A Circus of Brass and Bone

by Abra SW

  “The boy bit me. I was holding him and—” Leah stopped talking when Doc Janzen leaned back and stared at her.

  “What was that?” he demanded.

  “I said that the boy bit me when I was holding him. “

  “Hellfire and damnation! I was afraid of that. His injuries are healing before my eyes.” Doc Janzen gestured at the crowd. “Everyone, get back! This boy has the aether sickness.”

  A gasp went up. “Kill it!” shouted the midget. “Kill it now!”

  For once, the midget’s wife was not on his side. She thumped her fist into his arm, not gently. “He’s not an it! He’s just a child, hardly more than a baby. And the poor thing has no parents.”

  “Probably ate his parents,” the midget grumbled, rubbing his arm.

  “No,” a strange woman’s voice said, speaking with the slow molasses accent of Southern blacks. “Both his parents had the sickness. If they left their baby behind, it was because he couldn’t keep up with the pack.”

  Leah circled around the cluster of circusfolk so that she could see the stranger. Pamela didn’t move to stay by her side. For a second, Leah felt like she’d left something precious behind, but the feeling was eclipsed by curiosity.

  The woman who had spoken carried a young boy on her hip and clasped the hand of a girl leaning against her. A wiry man with an old whip-scar on his arm stood protectively near. Memory haunted their eyes as they looked around the remains of the town. Coal dust coated them, but it didn’t hide their gaunt cheeks or their cracked and split lips.

  Despite that, they still looked better than the strongman. Leah wondered if another rockslide had come down on top of him. That would explain the bruises rising under his skin and his new collection of cuts and scrapes. It didn’t explain his sudden lack of eyebrows, though, or the foul perfume of singed hair that accompanied him.

  Pamela gasped. Leah thought it was because of the strongman’s appearance, but Pamela’s next words disproved her theory. “They left their own baby behind? That’s terrible!”

  Leah would have comforted her, but Michael was faster. Two steps, and he had his arms around Pamela. “Some animals abandon their children after they’re old enough to fend for themselves,” he offered. “The boy is aether-sick. He’s fast and strong and able to hunt his own food. That fall would have killed any of us.”

  Pamela sniffed and managed a watery smile. “You know just what to say,” she whispered.

  Leah snorted and didn’t bother to keep it quiet. Pamela must be the only one who found it comforting that the boy could “hunt his own food.” Upon hearing Michael’s theory, everyone else stared at the boy uneasily.

  Lacey the equestrienne pushed herself out of the crowd. “He’s a threat to us—to the circus,” she said. Her face could have been carved from stone. “Without the circus, what are we? If we lose our acts and our animals, we’d become refugees, dependent on the mercy of others.”

  “With or without the circus, we are still human beings!” the fortune teller answered sharply.

  “Shouldn’t you let his family decide?” the strange woman said. “And use the boy’s name when you’re deciding whether or not you’re going to kill him.”

  Silence fell. “What is his name?” Lacey asked.

  “Paul Fischer.”

  “Fischer …” the strongman said slowly.

  “That’s the name of the man your sister Minerva married,” the strange woman said. “The boy is your nephew.”

  The strongman swayed and fell to his knees. “Still alive,” he said brokenly. “One is still alive.”

  ~ * ~

  After that, we could hardly kill the child in front of him. The strongman swept the child into his arms and carried him off to his wagon. He never let go, even when the child sank his teeth into his hand. The doctor followed them, muttering about restraints and sedatives.

  We stayed in Fredrickston to help the Brehm family bury the dead and reinforce the most defensible houses. We offered to let them travel with us, but they refused.

  “What would we do?” Gloria asked. “Beg to stay in the fort that abandoned us to die? Offer to be house servants? Field workers? Slaves? No.”

  The strongman halfheartedly attempted to change their minds, but the child took up most of his time. It was all he thought about.

  It was all most of the rest of us thought about too. Every meal ended in an argument over what to do with the child. Every conversation was really about the child, even if it wasn’t. By our last evening in Fredrickston, half the circus wasn’t speaking to the other half.

  In the end, the debate didn’t matter. The child disappeared the night before we began the journey to Fort Augusta.

  I owe everything I now am to that child. Because of him, the Indian mahout made his bargain with me. The child traveled with us, you see, though none of us knew it at the time. We didn’t see him again until much later, when he almost got us all killed at a guard post outside of the only city still free of aether-plagued madmen.

  What Happens Next

  Author’s Note: A few characters from A Circus of Brass and Bone have seen fit to reveal the ends of their stories to me. When they don’t contain major spoilers, I am sharing them with you.

  The Circus

  Michael the animal handler does in fact return to New York to see his monkey, Mr. Ben Doom. By that time, Mr. Ben is the proud papa of a noisy, chattering troupe of baby monkeys, and Michael is starting a family of his own. His first son shows signs of becoming an excellent contortionist.

  Adele Murray, the unnamed-in-this-book third sibling of the conjoined Murray sisters, uses her leverage with Rajesh to persuade him that they should be the first ones to be taught to use his war elephant, thus increasing (though not guaranteeing) their safety.

  Boston

  Patrick persuades Dr. Fallon to marry him. She claims she agreed because “he was the only man with sense enough to bring me dead bodies to examine instead of flowers.”

  Valentine regularly visits William and his mam. After a little while in her presence, he looks less like a hard man.

  Mayor Padgett’s aching arm was unfortunately a sign that he was to be among the third wave casualties of the aether storm.

  Seppanen Town

  Francis and Clara are happily married. She only sometimes threatens to get the shotgun.

  Mrs. Della Rocca is still famous for her buttermilk biscuits, though these days strangers are likely to remain conscious long enough to ask for seconds.

  New York

  Rosie Sasse is being courted by the big sailor that Ginger introduced her to. Neither she nor most of her family know quite what to make of him, but she’s begun to look forward to his visits, even if she doesn’t realize it herself yet.

  Mama Sasse did lose her arm, but she insists that it is easier to get things done with one arm, because everybody else has stopped arguing when she tells them to do something. Her only real regret is that it will make it difficult to scoop up and cuddle any future grandbabies. She knows exactly what to make of that big sailor who’s courting Rosie.

  Cast of Characters

  The Loyale Traveling Menagerie, Hippodrome, Circus, and Museum of Educational Novelties

  Mr. Ben Doom, a douc langur monkey.

  Pamela Dyer-Bennet, an aerialist, The Daring Miss Dyer-Bennet, Who Dives Into Thin Air!*

  Leah Eads, an aerialist, The Dainty Miss Eads, Who Flies Through the Air Like a Bird of Paradise!*

  Ginger, the whitefaced clown

  Alis Gray, the snake charmer

  Michael Hunter, an animal handler*

  Dr. Christopher Janzen, the doctor, The Great Doctor Panjandrum and His Amazing Panacea That Cures All Ills!

  Christopher Knall, the ringmaster- and clown-in-training

  Mr. Loyale, the ringmaster and owner of the circus

  Jonathan Matzke, the skeleton man, The Man So Thin He Wears a Wedding Ring As a Belt!

  Lacey Moeller, an equestrian, The Fabulous Lady Equestrien
ne Who Defies the Fiery Rings of Death!*

  Adele, Betty, and Roxane Murray, conjoined sisters, A Medical Miracle Alive Only By God’s Grace!

  Rajesh, The Hindoo Mystic and His Fearsome Aether-Powered Bone-and-Brass Elephant!

  Bradley Roberts, the strongman, The Negro So Strong He Can Carry a Mule Under Each Arm!*

  Ms. Selena, the fat lady, The Fabulous 600-Pound Fat Lady Who Dances the Five-Step Waltz!*

  Madame Tonya Wershow, fortune teller extraordinaire

  Genevieve Woodward, The Girl Sharpshooter With the Eyes of an Eagle!

  Introductory Scenes

  The Culhanes

  Mrs. Du Voix (born Marcella Simmons)

  Jacob

  The Johansens

  Mina

  Gerhardt Yoder

  Johan Yoder

  Wilhelm Yoder

  Boston

  Dr. Elizabeth Fallon

  Mrs. MacDougal

  Mrs. McCormack

  William McCormack

  Mayor Arthur Padgett

  Mr. Roger

  Patrick Sullivan*

  Mrs. Tienken

  Robert Tienken

  Chad Valentine

  Roderick White

  Seppanen Town

  Clara

  Margaret Della Rocca

  Francis

  Lindsay Kleinman

  Cathy Williamson*

  New York

  Peter Akrill

  Brenda Anderson

  Captain Angie Endo

  Commissioner Andre Guirard

  Mrs. Andre Guirard

  Barbara Hobbes

  Mrs. Nave

  Deborah Rowan

  Mama Sasse

  Papa Sasse

  Rosie Sasse

  Pablo Virgo

  Fredrickston

  Gideon Brehm

  Gloria Brehm*

  Louisa Brehm

  Paul Fischer*

  Bosley Gravel*

  * Tuckerized names changed or not revealed previous to this edition.

  Glossary

  Arkansas toothpick, a heavy dagger with a long blade, balanced for throwing, but also useful for thrusting and slashing. Up through the late 1830s, this blade was also used for dueling in what are now the Southern United States.

  asana, yoga positions originally used in the seated position for meditation.

  barker, referred to as a “talker” by circus folk, the carnies who talk up the attractions to lure customers in. Circus slang.

  batman, a soldier assigned to an officer to act as a servant, usually a combination valet, messenger, and cook. Also known as a dog-robber.

  butcher, a refreshments vendor who walks around the circus. Circus slang.

  chapati, Indian flatbread, served with practically every meal. Hindi.

  colleen, an Irish girl. Irish slang.

  coppers, policemen.

  corn pone, a very traditional, very simple fried cornbread eaten all over the United States (where it goes by many names). Probably early settlers learned how to make it from the Pawtuxet. The basic recipe is cornmeal, water, a pinch of salt, and some grease to fry the cakes in. If you were lucky enough to have them, buttermilk and eggs might be used as well.

  Cossack drag, a horseback riding trick where the rider hangs upside-down off the side of the horse, held on only because her feet are hooked through special straps.

  fakir, a Muslim or Hindu ascetic. Usually they beg or perform “miracles” to support themselves.

  fractional currency, small cent notes. Coin hoarding was so common during the Civil War that by the end of it there was almost no coin left in circulation. During the war, and for a bit after it, the Northern government issued small cent notes for amounts between three and fifty cents (the higher denominations were frequently counterfeited). These were inspired by the initial practice of using postage stamps as change.

  golem v., to use aether to constrain/control/power a creature/person.

  Hic locus est ubi mors gaudet succurrere vitae, Latin for, “This is the place where death delights to help the living.” Signage frequently found in autopsy rooms. The quote comes from Giovanni Morgagni, a physician from the 18th century who originated the anatomical concept of human disease. The full quote is, “Let Conversation Cease. Let Laughter Flee. This is the Place Where Death Delights To Help the Living.”

  horsecars, trolley cars pulled by horses along railroad track, used in larger cities. They were an intermediate step between stagecoaches and trolleys.

  howdah, the covered pavilion on the back of an elephant or camel, in which passengers may ride.

  jeff, a rope. Circus slang.

  king pole, the center pole of a circus tent, the pole which is put up first.

  league, an archaic English unit of measurement, usually about three miles. A league was intended to be the amount of distance a person could walk in an hour.

  lucifer, a match. Early friction matches caught fire explosively and smelled terrible, leading to them being called lucifers. Even after the process was improved, the slang term persisted.

  lumina, plural of lumens, a unit of luminous flux equal to one candle’s intensity.

  Maharana of Udaipur, a title given to an Indian prince, like Maharajah. During the colonial period in India’s history, Udaipur was one of the more powerful princely states.

  mahout, Elephant driver and caretaker. Hindi.

  moue, an irritated grimace or pout. From the French.

  noblesse oblige, A French phrase that means a person of higher position must act honorably for the good of those s/he has a responsibility to.

  paddy, derogatory slang for an Irishman, used because so many were named after Saint Patrick.

  panjandrum, a powerful personage or pretentious official. See The Great Panjandrum by Samuel Foote.

  pip, in this context, “one extraordinary of its kind.” Short for ‘pippin’. First used in 1797.

  pranayama, yoga breathing practices.

  pratfall, a humorous fall on the buttocks, from prat (buttocks) + fall.

  pukka, genuine, authentic, first-class. From Hindi pakka, meaning cooked, ripe. Became British slang during the occupation of India.

  queer the pitch, to interfere with or spoil the business of a tradesman or showman. Traveling showmen call the place they set out their stall a ‘pitch’.

  railer, advance scout for the circus. His job is to ride ahead and find the best road for them to take. When the road forks, he finds the roads that lead away from their destination or dead-end in a muddy bog, and he takes a rail from a farmer’s fence and uses it to block off those paths.

  rakshasas, Hindu demons, prone to typically demonic behavior like consuming flesh or blood, desecrating religious ceremonies, and possessing people.

  retiring, a practice up through World War II in which women were expected to retire after dinner, to a retiring room, and leave the men to their port and cigars and purportedly more intelligent conversation.

  shanghaiing, the practice of using trickery, alcohol, drugs, or violence to get a sailor working on a ship against his will. So named because this technique was frequently used to secure sailors for voyages to eastern Asia. The use of unfree labor aboard merchant ships was common up until 1915.

  shillelagh, a long stick with a weighted head, usable as a walking stick and as a weapon. Gaelic.

  shrub, a refreshing fruit drink made with vinegar to give it extra zing.

  sky grifter, a tent-revival preacher who’s out for what he can get. Circus slang.

  spark, to woo or court. Slang.

  Striders, the fire aether tanks used in the Civil War. Fire-spitting tanks that walked across battlefields on their “giant mechanical chicken legs.” Term original to The Circus of Brass and Bone.

  talker, also known (pejoratively) as a barker, a carny who talks up the attractions to lure customers in. Circus slang.

  thunder mug, a chamber pot, specifically a large china mug with a lid that fits under the bed so a person does n
ot have to get up and walk to an outhouse in the middle of the night.

  tiffin carrier, an Indian 3-tier stacking metal meal container.

  tintype photography, also known as ferrotype photography, very popular for a few decades after daguerreotypes. The photograph was printed on a metal plate (not tin!), making it more durable and able to be shipped through the mail. The quality was not as good as in other photographic processes, but the cost was cheap, making portraits affordable to the lower classes. Itinerant photographers in the late 1800s used this technique.

  townies, non-circus people. Circus slang

  ventilating furnace, a furnace in the bottom of a ventilation shaft, used in the time before the electric fans became widespread. The heated air rose, causing a draft that pulled in fresh air. Without ventilation, the miners would be breathing bad air. Of course, the ventilation furnace was a terrible fire hazard, as was demonstrated by the Avondale disaster of 1869

  War of the Rebellion, a term used to refer to the Civil War, widely in use in the North in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War. Also called “The Great Rebellion.” By contrast, Southerners called it “The War Between the States” or “The War for Southern Independence.”

  water closet, a bathroom. Victorian-era bathrooms in wealthy houses were the size of any other room, and they were decorated in a similar style, with wallpaper and paintings and carpet and couches and chairs. The toilet itself was kept in a small closet inside this room, hence the term “water closet.”

  wouldna, would not. Irish dialect.

  The Story Behind the Story

  The original working title of this story was The Circus of Brass and Bone. It began as a serial story after my mother, Cookie Wiebe, was diagnosed with advanced (Stage 3c) ovarian and endometrial cancer. When my parents found out, they were working at a school in India. That complicated things.