Orphan Eleven

by Gennifer Choldenko

  “We’re getting apprenticeships,” Eugene explained.

  Grace raised one eyebrow. “Jabo check that out with Diavolo?”

  “Who is Diavolo?” Nico asked.

  “He and Seraphina run the place. So did Jabo get his approval or not?”

  Nico shrugged.

  Grace shook her head. “Typical idea man—long on optimism, short on operations. I suppose an apprenticeship is possible, if you can walk on your hands while juggling with your feet?”

  She searched their faces.

  “Charm poisonous snakes? Walk a tightrope while balancing a chair on your nose?”

  They shook their heads.

  “Well, good luck to you, then.” Grace gave a weak smile. “Wave goodbye, Tiny.”

  Tiny lifted one paw, then moved it back and forth. Grace moved her finger forward. Tiny jumped to his feet and leapt across the train car and down the stairwell to Grace. Grace snapped her fingers and he found his place next to her, still holding his leash in his mouth.

  Even Doris smiled watching them. But as soon as they were gone, she said, “She thinks Jabo’s a liar.”

  “No, she doesn’t,” Nico said.

  “First he tried to scare us to death with that headless act, then he says we can get apprenticeships, when we can’t,” Doris said.

  “Jabo’s a good guy.” Nico’s voice was firm.

  Doris rolled her eyes. “He’s a good guy. Just like Frank,” she said.

  Lucy winced. Why did Doris always have to poke the part that hurt the most?

  “We’ll talk to him. He’ll explain how it all works,” Eugene said.

  Lucy felt a surge of relief come over her. Eugene and Nico trusted Jabo, too.

  Doris snorted, fingering a vase.

  Eugene hovered over her. “Don’t lose another chance,” he said under his breath.

  Doris glared at him, but she put the vase back and sat down to wait for Jabo, her two red noses in the curve of her lap.

  When they heard Jabo’s footsteps approaching, Lucy and Eugene hustled out to help him carry a food hamper up the stairs.

  “Sorry that took so long. Nitty-Bitty was in a mood. Had to pull out all the stops to procure this gastronomical sensation. Spaghetti, meatballs, and garlic bread: a tour de force, a taste heretofore unimaginable.” Jabo wiped his hands with a polka-dotted hankie and began unloading salt and pepper shakers.

  “Where’s Tiny?” He searched their faces. “Ah, I see you’ve made the acquaintance of Lady Grace.”

  “She said we need to walk on our hands,” Nico said.

  “While juggling with our feet,” Eugene added.

  “Or charm snakes,” Doris said.

  Jabo nodded. “No doubt that would be helpful. Think big, my compatriots. Your life is just beginning. There is no telling what you’re capable of. Now let’s enjoy our supper while it’s at optimal temperature for culinary appreciation. And then I will answer further queries as candidly as possible.” He handed them each a rolled-up napkin.

  Eugene and Lucy hovered around the basket as Jabo unloaded plates covered with checkered cloths. Lucy counted the plates as Jabo took them out. Five. They would each get their own!

  She found a spot on the rug and sat cross-legged, breathing in the smell of tomatoes and garlic. On her plate were two big balls of meat! She stole a glance at the others. Did they all have such generous servings?

  They did!

  Jabo unrolled his napkin to reveal silverware. Lucy followed suit. Then she took a bite of the bread, which was toasted and warm, crunchy on the top and soft inside. She cut the round meat, the knife slipping through without sawing.

  Lucy ate the meatballs fast, barely chewing. Anybody who got a good bite of meat at the orphanage knew to do this, or the bite would be swiped by a bigger girl. Lucy didn’t think that would happen here, but the habit was hard to break.

  The spaghetti was a challenge. Lucy had never eaten anything like it before. She watched to see how the others were managing. Doris dangled noodles one by one into her mouth. Eugene cut them into small pieces and scooped them with his spoon. Nico rolled the spaghetti around his fork and stuck the entire package into his mouth.

  Jabo ate slowly with his fork upside down. Lucy rolled it the way Nico had, but spaghetti kept slipping off. She tried to stab the strands between the tines of her fork, but that didn’t work, either. Finally, she rolled up a bigger bundle and managed to get that in her mouth.

  “So,” Jabo said, wiping his chin with his napkin, “you need to know what you’re up against. The obstacles are substantial—some would say daunting.”

  Nico dabbed at his chin with his napkin, just as Jabo had. “What are the obstacles?” he asked.

  “Usually we take OOFOs one at a time. It will be difficult to incorporate four new young people into our operation. And it is unlikely you’ll get a performing apprenticeship, but there are behind-the-scenes positions within your reach.”

  Jabo cricked his neck and spoke in a quieter voice. “Though one of you will have a more challenging time acquiring an apprenticeship than the others.”

  Lucy, Nico, and Eugene turned to Bald Doris.

  Doris stared back at them, her eyes hard as stale bread.

  But Jabo was looking at her! Lucy’s stomach began to churn.

  “Lucy?” Nico whispered.

  Jabo sighed. “I’m afraid so.”

  What had she done? He was turning on her like Mackinac had.

  A big smile settled on Doris’s lips.

  Jabo’s eyes traveled from Lucy and Nico seated on the floor to Eugene and Doris sharing the chair. “Danger is our stock-in-trade—our product, if you will. Every day any one of a thousand things can go perilously wrong. We depend on sharp young eyes to spot a loose harness, an unsecured cage, a cigarette smoldering in a straw bale. We need apprentices who can warn us this quick.” He snapped his fingers. “There’s no time to write a note. When you see trouble, you call ‘John Robinson.’ That means ‘danger’ in the circus business.”

  Lucy’s nose felt like it had pepper inside. She made a fist, carving her nails into her palm. She would not cry.

  “I’m sorry, Lucy,” Jabo said.

  Jabo was wrong. The words of her defense circled around her head, but there was no time to write them all down.

  Lucy scribbled, John Robinson. Then she showed Jabo and sat back, waiting for his approving smile.

  Jabo looked down at the paper, but his eyes did not light up. He continued on, his voice heavy. “You have to get someone’s attention and be in close proximity to get them to read your paper, Lucy. A lot of circus people can’t read English or they can’t read at all. But every circus person knows ‘John Robinson.’ ”

  Jabo didn’t understand. As long as Lucy kept her mouth shut, she was safe. Talking made her feel stupid—like she couldn’t do anything right. Silence was how she protected herself.

  “Here’s what I suggest,” Jabo said, addressing all of them. “Pay attention to what attracts you. I’ve given you a hint of my vision for you, but where you see yourself is of greater importance. Be polite and enthusiastic. There is always too much work to be done. Ready hands are your most powerful tools.”

  “How am I supposed to pay attention to two red rubber noses?” Bald Doris blurted out.

  “That is a puzzle only you can solve, Mademoiselle Doris. Now, it’s late and I have much to accomplish before tomorrow morning. I will procure your bedding. Then I’m afraid I must bid adieu.

  “Eugene and Doris, can you provide assistance? Lucy, do you require more writing paper? There’s a stack of old handbills in that corner, which you are welcome to utilize. The back side is blank.”

  Lucy nodded, her eyes on her shoes.

  “Nico, would you care to try your hand at pencil sharpening?” Jabo h
anded a small blade and a brand-new pencil to Nico.

  With Eugene, Doris, and Jabo gone, the train car grew quiet. Lucy listened to a horse whinnying in the distance, the scratch of Nico shaving the pencil, and the clicks and ticks of the clocks.

  Lucy took the posters advertising the previous year’s season and put a crease in the dancing horses so the white back would be ready to use.

  Nico pushed the pencil shavings into a pile with the heel of his hand. “Hey,” he whispered, not looking at her. “Did you know you talk in your sleep?”

  Lucy gave him a sideways glance. She didn’t know.

  What do I say? she wrote.

  “Mostly you mutter. But once you called out Milly or Billy.”

  Dilly. The dreams were so vivid, it hurt to have them. She could smell the spearmint gum Dilly liked to chew.

  “Doris said you used to talk, like everybody else.”

  Lucy nodded stiffly.

  Nico’s finger touched the newly sharpened pencil point. “What happened?”

  Lucy shoved the folded poster in her pocket. There was no way to explain how calm and in control she felt, so long as she didn’t open her mouth. But the second the sounds came out, the criticism began. Miss Holland and Mackinac had drilled into her how embarrassing she was. Damaged. Ruined.

  Writing had been the solution. It had made her feel that she could go on. She would not give it up.

  “Lucy,” Nico whispered. “Can you try? Here…with just me.”

  Lucy grabbed the pencil Nico had sharpened and took off.

  “Lucy?” Nico’s voice followed her down the stairs, but Lucy did not stop.

  It was cold and dark and Lucy hadn’t stopped to grab her coat, but it felt good to leave the questions behind.

  Even in her too-small shoes, running felt right. But where should she go?

  Back to Bernadette’s? Bernadette was an OOFO. Maybe she could convince her landlady to let one orphan stay in her boardinghouse. Bernadette would need help with her new baby.

  But how would Lucy find her way back to Bernadette’s? She didn’t even know Bernadette’s last name.

  And Dilly…Lucy had thought Chicago was farther away from Riverport than it really was. Why hadn’t Dilly tried to find her?

  Lucy ran by little people soaking in an outside tub and a tall man in long underwear, ironing his trousers. She kept going until she could no longer see Jabo’s train car.

  Then she looked back at the flickering lights and breathed in the smell of hay, horse manure, sawdust, and something sweet—cinnamon, maybe.

  Her belly was warm and full, but by tomorrow she’d be hungry. She couldn’t just run away.

  She’d find the elephant house. She’d prove herself there. She loved animals. Jabo had been right about that. When Jabo saw how valuable she was, he’d take back his words.

  The map said the elephant house was on Water Street. If the streets made sense, Water Street would be by the river.

  She thought she could hear the river and began walking toward it. She crossed a street with no street sign and the sound of the river grew louder.

  When she got to the riverbank, she turned left but found only carpentry shops.

  In the other direction, she spied a building that said CAMEL HOUSE.

  The building next to the camel house had no sign. It had a row of square windows and an ordinary size door.

  Lucy wanted to peek in the windows, but they were too high up.

  Around the back of the building, she saw a small pond; a pile of chains; two big wooden chests; a stack of large, colorful tables; and two huge barn-size doors.

  What was inside? Would she lose a chance for entering a barn without permission?

  That was a risk she didn’t want to take. She’d walk back to Jabo’s home and ask him first.

  But thinking about Jabo made her insides sting. She had thought he liked her best.

  She stood chewing the inside of her cheek. She’d win him over again. Prove to him that a voice didn’t matter.

  She crept back around to the front of the building. Her hand slid over the door knob. The door swung open, and she tiptoed inside.

  The barn was large and smelled of wet hay and laundry soap. Light radiated down from a loft.

  In the back a bare lightbulb shone on a massive hunkered-down shape. It had four huge legs, a big head with flapping ears, and a strange ringed hose of a nose.

  The elephant was at least twice the size of a large horse. Its legs were wider around than Lucy’s waist. A metal chain anchored one giant flat foot to the floor.

  But it was the trunk that fascinated her. It curved around a carrot and then shoved it into the wet pink triangle of its mouth. The chewing sound was deep and amplified.

  The elephant had big flat wrinkly cheeks and small eyes with dark pupils and long eyelashes, which made Lucy think the animal was a girl. Lucy longed to touch her great flapping ears and that strange ridged trunk that ended in a delicate curl. She felt comfortable with this great beast.

  The elephant continued to put leaves, vegetables, and hay into her mouth. When she got too many carrots, she parked one between the short white tusks on either side of her head until her mouth was ready for that one, too. She ate fast and furiously, like an orphanage girl.

  On the elephant’s back, wiry black hairs sprang from thick hide. Lucy took the elephant hairs from her pocket. This elephant’s hairs were similar to the hairs Jabo had given her, but curly, not straight.

  Lucy moved around the elephant until she could see her tail. It was too small for the enormous backside, as if it belonged to another animal entirely. At the bottom of the skinny gray stick of a tail was a brush of wiry hair.

  Lucy moved toward her. The elephant turned her head, her small eyes taking in her visitor. Lucy reached out and the wet tip of the elephant’s trunk touched her arm! She moved closer and patted the elephant’s wrinkled chest. It felt like living leather.

  The elephant encircled another carrot with her trunk and stuffed it in her mouth, crunching loudly. Then Lucy heard someone call her name. She jumped.

  But it was only Nico.

  “Get out of there,” he whispered.

  Lucy shook her head, then turned back to the elephant. She was going to be an elephant girl. He would see. They all would.

  “Lucy,” Nico warned.

  Lucy could hear Nico breathing behind her, but she held her ground.

  “You see anyone? We don’t want to lose a chance,” Nico whispered.

  Lucy shook her head.

  “Let’s go,” Nico said.

  Nico was right, but it felt impossible to leave.

  Lucy ran her fingers over the elephant’s trunk. Then she followed Nico out. They stayed in the shadow of the wall, their eyes on the square of light glowing from the loft. Someone lived up there.

  Lucy’s fingers tingled with the feel of the elephant’s thick, wrinkled hide. She would find a way to get the elephant trainer to take her on she decided as they ran down to the river’s edge, the moon shining on the water in a glistening line.

  Nico was watching her. He seemed to almost know what she was thinking, because he said, “You’re lucky. You know what you want. I got mustaches.” He shook his head. “Am I supposed to be a barber?”

  Lucy laughed.

  Nico smiled. “Look,” he said. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to put you on the spot like that….If you want to leave, I’ll go with you.”

  A warm feeling came over her. Nico was her friend.

  “Do you want to go back to Chicago? I mean…” Nico faced her squarely. “Didn’t you say your sister lives there?”

  Lucy nodded.

  “I’ve been thinking. We got Frank and Alice at a bad time is all.”

  They started walking back.

&nb
sp; “Frank taught me a lot. He’ll have to start all over with Willy,” Nico said.

  Lucy tried to make sense of this. Hadn’t Nico said he’d been at the orphanage for one hundred and ninety-something days? Six months. Enough time for Frank and Alice to have worked things out with Willy.

  “Willy’s too young to understand money,” Nico said.

  Lucy chewed her lip. Money wasn’t that complicated, and Willy wasn’t that young.

  “You got to figure out how it works. Who has money. Who owes money. Then you know who has the power and why.”

  She frowned at him.

  “It’s like the kitchen-chore kids.”

  At the orphanage, you had to know who to go to for things. Who to stay away from. Who to let in front of you in line, because if you didn’t your bed would be wet every night when you climbed in.

  The kitchen-chore kids were useful, because they could steal food. Lucy had received a slice of bread in exchange for helping one of them study for a test once.

  “Soon as Frank and Alice and I got to a new place, we’d have to figure all that out. They need me. I doubt Willy could tell a good card hand from a bad one.”

  Lucy’s face registered her question.

  Nico nodded. He was good at reading her expressions.

  “Frank plays poker. He’d say, ‘Nico, my cigarettes.’ If I handed them to him with my left hand, it meant his cards weren’t as strong as the other man’s. But it was tricky. You had to look at the other guy’s cards without him seeing you. That’s why being young and small for my age helped. People don’t suspect little kids.”

  Eugene had mentioned this.

  “Frank doesn’t like to have things sprung on him. Just showing up, all four of us like that. I should have known better.”

  He was talking fast, like the orphanage girls waiting for their mamas on visiting day. Every week they waited. But their mamas didn’t come.

  Frank and Alice had walked away. Bernadette had helped them, and she was a complete stranger.

  The wind lifted Lucy’s hair off her neck and played with the hem of her dress. But the wind didn’t change the dark river’s path. The water kept going in one direction, splitting around the rocks in its way. The river didn’t go backward. It always went forward.