by E. L. Norry
“Oranges.” Mother stopped walking to sniff the air deeply. “I miss this life,” she said, softly. “The excitement of performing.”
“Do you?” I asked, surprised. “You never spoke of it.”
“Your grandparents never approved,” she admitted. “I was young and only wished to please them, but now … well, yes, I do miss it. I believed that once I became a mother I should settle down. Live a more…” she sighed and shook her head. “I’m not certain. A more conventional life, perhaps? The circus life isn’t an easy one, certainly. I’ve seen tents destroyed by fire and the weight of unmelted snow rip through canvases; I’ve gone a week with two hours’ sleep a night and have known empty houses.” She paused and looked up at the sky before smiling. “But, I’ve also known houses so packed that people had to stand six deep round the doors.
“When my mother needed me at the pub, going home seemed … prudent. Every so often I’d return to help Pablo, if he happened to be touring nearby. When you boys were tiny, you came along with me. But when you fell off a pony once, Ted, you became hysterical around horses. Then the Bradfield flood happened. Sometimes in this life, you must set aside your own desires for the good of others, but not a day goes by that I don’t think of my time with the circus.”
For the first time, I clearly saw that underneath the crinoline and buttoned-up-ness was a horse rider and adventurer – not just my mother – missing a life she had loved dearly. She’d given it up in order to offer us a different life.
The three of us stood by the cooking pot and supped tea, watching the crowds file out of the big tent as the performance ended.
“Do you think you’d like to come back to the circus?” I asked.
Mother’s eyes widened, but before she could reply, Pablo was behind her, nuzzling her cheek.
He beamed at me. “What a triumph you were, Ted! It was like seeing myself up there.”
“You’ve done a fine job, William,” my mother said. “I’m glad you persuaded me it was the right time.”
Pablo’s voice was soft, and he looked at her steadily. “And have you yet decided whether it is the right time for us now too?”
On the heels of Pablo, Alma sprinted towards us, jabbering with excitement, closely followed by a half-hopping, half-skipping Larkin with his crutch.
“Good job! And next time, we’ll have you sitting down in the middle of the act,” Larkin announced, clapping his hand on my back.
“I’m surprised I got across at all,” I stammered. “Thank goodness for those mattresses.”
“Mattresses?” Pablo raised his eyebrows.
Larkin echoed him, wrinkling his face. “What mattresses?”
Alma winked at me. “Anyone for tea?” she grinned.
There we were, the six of us, gazing back towards the big tent, across the circus ground.
And I knew, with the same certainty that day follows night, that whatever difficulties came our way, we’d muddle through together. None of us were perfect, but, just like the parts of my beloved kaleidoscope, depending on how you looked at it and how the light filtered in, we could fit together to make the commonplace unique and our lives sublime.
This was my circus family.
Author’s Note
Pablo Fanque first came to my attention through a writer friend of mine. I’d never heard of him before, though his story certainly sparked my imagination.
When the opportunity to write for the Voices series came my way, knowing I was interested in the Victorian period, it was a wonderful melding of ideas, because Pablo’s circus and his family were around during those times. I knew immediately that I wanted to work with them somehow.
I’ve long been a fan of the circus and fairgrounds. I believe they offer not only an escape from the ‘everyday’, but also offer us a glimpse into an alternative world, as close to magic as we’ll ever witness.
Having read about Pablo, and the life he’d had, and then reading about his sons, all the elements were there, it seemed, to create a fascinating story.
I have a lot in common with Ted, and that made it easy and essential to find his voice and to be able to tell his story. I have never met my own father, and around the same age as Ted, I grew up in a small village and was the only mixed-race person in my entire primary school! I understood and empathised with his feelings of difference and could imagine how it might have felt back then.
In writing about people based on real historical figures, the writer has a tricky arena to negotiate. We need to engage our imagination, whilst trying to remain faithful to the source material and any research we’ve unearthed. But, it’s long been my favourite activity to base stories on real people in history. To put myself in their shoes and imagine how they must have felt, depending on their circumstances.
I hope that I’ve done Pablo, Ted, George and Elizabeth justice. Studying their lives and the lives of circus folk in Britain in the 1800s for the past nine months, I’ve certainly felt their presence strongly. Although over one hundred and fifty years separates us from them, I believe that the qualities of determination, commitment and dignity they demonstrated can still be appreciated today.
I’d like to end by telling you a real-life snippet I discovered, during my research, about the older Ted Fanque.
He wrote to the newspaper the World’s Fair on 28 November 1914, protesting about not being allowed to fight in the war. Because he was over forty-five, even though he was fit and healthy, he’d been deemed ‘too old to fight’, but he lobbied for all those older men who wished to fight to put their names forward.
I believe that demonstrates the type of man Ted grew up to become. He was willing to stand up for what he believed in and to campaign to try and make a change when he could.
I do hope you enjoy reading about these wonderful people as much as I enjoyed writing about them. I miss them already.
Reproduced courtesy of Leeds Library and Information Service
While the events described and some of the characters in this book may be based on actual historical events and real people, the characters created by the author are fictional and their stories a work of fiction.
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First published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd, 2019
This electronic edition published 2019
Text © E.L. Norry, 2019
Cover illustrations © Alette Straathof, 2019
Poster p201 © Leeds Library and Information Service
eISBN 978 1407 19387 8
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