“You and your horses will be a great addition to the show. We’ve never had Lipizzaners before, there are none in this country, although I’m familiar with them. They’ll be a treat for our audiences to see. Beautiful beasts. I’m anxious to see yours. You’ll go on before the intermission with the animal acts. The high-wire acts and performers go on afterward. We generally open with the big cats in the center ring. I’d like to bring you out right after that, also in the center ring.” It was a great honor, which Nick didn’t yet know. “Which also brings up the matter of your name. We travel all over the country, to big cities and small towns. Americans aren’t good with foreign names, and we’d like to give you a name they can remember. I was wondering if you’d mind shortening your name to Nick Bing—just as a stage name, of course. And I was also wondering if you have a title.” The “von” suggested that he did, or might. Nick looked embarrassed when North asked, and startled by the change of name. But Nick Bing certainly did sound American, and would be easier to remember than von Bingen.
“Actually, my father has a title, but he doesn’t use it. He’s much more modern in his thinking, and he finds it unnecessary. He’s a count.”
“We could use that,” North said pensively. “Count Nick Bing. The count,” he tried it on as he said it. “Would you prefer duke?”
“Actually, no,” Nick said modestly about claiming to be a duke, which sounded embarrassingly pretentious to him. “Do I really need a title?” He was horrified at the dishonesty and arrogance of it. He was a viscount, thanks to his father, but seldom if ever used the title.
“It’s theatrical, and Americans love royalty. Let’s settle for count. The Count, Nick Bing. I think that’ll work. And what about your horses’ names, the two Lipizzaners?” North was responsible for the successful financial operation of the circus, but he was also acutely aware of all the more important performers, who they were, and what they did. He knew everything about the circus, and attended performances often. And he traveled with them when they were on the road, in his ornate private Pullman car with a silver dome. He had become president a year before, and was doing an excellent job running the complex operation. And he intended to watch Nick’s rehearsal the next morning in the main tent. It was a command performance.
“The stallion is Pluto Petra, and the mare is Nina. They follow tradition in that the stallion is named for his sire and dam, mares only have one name, but their names always represent their bloodlines. They’re easier to follow that way. And in the purist tradition, there are six names of the original stallions that date back to the eighteenth century. Breeders of Lipizzaners are very proud of their ancestry, and very solemn about their names.”
“I’m sure that’s true,” North said respectfully, “but we don’t want your stallion sounding like a cartoon character. And I’m afraid that Pluto will remind them of the dog in the Disney cartoons. We want something a little grander. Maybe you can think of a better name for each of them. We want to start advertising and putting out stories about your stallion as soon as possible. Maybe some press interviews and photographs with you, before we go on tour. It won’t be for another five months, but I like to plan ahead. See what you can come up with for both of them. What about the Arabians?”
“They all have Arab names, which relate to their bloodlines too.”
“That’ll work,” he approved. They discussed salary then, and what he offered Nick was respectable, although not staggering. But Nick hadn’t expected it to be. It would be enough for him and the boys to live on, and the circus provided them many benefits, the trailer to live in, free food at the cook tent, and health care when needed. There would be no luxuries, but they would be protected and secure, and he was employed, which seemed miraculous to him.
“Thank you very much,” Nick said with considerable emotion. He was grateful for all of it, and particularly that he and the boys were safe, no matter how unusual their situation was. He had never expected to join a circus, but his life had been full of surprises recently. And Ringling Brothers was the least of them. He had given up a country and a way of life, left his family and his home, become a criminal due to circumstances beyond his control, and discovered that the mother he had mourned all his life wasn’t dead after all and had relinquished him at birth. It was a lot to digest and absorb.
“I’m looking forward to your rehearsal tomorrow morning,” John Ringling North said warmly as he escorted Nick out of his office. “I’ll have the contract ready for you. We’ll give it to you after the rehearsal.” Nick was well aware that he was still on trial, and there would be no contract if the president didn’t like their performance. He was going to have Toby ride with him, and have Pluto go through everything Alex had taught him so carefully. He just hoped that the stallion would be willing to give it his utmost in the unfamiliar surroundings. Nick was going to have a talk with him that afternoon. He was nervous about the circus president watching the show. What if he didn’t hire him after all? Then what would they do? It didn’t bear thinking. He couldn’t go back to Germany now. His performance with Pluto was going to have to be outstanding if there were to be a contract.
After the meeting, Nick found Joe in the parking lot, leaning against his truck and smoking a cigar. He was wearing a light gray fedora to match his suit, which, as always, was pushed back on his head. It was a perfect look for him, and he smiled at Nick as he approached.
“How did it go?”
“Well, I think. He’s coming to our rehearsal. And he changed my name.” Nick grinned wryly—he had expected none of this. He hadn’t known what to expect at all. “I’m Nick Bing now.”
“It suits you. Sounds a bit British, like your accent when you speak English.” They both laughed.
“I hope he likes our act,” Nick said nervously as he got into the truck with him. Joe was about his age, and seemed to understand how Nick felt, and he was trying to make Nick and the boys feel welcome and at home.
“Don’t worry. He’ll like it, I’m sure.” Joe tried to reassure him.
“He wants me to change the Lipizzaners’ names too. The man who bred them would kill me for that, but I don’t have much choice, do I?” Nick glanced at Joe questioningly, and Joe looked sympathetic. This was a whole new world for Nick, and it showed. Most of the performers they hired, except a few very young ones, had been in circuses before.
“The circus is all about drama and excitement, ‘hype’ we call it. Everything is bigger and better and more dramatic, or smaller and more exotic. I figured he’d want you to change Pluto’s name,” Joe commented as he started the truck.
“I’ll try to think of something.” But he had no intention of telling Alex once he did. It would seem like a sacrilege to him. Alex had no way of knowing or understanding that this was a whole different world, which had nothing to do with their own.
Joe drove Nick back to his trailer then, and they saw women in the now-familiar costumes on the way. Joe recognized several of them as trapeze artists, but to Nick they were just pretty young women in short skirts. He noticed them, but for now he didn’t care. And none of them were the kind of woman he would ever have looked at. He had always been attracted to the women in his own world. These girls were young, all foreign, and giggling like schoolgirls. But Joe gaped at them, as he always did, and nearly hit a young boy practicing on tall stilts in the road. There was constant foot traffic on the fairgrounds, everything from midgets to giants. Nick couldn’t help staring as an enormously fat woman, who Joe said was very well known, and a man covered with tattoos walked past them, deep in serious conversation. It was a totally exotic crazy world.
And when they got back to Nick’s trailer, he saw Lucas laughing and talking to a dwarf, and a man in clown makeup, dressed as a mime and wearing a beret, short pants, ballet shoes, and white tights. Once out of the truck, Nick approached them with interest, as Lucas smiled up at him with wide eyes and introduced his new friends.
“Papa, this is Pierre. He’s a clown. And this is Thoma
s. He’s a clown, too, but he doesn’t have rehearsal today.” Lucas said it as though he’d been there forever and knew their routines perfectly and what they meant. Nick wasn’t even sure Lucas knew what a rehearsal was.
Nick shook hands with the young Frenchman, who smiled broadly. He’d been having fun with Lucas, and the dwarf had been laughing when Nick arrived. The threesome were having a good time. It was odd to think that these people would be their friends now, and that Lucas and Toby would grow up among freaks, acrobats, and clowns. Lucas had been begging to see the tattooed lady since they arrived. Joe had made a point of saying there were no “freaks” in the circus, only “acts,” “artists,” and “performers.”
“They said I could be a clown,” Lucas said, “and ride in the little car with them during intermission, and Thomas is going to take me to see the elephants.” They had seen several in the parking lot that morning, including two babies following their mothers with a handler running alongside.
“That sounds like fun,” Nick said with a tired smile. He had a lot to adjust to since they’d arrived that morning, and he didn’t have a signed contract yet. It would all depend on his performance at rehearsal the next day, and if John Ringling North liked what he saw. “Toby and I have rehearsal tomorrow morning, for the president of the circus. He’s coming to watch us. Where is Toby, by the way?” Nick asked, looking around. His older son was nowhere to be seen.
“He’s inside,” Lucas said, pointing to the trailer, just as a little girl walked up. She had golden curls that danced all over her head, and big blue eyes. She looked like a doll in a pink dress, and she was about the same age as Lucas. She had wandered over from her trailer nearby. She looked him over with interest, and smiled, as Nick watched.
“Do you speak English?” she asked Lucas boldly, and he nodded, although he wasn’t fluent yet. But he had been managing well with the dwarf and the clown. The French clown spoke a few words of German, which helped. “Where are you from?” she asked him with a curious look, as the clown and the dwarf left, promising to visit Lucas the next day. He was already making friends.
“Germany,” Lucas answered, and she nodded. There were lots of Germans in the circus, and she knew many of them.
“I’m Czech, but I’ve been here since I was two. I speak Czech and German too,” she said matter-of-factly, and began speaking to him in German. Lucas looked relieved, and thrilled to have found a friend he could speak to freely, without struggling for words. “I’m Rosie, and my mama dances on the high wire, without a net sometimes. She made my dress,” she went on in German. He thought she had a funny accent, but she spoke it well. “My papa is Czech too. He’s on the trapeze, and he can do a triple. Sometimes he does the high wire with my mama. He doesn’t like it when she doesn’t use a net, but everyone applauds more when she doesn’t. What does your papa do?” She glanced shyly at Nick, and he smiled. She was an adorable child, from a typical circus family. And to her, it all seemed normal. It was the only life she knew. To Lucas, it was all new and exciting, far more so than his six quiet years growing up in Bavaria, in the country.
“My papa rides horses, and my brother will help him. We just got here today.”
“I know. My mama said to leave you alone until you settled in. My sister thinks your brother is handsome. She saw him when you arrived.” Lucas thought it was interesting information, as Nick realized that his sons would be part of the large group of circus children now, and these would be their friends.
“My brother is fifteen, and I’m six,” Lucas volunteered.
“Me too,” Rosie said, and when she smiled, Lucas could see that she had recently lost her front teeth. He thought it made her look cute, and so did Nick. She was wearing pink ballet slippers with her dress. She usually did. She didn’t need to wear other shoes here, only when she went to school.
As they chatted, Nick went inside to find Toby and remind him about rehearsal the next day, and tell him the president of the circus would be there to see their act. And when he found him, Toby was listening to the radio, and he looked up at his father with a glazed expression.
“Something wrong?” Nick asked, instantly worried. Toby looked like he’d seen a ghost.
“There were attacks all over Germany two days ago. They burned synagogues and businesses and people’s homes. They took people away. They said that they were ridding Germany of the criminal element, but it sounds like it was all Jews. They said on the report that thirty thousand Jewish men were put in prison, and several thousand women, in Germany and Austria. They called it ‘Kristallnacht.’ It happened the day before we got off the ship. Would that have been us, Papa, if we were still there?” Toby looked terrified at the thought, and sad for the people who had been hurt and put in jail. They had been isolated from the news while they traveled. Nick had heard something about it on the ship, but he thought it was just another bout of violence after one of Hitler’s rallies. He had no idea that the persecution of Jews had taken such massive proportions, and was so out of control. He realized then that was probably why General von Messing told them to leave immediately. He knew what was coming and tried to warn. Kristallnacht was no random roundup. It had been planned.
“I’m glad we didn’t have to find out. Hopefully that wouldn’t have been us if we were there, but it could have been. The country is in a sad state, and Hitler is a very dangerous man.” Nick was relieved for the boys and his father that they had left. If he had stayed, they might have punished Paul for harboring them, and Nick could have been taken to jail, and even Toby. And now that they were gone, Paul was safe, and so were they. It seemed as though no one was secure in Germany now, not only the Jews, but anyone related to them, even by marriage, involved with them in any way, or doing business with them. Any Jew or person protecting a Jew was in danger. Kristallnacht had been a night of incredible violence that shocked the world.
Nick was suddenly even more grateful to be here, and knew he had done the right thing. His father was right. He was determined now to give the best possible performance he could, so they would offer him a contract and he could stay. Nothing was sure yet, until North approved their performance the next morning. He tried to get Toby to focus on that, in order to get his mind off what he’d heard on the radio. And he told him exactly which tricks he wanted to do. He was going to try and get Pluto to do all his most spectacular feats, and he wanted Toby riding around the ring on one of the Arabians both at the beginning and the end of the act. He didn’t have to do anything more than that. For most of the act, Nick would be using liberty commands, and standing in the center of the ring in his top hat and tails. Toby would be wearing tails too.
After a sleepless night in the unfamiliar surroundings, the two men looked very elegant the next morning when they set out for the tent where they were keeping their horses. Lucas went with them, to help them lead the horses to the main tent. And Nick had found two handlers to assist him. The three men and Toby each took two horses. Nick led the two Lipizzaners, and Toby and the two handlers each led two Arabians, while Lucas walked along and told his brother that he had heard about a girl who liked him.
“Oh really?” Toby said skeptically. He hadn’t met nearly as many people as Lucas in a single day. But his brother was irrepressibly gregarious, and he was far more reserved. The only girl he wasn’t shy with was Marianne at home. He had written her a letter the night before, about the ship and their arrival at the circus, and he had posted it that morning. He told her how much he missed her and how strange everything was here, and how much he missed his grandfather and her father, and their home. “What’s her name?” Toby asked about the girl Lucas had mentioned. He looked older than his years in the top hat and tailcoat, and very handsome. And Nick looked incredibly dashing as he led the two Lipizzaners toward the main tent. Several of the women’s heads turned as he passed them, but he was oblivious as he worried about the act he was about to do for such an important man, with so much resting on his performance, their lives and his job.
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“I don’t know her name,” Lucas said about his brother’s admirer. “Her sister told me. Her name is Rosie and she’s six. She’s from Czechoslovakia, but she speaks German like us, pretty good too. I’ll bet her sister does too.” It was a definite plus in Lucas’s mind, and he thought it might be to Toby too. He could see how quiet he was, and was trying to cheer up his older brother. But Toby was nervous about their performance too. He could see that his father was tense.
The handlers helped them tether their horses to a pole when they got into the huge tent. A trapeze act was just finishing its rehearsal, and Lucas wondered if it was Rosie’s father, but he heard them speaking Spanish when they left, so he knew it couldn’t be him. And he thought they were amazing as he watched them.
Another group came in after them, and Nick heard them speak Polish. A young woman emerged from the group and did a low-wire act, which she practiced quietly, doing a ballet on the wire, as a man in a wheelchair watched, and corrected her and told her what to do. As Nick glanced at her, he saw that she had the face of an angel, and the body of a fairy as she leaped into the air and then found her footing instantly on the wire. He was mesmerized by her, and she never raised her eyes. She just concentrated on what she was doing, and listened to the man in the wheelchair’s commands. Nick thought he had never seen anything as graceful, and she looked like barely more than a child, she was so small, but she had a womanly grace about her. He thought she might be in her late teens. And then he turned his attention to the horses, and spoke to Pluto in a low voice.
“You know this is important, right? We won’t get the contract if you miss the capriole or the croupade. I’m depending on you. This is just as important as the night you got back on your legs again on the ship.” The big horse nodded his head as though he understood. And then Nick spoke to Nina, who was looking sleepy, and gave her a similar speech. The Lipizzaners were decked out in their finest bridles and saddles without stirrups and looked as elegant as their riders. The Arabians were already prancing, in need of exercise, and didn’t seem skittish as Toby rode them one by one around the ring. And he looked comfortable riding them too. Like his father, he had been watching the girl on the low wire, being commanded by the man in the wheelchair, but once he started to warm up the horses, he forgot about her. Then Nick rode Pluto several times around the ring. The horse seemed ecstatic to be ridden again, and Nick felt as though he and Pluto had bonded on the ship when he was sick. Ever since, Pluto seemed to heed his every command and do whatever he could to please him.
Pegasus: A Novel Page 9