by A. J. Marcus
Ed put his son back on the ground. “What do you say we get the critters fed real quick and then try and figure out what we’re doing for dinner.”
“We can help with the elephants again,” Mel offered as she slipped through the fence before either Adrian or Jade could.
Moments later, they were handing fruits and vegetables to the elephants. Eddy took great joy in instructing the belly dancers, even though they already knew. Clive and Sonny took care of the camels again, while Bryan went to bring out a couple of bales of hay.
Adrian took the opportunity to pull Ed back near the wall, where they could keep an eye on everything but have a couple of moments. He tentatively reached for the elephant handler’s hand. Ed’s strong fingers closed around his, and Adrian knew everything was going to be just fine.
“Sorry you had a rough day,” he started out.
Ed laughed weakly. “I’m just hoping Tandy Waters doesn’t come back and sue me for mental stress and a new weave.”
“I bet she has a dozen more just like it in her drawer at home.” Adrian stepped closer, so that only an inch or so separated them. “And she’ll probably sue the TV station before she thinks about coming after you. Besides, I thought everyone knew camels spit. You see that kind of thing on Discovery Channel, after all.”
“Yeah, I guess you do.”
“So when do you want to hear the new music? It’ll be just the thing to brighten your day.”
Ed’s brown eyes bored into Adrian. “You brighten my day.” He leaned in, and they kissed again. Warmth, stronger than the lowering Texas sun that shone just over the trees, filled the flutist.
“Hey, Cara, come back here!” Mel shouted as the ground shook.
Adrian opened his eyes as his lips parted from Ed’s. The elephant, still holding a large, misshapen carrot in her trunk, hurried toward them. Ed moved faster than Adrian would’ve thought possible and got himself between the flutist and the pachyderm.
“Cara, whoa!” he shouted. The elephant slowed to a stop, leaving a small swirl of dust. She looked at her trainer with large, soulful eyes. Then she held out her trunk with the carrot. Ed reached for the carrot. “Cara, this is your dinner.” Everyone in the corral and a few of the faire folk outside the fence watched the exchange. Behind Ed, Adrian’s heart pounded.
Cara jerked the carrot away as Ed’s hand came close to it. She shook her head and stretched out her trunk again, toward Adrian.
“You want Adrian to have your carrot?” Ed asked. He glanced back at the man behind him.
The elephant nodded, then stepped slowly forward so she could reach around her trainer to the man she intended the carrot for. It was like the elephant understood his every word. Adrian hadn’t actually thought they were that smart.
Adrian reached for the vegetable with shaking fingers. “Thank you, Cara.” As his hand curled around the carrot, she released it.
“She really likes you,” Ed said. “Sharing food is a big thing for an elephant.”
“Really?” Adrian started to slip the carrot into the front pocket of his jeans.
Ed caught his hand. “Yeah.” The trainer nodded. “If you don’t want to upset her, you better eat the carrot.”
Adrian stared at the carrot for a second, then brought the tip of it up to his mouth. When he bit off a piece and started chewing, the elephant reached out and ran her trunk through his hair. She then turned and walked back over to Mel and Eddy to finish getting her food.
Relief flooded through Adrian, and he sagged back against the wooden wall. “So what was that all about?” He bit off another piece of the carrot. It might look a bit funky, but it was tasty enough.
“I’m not sure.” Ed looked from Adrian to Cara and back again. “It’s not the first time she’s shared food with someone. But it is the first time she’s stopped eating and come across a corral to do so.” He nodded thoughtfully and smiled. “I think she really likes you. Might even be accepting you as part of her herd.”
Adrian bit off another piece of carrot. “Is that why she picked a time that we were kissing to do it?”
“Could be. She saw you getting close to me, the person she accepts as in charge, and thought maybe she needed to make a peace offering.” Ed leaned in for another kiss. As they parted, he nodded. “Yeah, she’s definitely watching how we’re interacting. At least she doesn’t view you as a threat. That might cause problems.”
A bit of carrot got lodged in Adrian’s throat, and he coughed for a second. “A threat? Is that possible?”
“Yeah, but I think it happens more when the new partner is the same sex as the elephant involved. Since you’re male and she’s female, there’s no threat.”
“They can tell the difference?”
Ed nodded again. “Oh yeah, they are well aware of the differences in the human sexes. Most animals are, even if we don’t acknowledge it.”
Adrian shook his head. “There’s so much I still have to learn, isn’t there.”
“I think there’s always more to learn about and from elephants. Don’t worry. I can help you though stuff.”
Not being able to resist, Adrian kissed Ed again. There was just something so right about kissing the man. More right than anything else had ever been. “Good. Now let’s go over and see how Cara likes this new music.” He unslung the flute bag and pulled out the large flute as they walked over to the elephant. Before they reached her, he brought the flute to his lips and began the new melody. The deep notes rolled out. Cara stopped eating her hay, cocked her head and flared her ears. Then she began swaying side to side in time with the music. Ciro and Gwen joined her. In seconds, all three elephants were moving in perfect time to the tune.
Adrian kept playing. He wanted to stop and say something to Ed, but he wanted to finish the tune more. The deep, moving piece rolled out of him as he closed the distance to the elephants. When he reached Cara, she gently laid her trunk on his shoulder. Amazingly, she didn’t touch his hands, arms, or flute. It was obvious she knew where the music came from. Gwen wasn’t so forward, but she looked at him with half-lidded eyes and a few strands of hay hanging out of her mouth. Ciro walked up to Adrian and started to lean against him until Ed interceded with a loud “No!” But that was all that was said until the tune was done.
For a moment, no one said a word. Then Cara raised her trunk high and trumpeted loud and long. Gwen and Ciro echoed her. For a couple of minutes, the elephants sang their enjoyment of Adrian’s new song. Then the clapping began. It took Adrian a moment to realize that his audience had been more than just the people and critters in the elephant ride corral. A number of people stood outside the fence. He recognized a few faces in the crowd, including Sebastian, Paul, and Holly.
“That was so awesome!” Mel cheered.
“Dude, you so have to come play that on stage tomorrow,” Jade said. “What?” Adrian turned to the belly dancer, puzzled.
“If we have to come and drag you up there, you are playing that on stage tomorrow,” she repeated. “I can’t wait to work out a slow, sensuous dance to that. It will be so alluring.”
“But, I have to work at the ceramic shop,” he objected.
“We’ll work out something with Paul,” Mel cut in. “You have to share that with the world. It is too amazing to just be played at the ceramic shop to sell pipes.”
“I think the elephants liked it too,” Ed said. From behind, he put his arms around Adrian and whispered into his ear. “It made me horny as all get out. If people weren’t here….”
Adrian turned in the man’s arms and smiled at him. “Really?” Ed nodded. “Really.”
Chapter 20
Although it wasn’t really his thing, Ed sat in the back row of the belly dancers’ show the next afternoon. He wanted to hear Adrian’s music again. The same music that kept him up and hard in his bed the previous night after Adrian had gone home. All during the night, he’d thought about the flutist, more than he’d thought about any man ever before. Cara’s offering of food had mea
nt a lot. It showed the elephant was getting attached to the man, just like he was. What are we going to do at the end of faire? My life is in west Texas and his is in Dallas. Although he did admit that he has to find a way to reinvent himself after the fiasco with that composer at the symphony. Would he be happy with my life?
Adrian stepped onstage, flanked by Jade and Mel. He was still wearing his satyr garb. Ed’s body tightened with the memory of enjoying that hot body. There was no doubt in his mind that he wanted to continue to enjoy Adrian and all he had to offer. The music rolled out from the flute. Slow. Deep. Meaningful. The dancers began moving, but their coins and bells didn’t intrude on the flute melody. Ed looked closer and realized they weren’t wearing any of their normally noisy accessories. The two moved, just using their sheer cloth costumes to weave their accompaniment to the flute. The light conversational undertones that had emanated from the audience during previous dances died away. Like it did when he played it for them last night, Adrian’s tune held them all enraptured until it came to its end. With the final note, both dancers collapsed like wilted flowers onto the stage. Adrian bowed. The crowd erupted in applause, standing and clapping like mad while, down the lane, elephants trumpeted.
Ed stood up and spun to look toward his booth, to try and make sure there wasn’t anything wrong at the elephant ride. Everything looked normal, except that Cara and Gwen were both stopped and staring down toward the stage with their trunks high in the air as their voices rang out. As he watched, they lowered their trunks, and Cara resumed her walk around the corral. For a second, Ed was torn. He wanted to stay and congratulate Adrian on a truly moving performance, but he wanted to hurry down to the corral and make sure the girls hadn’t upset any of their riders.
From across the audience, as the people in front of him settled back onto their benches, he caught Adrian’s eye. Ed flashed him a quick thumbs-up, blew him a kiss, and hurried back to his critters. Did I just throw him a kiss? I’ve never done that to anyone but Eddy before.
When he arrived at the elephant ride, everything looked exactly the way it had before he’d left, fifteen minutes earlier. Ed hurried up to the loading stand, easing past the customers who were waiting there for their next ride.
“Everything okay?” he asked Clive as he took the money from the man at the head of the line.
Clive shrugged. “Yeah. I mean, everything stopped for a couple while the girls gave their approval like they did last night. I presume Adrian played that song again.”
Ed nodded. “Yeah. I guess they all heard it. Anyone upset or scared by the whole thing?”
His worker shook his head. “Nope, everything’s fine here. I guess if Cara had reared up or something, it might be different, but she stopped, walked over to the fence, trumpeted for a bit, then started following Bryan around the arena again.”
“Good. I think I’m going to go see if he does another number before the end of the show. I’m in the back row if there’s a problem.” Ed glanced down the corral at Bryan leading Cara around and Sonny leading Tahir. Everything looked fine. Satisfied, he eased his way down the steps and hurried back to the rear of the audience at the gypsy stage.
The crowd had grown while he was gone, and someone had grabbed his seat. Ed found a spot against a tree to lean and watch.
“You know, he is very talented.” Dale O’Toole appeared at his side. Dale, I didn’t even see you there.” Ed turned to his friend.
Dale shook his head. He was dressed in a medieval commoner’s outfit, just a simple dark tunic with a wide leather belt and some gauze pants. It was very different from the chain mail he used to wear in his old jouster role. “Don’t worry about it. I was back here during the big performance. I was walking past when he started. Then you ran off to check the elephants. I suppose everything’s okay?”
“Yeah.” Ed turned his attention back to the stage, where Adrian and the girls were coming back on. “They just wanted to let Adrian know how much they like his music. They did the same thing yesterday after he finished that piece for them.”
“Animals are a good judge of people, I always say,” Dale said. “I know if the horses don’t like someone there’s normally a problem with them. I bet the elephants are a little more sensitive.”
Ed nodded, not taking his eyes off the man on stage and the graceful way he moved amongst the dancers this time. He wove in and out as they danced. Mel and Jade had put their coins and bells back on for this number. “Yeah, if the elephants don’t like someone, it’s always safer if they don’t stay around. Cara actually gave Adrian food yesterday. Shocked all of us.”
“Wow, so is that like a major acceptance thing by her?”
“It’s her telling him she accepts him as part of the herd, and that she’s not competing with him for my attentions.”
Dale leaned against the tree with Ed. “That’s really big. How do you feel about that?”
Taking his eyes off the stage for a second, Ed looked at Dale. “I’ve been up all night. Part of it’s the music, but a bigger part is trying to understand how I feel about Adrian. I don’t think I want this to end in June. I want it to go on.”
“Have you told him this?”
Ed shook his head. “No. He has a life here in Dallas, or he did. It’s complicated. He might be willing to try something new, but my life is so different from his. Is it right of me to ask him?”
“Can you tell if he is getting as attached to you as you are to him?”
“Dale, I really don’t know. I suck at reading humans. I can tell you what most animals are thinking, but people?”
“Would Cara be accepting him if he wasn’t getting attached to you?”
For a moment, Ed thought about that one. He knew the elephants were sensitive to emotions, even unexpressed ones. That’s why he had to be so careful about getting overly angry around them. He’d learned years ago to always stay calm inside when he was working with them. He’d been roughly pushed aside by an elephant when he’d gone into the field at home angry and the elephant had picked up on that. Was that why Cara gave Adrian the carrot? She picked up on both our emotions? “You may be onto something there, Dale. Let me think on that a bit more.”
They settled into silence while Adrian finished his latest song. It was something he’d been playing at the ceramic shop a couple of times when Ed had stopped by to get him for lunch. The flutist didn’t wait for applause when he finished it. He rolled into another piece that had a Celtic jig style to it, and the girls just spun along in perfect time and grace. When they finished, they got another standing ovation.
“Like I said, he’s good,” Dale said as he stopped clapping.
“He is, isn’t he,” Ed agreed.
Dale straightened up from the tree. “So did you two discuss possibly going out with Austin and me this week? I mentioned it to Austin, and he’s all for the idea.”
“Yeah, Adrian is too. I even checked with Trish, and she can watch Eddy any day we want.” Ed dropped his voice a bit. “I think she likes Adrian too and wants to see me happy.”
“That’s good.” Dale chuckled. “If you need me to, I can get some of my guys to come over and watch the animals for you while we’re gone.”
“If they would, that’d be great. I’d thought about asking Bryan to stay, but that means more work for Mom at the ranch. Plus, he gets moody about not spending enough time with his girlfriend.”
Adrian walked through the dispersing audience. There was an extra bounce in his step. Ed moved away from the tree and caught the man up in his arms, not caring if anyone saw them or not.
“You were awesome.” He kissed Adrian’s sweet lips, savoring the man’s musky scent.
“Thanks. I heard the elephants. Is everything okay?”
Ed stepped out of their embrace. “Yeah, they were just voicing their approval of your music.”
You are extremely good,” Dale said from behind Ed.
“Thanks, Dale,” Adrian replied. “It’s been a long time, back in college, sin
ce I played for a small audience like this. Somehow, it’s actually more invigorating than playing for a big symphony concert. These people feel more real.”
Jade and Mel appeared behind Adrian. Mel had a handful of bills in her hand, and she pressed them into Adrian’s. “Here, these are for you.” She grinned madly at him.
“What’s this?” He stared at the money.
“Tips,” Jade replied.
“Tips?”
Dale reached out and curled Adrian’s fingers over the money. “It’s a Ren faire thing. All the performers, even the jousters, accept tips after a performance. It’s the audience’s way of saying ‘thank you for entertaining us.’ Accept it. I’m surprised you haven’t had a few people do it while you’ve been playing at the ceramic shop.”
“Gypsy said to give you a fair cut,” Jade said. “This is the most we’ve gotten in tips in at least five years. Since the economy started crashing.”
“You’re a hit, Dio!” Mel hugged him.
“So now what are you going to do with all that cash?” Ed asked. He couldn’t help it; a wide grin cut a swath across his face. Adrian was happy, so he was happy.
“I think I can buy pizza for everyone tonight.” He glanced at their friends around him. “What do you guys say? Dale, bring Austin. We can have pizza at the elephant ride after cannon.”
“Or, I can ask someone to stay late and watch things until we can get back from the pizza place,” Ed suggested. It would feel more like a celebration if they weren’t at the site.
“That would be awesome.” Adrian hugged Ed again. His touch sent tingles of energy and enthusiasm through the elephant trainer.
“Oh yeah,” Jade butted in, “Gypsy wants to know if you can do the last show of the day. It’s at four thirty.”
“Let me check with Paul and make sure it’s okay.” Adrian turned to head toward the ceramic shop. Ed moved to go with him.
“I’ll check with Austin about pizza tonight, but I bet he’ll be up for it.” Dale walked the other way.