‘That was some pussycat!’ said a terrified Freddie as he and Giles left the caged area. ‘It’s me that’s having kittens!’
Giles just shook his head and wiped the tears from his eyes.
Chapter 6
THE LADY VANISHES
The circus canteen was busy when Giles and Freddie joined troupers and workers, next morning, for breakfast.
The big strong lad next to Giles was very keen to converse and he spoke English with a slight but detectable local accent
‘I know who you are,’ he said. ‘You’re that magician chap what’s here to revitalise the circus and make sure this Big Top becomes top of the bill.’
‘Not quite correct, I’m afraid. I’m really a historian, but I don’t deny I’m a historian of magic.’
‘Of course, you’re the man who solved the mystery that was in all the papers not so long ago?’
‘Well…yes. I suppose I did get a bit of coverage in the press. My name is Giles, Giles Dawson. And you are?’
‘Lawrence…but I like to be called Larry.’ He leaned over and shook hands.
‘You sound local!’
‘And so I should! I’m from the Exeter area. At my interview, the boss offered me a job that kind of made my boyhood dreams come true.’
‘Great. So what line of work are you in?’
‘At the moment I’m one of the assistants whose job it is to prepare the ring for each act.’
‘A very responsible job and quite onerous, I suspect.’
‘Yes, it is,’ he said, cramming the last piece of buttered toast into his mouth and washing it down with a mug of hot tea. ‘But there’s always the chance of something big coming along.’
Giles glanced at Freddie as this remark took on a sinister connotation.
‘You seem to be in a hurry? What’s the rush?’
‘Oh I’m due to get everything ready in that tented area near the control tower. There’s a special practice to be held there shortly and I recommend that you watch her.’
‘A girl, you say?’
‘Yes, a Devon girl and she could be a sensation before long. She’s going places. Take my word.’
‘What does she do?’
‘She rides a horse.’
‘She rides a horse? Is that all?’
‘Yes, but like nothing I’ve ever seen before.’
With that he was gone.
Giles looked at Freddie who was devouring scrambled egg, bacon, beans and tomato.
‘When you’re finished I think we should visit that tent and have a look at this girl on an animal that doesn’t instantly remind us of Khan.’
Freddie looked up, his face breaking into a grin and, with a turn of the head, he winked approval.
There was a buzz of excited anticipation when Giles and Freddie arrived at the tented area. The ring was surrounded by technicians who seemed to be eagerly awaiting something spectacular.
Into the ring came a white Andalusian mare with a girl astride her. The girl was dressed in a costume more befitting a trapeze artist than an equestrian rider…and she was riding bareback.
A small group of musicians started to play a tune in waltz time and the white horse and her rider began to move in dressage fashion.
For upwards of ten minutes Giles and Freddie watched the walks, trots and canters of a supremely calm, supple and flexible animal. The confident, attentive and understanding display controlled by a young girl with no saddle or reins to give the horse instructions, was truly memorable.
No climax was necessary but the performance didn’t close until the animal had completed a group of techniques accomplished to a varied musical background: showing the rhythm, gait and tempo of top class equestrian pursuit. The finale culminated with the horse jumping into the air and kicking both hind legs…with the rider kneeling and then standing on its quarters. Jumping to the ground, the girl moved to the head of the Andalusian; the act ending with both horse and rider bowing to tremendous applause.
‘Come on Freddie. We must meet this young lady. I have an idea it might just work in our favour.’
Rushing outside the tent Giles was just in time to catch the girl as her horse was being led away by stable lads.
‘Congratulations on a quite brilliant performance Miss…?’
‘I like to be called Lizzie! Lizzie Lisbet is my name and I know who you are…and why you’re here.’
‘Oh you do, do you?’
‘Yes.’
‘And…?’
‘I believe you’re here because of the accidents we’ve been having and you want to discover why, and by whom.’
‘You seem to be a very knowledgeable young girl. Have you been with the circus long?’
‘Not very long, but I’ve been watching things happen…and I don’t want to be involved in an accident myself.’
‘Do you happen to believe that they’re being caused by someone or have you another explanation?’
‘Well I don’t believe the ghosts of this place are causing them, so something or someone has to be responsible.’
‘Hmm! I understand that you’re a Devon girl?’
‘Yes. My home is not far from here. My dad is a farrier and I’ve been riding ponies since I was born…I think. Someone told the boss about me and, after a rehearsal with the mare, I was hired. They also want to train me for the trapeze.’
‘You say you know why I’m here…would you like to help?’
The young girl looked a little surprised. She stared enquiringly at Giles; her slight frown showing bewilderment.
‘How could I possibly help?’ she questioned, and her pretty face began to indicate eagerness.
Giles turned to look at Freddie before answering.
‘Just keep doing what you’ve been doing. Keep watching things happen but come and tell me if you have any suspicions about the causes. That will give me an extra pair of eyes and your astuteness could prove very valuable to me.’
‘I’d love to help, but I’ll talk to you later. At the moment I’m starting to feel cold in this costume. Please excuse…!’
‘I’m so sorry, Lizzie. You mustn’t stay out in this temperature after a performance like that. Off you go and get dressed. It was stupid of me to keep you hanging around like this.’
Lizzie turned and was gone in a flash.
Giles was grabbed from behind by a rather disturbed Freddie.
‘Don’t you think you might be asking for trouble? After all, this girl might be one of the suspects causing the problem you’re trying to solve. You could be falling into a trap.’
‘Come off it, Freddie! Surely you don’t think a girl, just recently hired by the circus and most likely after some of the accidents started, is now trying to take over the running of the entire circus. That’s pretty far fetched, don’t you think?’
‘Yes! I suppose you’re right. I never thought of it like that.’
‘What do you think we should do now?’
‘I wouldn’t mind paying a visit to that control tower where the gauntlet was thrown. A proper examination of the place might reveal things.’
‘Yes, that’s true, and there may be information listing all the rehearsals that are taking place. We can then make plans for the rest of the day.’
A short walk from the tent where the young girl gave her unbelievable demonstration of equestrian art saw the two men reach the control tower.
Giles knocked on the door. There was no reply but they entered.
When they were inside and the door closed Freddie moved around and discovered that the ground floor consisted of more than one room.
‘When you came in here for the first time did you go upstairs?’
‘No!’
‘Well I suggest we do that now.’
Upstairs the area was clean and tidy with a table and a small cabinet with drawers full of documents which on closer scrutiny both men felt were irrelevant.
On the walls were several posters in vivid colour of some of the great circuses of b
ygone times plus a notice board listing the timetable of acts due to be rehearsed.
‘This is what we were looking for,’ said a gleeful Freddie, pointing to the notice pinned to the board. ‘And that is what we’ve just been watching.’
Giles gazed at where his companion’s finger made contact with the list. ‘It just says “White mare and rider” and that’s an understatement if I ever saw one.’
‘Yes…’ expressed Freddie, his expression rapidly changing from incredulity to concern. ‘But look at this!’ he said, pointing to a number of newspaper articles from “The Hartford Courant” of July 1944.
Both men read graphic accounts of one of the worst fire disasters in the history of the United States.
The fire had occurred during an afternoon performance of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus in Hartford, Connecticut, which was attended by more than six thousand people.
The death toll was one hundred and sixty-seven, many of them children, though some estimates put it higher, and more than seven hundred were injured.
‘You don’t think…?’ a disturbed Freddie asked his colleague as he turned away from the newspaper cuttings.
‘I hope not! I sincerely hope not!’ Giles retorted before biting his lip, his gaze somehow suggesting a past remark. ‘But this extract gives me the shivers!’ he said pointing to one of the articles.
Freddie looked at his colleague with concern. ‘Is some past remark bothering you, old son?’
‘Yes, I’m afraid is does! Something Hank, the tightrope walker, said when he drove me here that first time. He was suggesting that ghosts of past airmen might be the cause of the accidents…but there was something else.’
‘Well…?’
‘He said there may be the sound of aero engines at night or the smell of oil burning and that…I might even get a whiff of kerosene! It could frighten the hell out of you!’ That’s what he said.’
‘I don’t like the sound of that. But surely you don’t think someone would attempt to start a fire that could possibly destroy everything they were trying to take over? And anyway, why would there be kerosene in a circus?’
‘Yes…good question, Freddie. Kerosene may have been used as an ingredient in aviation fuel during World War 2, though I can’t be sure of that, but you wouldn’t expect it to be in use at a circus. This article might cause us to think again,’ Giles said, pointing to the notice board. The disquiet in his voice transferring alarm to his companion as Freddie read the newspaper report.
“One possible cause of the disastrous fire at Hartford may have been due to a common waterproofing method for canvas at the time. It appeared that the large tent had been coated with paraffin dissolved in gasoline (some sources say kerosene).”
Freddie looked at Giles. His face, tanned by many racecourse visits, was beginning to take on the shade of one confronted by a ghost.
‘I don’t know about you but I could do with a stiff drink. Or maybe there are some other attractions to have a look at, like that Lizzie and her performing horse.’
‘Yes, Freddie, a drink could come in handy, but let’s look at that notice board again and see if there is something listed that might entertain and not frighten the hell out of us.’
‘Here we are. This should be just up your street,’ said a jovial Freddie, pointing to the item listed on the notice board. The Lady Vanishes – magician and assistants. ‘This might be exactly what you were advocating at the lecture in St James’s Club.’
‘I do hope so. I think we could both do with a bit of magic.’
‘It’s to be in the big hanger so that should be a good disappearing trick on a solid floor.’
‘Yes, Freddie! A good disappearing trick, just as long as everything goes according to plan.’
The twinkle in Freddie’s eyes, as this statement was made, clearly expressed that he was on the same wavelength as his colleague.
The main hanger was almost empty apart from a tall gentleman, in evening dress; a girl, wearing a long blood red gown; several male assistants, standing beside a number of large vehicle tyres; and two female assistants in short dresses carrying a crimson cloth.
The two pals seated themselves to watch the show and, after an acknowledging nod and wink from the gentleman in evening dress, the performance was ready to begin.
Giles’ attention was directed to the central performer. This was the first time he’d seen the circus magician in action.
Without any spoken words the magician, using a display of arms, introduced his assistant. The girl in the red dress moved slowly to the centre of the hanger demonstrating to her imaginary audience.
This was immediately followed by two assistants rolling one of the large motor tyres towards the centre of the hanger, lifting the tyre and placing it over the girl’s head and body.
Another two assistants followed this routine with a further tyre and this was repeated until the girl, whom Giles recognised as Allison, from the fire episode with the clowns, was hidden by the pile of tyres.
The two female assistants moved towards the tyres unfolded the large crimson cloth and draped it over the pile, thus covering the girl.
The magician walked around the tyres covered by the cloth, clearly showing that there was no way for the lady to leave her hiding place, without being seen.
At a signal from the magician, the two girl assistants removed the cloth and, one by one, the large tyres were removed from the pile and rolled away by the male assistants until the final tyre was taken away to reveal nothing but a blood-red dress lying in the centre of the hanger…the lady had disappeared.
The magician bowed to all sides of the hanger before pointing towards the applauding Giles. As both Giles and Freddie were giving the magician a well-deserved ovation, Allison, the magician’s assistant, stepped from behind them.
Freddie looked at Giles and nodded.
Giles got to his feet and approached both the magician and his assistant.
‘That was a very slick performance,’ Giles said, with admiration in his voice as he shook the magician by the hand. ‘It will be even more spectacular when performed in the circus ring, under the lights, with the band playing.’
‘Thank you, Professor.’
‘I’m not sure I caught your name when you were introduced at the showpiece in Soho.’
‘Wagner, Michael Wagner.’
‘Haven’t I seen you before?’
‘I attended your lecture in the St James’s Club, in London, when your optimism, regarding stage magic in the circus, was well received.’
‘Of course…I remember seeing you in the audience that night. It was the start of what could now be a lengthy and difficult undertaking, I’m afraid.’
‘Senhor Ramon is convinced there is someone hell bent on forcing him to relinquish his hold on the circus, but I’ve spoken to a few others who are not so sure that is the case.’
‘Have you been with the circus long?’
‘Not really. I joined last year when artists were being recruited for the circus. I applied thinking that illusions could be performed despite being entirely surrounded by an audience. Senhor Ramon appeared to agree and I’m looking forward to a good year ahead.’
‘When do you expect to make your first public performance?’
‘Well we start in York, at the racecourse, at the end of April. But we are due to give a performance here at Winkleigh, sometime at the end of February or beginning of March.’
‘I’d like to see that. It would give me a good chance to scrutinize the entire programme and make my mind up about certain things that disturb me.’
‘You’d be most welcome and everyone would co-operate.’
‘I’m due to give lectures on a cruise ship in March so I hope that doesn’t coincide with the Winkleigh show. Have you any other illusions ready for March, apart from the one I’ve just watched?’
We’re working on another depicting a knight in shining armour. There’s still a bit of work to be done and there
’s also a chance we might use Khan, the tiger, in a disappearing act substituting the animal for Allison, my assistant.’
Giles smiled as his gaze turned to the girl. ‘You are involved in more than the magic acts although there was quite a bit of magic used in your escape from the fire.’
‘Michael doesn’t object to me working with other acts.’
‘Just so long as the accidents don’t rob me of someone I rely heavily upon,’ the magician said as he put an arm around Allison’s shoulders.
‘Do you ever employ doubles?’ Giles asked.
‘Funny you should ask,’ Michael smiled gently as he answered. ‘I’m considering an illusion involving Senhor Ramon, our circus supremo. There is someone here, who shall be nameless, who is the exact double of Ramon. All he requires, to complete the likeness, is to wear a false moustache. After that you’d be hard pushed to tell them apart.’
Giles turned to Freddie, who had approached the group. He’d been silent throughout the exchanges. ‘Let me introduce my close friend. Freddie Oldsworth.’
‘I read about you when the newspapers had articles about the Lockerbie affair,’ Michael Wagner commented as he shook Freddie by the hand. ‘The whole business interested me as the mystery involved the death of the magician cabinet-maker.’
‘I played a supporting role, much like your assistant today.’
‘That is true. But today it was the supporting role that created the illusion to complete a successful performance.’
As Giles and Freddie left the hanger Freddie pulled his friend to one side.
‘It occurred to me,’ he said. ‘When Mr. Wagner told us he was considering a magical act involving a knight in armour; we didn’t see the gauntlet in the control tower when we were there. Do you know what happened to it?’
‘No I don’t. I think we should pay another visit.’
There was a cold wind blowing as they trudged towards the control tower. It was unlocked and they were glad to get some kind of shelter.
A search downstairs revealed nothing resembling the iron glove that had been thrown at Giles on his first visit to what would have been the hub of the airfield throughout those critical war years.
Gauntlet of Fear Page 7