“No dog,” Forrest demanded again.
Penn growled.
Pippa gripped the car frame and placed her good foot on the footboard. The car lurched forward.
“Forrest!” Pippa cried out as she struggled onto the seat, her weak leg no help in balancing.
Forrest applied the brake and shot her a sideways glare that grazed Penn with distaste. “Why won’t you listen to reason? To me? This is highly unlike you, Pippa. It’s not at all appealing.”
Pippa’s silence garnered her an additional scowl, but she remained silent because she didn’t know what to say. She didn’t care if she was appealing to him or not. But he was right. It was unlike her, and while there were reasons behind her actions, there were none that Forrest would comprehend, let alone understand.
Disapproval oozed from Forrest as the noisy vehicle surged forward. Penn wedged her body between Pippa’s knees, her haunches swaying with the motion of the fast-paced car.
“My future wife doesn’t need to create front-page news, and your own recent behavior . . .” He waved his hand wildly in the air while refusing to take his eyes off the street before him. “Your hair!”
Pippa reached up to finger the well-trimmed ends that boasted of Patty’s finishing handiwork. “I-I like it.”
Forrest eyed her. “You like it? Did you consider whether I would? I’ve no idea what’s gotten into you recently!”
Pippa didn’t respond. Any argument would broach further reprimand and questioning. She bounced on the seat, and her shoulder rammed into Forrest’s. He ignored her.
With their rather swift descent down Ash Street, he guided the vehicle as they paralleled the river that bounced and riffled over large boulders and rock jams. The row of colorful circus houses was nowhere near as impressive as the line of thirty-some ladies marching with painted placards mounted to long poles.
End Animal Abuse
Animals Have Feelings Too
Circus Sins Must Cease!
That last one was the sign Franny lifted and lowered as she marched behind Georgiana. The happy little raven-haired apprentice was oblivious to the stir she created and the fact that a gangly news reporter had his camera ready to capture Franny for tomorrow’s front-page headline.
“Blast it all! They’re worse than the suffragettes.” Forrest’s scowl was focused on Georgiana, who taunted them with a smile as she hoisted her sign higher.
Somehow she had recruited quite a few women in a very short time. Bluff River seemed willing to forget the rich culture the circus brought to their town. The revenue they generated through wagon works, local farmers with a huge resource of fertilizer at their disposal, and certainly the boast of being the Midwest’s only little circus town. Bonaventure Circus had put Bluff River on the map. One injured baby elephant had spun into a wild story of circus neglect by an overzealous activist, which had turned many against it in a space of a heartbeat.
The awful irony was that no one picketed against the verbal abuse in the form of mockery and laughter that Clive was subjected to. A dwarf who was as human as the next. Or Jolly the clown, whose own past was forever locked behind his face paint. Even Benard, who hid his mottled face from the world behind a forge, his talents lost to the outside.
Pippa caught Clive’s eye as they rolled past. The dwarf hiked as fast as he could from the hotel on the corner to the line of women, who sang “Onward Christian Soldiers” so completely out of context—and tune—that she would have laughed if there were anything humorous to be found in it.
The car sputtered and jerked to a stop. Forrest alighted without a backward glance at Pippa. He targeted the newspaper photographer, his long strides eating up the ground between them. Clive hurried to the car as Pippa set a tentative foot on the ground and gained balance on her bad leg. Penn hopped down, her breaths coming in short, nervous pants.
“You need to stop your cousin.” Clive gave Penn an absent-minded scratch over the left ear, oblivious to the inadvertent pressure he’d heaped on Pippa’s shoulders.
“I don’t know what to say to her.” Pippa matched Clive’s steps as they headed toward the foray, appreciative of the dwarf’s shorter legs and that she was able to keep up with him. “She’s headstrong and has no thought for anything but her own whims and fancies.”
“So I see.” Clive raised his eyebrows and heaved a breath through his nose. His arms swung at his sides.
Penn trotted between them, her head at the height of Clive’s shoulder. They were their own miniature army against Georgiana’s growing campaign. A crowd of onlookers grew across the street. Children, women with their hands raised over their eyes to shield them from the afternoon sun and perhaps the question of whether they should join, and men who seemed a bit dazed at the effect a group of strong, vocal women could have.
Clive raised his voice as the noise of the women’s singing grew. “Your cousin’s presence just increased the number of crusaders. There were only five to start with. Once your cousin arrived, they came like a swarm of bees. Her being here implies truth to Miss Farnsworth’s claims.”
“I thought you weren’t worried about Georgiana Farnsworth’s cause?” Pippa couldn’t help but question Clive.
Clive cast her a sideways glance. “Don’t twist my words, Pet.”
She was twisting them. Clive’s faith remained resolute, but he was also a man of action. An old man. A short man. With a crippled nobody and a nanny dog.
The crowd of women was loud in their chorus and chants. Forrest darted in and out, and Pippa saw him lean his face close to Georgiana. He was shouting. Her chin lifted. He pointed down Water Street as if to motion in the direction of the downtown. She shrugged.
Pippa edged past Clive, Penn at her heels.
“Franny!” She raised her voice to be heard over the din. It was obvious the crowd was unnerving the circus animals. A lion’s roar shattered any measures of pause between the women’s hymn singing, and the monkeys were shrieking in the menagerie barn. Pippa noted Benard running down the street toward them, accompanied by Jolly the clown and—good heavens—her father. This was getting out of hand far too fast. There was no keeping this story out of the press.
“Franny!” Pippa limped into the chaos.
Franny cast her a vivid smile. She was ignorant of the damage she was doing. Or else she just didn’t care. Pippa grabbed for her arm and attempted to pull her aside. Franny lowered her sign and wrenched her arm away from Pippa.
“Isn’t this glorious?” Her voice was like music, even while causing trouble.
Pippa yelled over the din, “How can you say that? Please stop, Franny.”
“Stop? Why would I stop?” Franny twirled as if she were a toddler, her dress swirling around her knees like she was doing the fox-trot. “I’m a part of something grand!”
“You have no evidence to support your cause. You’re only hurting the family!” Pippa argued, trying to grab Franny’s arm again. Someone bumped into Pippa’s shoulder and she stumbled. Righting herself, Pippa hurried a few steps after her cousin, who continued to twirl like a dancer in a club with a glass of whiskey in her hand. She had lost her mind. Completely and utterly lost her mind.
“The baby elephant! Stop the circus! The poor, battered baby elephant!” Franny’s chants were accompanied by the other women, and she was swallowed by the growing crowd.
Pippa scurried aside as the women pushed past her. She darted a look toward the elephant barn. Poor Lily. This noise would do nothing to aid in her peaceful recovery.
“Stop manhandling me!” Resolve and determination were chiseled onto Georgiana Farnsworth’s pretty face as Forrest dragged her over to them. She twisted out of his grasp. “You’re out of line, Mr. Landstrom!”
“Cease this madness at once!” Forrest’s command fell on deaf ears. He swiped at empty air to grab at Georgiana.
Georgiana glared at Pippa’s betrothed with a vehement self-defense that Pippa could only admire. “You’ve no right to stop me and most certainly none to to
uch me.”
Forrest restrained himself but seethed through clenched teeth, “You’re acting out of complete ignorance.”
Clive reached Pippa’s side. She exchanged a doubtful glance with him, then saw her father’s magnanimous and commanding form pushing through the crowd. Pippa ducked behind another woman, leaving Clive alone. Her father couldn’t see her here. There was no conclusion he would draw that would be in Pippa’s favor.
“Miss Ripley!” Another voice joined the chaos. Pippa strained to find where it was coming from. She couldn’t see anyone. Being petite didn’t help.
“Pippa!” The same voice switched to familiarity. She spun on her good foot and collided with Jake, who propped her back up with two hands around her upper arms. Urgency pulsed from his gray eyes, and his jaw clenched as if he grew in fury.
“I need you.”
Pippa’s heart quickened, then slowed, catching her off guard as she momentarily misinterpreted his meaning.
“Lily. The noise has her all in a twist, and there’s no one to calm her. Ernie is away for the afternoon. She might respond to you. I can’t get her to settle down.”
“Absolutely not.” Forrest’s refusal startled Pippa. His sudden appearance behind her made her sway on her leg. “You’re staying with me.” Forrest gripped her hand. Tight. Unyielding.
“Let her go.” Jake glared at Forrest’s hold.
Pippa squirmed. The feel of Forrest’s skin on hers wasn’t unfamiliar, but it wasn’t welcome either.
The protesters moved closer and sang at such a high-pitched vibrato it hurt Pippa’s ears. The crowd from across the street began to walk toward them. Some of the women picked up the tune. A few of the men started yelling at the group. Heckling. This was all a game to them.
“Pippa is my fiancée. You have no need of her.” Forrest stepped closer to Jake.
Jake stepped closer to Forrest. “She’s needed to help with the calf.”
Forrest’s face reddened. “You’d be smart to stop making up stories so you can be with her just to suit your own carnal whims. It’s no secret she’s already been back here with you alone—in spite of her father’s and my wishes.”
“No!” Pippa’s protest fell on deaf ears. The insinuation was ill-timed and uncalled for.
Jake propelled Forrest backward, the heels of his palms rammed into Forrest’s shoulders. He shoved Forrest against the wall of the elephant house.
“Jake!” Clive yelled and darted between Pippa and the men.
Forrest wrestled against Jake, his hands pushing at Jake’s arms. It was obvious that Forrest wasn’t capable of matching Jake’s skill with wrestling an opponent. Jake drew his arm back, his fingers forming a flat fist.
“Jake!” Clive jumped and hung off Jake’s arm.
Penn released a series of barks. The protesters turned down the street in Georgiana’s direction.
“What is going on?” Richard Ripley shouted, even as he hustled Franny away, his head bent and his mouth to her ear. Reprimands, no doubt. He hadn’t noticed Pippa.
Benard squeezed into the mess and shoved the brawling men apart. Clive jumped out of the way as Jake surged forward, but Benard held him back. His arms bulged with the muscles of a seasoned blacksmith.
“What is the meaning of this? We need to stop those ridiculous women, not incur fights among our own!” Pippa’s father stalked back toward them, having lost against Franny’s wriggle to get away from her uncle. His outrage was palpable. The veins on his neck were raised, his cheeks a brilliant red above his mustache.
“I need Pippa to help with Lily.” Jake shook off Benard.
Forrest spit on the ground, and Clive lifted his palm toward him in a sign to stand back.
“Lily is about to go into a fighting panic.” Jake’s voice rose, his hands still fisted at his sides.
Pippa was sure he’d turn on her father if given half the chance. It was probably why Benard wisely stood between them, his left eye partly closed from the skin deformity on that half of his face.
“Pippa can calm Lily down. She’s done it before. At least let her try!”
“Balderdash!” Forrest launched himself toward Jake. Clive jammed his hands into Forrest’s waist, slowing the taller man.
Jake twisted toward Forrest, and this time Benard couldn’t stop him. Jake’s fist cracked against Forrest’s jaw in a swift uppercut. Forrest’s head jerked back, and Benard leapt between the two men, his arms spread straight on either side of him.
“Go chase yourself!” Benard shouted over his shoulder at Jake. “Get out of here!”
Jake snarled.
Ripley’s booming command showered around them. Pippa shrank against Penn, whose sharp barks joined chorus with the raucous voices of the protestors. “That is enough!”
Clive sidled next to Pippa and tugged at her arm. “Go. Go to Lily.”
“But . . .” She wanted to. Wanted nothing more than to escape controversy and conflict, especially that which half centered around her.
“Just go.”
It was a command. Instinctively, Pippa obeyed and hurried to the doorway of the elephant house, Penn pushing against her legs. She heard Clive tell Jake to follow. Her father shouted, and Clive returned the favor, matching wits with the much larger man, who had every right to terminate Clive’s employment for speaking against him.
Pippa’s heart clenched. A prayer touched her lips that God would settle her father’s fury and protect Clive from taking the brunt of the blame for everything. The man had done nothing but try to bring peace to the circus, to bring them together.
The din faded as Pippa scrambled into the elephant house, away from the chaos and insanity of the moment. Jake charged after her, and with a guttural snarl he slammed the large doors shut to close out the commotion. He spun to face Pippa. His eyes snapped with rolling storm clouds of infuriated gray. Penn barked and jumped between them, her teeth bared.
“Why are you with that man?” Jake thundered and shoved his hand, finger pointed, toward the door. His shirt stretched taut against his muscular arm, but his gaze didn’t follow where his finger aimed. Instead, he drilled her with a ferocious expression of disbelief.
It was as if someone had stolen her voice. Pippa swallowed. She was numb. The sound of her father shouting at other circus laborers outside the elephant barn seeped through the cracks of the door. They were trying to break up the crowd of onlookers who had witnessed every bit of scandal.
Jake planted his hands at his waist. “Why do you tolerate it? What woman would just let herself be handled by a man like that?”
“He’s my intended.” Pippa offered what she knew to be fact.
Jake shook his head. “So, he can do whatever he wants?”
“He’s just trying to keep me—”
“Keep you in line?” Jake raked his hand through his already-unkempt hair. “A woman should know how to stand up for herself. Being a canceled stamp is getting old-fashioned.”
“I’m not a canceled stamp.” Pippa tried to squelch the ire rising in her. If Jake thought Forrest was forceful with her, what did he think he was doing? Defending her? Insulting her? “I try to honor those in authority over me.”
Jake rolled his eyes and charged past her, his shoulder brushing hers. “Who determines who’s in charge? Next thing you know you’ll be singing the same song my sister did. Some Joe will have his way with you, and no one will believe you. No one will give a—” He cut off his curse and halted. Twisting at the waist, Jake drilled Pippa with a steely glare. “Don’t you want to stand up for yourself, Pippa? Be your own person?”
Frustration welled in her throat. Frustration and desperation. Pippa opened her mouth to retort, but there were no words. She couldn’t choke out a lifetime of struggle. There was nothing that could encapsulate all she felt, all she wanted, and the idea that Jake was urging her toward the very inward rebellion she fought against left her conflicted.
“I-I’m sorry.” It was all she could think to say.
&n
bsp; The look on Jake’s face, the way his eyes darkened and the sad shake of his head, told her she’d chosen the wrong words.
Chapter twenty-three
She wasn’t any of Jake Chapman’s business, and yet the look etched into his face stated he thought otherwise. Pippa could sense his eyes burning into her back as she escaped toward Lily’s pen. There was no reason for him to have any sort of protective attachment toward her. None. Yet she heard his frustrated curse, coupled with a tone of regret, as though he’d overstepped and yet somehow failed at the same time. He’d equated her to his sister. Bridgette, she remembered him calling her in a previous conversation. But Forrest was far from a man who attacked a woman in the shadows, who left her for dead, who had murder on his hands. He was simply—a man. The head of their future household.
Still, Pippa couldn’t deny that, for a brief and unfair moment, she had to battle away the twinge of jealousy toward the dead woman. Toward Jake’s sister. It was obvious he had always defended Bridgette, and he still was. Intent on fighting for her, for justice, for wrongs to be righted as much as they possibly could be. What must it have been like to be Jake Chapman’s sister? His spring-like body, ready to go to war for those he loved. He was a defender at heart. It lived in his eyes, seeped from the very marrow of his bones. Pippa wanted to tell Jake that she was none of his business, but for an irrationally clear moment, she realized she wanted to be.
“Pippa, wait.” Jake’s call echoed behind her.
She didn’t. She pushed the door back on its rollers and entered Lily’s place, Penn beside her. The dog’s tail wagged but with caution, not friendship. Pippa knew the four-hundred-plus-pound baby pachyderm could crush her with one placement of its panicked foot. Yet her huge eyes merely lifted slightly at Pippa’s entrance. A weak acknowledgment from a creature who in many ways paralleled exactly how Pippa felt. A resigned acceptance of their unwanted and uninvited fate.
“Pippa!”
Jake surged through the doorway of the stall and stopped short. Lily pressed her broad head that rivaled Pippa’s petite frame against Pippa, who leaned into the calf, sprinkling kisses on the animal’s coarse skin. She would ignore Jake. She would ignore her father, the raging storm inside of her, the ostracized loneliness that came with being the castaway child of the circus, and she would level all her might and her power on Lily. Loving a creature who demanded nothing in return, but whose eyes pierced Pippa’s soul and stamped their acknowledgment on Pippa’s heart. Penn stood vigil at the calf’s feet, and Lily’s trunk nosed Penn’s muzzle. As if in slow motion, the dog’s tongue licked the elephant’s trunk, and then Lily tilted her head toward Pippa.
The Haunting at Bonaventure Circus Page 19