Ghosts of Circus Past

Chapter 11

Massarti the Lion-Tamer had been having difficulty with one of his lions on the day he entered the lion's den for a performance in 1873. When Massarti slipped, Tyrant attacked, and three of the other lions in the den joined in. Circus workers rushed into to help and cleared the cage. Massarti's last words were requesting that no one send for help. He died within minutes.

The transformation of the big top from the dust filled empty space she had been in this morning to now overwhelmed her. In the dim stands, hundreds of people cheered and clapped as spotlights swirled overhead. Lana saw it all from thirteen feet in the air. She had to duck as Mary moved into the tent.

Immediately, the power of the crowd sent Lana into performance mode. She imagined how glamorous she must look, sparkling up atop a giant elephant. Her arm went up grandly, she sat up straight and tall and smiled brightly. Ahead of her, the other girls were doing the same.

It wasn't difficult to follow their actions as they lifted both arms, then stood proudly on the elephants' backs – except that Lana was captivated by everything else going on around her. The clowns ran around, darting under the elephants and into the audience, squirting water or throwing popcorn or making confetti explode out of unexpected places.

Ahead, Lana could see Bettina sitting sidesaddle on her black mare, leading the six white horses in three pairs, all with plumed headdresses and necks arched. Felix and Elly were dressed like Mark Antony and Cleopatra on a chariot. Charly and the other trapeze artists rode on another wagon, and Lilly rode a zebra.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" crowed Rooney from the center ring. "Prepare for sights never seen before! Death will be defied!"

Lana had scarce glanced his way, but suddenly Lana noticed that Rooney wasn't wearing his usual horror-show make up job. He was a strikingly handsome man now, his red jacket, white shirt, and tan jodhpurs crisp and clean, his boots polished. Lana nearly lost her balance standing at that point, and was thankful that it was time to sit again.

With her smile plastered on her face, she glanced about, seeking out those faces she recognized. Charly! She squinted at the wagon far ahead. She couldn't make out Charly's face, to see if it was burned or not. But there, she noticed Jenny, walking beside a man dressed all in black with a cape like Zorro, wielding a handful of knives. Jenny held her head proudly aloft, and it didn't flop as usual. None of the clowns appeared disfigured, either.

It must all be a trick of the show, she told herself. They appear normal now, then the horror part of the show was later. It didn't quite explain why everyone would continue to wear the horror show make up during the day, but Lana could think of no other explanation.

The parade up ahead had paused; now some of the performers did tricks for the crowd. Lana glanced at the other girls: Mimi was standing on her elephant's head holding her back leg in a scorpion pose; Grace was doing a developpe; and Olga was balanced on her hands with her back bent over her head, legs out, like something Jack would do in his contortion act. Lana quickly threw herself up into a handstand and flexed both legs into a double stag – a trick she had learned only today with Jack. The audience cheered and she smiled back at them, and then she saw the parade moving on and returned to her seat, waving as she exited the big top.

Backstage was chaos. Lana and the other girls were helped down from the elephants' backs, then Mimi grabbed Lana's arm and pulled her beside the big top. "In a few minutes we need to go out and basically pose while they set up some of the rigging. A few of the guys will be here to carry us – oh, here they are."

Lana turned and her heart lifted when she saw the Mitch was one of them.

There was an awkward moment, then Lana decided she would make the first move. "I'm sorry, about earlier," she said to him.