Sapphic Cowboi

by K'Anne Meinel

  Maggie wanted to take off the tuxedo but when she saw how many people came to see the horses despite the dark she realized she would have to stay and be congenial. It was part of the show she figured as she answered questions.

  “No, they aren’t Arabians” she answered.

  “Didn’t you hear, he said they were Mustangs” the friend smacked the other on the side of the shoulder in annoyance.

  Maggie didn’t correct them. Technically they weren’t Mustangs either.

  “Do you feed them anything special?” a little girl with wonderment in her eyes watched the horses who were finally settling down as far as they could get from the noise of the people around them.

  “Grass, hay, and grain” Maggie smiled at the little girl wondering if she had ever really been that small or been as horse crazy.

  The mother smiled as she tried to pull her young daughter away but “no, no, I wanna see” was heard from the admiring girl.

  It went on for a long while despite the show being officially over. Maggie and her horses had been on near the end and were not part of the parade at the beginning or the end, Cecil thought this might be better for her and he was glad he had decided that after seeing the mass of the dozen of horses. It had been a terrific show though, more than he could have hoped.

  “Did you see the awe on that crowd’s face” Cecil’s father was slapping his son on the back. “They thought we had loosed a wild herd of Mustangs on them!”

  Cecil smiled, the people had been a good audience, it was a baptism by fire for Maggie and her herd and he wondered how much of that was play or were they really out of control?

  “That’s the kind of thing I want to see me boy” he slapped him again on the back knowing they could market this kind of show and make a lot of money.

  “It will be better with Martha on the back doing her tricks” Carlton put in not wishing to be left out or let Cecil get all the accolades.

  “Her tricks would be better kept inside her tent” Cecil muttered not thrilled that Carlton had talked their father into letting her be the performer. He wasn’t sure she could even ride much less perform. They had tried her with the trapeze at one point but her weight gain was of concern, they had tried her with other acts and she always managed to get in a fight with one of them, even the clowns wouldn’t work with her. He only hoped Maggie could manage her.

  It was a disaster in the making. The next day Maggie was brushing out her babies, talking to them, feeding them treats and making them feel at home in the paddock when Martha sauntered up.

  “You Maggie?” she called in her odd voice which startled a couple of the horses who shied away from the sound of it. Feathers started to growl from where he lay in the shade of the tent.

  Maggie looked up where she was inspecting Schwartzie’s hoof making sure there was no gravel in it to cause problems later. “Yes I’m Maggie, what can I do for you?” she asked

  “I’m Martha, Carlton tell you I was coming over to help you?” she asked chewing on a piece of gum.

  Maggie looked over at the attractive red-headed woman. She was short, a little on the dumpy side, but she was what her father would have called blousy or perhaps fast. She was wearing a too tight dress, it must be several sizes too small for her, and she was wearing makeup and not performance makeup either. She was chewing her gum as Maggie had seen cows chew their cud. The way she stood with a hand on her hip and waiting for Maggie to answer her said a lot too. Maggie didn’t know what kind of performer she would be but if the Bigelow’s thought she was the performer for the horse act then she would accommodate them. Maybe they had sent her over to help take care of the horses? With that in mind she asked “Oh, are you here to help me brush them out?”

  The woman looked at her as though she had lost her mind, she gestured at her attire “do I look like I’m here to muck out horse pens or brush them?” she said sarcastically in her annoying voice.

  Maggie could see the horses didn’t like the woman’s voice. Something about it made her just as skittish. She decided, like her horses, she didn’t like this woman. “Oh, okay” she said timidly as though she didn’t know. “Do you want to work out something then?” she asked.

  “Well we need to get them in line for my act” the woman informed her.

  Her act? Maggie wondered at the wording. “What did you have in mind?” she asked almost afraid to ask.

  The woman began gesturing as she talked about what she would look like and wear and what she wanted the horses to do. She had caught the last of Maggie’s act the previous night and liked the standing on the horses back and thought she could do the same…in heels. She went on and on, oblivious to her rising voice but the horses began moving decidedly away from the noise. Her ideas became more grandiose and her gestures as wild as her hips came into play from her enthusiasm. Maggie wanted to tell her that at least half of what she was planning wasn’t practical and the horses wouldn’t stand for it but the woman hadn’t stopped talking and Maggie was raised to never interrupt. By the time Martha wound down they were both exhausted, Maggie from listening, Martha from her enthusiasm. “So whatcha think?” she asked chomping on her gum.

  “Well…” Maggie didn’t want to cause waves, she was still new at performing, new to the circus, and didn’t know what to expect or what she could demand but she hadn’t liked any of the woman’s ideas. They were all about her, about showing off her, none of it was about the horses, or their beauty, or their safety for that matter. “We will have to work on it as the horses don’t know you and will have to learn to work with you…” she could see by Martha’s expression she hadn’t thought of actually working with the horses.

  “You know how to control them dontcha?” she was chomping her gum faster as she asked in a tone that implied Maggie didn’t have a clue.

  “Of course” Maggie defended herself not realizing she was being set up.

  “Then control them” Martha said in a flounce as she turned to leave.

  Maggie stared after her wondering at the exchange that had just happened. Wondering how they would ever be able to work together. The woman hadn’t even wanted to meet the horses and to her it was obvious the horses didn’t want to meet her either. She didn’t blame them; she didn’t like the woman either.

  “Man, you gave them a show last night!” Perry enthused as they ate at a picnic table set up in the chow tent. Everyone came and went as their duties allowed them and they had just sat down to a hearty meal of beans, bread, and something that looked like stew.

  The others at the table, mostly clowns without their makeup like Perry gave her compliments as well.

  “Tell me, were they really out of control and wild like they looked?” one of them asked her.

  She laughed and shook her head “they were excited, this was their first show, but they were behaving themselves” she answered honestly. She was sure if she told anyone how out of control they actually were she would lose her job and she needed the money. Cecil had brought her, her first paycheck, handing her cash and she had stared at it in wonder before hiding it in a secret compartment within her saddle, under the pommel, made to look like part of the saddle.

  They discussed various shows they had seen, the entire table except for Maggie were old hats at this, they had been in various circuses over the years and seen many things. They loved that they had a new audience in the form of Maggie.

  “You aren’t going to want to hang around with this wild bunch” a new voice teased.

  “Oh Ari” was heard exasperatingly and equally affectionately from several of the men at the table. Perry stood up though and said “Ariana, I’d like you to meet our new horse master Maggie O’Malley.”

  Maggie stood up and wiped her hand on her pants even though it was already clean but it was a nervous gesture from meeting new people. In the past twenty four hours she had met a lot of new people and she wasn’t sure she would ever get used to it. She looked up in the darkest of eyes, the woman had black hair like her own, wher
eas her hair was cut short, Ariana’s was long and back in a bun making her look elegant in her sun dress.

  “Hello Maggie, call me Ari, everyone does” she said in a pleasant and well-modulated voice.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you” Maggie said shyly realizing she was in the presence of a real lady. Ari was very pretty, had on a light bit of makeup and not at all like she had seen on other women in the circus this made her looks enhanced and not detracting from her natural beauty. She was fine boned and in Maggie’s mind she likened her to a thoroughbred. She found she had been staring and she quickly let go and looked down wondering if she should just sit down.

  “What are you doing today Ari?” one of the others asked and Maggie took the opportunity to sit back down but she didn’t eat. She didn’t know how to behave around another woman and didn’t want to make a fool of herself.

  “Oh, I thought I’d go shopping in Columbus while we have this opportunity. Daddy said I could use one of the horses and a buggy.”

  Maggie looked up at the word ‘horses’ wondering at the others that were in the circus and realized the woman was looking directly at her with a teasing glint in her eye and not understanding it at all.

  The others caught on right away and started chuckling.

  “I don’t think I could stand on the back of the horses like you did last night but that was impressive” Ariana said admiringly.

  It was then that a suspicion started in Maggie’s mind, the woman was looking for a horse to hook up and take her town and while her blacks were trained for that as well the audacity of them assuming they could borrow them when they wanted made her angry. The compliment and the look in Ari’s eyes though negated any ill-will. Maggie wasn’t sure how to take what she was saying so she stayed quiet.

  Ariana grinned showing she was teasing the shy woman. She had found it fascinating when Cecil had told them all about the new horse master and that it was a woman. She thought the choice of Maggie as the performer for the act the worst choice but it wasn’t her decision to make. She turned to the others and showed she knew them all of long standing as she teased and talked with each of them. She left them after she had spoken with each of them. Maggie noticed they all were affectionate with her as she resumed eating her now cold meal.

  She was curious who exactly Ariana was as she saw her drive away with a slick black buggy and being driven by a brown horse of non-descript coloring and disposition. Everyone else was at work getting ready for that night’s performance. Some were still making money off the crowds that came to look at the animals they had in, some of the carny people taking in their money by offering services such as palm reading or games and events, making it a carnival and not just a circus come to town. Perry had explained they didn’t normally have the luxury of three days in one place but the fairgrounds had been empty and the town large enough to make some money off of side-shows so the carny’s had set up their booths to make money.

  “So are you ready for tonight’s show?” Cecil came up rubbing his hands. His father had been pleased at last night’s performance.

  Maggie smiled from where she was feeding her horses and checking on them, a constant thing for her to hide among them and avoid the crowds that wandered around looking at everything. She had closed up her tent only to keep out the curious after Perry warned her that people, even the circus people, would steal anything not nailed down. “Do you want me to do anything different from last night?” she asked and thought about how out of control she really was the previous night.

  “Well I’m sure Martha can show you a thing or two” he assured her.

  Maggie’s face fell. She hadn’t seen Martha since she had rudely introduced herself.

  Cecil noted her expression and wondered if she had realized yet that Martha was his brother’s mistress. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Does she even know how to ride a horse?” she asked not wishing to complain, after all Martha was their choice not hers although she did recall talking to Cecil about choosing the right person to work with her horses.

  Cecil was uncomfortable, he had no idea if Martha could ride a horse, all he knew was that she had tried many jobs in the circus to earn her pay and he wasn’t sure sleeping with his brother wasn’t one of the jobs. “Of course she does” he said heartily not sure if he really believed it or not. He tried to smile to show his confidence but he didn’t realize how fake it came across. “How did today’s practice go?” he asked.

  “Practice?” Maggie asked wondering if she had missed something, someone hadn’t told her about a practice.

  “You and Martha? How’d she do on the horses?” he watched them a little uneasily, they were watching him too, those that weren’t eating.

  “We didn’t practice” Maggie confessed wondering if she had just lost her job because she hadn’t known she was supposed to practice.

  “Martha was supposed to come over and introduce herself…” he started wondering what had happened.

  “She did come and introduce herself but we never got to the horses.” Maggie was puzzled, she didn’t understand.

  “Dammit” he swore causing Maggie to feel startled “she was supposed to practice on your horses” he said angrily.

  Maggie didn’t know if she should answer that and chose to stay quiet watching Cecil for a clue of what to say or do.

  Cecil knew what had probably happened. That lazy slut Martha had probably come over, introduced herself but gone off to sleep off another one of her binges. His father would not be happy. He had loved Maggie’s horses but he had said how much better it would be with a pretty girl on back of the horses like the crowds expected. Cecil cursed the day his brother had started sleeping with the little opportunist. “She was supposed to work on your act today so you two could perform together tonight, some of the basic stuff until we had the costumes made!” They had gone to a lot of expense over the costumes that his brother had insisted on for Martha, to keep her happy, to shut up her constant harping. He had never known such a greedy woman. He saw Maggie’s concerned face though and knew it wasn’t her fault. Attempting to keep his anger under control he said “don’t worry about it; I’m sure you will do fine.” He went off to tell his father and make sure he understood it wasn’t Maggie’s or Cecil’s fault that his brother’s mistress wasn’t prepared.

  Maggie had the horses looking sharp. They had all relaxed and stayed away from the outstretched hands of people wanting to pet the beautiful black horses. The animals flicked their ears when people talked to them but they weren’t Maggie and they answered only to their Maggie and looked curiously at the others who tried to entice them closer. Several people tried to climb under or over the fence and with or without Maggie there it had been handled. Between the horses rushing them, Feather’s growling and barking, or Maggie warning them away the impression was that these were wild and unmanageable horses and not to be trifled with.

  Martha showed up ten minutes before they were to go into the tent that night. Maggie was shocked, she was dressed in a harem outfit, or so she assured the surprised Maggie. It left very little to the imagination. She didn’t quite fit in the outfit, her face had been painted up almost like one of the clowns, she thought she looked marvelous though as she drunkenly came up to the corral.

  “Which one am I riding?” she slurred her words slightly.

  Maggie wasn’t sure she wanted her to ride any of her babies but she had promised, signed a contract even, to perform with another woman on her horses. The fact that they hadn’t let her chose the woman, that this woman was drunk and totally inappropriate, that wasn’t her fault, she would have to make do. Considering she pointed out Ashes and asked “can you ride bare back?”

  “Bare back?” Martha replied stupidly blinking at the concept. “No, I can’t ride bare back, fetch me a saddle.”

  There was no time and Maggie knew she didn’t have a saddle that would fit Ashes. The one she had brought fit Sampson and a few of the others but not Ashes. Ashes was wider
than some and a little slower, it was why she had recommended him to Martha who she was certain didn’t know how to ride. “I don’t have one” she admitted.

  “Don’t have one?” Martha repeated back to her again to confirm. She blinked a few times and saw that someone was gesturing to them from the main tent. The show must go on! She said “help me on it then!”

  Maggie helped to get her up first by creating a step with her hand for Martha to put her high heeled foot into and then to push, shove, and thrust Martha’s fat posterior over the back of Ashes. Ashes had sensed the woman’s unease and if not for Maggie being there would have backed away from the smell of alcohol on the woman’s breath. Maggie spoke to him and he stood quietly waiting as they attempted to get the woman mounted on his back. Martha refused to ride astride and instead tried to ride sideways to balance on his broad back. Maggie tried to talk her into getting a firmer grip but Martha knew better and Maggie soon subsided mounting Sampson astride in her tuxedo as someone opened up the corral gate for her.

  “Give them hell Maggie” someone called as she made her way toward the big tent. Tonight she felt more confident and didn’t see Martha behind her on Ashes who had attempted to follow the herd and was being given mixed signals by the woman on his back, his sensitive skin being hit by the heels on her impractical shoes.

  As the herd rushed to follow Maggie on Sampson Martha grabbed for Ashes mane and thumped on his sides with her heels. He didn’t have a clue what “yaw yaw” meant but the kicking told him to go so he did. The rush nearly unseated the drunken woman but she somehow managed to stay on. They joined the others at the entrance to the main tent.

  Maggie looked around to see that all her horses were there, her expert eye taking in their postures, their excitement, or in the case of Ashes, his confusion. Martha looked ridiculous in her barely fitting outfit with a veil running down her back and across Ashes rump. She wondered if she should warn Martha about scaring Ashes with that veil but she heard the announcement and started Sampson, they had told her about her mistake the previous night and she was determined not to make it again.