Miraculum

by Steph Post

  “Well, I know that.”

  January picked up another fish floating by and flipped it over. Number seven.

  “Lucky me.”

  Ruby took the fish from her and plunked it back in the water.

  “What’s going on tonight?”

  January’s hair was pinned tightly to make finger waves and she felt along the back of her head, checking for loose strands.

  “I mean it, this stop’s a real blue one. Napoleon is like a ghost’s haunt. We had to call off the final show last night because there weren’t more than three guys in the tip at a time and even when we could get them inside the tent, none of them were willing to pay the extra dime for the blow-off. I mean, what kind of town is this where the men don’t want to watch a girl dance the cootch?”

  Ruby nodded, her eyes on the fish bobbing along.

  “We’re only here because no other show will come through. Pontilliar thought we could make it because these folks haven’t seen a carnival in years. But you’re right, there’s something off about this place. It’s more than just the sawmills closing down and folks moving away to Picayune and Santa Rosa. There’s something odd about the marks who are still here. They’re walking around in a trance. It’s as if all of the life has been sucked from the land and the people. Even the air.”

  “It’s like everyone here is afraid to have fun. Or maybe they just don’t know how. Normally, I’d be mad about having to go dark, but at this rate, who cares? It’s not like I’m missing out on any big daddy spenders.”

  Ruby looked up, startled.

  “Going dark?”

  January groaned.

  “Where have you been? Yes, we’re going dark tonight. On a Monday, for Christ’s sake. Last call for the gates is at six. Six! I’m only going to get one show in, if that. You’d think we could just run a Sunday school show and keep everything else going, but Pontilliar’s come head to head with yet another preacher. Some sort of revivalist. Damn sky grifter.”

  January put her hands on her hips.

  “What’s wrong with you? How do I know this and you don’t?”

  Ruby looked away, down the mostly empty midway. A few of the gamesmen were arranging chalkware figurines and boxes of Cracker Jack on the shelves of their booths. McCleary was tossing coins at the rack of his own pitch game to kill time and Willie was just beginning to heat up the cotton candy cauldron. Ruby ran her hands through her loose hair and coiled the length of it around her wrist. Willie sneered at her and she closed her eyes and pursed her lips in frustration. What was wrong with her? Since they had pulled out of Baton Rouge two nights ago, with still no sign of Hayden, she’d been walking around as if in a dream. A nightmare. Where nothing made sense and the people around her were shadows, alternately chasing her and drifting away. Samuel had tried to talk to her yet again about Daniel and she barely remembered the conversation. She did remember slamming the door in his face and then collapsing behind it while she banged her fists against the floor of her wagon. How could Samuel not understand? Pontilliar, too, had tried to discuss carnival business with her, as if everything was still the same. He’d tried to complain to her about the laziness of the rousties and the wastefulness of Jimbo in his cooking. She had simply turned and walked away from him, leaving him spitting and red-faced outside his wagon. At least everyone was too embarrassed for her to try broaching the subject of Hayden in her company. There were still whispers of his possible involvement in Tom’s death, but for the most part that thinking had died down. Ruby was grateful for that and grateful no one wanted to talk to her about Hayden. But she was also alone.

  January splashed her hand in the water to get Ruby’s attention.

  “Hey! So now you know we’re dropping the awnings early tonight. Does that mean yes or no that you’re coming?”

  Ruby opened her eyes and swallowed the bitterness rising up in her throat like bile. She knew January was doing her a favor, trying to keep her from sinking down into the mire. Ruby forced herself to smile.

  “You just love doing this, don’t you?”

  January cocked her head and batted her eyelashes.

  “It’s not every day that I know a secret about the Star Light and you don’t. I might as well savor the moment. Hell, maybe Samuel will start wanting to have special conferences with me now.”

  Ruby groaned.

  “Please, I hope so. Anything to get him off my back. You can take Pontilliar, too, while you’re at it.”

  January rolled her eyes.

  “Never.”

  Ruby waited for January to continue, but January just smirked at her. Ruby finally threw her hands up in the air.

  “Fine. For the love of God, I’ll bite. Will you please tell me what is happening tonight?”

  January looked over her shoulder and then leaned in close, her voice a whisper.

  “We’re going into town tonight. To the picture show. And you got to come.”

  Ruby frowned and stepped back. She had never seen a full-length motion picture. The closest she’d come was sneaking into a nickelodeon show when she was thirteen. Ruby started to shake her head, but January held out her hands and stopped her.

  “Don’t. I know what you’re going to say. But you got to. We’re going dark because the whole town of Napoleon is heading off to some big camp revival over in Gallsville. I heard Franklin tell one of the rousties that Pontilliar had given in and agreed to shut us down tonight so there’d be no competition. No chance of the marks coming down here and enjoying a ride and a show when they could be rolling around on the ground, praising Jesus and barking like dogs. So you see? Everyone in town will be gone, hopping and hollering for the Lord, and no one’s going to be watching Robin Hood at The Rainbow. And if there are rubes at the theater, who cares? We’re going to take it over tonight.”

  Ruby looked down at the ground and shook her head.

  “We?”

  January grabbed Ruby’s arm and her eyes lit up.

  “Well, not everyone. Only the folks I’m asking to come. Half the Ten-in-One has already said they’re game. We’re going to get all dolled up, make a real night of it. It’ll be fun.”

  It was the first time Ruby had seen January excited, or even happy, since Tom had died. Still. Going into town? Going out into the real world?

  “I don’t know.”

  January crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Come on, if Marjorie can haul all four hundred pounds of herself down there, then you can, too. No veils, no covering up. Glad rags only. Just going into town to see a show. Like ordinary folk.”

  “So we’re going to be ordinary?”

  January put her hands on her hips again and held her head up high.

  “We’re going to be extraordinary.”

  Ruby shook her head and laughed. She was surprised at how good it felt.

  “All right, all right. What the hell.”

  “Perfect.”

  January smiled. It was worth agreeing just to see her smile again. To realize there was a chance of them both making it through the darkness and coming out on the other side. Ruby turned back to the trough of fish and January turned to leave, but then stopped. She had a mischievous look on her face that suddenly reminded Ruby of a different January. The January before Tom had died, before Tom had even come to the carnival in the first place. Ruby raised her eyebrows in question.

  “There something else?”

  January gave Ruby a sly, knowing look.

  “Daniel’s already said he’s coming. Said he’s looking forward to it. I just thought you might want to know.”

  January winked and whirled around to leave, but Ruby reached out and caught her arm.

  “Why would I want to know?”

  January shrugged.

  “Oh, you know. Fish in the sea.”

  January twisted out of Ruby’s grasp and turned her back, sauntering slowly away. Ruby’s face clouded over and she slapped her hand down in the water hard enough for Gig and Linda to stop arguing an
d look over. Ruby didn’t apologize.

  January had been right. Everyone was coming. Or rather, everyone who had been invited. Apparently, January had made a point of asking the freaks and performers to come and of leaving the rousties and the gamesmen out. January had only commented that the men could go into town anytime they wanted for a blow-out, and that was true. But Ruby also knew January was looking to make an impression. She wanted to be reckless, to break the rules and shock any marks they came across, as well as Pontilliar. Her attitude was contagious and the large group, twenty-one souls in all, couldn’t help but become infected with January’s adventurous spirit.

  There was a festive air to the group as they began to walk along the muddy, curving road toward town. A sense of topsy-turvy fun. The girls looped arms around one another and a jar of ’shine was passed from hand-to-hand as they all tried to get at least tipsy before showing up at The Rainbow Theater. Bernard had donned a tuxedo jacket and top hat. The gloves he wore were white with gold buttons and not as durable as the leather ones he used as shoes every day, but he did look dashing. Timothy had a length of gold satin wrapped around his gigantic cowboy hat and Josephine did not wear a veil to conceal her beard, but rather a gigantic bonnet crested with ostrich plumes and a tight-fighting dress of bright pink organza. Only Daniel, hanging in the back, wore his usual black suit. January had been disappointed with his appearance and had slipped a white fabric rose through his buttonhole and draped a white silk scarf around his neck. He had begrudgingly let her.

  At first, Ruby had been unsure about the dress. When she’d returned to her wagon after the final show, a package wrapped in brown paper had been waiting for her. An attached note, scrawled in January’s childish handwriting, proclaimed “No Excuses” and Ruby had wondered what the hell she’d gotten herself into as she ripped open the paper. The dress was a dark gray sheath, cut high in front, low in the back, and falling just below the knees. When Ruby held the material up to the window, the fading light made it shimmer. Ruby had never worn anything like it and she wasn’t sure she wanted to. Underneath the folded dress were a pair of heeled shoes with silver straps. Ruby had held those shoes in her hands and known there was no getting out of it. She had left the dark kohl on her eyes from the snake show and loosely pinned up her hair. Ruby had felt awkward and self-conscious when she joined the group meeting in secret behind the cargo trucks, but January had beamed her approval and Ruby supposed that was all that mattered. It was worth it to see January smiling, flitting from one person to another, straightening ties and smoothing down fringe, just as she would have a year before.

  They had almost reached the pavement of Main Street when Daniel quietly came up to walk beside her. Ruby had done her best to avoid him as the group had whooped and sashayed toward the town. Like her, he was more reserved than the rest. He drank when the jar came his way and he had skipped a few paces with Alicia when she’d tackled him and thrown her scaly arm around his shoulders, but mostly he was quiet, only watching, with a strange curl at the corner of his lips. Ruby stiffened when he appeared beside her, but then thought about the knife and the darkness and let her shoulders drop and her body relax. They walked together in silence for a moment before he turned his head slightly toward her.

  “Hello.”

  Ruby didn’t look at him.

  “Hello.”

  “You look…”

  Daniel paused and glanced down at the road. The evening had grown into late twilight as they had walked, but his shoes still glinted in the half-light.

  “…different.”

  Ruby turned to him and raised her eyebrows. She could feel the warm night air on her back and legs. She suddenly realized Daniel had never seen so much of her skin. She quickly looked away from him, keeping her eyes on the road. The first lamp marking the beginning of Main Street was only a hundred yards away. Ruby couldn’t see anyone on the street.

  “Different? Is that some sort of veiled attempt at a compliment?”

  “An attempt, yes. Do you mind if I walk alongside you?”

  “Suit yourself.”

  Their shoes clicked when they hit the paved road. Behind them, Timothy and Marjorie had broken out into an off-key rendition of “The Little Red School House.” Ruby could feel Daniel’s eyes on her.

  “It’s been three months, at least, since I’ve seen a film. It was something with Buster Keaton, a short one. I wish I could remember the name of it. I love going to the pictures.”

  Ruby nodded, keeping her eyes ahead.

  “It’s been a while for me. When I was a kid, I saw that one about the men taking a ship up to the moon. It was so strange and beautiful. Like a dream.”

  Daniel’s eyes lit up and he clasped his hands together.

  “Le Voyage dans la Lune! A Trip to the Moon. It’s my favorite.”

  Ruby turned to Daniel and tried to contain her smile.

  “Really? The ship hits the man in the moon when it lands and the moon makes an awful face. I remember that part.”

  They were now walking down the middle of Main Street and the group had become more subdued. The shops that weren’t already boarded up were closed and the sidewalks deserted. A restaurant on the corner was open, but there didn’t appear to be anyone sitting at the tables alongside the window. It was, as January had said, a ghost town. Ruby could see the sign for The Rainbow Theater up ahead, lit up in colored lights against the blue-black sky. Daniel moved closer to her and she could see that his pale cheeks were slightly flushed.

  “A Trip to the Moon is beautiful, yes, but Melies made so many excellent films. The Cinemagician they called him.”

  “Now that’s a title.”

  “So much of his work seems impossible to find in this country. Under the Seas. The Conquest of the Pole. You should really see that one. With the snow giant. It’s quite fantastic.”

  Daniel turned to her with his eyes bright and flashing. For a moment, she thought he was going to touch her arm in his excitement and she looked at his long, white fingers sailing through the air as he gestured. She suddenly realized how beautiful his hands were. Immediately, she pushed the thought from her mind and turned back to the road, grappling for something to say.

  “So, you’ve been outside of America?”

  “Oh, yes!”

  Daniel flung his arms out to the side.

  “I have traveled all over the world. Everywhere. Mountains, deserts, I’ve sailed on the high seas. I love the big cities the most, though, I must admit. Those that are filled with people and music, art and ideas. New inventions. Progress, moving ever forward. The hallowed grounds of the future. Cities so vast, thronged with people from so many cultures, that judgement has no place and even those such as myself can fit in without incurring a second glance.”

  “Those such as yourself?”

  Daniel lowered his eyes to the ground and hesitated before answering.

  “Those that are not always understood. Who may not always find themselves welcome in average company. Perhaps you know.”

  Ruby pursed her lips and nodded.

  “I know.”

  Daniel stood up straighter and smiled at her.

  “Who knows? Perhaps one day I’ll take you with me. We can find the films of Melies still playing somewhere in France and I can show them to you.”

  Daniel’s eyes were no longer as bright, but had taken on a strange gleam. There seemed to be a sadness there, a curious longing, and Ruby’s face went hot with confusion. She quickly looked away and was relieved when January suddenly came up between them and threw her arms around them both. The group had grown even quieter and more compact. They passed a drugstore and Ruby could see a man standing behind the counter, next to the soda fountain. He was wiping out an ice cream dish and shaking his head in either disbelief or disgust. Ruby could smell the liquor on January’s breath as she laughed.

  “What are you two jabbering on about?”

  Daniel shrugged his shoulders. Ruby couldn’t help but notice that he seemed
uncomfortable with January touching him.

  “Daniel was just telling me about big cities. Places to visit one day.”

  January turned to Daniel.

  “How about Atlanta? Biggest city in the South, they say. I went there once with my folks, but that was when I was just a kid. They say now it’s one of the most modern places in America. All lit up like a Christmas tree and almost as fine as your New York City. Have you ever been?”

  Daniel shook his head, but then leaned forward and winked at Ruby.

  “No, I’ve never been. Though I suppose I’ll have to go now.”

  January nodded emphatically.

  “Oh, you really should. In the last issue of Photoplay, they had a whole piece on Atlanta on account of Gloria Swanson possibly buying a house there. Could you imagine? They called it the City of the Future or something like that.”

  They were less than a block away from The Rainbow Theater and January dropped her voice. Ruby felt January’s nails digging into her shoulder.

  “Now listen. We’re going in there, no matter what. They can’t refuse our money. They can’t refuse to let us in.”

  Ruby was sure they could, but didn’t say anything. Daniel shrugged out from underneath January’s arm and smiled at her.

  “If they give us any trouble, let me handle it.”

  “What are you going to do? Bite their heads off?”

  January laughed at her own joke, but then grew silent as they approached the ticket window of the theater. The entire group had grown tense, their revelry now subdued into anxiety. Ruby realized that everyone was expecting to be turned away. To be laughed at and told to go back to the circus show. To get back in their cages and back on stage. Even January. Ruby knew how many times January had gone into a shop, dressed and acting respectable, and was met with nothing but leers and jeers. The never-ending question of “how much?”

  Still, as the group bunched around the ticket window, January tossed her head back with confidence and peered at the startled cashier on the other side of the glass. Ruby held her breath as January spoke.

  “Robin Hood. The nine o’clock showing.”