The rush of the horses from the main passageway was Martha’s undoing, she toppled from Ashes back and it was a good thing he was one of the last horses or she would have been trampled beneath their hooves. Several roustabouts rushed to help her but her cries told them she had broken something. Others rushed to get a stretcher. Because of the sound of the crowd and her horses hooves Maggie didn’t realize Martha wasn’t with them until she had made a complete circuit of the main arena and looked to see what performance Martha would give. She realized Ashes was there but no Martha. She couldn’t worry about her with twelve horses to work with, perhaps she had jumped off at the last minute, and meanwhile Maggie could only do what she had done the night before. Her confidence from the previous night gave her more courage to try a few more things tonight. Her performance was excellent and the horses looked terrific, their heads held high, their tails and manes streaming out behind them, their coats flashing in the lights. The audience loved them, they were as responsive as the one the previous night and clapped and called appreciatively. Maggie was enjoying herself. Tonight she managed to signal several of the horses, not all were trained to do this, to make a bow, one leg curled under, and the other out in front of them, their heads lowered in the bow as Maggie took off her top hat and bowed as well. Many of the audience came to their feet clapping and shouting at the exciting and beautiful horses. Maggie loved the rush of feeling that came over her, no longer was she shy Maggie O’Malley, instead she was the pleased horse master that they had hired to show off her babies who had done her proud.
As Maggie stood on the backs of Sampson and then Onyx, one of the younger horses she nearly unbalanced but the bobble she turned into part of the act as she left the arena and managed to plop onto Satan’s back. She laughed at herself and her near accident and went out the passageway heading for their paddock. The horses had had a delightful time playing with Maggie and they made sure she knew it. Her hat got toppled off repeatedly as they sniffed at her and rubbed against her in their exuberance and affection for her.
“Wow, they really love you!” a voice said admiringly from the shadows.
Maggie turned in surprise and tried to make out who it was but didn’t recognize the voice and whoever it was, was well hidden in the dark. Feather’s wasn’t growling so she knew it wasn’t anyone she had to worry about, in fact from what she could see he was wagging his tail towards the stranger. “Yes, they are my babies” she said with a grin as she quickly headed off Onyx from sneaking out of the open gate and closed it with a satisfying bang.
The babies were looking for treats and she went towards the shadows where the voice had come from to get some for the well-deserving beasts. The lights around the fairgrounds allowed people to come and see the horses and some had followed her from the tent to watch the magnificent horses. Maggie was surprised to see Ariana standing in the dark watching her walk up in her tuxedo. “Hello” Maggie said to cover that surprise as she reached through a window for the bag of treats that the horses couldn’t pilfer.
“You are really lucky” Ariana said in her pretty voice.
“Lucky?” Maggie asked surprised further by the voice but the envy she heard in the woman’s tone.
“Yeah, I’d love to work with horses but my father won’t let me.”
Maggie wondered who her father was but didn’t ask. She figured anything she was supposed to know people would tell her. She didn’t want to be nosy and the circus people she had met had been very friendly and told her things without her asking. Impulsively she asked “would you like to give them treats?”
“Oh may I?” Ariana asked in delight.
Maggie smiled; she understood genuine admiration for her horses. She herself loved her babies and could admire others, but she knew a horse lover when she met them. “Here take a handful but only give one to each, they will try to con you out of more but I don’t want them getting sick.”
Ariana reached into the bag, the horses realized what the bag signified and were making their way over to the two women in the shadows, crowding them.
“Get on with you” Maggie said and pushed at them, smacking them on their rumps, and giving out treats.
Ariana was amazed; these big beasts were just like puppy dogs! She slowly fed them one by one the treats she had pulled out of the bag and they gently took them from her fingers.
“Keep your hand flat so they don’t accidentally bite you” Maggie advised when she saw Ariana trying to feed them with her fingers wrapped around the treats. “They might think your fingers are carrots by mistake.”
Ariana quickly fixed her error realizing that it would hurt to get bitten, even accidentally as she petted and fed the horses their treats.
Maggie was pleased to see how friendly the woman was to her horses as she talked to them telling them what beautiful horses they were.
“Did you know that Martha has a broken shoulder?” Ariana asked to make conversation as they watched the horses head for the water trough after they realized the treats were all gone.
“What? When?” Maggie asked alarmed.
“You didn’t know?” Ariana asked in dismay realizing she could have worded it better.
Maggie turned horrified to see that Ariana was serious “what happened?”
“She fell off one of your horses, didn’t you realize?” Ariana was curious to know if Maggie was just playing a game or really didn’t know.
Maggie was astounded at this information “but I thought she just hopped off and decided she wasn’t ready” she answered.
“The doc said it was a good thing she was so drunk or she would have hurt more.”
Maggie felt terrible, she had honestly thought Martha had gotten off the horse when she realized she couldn’t ride it sideways and wasn’t prepared to do the tricks they had discussed earlier in the day.
“It wasn’t your fault; several of the guys saw her fall off.” Ariana looked at her and saw how stricken the woman was. “She’s going to be okay.”
Maggie shook her head. Two shows and she had already injured the woman who was supposed to perform with her. She was certain the Bigelow’s were going to fire her!
Cecil came up at that moment and nodded to Ariana “that was terrific Maggie, I’m sorry Martha didn’t work out.”
Maggie looked at him as though he were teasing her but in her horror over what had happened the look made her look awful.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“She didn’t know Martha had fallen off or that she was drunk” Ariana told him.
“What? She didn’t?” he looked at Maggie to be sure and saw the truth on her face. She looked horrified. “Don’t worry about it, everyone knows what a drunkard she is, you didn’t do anything wrong and your show is fine until we can find someone to work in it like we discussed. This time you will have a say” he assured her.
Maggie felt immeasurably better, it meant she wasn’t fired, it meant she could find someone that liked the horses and could work with them. Martha had been entirely unsuitable.
The next day the show was earlier but it was Sunday so they had to tear down afterwards. Maggie helped where she could, even using the horses to pull wagons to the depot. She wouldn’t allow anyone else to handle her horses and as they weren’t owned by the circus no one could demand it. She had seen several of the roustabouts whipping horses and she wouldn’t allow her babies to be treated in this manner. They worked for her; they played with her because they loved her, not out of fear but from genuine affection. It took many trips to get all their gear and baggage across town to the railroad station and it was very late when Maggie hauled her own tent, gear, and saddled up Sampson to ride with the now haltered herd of black horses. Much to her surprise Ariana asked to ride with her on this final trip.
“You’ve been working hard” she said admiringly.
“Well, I can’t let my babies think it’s all play and no work” she quipped shyly still feeling a bit odd around the much more sophisticated Ariana.
> Ariana laughed at the word play enjoying the ride on her own mount, a palomino that they didn’t use in the circus at all. “Did you get a chance to see the other acts?”
They discussed everything that Ariana had seen, from the zebra act to the now well elephant act to the clowns and acrobats.
“I wanted to do that but daddy wouldn’t let me, he said I’d break my neck” Ariana said as they discussed the acrobats and the high wire performers.
“I don’t know that I would want to be that high off the ground” Maggie commented remembering that the tents went up over fifty feet and the performers were at least thirty feet off the ground and without nets!
“Are you serious? What you do is way more difficult” Ariana admired “these horses could trample you in a minute and when they jump over you I’m amazed they don’t knock that silly hat off!”
Maggie laughed, the horses loved her and would never deliberately hurt her, accidentally they had all hurt her from time to time but she knew what they were capable of and their limitations.
It was fascinating to watch as they got animals, wagons, and gear on the train that was there just for the circus. Two cars were put aside for Maggie but she found like the other rail road car that she could fit fine in the one and told Perry that someone else could use it. She took down the separators with Ariana’s eager assistance which surprised her since the other woman looked so frail and delicate. They put the separators that made stalls onto the side in case she needed them for something else. Spreading hay on the ground she quickly filled the feed bin and the water bin, this one didn’t have the luxury of pumped water from under the car in a reservoir so they hauled buckets from a pump beside the depot, Perry and a few of his roustabout friends helping to make it quick work.
“Hey, I have an empty barrel if you need it too” Perry offered and Maggie gratefully accepted knowing they might need extra water between traveling spots.
“We’re off to Indiana!” Ariana told her excitedly.
“Have you been there before?” Maggie asked.
“Oh, I’ve been all over” Ariana answered. “Except for school I’ve traveled with Daddy and Grandpa all over this country, even into Canada!”
Maggie marveled at that, this was her first foray into traveling and while she had loved the shows she was also overwhelmed and still trying to get her footing.
“Ariana, your Daddy is looking for you!” a gruff voice called.
They looked up from where they were sitting on a bale of hay chatting and waiting for the last of the gear to be stowed, the horses were all set except for this last bale, Ariana was petting Feathers head as they chatted.
“Okay, okay” Ariana answered as she stood up and Maggie recognized the man who was Cecil and Carlton’s father and whom she had yet to be formally introduced to. “It’s been a pleasure speaking with you” she said politely to Maggie.
“It was nice talking to you too, thank you for your help” she answered pleased with having made a friend her own age or thereabouts. She was still intimidated by Ariana, she was the most sophisticated woman she had ever met, but she was pleasant, put on no airs, and made Maggie feel welcome. She watched as she walked away towards the front of the train. The man on his own horse who had barked at Ariana watched her watch Ariana thoughtfully.
“All aboard!” was called all down the train and Maggie effortlessly picked up the remaining bale and took it aboard with Feathers trotting along beside her. A couple of the roustabouts helped her stow the ramp below the car and she hopped up to close the sliding door. Using a lantern carefully in the darkened box car she set up her bed on a couple of bales of hay. She could hear and feel the activity all around the cars.
“Hey” a voice called and she looked up to see a face peering at her from one of the sliding trap doors on each end of the car so you could travel from car to car.
“Hey” she answered holding up the lantern trying to see more clearly.
“Perry sent me to ask if you want to eat with us” the voice asked.
Pushing aside milling horses she made her way towards the voice. Holding up the lantern she saw it was one of the clowns she had come to know and enjoy. She couldn’t remember his name though. “I’d love to eat, I’m so hungry I could eat a horse” she joked knowing he would appreciate it. His response was a resounding laugh. She hung the lantern on a hook on the wall and blew it out, making sure it was out as hay and a flame could have dangerous results. The horses were taken care of, Feathers was here to guard them and her gear, and the horses would stomp on anyone who they didn’t know. Already the crew knew not to mess with Maggie’s Mustangs as they were calling them despite her protestations that they weren’t mustangs.
Maggie followed the man carefully from car to car. All of the other animal cars had dividers and cages. The animals were behind them and it left passageway for them to go through the cars safely.
“I hope no one tries to get into my box car” Maggie said as they went along.
“They can go over” the man told her as he pointed upwards where she caught a glimpse of someone trotting on top of the car as she went over the hookups between two cars.
They soon arrived in a car that was obviously a sleeping car with beds stacked three and four on each side. A section at the end was for a potbellied stove and a delicious smell of soup was coming from whatever was being cooked on top.
Maggie was greeted by all and was soon chatting with others including Perry.
“Well your first shows are behind you, what do you think of them?” she was asked.
Maggie smiled and told them how overwhelmed she had been feeling and how much she had enjoyed the applause. They smiled at that, everyone enjoyed the applause.
“Yeah, wait until you get booed, that isn’t pleasant” someone else put in. Then they discussed some of the bad shows they had done over the years, the hostile crowds, and the bad weather. It painted a really dismal picture but Perry assured the newcomer that it wasn’t all good, it wasn’t all bad either.
“I heard they were going to feed that zebra to the lions if it got any more fractious” someone commented and that started a whole new train of conversation.
As the train pulled out and they chatted the evening away Maggie felt a part of their ‘family.’ Having lost her own and been alone for so long it was nice to belong.
“How did you like Martha?” someone asked with a grin.
Maggie didn’t answer but that was answer enough for several of them as they told tales about her temper tantrums, Maggie learned that she was having an affair with Carlton (she was shocked, in her world women didn’t have sex outside of the bonds of marriage), and she found out other salacious gossip that she didn’t really want to hear. She was deciding to leave when someone asked her about Ariana.
“What about her?” Maggie asked wondering at the inquiry.
Several looks were exchanged but no one was forthcoming.
“I saw her helping you and was wondering if she was going to take Martha’s place?” tongue in cheek one of the roustabouts asked.
Maggie thought he was joking “no, she was just helping me get my horses settled, that’s all” but she missed the meaningful looks the other shared and the conversation soon changed to something or someone else.
Maggie carefully made her way back through several cars to her own, someone had offered to take her up top but the thought of the moving train and keeping her balance caused her stomach to tighten and she decided to pass through the cars instead. She struck a match in her own boxcar and lit the lantern. She hated the idea of having a lit lantern to see by in the box car but she didn’t have anything else as she made her way carefully to where she would sleep. Feathers greeted her, his tail going thump thump thump on the boxcar floor. She made a walk through checking the horses and found everyone settled in okay before making her way back to her bed and hanging the lamp on a nail in the wall she blew it out and pulled off her boots to go to sleep.
The train rumbled
off through the night and in the final box car, the caboose sat the Bigelows discussing the last show.
“You think she’s gonna be able to hang on until we find a looker to go with her act?” their father asked Cecil.
“She broke Martha’s shoulder, whose gonna want to work with a crazy bunch of horses?” Carlton put in.
“She didn’t break Martha’s shoulder; she broke it from falling off the damn horse drunk!” Cecil returned hotly and turning back to his father “I’m sure she will do fine. The act looked fine without a looker and it will only look better when we find someone, anyone!”
“I just think the advertising we did in advance is gonna go to waste if we don’t find someone soon, people are expecting it!”
“We’ll find someone, we’ll find someone” Cecil assured his father and crossed his fingers under the table.
“Let’s look at the schedule and see what we have there” he pulled the papers to him.
“The take increased for the last show with the zebra act and the horse act” Cecil pointed out to his father.
“We are going to have to have more advances on Chicago when we get up there” Carlton commented as the three of them went round and round discussing business, ideas, and money.
Maggie was pleased with the money she was receiving from her shows. The circus provided her with a suit, the tuxedo for shows, they provided the horses with hay and grain. She stopped at a bank and got her cash money sent to her bank back home, one of the few that had reopened after the crash of 1929. She trusted her bank, had grown up with everyone who worked there. She also knew if anything happened to her that they would take care of her place until someone else came along, she had told Frank at the bank she wanted Peter to have it all if she didn’t come back. Everyone thought it was because she was sweet on Peter, many had thought they should marry and combine the two farms, her father as well at one point, but Peter, although he was attracted to Maggie, knew she didn’t love him. She was his best friend though and he could love her from afar without it ruining their friendship.
Sapphic Cowboi Page 7