.”

  Tom Winslow answered, “That’s one reason why I came to meet you, Joy. We’re having a family reunion at my house right here in Springfield in two days. The circus will still be here. Could you come and meet your family?”

  Joy smiled, and her heart seemed to grow warm. “If all the family’s like you, I would like it very much.”

  “Then you’ll come?”

  “Yes, I will.”

  “Good, and I’ll make sure that the whole bunch comes to the circus to see the star of our family under the big top!”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Two Women

  As Chase pulled up in front of the large house set well back in an emerald yard shaded by huge oak trees, he said, “Well, looks like you’ve got some rich relatives.”

  “I guess they must be,” Joy said nervously. “I really don’t know whether we should have come or not.”

  Chase turned to stare at her. “Of course you should’ve come. They’re your family. Come on, let’s go on in.”

  Heartened by Chase’s encouragement, Joy got out of the car, and the two of them walked up to the porch of the big house. It was a colonial-style brick house with dormers, white shutters, and four white columns in the front. When Chase rang the bell the door opened at once, and the tall redheaded man said, “Well, if it’s not my niece. Come in, Joy.”

  Joy stepped inside and said, “This is Chase Hardin.”

  “Oh yes, I know that!” Tom took Chase’s hand and shook it firmly. “We’re so glad you could come. Come on in. Your family is anxious to meet you.”

  The next hour was almost like a kaleidoscope for Joy. She met Lanie Winslow Smith and her husband, Lobo, and was fascinated by both of them. Lobo wore a patch over one eye, but the other was a bright indigo. She discovered that he had been very close to being an outlaw in Oklahoma Territory but had turned honest and become a federal marshal after he married Lanie. Betsy Winslow Stone and her husband, Wesley, were there, along with their son, Heck. Joy was surprised to see Phil Winslow, a tall, fine-looking man with his beautiful wife, Cara, and their three children, Brian, Kevin, and Paige. Phil said to Joy, “I’d love to paint you in your circus costume sometime—maybe in action with your big cats.”

  “You should take him up on his offer, Joy,” Tom said. “He’s selling so many paintings, you’d be known everywhere!”

  “I would love for you to pose for me, Joy,” Phil said.

  “Well, I don’t know, Phil. The circus moves around constantly.”

  “Well, so do we, but I’m sure we can work something out.”

  Joy met many other Winslows there, including Barney and Andrew with their wives, all missionaries in Africa and home on leave for a month, and so many others that finally Tom said, “Your head must be swimming, Joy. Come on, we all want to hear about you.”

  Joy found herself telling her story, leaving out much of it. They were all fascinated with the fact that she was a wild-cat tamer, and she was quick to say, “It’s Chase who’s the real tamer. I’m just a beginner.”

  “Don’t believe a word of it,” Chase said. “She’s come further in a year than I came in
five. She’s going to be the most famous of the Winslows.”

  Later they gathered in the big dining room for dinner, and Tom Winslow asked the blessing. They enjoyed a fine meal, and when they were finished, Tom said, “We have a presentation for you, Joy.” He held up a finely bound leather book and said, “This is the journal of Gilbert Winslow, our family ancestor who first settled in America.” He ran his hands over the cover and shook his head. “We’ve had good Winslows and bad, but I’m hoping and believing that Gilbert sees from heaven that some of his family loved God almost as much as he did.” He walked over and gave the book to Joy and said, “God bless you. Welcome to the family.”

  Joy took the book and felt her eyes grow misty. She murmured her thanks but could say little. Other members of the family then began to talk about their ancestors, and Joy was amazed at the variety of Winslows who had served God and man. Some of them were judges, some were governors, three were senators, and several were college professors. All of them who spoke, however, stressed the fact that they all loved and served Jesus Christ.

  ****

  “I’d like to talk to you alone for a moment, Tom,” Joy said after dinner.

  Tom suggested they go to his study. “You’ve made a hit with the family, Joy. Everybody loves you.”

  “It’s . . . it’s good to know I have a family. I’ve missed out on so much.”

  “Yes, you have, but now that we know how to find you, it’ll be easier to keep in touch.” Being a good lawyer, Tom knew when to be silent, and now he waited for Joy to tell him what was on her mind.

  “I haven’t told you everything about what happened to my parents. My uncle Albert—that’s my mother’s sister Opal’s husband—he cheated us out of everything. . . .”

  Tom Winslow stood silently, his quick mind registering everything she said. When she finally finished, he asked, “So you believe he was dishonest about the sale of your dad’s place?”

  “I know he was. As soon as the place was sold, he suddenly had a lot of money, and he bought a big new car. I know he robbed us of our inheritance. And they took all the furniture, and all of Mom and Dad’s and Dawn’s personal things are up in their attic, and they wouldn’t even let us have those things.”