Chapter Six

Oliver

The crowds slowly started to disperse, but I stayed planted in my seat.  Time seemed to speed up as I stared at the center ring.  It felt like only seconds went by before I realized I was alone in the tent.  It was just me and the magic that lingered in the air of the show that I had witnessed.

I sighed as I stretched out my joints.  I was about to stand up when someone appeared beside me, Jules.  He leaned up against the bench I sat on and followed my eyes to the ring.

"So what did you think of my little show, Mr. Graham?"  Sweat clung to Jules's forehead as he pulled out a handkerchief and tried to dab it away.

"It was a gasser!  It's a good thing you are leaving tomorrow, or I would go broke coming to see it over and over again."  I grinned as I stared back out at the ring.  "What's it like out there?"

"Center ring?"  A twinkle gleamed in Jules's eyes.  "Nothing quite like it.  It's the best high I have ever experienced.  No menial job could compare to it."

I didn't say anything as I glanced around the ring.  Workers began to haul the stands out of the tent.

"Don't tell me, Oliver.  Are you jealous?"  There was that twinkle again, but this time something was a bit off.  It wasn't just excitement.  Whatever it was vanished before I had a chance to discern what it could have been or it's meaning.

"I've never seen anything like it..."  I didn't know what to say.  Was I jealous?

"Come on, kid.  Let me introduce you to some people."

"Sure."  I followed Jules out of the tent obediently.

I had no idea how long I had been sitting alone in the big top.  All the townspeople seemed to have disappeared as if they had never been here, to begin with.

"Jules!"  A voice called out from behind us.  I turned in time just to see the woman I saw yesterday marching up to us.  She was draped in a black silk robe with black fur on the cuffs.  She had a black lace folding fan clasped in her hand.  As she walked, the robe slipped and exposed the flesh of her shoulder.  Was she not wearing anything under it?

I immediately dropped my eyes to the ground.  Why was she dressed so scandalously?

"Ah, bonjour, Shirley, did you have a good show?"  Jules was utterly unfazed by her like this was an everyday occurrence.

"Not bad, but we had a couple of blokes trying to boondoggle their way in.  Carl burned a couple of them.  Then he burned a couple of others after they tried to grope one of the girls."  Shirley was so nonchalant about all of this as she tugged her robe back into place.

People trying to con their way into her show and touching a girl.  Then it hit me.  The Tattoo Temptress was Shirley, and she danced...was she in charge of a cat house?  That's where Chester went?  His Ma really would kill him.

"Thanks for letting me know.  Oh, Shirley, I would like you to meet my new friend.  His name is Oliver Graham."

"Oh yeah, I saw you yesterday.  You were eating an egg salad sandwich."  Shirly scrunched up her nose in disgust.  "It stunk."

How in the world did she smell it?  It's not like she got that close to us.

"Shirley here has her own ring."  Jules had an all-knowing grin plastered across his face.  "I hear you visited her tent earlier."

"Oh, I didn't go to her show."  I tried to maintain my composure.  "I actually barely made it in the door.  I talked to the Porcelain Lady."

"Yes, my Birdie.  She's a pretty little thing.  Isn't she?"  Jules grinned.

"I think you mean MY Birdie."  Shirley swatted at Jules with her fan.  "She spends more time with me than you."

"Oh, Shirley, we can share Birdie."  Jules reached his hand out and let her fingers graze Shirley's cheek.  Shirley's face soured, and she slightly flinched under his touch.

A chill seemed to cling to the air.  Everyone seemed to go quiet and walk away from us.

"So, Birdie is the Porcelain Lady?"  I tried to soften the atmosphere.  "Since I didn't venture in the tent, I didn't get to see everyone.  How does everyone get their stage name?"

"I give most of them."  Shirley beamed.  "Of course, I give the performers the final say."

"Shirley!"  A man's voice called from the direction she had come from.  There he was, the man from yesterday.  His body was toned and almost glistened in the soft lighting. 

"Carl, baby!  I'm just talking to Jules."  She called over her shoulder.  The man came up behind Shirley.  His arms snaked their way around her waist before burying his face in her neck.  Her robe became loose again, exposing her skin.

I felt my cheeks become enflamed as I stared at the clump of dried grass at my foot.  I didn't need to see her show to get the idea.

"Bashful thing, isn't he?"  Shirley cooed as Carl snorted into her neck.

"Come on, baby.  I need a cuddle."  Carl let his hands slip lower and lower.

"See you in the morning, Jules."  Shirley unfurled her fan and fanned herself.  Carl snatched her up, throwing her over his shoulder before disappearing into the shadows.

"You will have to forgive them.  Carl and Shirley still act like they are freshly mated."  Jules seemed amused by the odd couple.

"Mated?"  I questioned, but I was ignored.

"Come on, Oliver.  I want to introduce you to my angel."

Angel?  That's what he called the girl that did the silk show.  My heart began to beat loudly in my chest.  I wanted to meet her more than anything.

"Oh, okay."  I could feel the spring in my step, but I tried not to let my eagerness show.

Jules rummaged in his tailcoat and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.  He quickly lit one and slipped it between his lips.  Jules took a long drag and the smoke out of his nose.

"Do you want one?"  Jules offered the pack to me.

"Oh, no thanks."  I shook my head.  I never tried a cigarette, but considering the little money I made, it was a habit I couldn't afford to like.

"Ah, I should have known.  Scared you can't afford it?"

Did Jules just read my mind?  "Uh, exactly,"  I muttered.

Jules pocketed his pack as he turned into the dark to head towards the train cars.  Up ahead were faint lights and what looked like a small bonfire.

"This way, Mr. Graham.  Stick with me.  Some people might not take kindly to your kind in our trains."  A  poof of smoke trailed behind Jules and hit me in the face.  I slowly fanned the air, trying to disperse the cloud.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to be here then?"

"Of course, I am the boss."  Jules was so confident.  I didn't know if he indeed was or if it was his unfamiliar accent that gave off that aura.  "Come on, just up ahead."

I followed his shiny, slicked-back hair.  It almost looked silver under the moonlight.  I was so focused on his hair that I almost ran into him as he stopped in front of me.

Jules climbed a ladder on the side of a train car.  He motioned me to follow him.  The rusty metal was cool to the touch, and every step made a clinking noise.

As I finally made my way up to the last rung, I was able to see over the edge of the car's roof.  There in a sea of stars was the angel my soul begged for me to meet.

She wore a simple white dress. Her honey hair cascaded off her shoulders. Her back was to me; my eyes roamed every curve and every inch of her exposed skin.  I wanted to remember every dimple, every freckle.

"Oliver, meet Elsie, my angel."