Tracks of Life

Chapter 10

"No shit!" Stephen replied, backing up until I hit a wall. The open door was to our left.

One of the guys had a giant stick in his hand and leered at us, hitting his hand repeatedly. The thumping sound had me cringing against Stephen's back.

"Looks like we have some jump-ons," one man said, stepping forward. He was clearly the leader. He was also the tallest, biggest, and most foreboding. He surveyed Stephen protecting me. "A couple of brats."

"What should we do with them? I like the small one. He reminds me of a girl," the man cleaning his nails said. I gripped Stephen's shirt harder, trying not to hyperventilate.

The leader walked closer, "Let me see him."

"No," Stephen growled, pressing closer to me and dropping in a defensive stance.

The leader laughed, "What is he to you?"

"He's my little brother," he replied, not stumbling over the words at all. The leader started to look angry, so I stepped out from behind Stephen and walked right up to the gigantic man. Stephen gasped and tried to bring me back, but I shook him off. I glared up at the leader, who just smiled at me. He lifted his hand and lifted off my hat, letting my blonde hair tumble from it. I heard Stephen groan behind me.

"You have a mighty pretty little brother," the leader said. I snatched my hat back and continued to glare at him. "He looks kind of feisty."

"I can assure you, I am," I hissed, standing up even higher and putting my hands on my hips. I walked even closer, bending my head back. "We are orphans on our way to California and we demand work. We'll do just about anything."

"Oh, really. And why should I hire you?" he chuckled.

I poked him in the chest forcefully, "Because we need help. And stop being such a bully. On the inside, you're just a father who wants to find his daughter."

"Wha-?" he started.

I cut him off, "Don't think I can't see that necklace around your neck with your daughter's picture in it." I backed up and quieted my voice. "She's very lovely. She looks like her father."

The giant man sniffled, "Her mother took her away from me and left for California. I'm on my way to find her."

"What?!" Stephen exclaimed, stepping next to me. "I'm confused. What just happened?"

"We just got jobs," I said confidentally, still staring at the leader.

The man ruffled my hair, "You remind me of her. She's seven. Her name's Rose."

"That's quite a beautiful and distinguished name. I'm sure she would be proud of you for trying to find her and helping two orphan strangers on the way."

"You're right!" he beamed. He pointed at the two of us suddenly. Stephen flinched but I held my ground. "See you two bright and early!"

"Thank you," I told him, rising up on my toes and kissing his cheek. "Oh, and if it wouldn't be a problem, I would prefer if everyone thought that I was a boy."

"You heard the lady, nobody touch her! Treat her with respect, but also pretend she's a boy! What should we call you?" the leader said.

I chuckled. "Danny." I grabbed Stephen's hand and dragged him nearer. "And this is Stephen."

"Um, hi. . ." Stephen said faintly.

"Call me Big Bill!" the leader chuckled, sticking out both of his hands for us to shake. Bacon trotted forward and snorted. "And who's this?"

"Bacon. He's my pet," I said clearly. I didn't want him to be mistaken for a meal.

"Understood," Big Bill said, giving a slight bow. "You two can bunk down with us for now."

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"When you said 'we'll do about anything,' I was hoping this would not be in that category," Stephen complained, gagging as he shoveled poop.

"Oh, stop whining. We're getting paid and heading to California on a train!" I said, shoveling my own poop, sweating the the ridiculous heat.

"How did you know about his daughter?" Stephen asked, wiping off his forehead with his arm and leaning on his shovel, waiting for my answer.

"Instinct."

"That can't be it!" he whined. "Tell me!"

"I'm observant!" I yelled. "Get back to work, geez!"

"You're so bossy!" he said, turning back to shoveling the poop. A head popped up beside the train, which was stopped while everyone set up the circus, getting ready for customers. The man ducked quickly just a Stephen shoveled a pile of poop at him.

"Whoa! Stop!" he yelled, waving his arms. Stephen and I jumped, almost dropping our shovels. The man sighed in relief. He was scrawny and mousy looking with thinning brown hair and spectacles. We looked at him expectantly. "We need you two for crowd control for a while. Make sure nobody gets in the circus without paying!" He eyed me questioningly, sizing me up. He pointed at me, "You, small one! What are you doing shoveling poop!"

"Um, it's my job?" I said uncertainly.

"But you're so scrawny," he sneered.

"You're one to talk," I growled, rolling up my sleeves and jumping out of the train car next to him. The mousy man backed up in alarm.

"Danny, don't hurt the poor man," Stephen sighed, also jumping out of the train. He turned to the mousy man. "He's stronger than he looks. Pretty useful, too."

I glared at the mousy man, that is what I dubbed him, and growled again. He yelped and jumped back. "Okay! You'll do fine!" he exclaimed nervously, backing up, then turning and sprinting away. He tripped over a box and went sprawling on the ground, but he just hopped back up, spun around to make sure I wasn't charging after him, then spun back around and disappeared.

Stephen laughed and clapped me on the back. I staggered a step forward from the blow and glared at him. He held up his hands and backed up. "Don't bite my head off, too!"

"I'm seriously thinking about it," I said. I turned back around, holding my arms above my head, stretching. "Well, let's go do crowd control. People won't break in when they smell us."

I started walking away, noticing how Stephen lifted up his arm to sniff himself. He scrunched up his face and shook his head in disgust. Then, he came running after me.

"Do we really smell this bad?"

"Smells like it," I chuckled.