“Uh-oh,” Joe said, gazing after them.
“What? What is it?” Milly asked.
“Dad only kissed her once.” Joe’s brow furrowed in worry. Together, the children peered through the curtain into the enormous Colosseum.
Darkness blanketed the space as Dumbo and Colette took their places. (Vandevere loved showmanship and had insisted they both appear as if from nowhere.) Suddenly, a pink glow appeared—dancers holding large rings paraded through the ring, trailed by giant bubbles that looked like ethereal elephants. A choir began singing about pink elephants hopping everywhere.
“Pink elephants?” Medici asked.
Remington smiled, though, clearly enjoying the absurdity.
“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages,” Baritone Bates spoke from offstage. “And now, the moment you have been waiting for. V. A. Vandevere, in association with Max Medici, proudly presents, making his Dreamland debut, the one…the only…the legendary…Let’s get ready for Dumbooooo!”
As he boomed out Dumbo’s name, a spotlight clicked on in the center ring, where the elephant stood. Dumbo blinked in the brightness. Milly guessed he couldn’t see anyone or anything beyond the spotlight, but he could at least hear the audience cheering and smell the popcorn and pretzels. The ground beneath him pushed up, lifting the pedestal just as they’d practiced. But it kept going—higher than she remembered. Nervously, Dumbo peered over the edge.
He was a hundred feet up. He’d flown at this height before, but he’d never taken off from someplace this high.
Milly clutched her key necklace. “He can do it. I know he can.”
A drumroll sounded, and then, with a cymbal crash, a second light illuminated Colette, standing on the ground.
“And here to welcome him, our own immaculate Queen of the Heavens!” Baritone Bates exclaimed.
With a flourish, Colette plucked a feather from her headdress, then grabbed hold of a chandelier above her and began to run with it along the edge of the ring. Backstage, crew members cranked the chandelier higher, and Colette’s feet lifted off the floor. She swung her body, arcing through the air, then wove her hands and feet through the branches, showing off some of her old act’s impressive contortions.
The chandelier slowed as it circled Dumbo’s pedestal and Colette delicately hung from it with one hand as her toes gently touched down next to him.
The audience cheered.
Colette waved to them as the chandelier was whisked away. Dumbo shifted uncomfortably on the small platform.
“Dumbo, it’s me,” Colette whispered. “Five times around the ring. That’s all we have to do.” Holding the feather aloft, she circled him and swung into the saddle on his back. “Nice and easy, like we practiced.”
Dumbo wobbled, but quickly adjusted to her weight. Whoosh, his ears flared out sideways. A true performer, Colette flung her arms wide to match him, keeping a tight hold of the feather.
The audience burst into applause, but Milly grabbed hold of her dad’s shirt. “Dad, the nets! Why aren’t they putting up the nets?”
Holt followed her gaze. The stagehands who should have been raising the safety nets into place were instead lounging backstage. He hurried over to the stage manager.
“What’s going on? Your men are supposed to be out there!”
The stage manager barely glanced at him. “Change of plan. From the tippy-top.”
In the balcony section, Medici had also noticed the problem. He leaned over to Vandevere and whispered urgently, “I don’t see the nets.”
Vandevere’s eyes were on Remington, who gave him an impressed nod. “They’re invisible,” Vandevere told Medici. Medici bit his lip, eyes still scanning for ropes in the darkness.
Turning back to the arena, Vandevere saw Colette’s eyes on him, her shoulders tense. He tipped his hat to her. “No risk, no reward. She’ll thank me later,” he muttered. “When she is a legend and we are catapulted into the halls of fame together.”
The crowd murmured, a low buzz of excitement and adrenaline, but they didn’t know what was in store.
“Who’s been dreaming like I’ve been dreaming?” Vandevere whispered.
Down below, Holt hissed in anger. “They need nets, what’s wrong with you?” He stormed toward the net controls himself, calling up, “Colette, don’t take off, wait!”
The stage manager and three stagehands converged on him, blocking his path. No matter which way he dodged, they stopped him. Holt charged at them, but he was outnumbered, and they wrestled him back.
“Eeeugh?” Dumbo let out a nervous trumpet, confused as to why Holt had suddenly appeared and then disappeared.
The pedestal wobbled under him. Colette took a deep breath, tightening her knees around his sides. Holding the feather aloft, she extended it in front of his face. Dumbo brightened and grasped it in his trunk.
“Dumbo!” Colette’s voice rang out in the arena. “Prince of the Elephants, I command you to fly with me.”
She clapped her hands, chalk dust puffing into the air and momentarily blinding Dumbo. Blinking rapidly, he sneezed, shooting the feather from his grasp.
“No!” Joe cried.
As Dumbo lunged for it, Colette was thrown forward. Frantic, she grabbed hold of Dumbo’s cape and saddle, but both came with her as she flipped over Dumbo’s head. Unable to see, Dumbo spun, trying to shift the cape. Colette’s feet hung out over open space.
Milly’s heart thumped wildly in her chest.
Snap! The belt of the saddle broke free.
“Aaah!” Clinging to just the cape, Colette dropped, but now that he could see again, Dumbo shot out his trunk and wrapped it around the other end of the cape. He leaned backward, using his weight to try to heft Colette back up onto the platform.
Snapping out of their horror, the stagehands rushed to unfurl the nets, letting Holt go as well. He hurried out to help.
“Fly, Dumbo, fly!” Holt called.
“He needs the feather,” Milly said. She clutched Joe to her side, wondering if she should cover his eyes.
By now the stagehands had the net half unfurled, but it wouldn’t be ready in time. Holt darted backstage.
Riiiiip. A tear formed in the twisted fabric of the cape.
Colette’s eyes widened in fear and she locked gazes with Dumbo. “Please! Fly for me, fly for—”
Riiiip-snap. The cape split in two.
“Aaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!” Colette’s scream pierced the arena, and the audience echoed her cry.
Out of nowhere, a rope sailed toward her and she grabbed hold of it. Hooked around a peg, the rope swung her, slowing her descent until she slid into the arm of the rope-wielder, knocking them both to the ground. Holt. The cowboy had saved her.
On the pedestal, Dumbo was in trouble. The recoil from the cape’s splitting had sent his hind legs sliding off the platform and now he scrambled to stay on, pushing his trunk and ears flat to the wood as if embracing it and clamping down on the edge with his mouth.
“EEEEEEEEEEEUUUUUUUGH!!!” Dumbo shrieked.
“Lower the platform!” Holt boomed, pushing himself to standing.
Dumbo trumpeted again, terrified.
The sad sound carried, washing over the audience and then beyond. It flew over the fairgrounds, past the Ferris wheel and roller coasters, and across a makeshift moat to the spooky attraction of Nightmare Island.
There, Dumbo’s cry traveled down the corridor of caged predators—from the snarling lion, to the bored grizzly bear, to the patient crocodile—to the very last cage, where a pair of ears swiveled in concern. A sign outside read KALI THE DESTROYER, KILLER OF MEN. The elephant within was decked out in chains, some decorative, some real, along with a bold red head scarf and a blanket trimmed in golden tassels. Paint ringed her eyes, making them look fierce, and more dabbles of color flared out along her trunk, almost like miniature flames. Rising up on her hind legs, the elephant roared an answering bellow—reverberating through the very ground as it bounced back to Dumbo.
Back at the Colosseum, Dumbo recognized the sound instantly. It was her! Reenergized, Dumbo perked up his ears, but without their help to cling to the platform, he slipped farther. Then his eyes landed on a few errant feathers from Colette’s headpiece.
Fwwwoop. Dumbo suctioned them up as he tumbled backward, gravity pulling him down.
The audience gasped and Vandevere tensed.
“Nooo!” Medici cried.
Milly forced Joe to turn away with her. She couldn’t bear to watch.
Then she heard the crowd cheer. Tentatively, she turned.
There was Dumbo zooming upward, his ears flapping, a smile on his face.
“He’s okay!” Milly hugged Joe as they both jumped up and down in relief.
Colette flung her arms around Holt, startling him as celebrations broke out among the crew and Medici’s troupe. The audience, now believing it had all been part of the act, clapped wildly. Up in the VIP section, Remington and his banker friends toasted one other, and Vandevere relaxed. His eyes followed the elephant. Then he turned his gaze to watch the crowd experience it for the first time.
Dumbo trumpeted loudly and flattened his ears like a plane’s wings, angling toward an exit. People screeched and ducked as he whooshed overhead, his feet mere inches from their hair. Tilting sideways, Dumbo slipped out of the tent and burst into the main fairgrounds.
“What the—?” a balloon man cried as the elephant barreled into his wares, popping several at once.
Dumbo somersaulted and plopped face-first into the dirt. He quickly jumped to his feet, trumpeting again.
There! In the distance he heard his mama respond. Without hesitation, Dumbo launched himself into the air. Nothing could keep him from her now.
From above, people looked so tiny, but as Dumbo dove toward his destination, he had to swerve to avoid hitting anyone. The creepy structure in front of him looked like a volcano with a skull carved into it—the gaping, toothed mouth the entrance. The skull’s eyes were lit from within, flickering ominously. It did not look inviting. But he could hear his mother inside. Without slowing down, Dumbo swooped over the moat, past the bridge, and right through the mouth.
Mrs. Jumbo—now known as Kali—trumpeted in joy as her son galloped toward her across the stone floor. They’d found each other!
Thump. Dumbo slammed against the bars of her cage. The two elephants stretched their trunks as close as they could, but Mrs. Jumbo’s chains kept her back. Try as he might, all Dumbo could feel was the hard, cold surface of the bars pressing into his skin, keeping him and his mother apart.
In the VIP box, Vandevere whirled on Medici, his face red. “Where’d he go? Where’s my show? Get out and GET MY ELEPHANT BACK!” he roared.
Medici bolted, finding Holt, Milly, Joe, and Colette outside. They pointed skyward, tracing the path Dumbo had taken through the air.
Milly couldn’t understand. He’d never done anything like this. What could have gotten into him? Where was he going? There was only one way to find out. They took off after him.
Up ahead, they saw a scary cave, surrounded by a moat. Torches illuminated an oily slick on the water below the wooden bridge. Signs out front identified it as Nightmare Island. Why would Dumbo come here?
Milly and Joe sped up, with Holt and Colette close behind.
“Dumbo, it’s all right!” Milly called.
“We’re here,” Joe yelled as they tumbled into the stone structure.
Then they spotted them: Dumbo standing in front of a larger elephant within a caged enclosure. The larger elephant reared back, bellowing, but Dumbo seemed oblivious to the humans.
Milly and Joe heard footsteps behind them and suddenly Skellig and some guards charged past. Dumbo didn’t register the danger until it was too late. Thick ropes cinched around him as Skellig and his men caught him in their net.
Dumbo tossed his head, crying out.
Vandevere stormed in, his usually perfect hair askew. Hot on his heels, Medici glanced up at his new partner and grinned when he saw Vandevere wore a toupee.
A group of teenagers gawked at them from in front of the lion’s cage. Seeing they were not alone, Vandevere plastered on a fake smile and clapped.
“Hi, how are you? Having fun?” he said. Reaching Skellig, he lowered his voice. “Hurry up and get him out of here.”
As the men lugged Dumbo away from the larger elephant, Dumbo struggled, flinging his ears and legs wide.
“Guys, he’s a baby. Go easy—gentle!” Holt said.
Skellig shoved past him, tugging on the net. “Soldier, I give the orders here.”
Joe turned away, studying the strange collection of creatures. Milly followed him to the elephant’s cage.
“He heard her. He flew here…to her.” She wondered what about this elephant would summon Dumbo. He never acted that way around Zeppelin or Goliath. Was it because she was female? Milly knew elephant herds were led by a matriarch.
“Milly, look!” Joe’s words brought her back to her surroundings. “That face, those eyes.”
Milly peered in through the bars. If you took away the paint around her eyes and along her trunk, stripped away the golden harness…
“Dad!” Milly raced to where her dad stood with Colette. “It’s Mrs. Jumbo! She’s here. Dumbo’s mom is RIGHT HERE!” She pulled him down the aisle to see for himself.
Mrs. Jumbo paced anxiously in her cage, her trunk swaying along the ground. That was her, all right. It was clear in the way she moved, in the markings on her skin. As his kids whooped and danced, Holt studied the plaque in front of the cage.
KALI THE DESTROYER, KILLER OF MEN: SHE HATH SLAUGHTERED INNOCENT SOULS AT MANY CIRCUSES! GAZE UPON HER IF YOU DARE! A FEARSOME BEAST WHOSE VENGEANCE CANNOT BE TAMED!
Holt winced, his heart twisting with worry. Yes, they’d found Dumbo’s mom. Yes, she was already at Dreamland. But somehow, Holt didn’t think they were going to get the happy reunion his kids hoped for.
Vandevere hustled back to the Colosseum. He normally hated to move above a saunter, and this was the second time tonight he had been rushed. But Remington and his money hung on the line.
Sure enough, as he rounded the path to the Colosseum, he spotted the banker and his associates stepping into their cars. That wouldn’t do. Not at all. Ignoring the huffing and puffing of Medici behind him and the calls for refunds from the people streaming out of the Colosseum, Vandevere lengthened his stride to reach the vehicles.
“J.G.R., wait,” he called. “What’s the problem? The elephant flies! You saw it.” It was impossible for Remington to deny or ignore.
“Yeah, I got eyes,” Remington drawled. “I saw a vanishing act. Kiddies crying to their mommies, people yelling for their money back. You can’t control your animal.”
Vandevere stepped up onto the sideboard of the car, hand outstretched. “Give me some time. I can fix it.” His tone was even, but his heart fluttered in his chest.
Remington narrowed his eyes, then pulled the door shut and sat down. “Bank’s closed until you can.” He waved to the driver, and Vandevere leapt off as the motor revved.
Dust covered his shoes as the cars peeled out, one after the other. He wouldn’t let his dreams be taken away. He’d worked too hard to get to where he was to let a sloppy trainer and mishandled animal drag him down.
“V. A.” Medici panted as he caught up. “What’s going on?”
“Precisely what I’m going to find out.” Vandevere gritted his teeth and stormed toward his office. Medici, like a lapdog, skittered after him.
Up at the top of the tower, Colette whirled toward them as the elevator doors pinged open. Her eyes sparked in fury, but Vandevere’s matched hers.
“What happened up there?” he snapped. “You lost control of your animal.”
“You’re the animal!” Colette fumed. “Where was my net?” Even through her makeup, her cheeks were flushed pink. “I nearly died.”
Vandevere didn’t see it that way. “Nets are for rehearsal. This i
s the show.” If she wasn’t going to step up, he’d find another star to ride Dumbo. He spotted the silhouette of Holt inside his office. Flinging open the door, Vandevere startled Holt and his kids.
“Training? You call that training?” Vandevere could feel a blood vessel pulsing in his forehead. He’d need a long hot bath to unwind from tonight.
“Hold on, Mr. Vandevere.” Holt’s tone was low, but urgent. “We know why he flew away. He recognized that other elephant’s call.”
“The one on Nightmare Island—that’s his mother!” Milly piped up, unable to hide her excitement. Next to her, Joe bounced on his toes.
“Kali the Destroyer?” Vandevere shook his head. “Impossible.” She had been purchased because she’d killed someone at a circus…. A dark thought crossed his mind. Could it have been Medici’s circus? Vandevere cursed silently—if he’d known, tonight’s debacle could have been prevented, and he’d be fondling a healthy check right now.
“It’s true. It’s her,” Holt said. “She was sold from our circus two months ago.”
“Every child knows its mother, and they say elephants never forget,” Milly explained matter-of-factly.
Vandevere suppressed a grimace. The child’s love for scientific tidbits was a nuisance at the moment. He needed to think. He needed some quiet.
“They can be together now!” As though unable to contain his happiness, Joe flung his arms wide, nearly knocking over a lamp.
Vandevere glared into the distance and spoke to the room at large, his voice flat. “Why are there children in my office?”
“Mr. Vandevere, please.” Milly clasped her hands together. “All Dumbo wants is his mother. Just reunite them and he’ll do whatever you want!”
“No, he’ll do whatever she wants,” Vandevere said. “First rule of animal training is to separate them from their parents so they learn to answer only to you.”
Dumbo Live Action Novelization Page 13
