by Jeff Sutton
Jedro listened, entranced, desperately wishing he could go inside. He ogled a poster that depicted a gigantic lion leaping through a fiery hoop; another showed a scantily clad young woman standing on the back of a galloping animal that somehow resembled a relk. The sign called it a horse. The name struck him like a distant echo.
Jugglers, tumblers, trapeze artists -- surely the gigantic red- and white-striped tent held the wonders of the universe. His eyes went avidly from poster to poster. The garishly painted faces of the clowns at first glance reminded him of The Tattooed Man, but then he saw that they were not the same at all. These faces were wreathed in smiles; the eyes laughed. All but the face of a clown named Corky. Corky's face and eyes were sad. Jedro decided he must be unhappy.
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He tore himself away from the main tent to make the round of the booths again. He paused to gaze at a picture of The Pig-Faced Boy, whose mouth was drawn into an enormous snout. He was turning away when he sighted a young girl selling tickets in front of The Snake Woman's booth. He peered covertly at her. Slight and blond, she had a pretty face, yet he thought it tinged with an odd sadness. She was about his age, he guessed. Their eyes met briefly before she looked away. The gaudy posters around her showed a dark, slender woman in scanty attire, her body wrapped in the coils of a gigantic snake. Its head
swinging free, the snake was gazing into the woman's eyes.
Jedro had no conscious memory of ever having seen a snake, yet again he sensed a stirring deep in his mind -- a stirring that offered nothing he could grasp.
Who am I? He pondered the question again. Would he ever know? Did anyone know? Mr.
Clement claimed to have known, but now he was dead. He looked back at the pretty blond girl.
When she failed to notice him, he wandered on.
Loudspeakers placed along the sawdust road announced that the carnival would close in ten minutes. He felt a sharp disappointment. He hadn't seen half of it yet. Gazing around, he realized that the crowd already was thinning; people were streaming out under the fluttering banner that proclaimed: BIGGEST SHOW IN THE UNIVERSE!
He wondered how to go about getting a job. He could tend animals; he would like that. Or he could sell tickets or clean up the mess left on the sawdust street. He could do almost anything.
Who should he see? He looked back toward the young blond girl, but she had already pulled the shade; all he could see was her silhouette.
Perhaps he should ask Dr. Faust. Debating it, he made his way back toward the main tent.
Passing a food stand, he paused to inhale the delicious aroma. A man wearing a white jacket spotted with grease and an odd white hat that bloomed out on top was cleaning a griddle.
Sniffing, Jedro stepped closer.
The man paused, looking at him. "Hungry, kid?"
"A little," he admitted shyly.
"Have a couple on the house." The man shoved two wrapped buns across the counter. "They're a bit cold."
"Thanks a lot," he exclaimed. He bit into one of the hamburgers, savoring the taste, then gulped it greedily. The man in the white jacket laughed and returned to his work.
The lights along the sawdust street blinked off and on three times, and the loudspeakers announced that the show was closed. Thinking about a job, Jedro continued toward the main tent. He believed the carnival wonderful, but the fear that he might not find work made him desperate.
Munching the second hamburger more slowly to make it last, he watched the carnival workers.
They moved quickly and efficiently. Portable ticket offices and barkers' platforms vanished with astonishing swiftness. Metal canopies, swung down over the fronts of the booths, were locked into place.
Plastic tarps were secured.
One by one the lights above the booths went out so that the figures on the posters above them appeared to be floating in the sky. The sight gave him a spooky feeling. Passing The Strangler's booth, he imagined a sign that read:
JEDRO, THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE UNIVERSE! In the vision the young blond girl was watching admiringly as he lifted a huge weight above his head.
He grinned. But it would be nice to be the strongest man in the universe. If he were, he'd really go back and smack Mr. Krant. Yeah, then he'd bring the relks back to the carnival, let them eat all the feed they wanted.
He would train them to do tricks, like the horses on the posters.
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But that was a dream, now he had no time for dreaming. Morosely he watched the carnival close around him. Each light that blinked out took some of the magic from the night. He was watching the last of the stragglers emerge from the big red- and white-striped tent when he heard a loud shriek. Abruptly half a dozen people boiled out from the entrance, scattering in all directions.
"The lion is loose," a hoarse voice shouted.
A woman screamed in pure terror.
A lion! Jedro stiffened, aware of the pandemonium erupting all around him. He had a quick vision of the fierce animal shown on the posters. The King of the Beasts! The most fierce animal in the entire universe! He clenched his hands to stifle his fear. He wanted to run yet couldn't seem to move his legs.
They felt paralyzed.
A thin man with a contorted face shot out from the main tent, his arms waving wildly. "Watch out for the lion," he yelled. "It's coming this way!" He dashed madly down the sawdust street.
A horrible growling came from inside the main tent, and an instant later a huge, tawny animal padded out through the entrance. Stalking to within half a dozen yards from where Jedro was standing, frozen with fright, it halted.
Its big head swung from side to side. Its tail switched angrily.
"Run, kid," shouted a man from atop a nearby booth. "Quick, get out of there!"
Jedro felt his heart thump wildly. Unable to tear his gaze from the great beast, he watched it with terrible fascination. The lion snarled, bringing its head around until their eyes met.
"Run, kid, run..." The clamor of voices dimly reached him as he kept his entire attention riveted on the animal, prepared to bolt at its slightest move. A tall man in a red jacket popped out from the main tent, halting abruptly at sight of the lion. Ludicrously, or so it seemed to Jedro, he carried a whip and a straight-back chair.
"Careful, kid, don't make a move," he rasped tautly. Snarling softly, the lion glanced at him. The man remained absolutely motionless, holding up the chair as a shield.
As the lion returned its gaze to Jedro, the man said edgily, "Keep your nerve, kid. Don't panic."
Crouched behind the chair, he jockeyed closer.
A deep growl rumbled from the lion's throat.
"It's getting ready to leap," a voice shouted hysterically.
Jedro licked his lips dryly, his heart thumping.
"Don't move," warned the man in the red jacket.
Jedro returned the beast's stare. Standing under the lights of the sawdust street, he had a feeling of unutterable loneliness, the illusion of a vast silence. Except for the lion, he was alone in the universe.
"Someone do something!" A woman's piercing shriek shattered the night.
"Don't panic," the man in the red jacket hissed.
For what seemed an immeasurable time, Jedro stared into the large golden eyes. Strangely, his fright passing, he felt a sudden calm. Somehow it was like looking into the eyes of the relk and the gran. He glanced at the man in the red jacket, then back at the lion.
"It's all right, fellow." He spoke softly, the way he used to speak to Krant's relks. The lion regarded him intently. "It's all right," repeated Jedro. He took a step forward.
"Watch out, kid," the man atop the wagon bawled. "That cat's a man-killer!" His voice rang with alarm.
"Don't move," the man in the red jacket warned tautly. Sidling closer to the beast, he held the chair to his chest. "Wait it out until they bring the tranquilizer gun."
"He's nervous," replied Jedro. He fancied the large golden eyes held both a shadow of fear and a Page 18
curious beseeching quality, as if the beast were turning to him for succor.
"Good boy, good boy," he whispered softly. He forced himself to walk forward.
"That's a man-eater," a strident voice warned.
"Careful, careful," the man in the red jacket hissed. "Don't go any closer."
"He's all right." Trying not to alarm the animal, Jedro kept his voice low. Another step, and then another. Reaching out, he scratched the lion behind the ear, then knelt and slipped an arm around the thick, coarse mane.
The lion turned its head and their eyes met. Jedro had the impression of staring deep into fiery amber pools. He had the same feelings he had known when Krant's half-starved relks had nuzzled his cheeks. The lion wasn't mean at all; it was merely frightened.
"It's all right, fellow, it's all right," whispered Jedro. The animal's plight roused his sympathy.
Running his fingers through the thick mane, he was rewarded by a low purr. "Take it easy, big boy," he said.
Aware of the silent tableau gripping the sawdust street, he looked around. The man in the red jacket, still holding the chair, was peering indecisively at him. His long face held a touch of incredulity. Here and there a carnival worker stood as if rooted to the spot. The man atop the wagon had fallen silent. The scene held the eerie stillness of a painting.
Jedro asked softly, "What's his name?"
"Taber." The man in the red jacket answered without moving his lips.
"Where's his cage?"
"Inside." He gestured toward the main tent.
"Follow me, Taber." Jedro rose, running his fingers through the lion's mane. Taber looked up at him, and the big golden eyes blinked. He scratched it behind the ear again and tugged it gently by the mane, urging the animal toward the entrance.
"Don't do that," someone hissed. "That baby will take off an arm."
"He's all right," answered Jedro, to no one in particular. He looked down at the lion. "Come on, Taber, follow me." He released the mane and started toward the big tent. Swishing his tail, the lion padded obediently alongside him.
The man in the red jacket moved cautiously to one side. Out of the corner of his mouth, he said,
"Straight ahead to the center of the ring."
Jedro entered the tent, bending to pat the lion's head as he gazed around. The huge red- and white-striped plastic ceiling, billowing in the wind, rose from behind a circle of wooden bleachers to form the central ring.
Between the bleachers and the tent wall ran a dark corridor.
"Go to the right till you reach the entrance to the ring," a tense voice behind him instructed.
Jedro glanced back, seeing the shadowy figure in the red jacket. Still gripping the chair, the man jerked his head in gesture.
Jedro nodded. "Follow me, Taber," he instructed. He walked along the gloomy passageway behind the bleachers with the big cat padding softly at his side. He knew that the man in the red jacket was following. Perhaps that was the man to ask about a job. Reaching down to touch the lion's head, he wondered why the others had been so afraid. Was this really the most fierce animal in the universe? He couldn't conceive that to be true. It was big and powerful, sure, but its eyes were gentle. Looking into them, he felt that he could all but read the animal's thoughts.
Or was it just that he liked animals and animals liked him?
It had always been that way, he reflected. Mr. Krant's relks had liked him from the first, and not just because he had sneaked food to them. It had been the same with the gran, and the small animals and birds that lived among the otog trees. Ramsig had marveled at that several times.
He came to a passageway between the bleachers and turned in, pausing when he reached the central ring. A low steel mesh fence that fronted the bleachers made the ring a veritable cage, Page 19
accessible only by several passageways used to bring in the animals and equipment.
He looked around wonderingly. A metal pole, shooting upward to an awesome height, provided the central support for the billowing roof. Other poles, canted outward around the periphery, kept the tarp from sagging inward.
He saw cages that held strange animals, ropes strung between high ladders, odd paraphernalia for which he had no names. Off to one side, two clowns peered at him from the safety of the bleachers.
"The big cage in the center of the ring," the man in the red jacket called softly. "The door's open."
Jedro took the time to study it. The huge cage, constructed with metal bars to allow visibility from all sides, was set atop a low red platform.
Inside was a series of large, swinging hoops, each suspended at a different height above the floor, and several low stools and straight-back chairs. The latter, painted red, were duplicates of the one carried by the man behind him.
Was he the lion tamer? Jedro thought that he must be. Yet why was he afraid of Taber? That didn't make sense. He heard a growl from a smaller cage set off to one side, then an answering rumble from the lion's chest. Taber paused, his tail switching. Jedro halted.
"That's Taber's mate," the man in the red jacket called. "She's locked up."
"Come on, fellow," urged Jedro. He scratched the animal behind the ear.
"Keep him moving, see if you can get him into the cage." The voice behind him held a worried note.
"Let's go," whispered Jedro. As he started ahead, the lion hesitated, then followed. Jedro reached the low platform, hopped up on the edge and opened the cage door wider. "Inside, fellow."
The lion looked at him, its golden eyes somnolent, then crouched and leaped gracefully into the cage. Jedro slammed the steel door, hearing the latch click into place.
"Whew!" The man in the red jacket tossed the chair to the sawdust and strode toward him, mopping his brow. "You took a big chance, kid. That cat's mean."
"I don't think so." Jedro saw a dozen or so people spilling toward them across the ring.
"Meanest cat I ever saw," he affirmed. "So's Rana, his mate. They're tricky and unpredictable.
Born killers, kid."
"Are you the lion tamer?"
"Jason Hart." He nodded. "Didn't you see the act?"
"I didn't have the money to get inside," admitted Jedro.
"That's too bad. My wife and I -- her name's Millie, Jason and Millie, The Lion Tamers, we call the act -- have the key spot. We come on right after
Corky and Dum-Dum."
"The clowns?" asked Jedro. He remembered the posters.
The lion tamer nodded, pushing his handkerchief back into his pocket.
"Weren't you scared?"
"Not when I saw its eyes."
"Eyes?"
"They were gentle."
Jason Hart eyed him sharply. "Do you know anything about lions?"
"Well, no." He felt flustered.
"Any wild animal?"
Jedro shook his head.
"Then how could you tell by his eyes?"
"I've seen relk and gran," he replied weakly. "I can tell by their eyes how they feel."
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"Relk and gran!" The lion tamer clapped a hand to his head and groaned.
"That cat's a man-eater, kid. Didn't you know that? You're lucky he didn't tear you to shreds.
He's clawed up more than one person. I've been handling those cats for more than twenty years and I know how mean they are."
"I don't think he's mean," protested Jedro.
"You're either brave or a fool. I don't know which." The lion tamer patted his head. "Do you live in town?"
"Well, no." Jedro gulped. "I was looking for a job."
Jason Hart asked sharply, "Where's your home?"
"I haven't one."
"No parents?"
"N-no," he stuttered.
"Where have you been living, kid?"
"On a gran ranch." He explained about his job. "I want to work for the carnival," he finished.
"The carnival, hey?" Jason Hart studied him, then continued more soberly, "It's a good life, kid, and I like it, I su
spect because it's all I
ever knew. But it wouldn't be good for you. It's plenty rough and you're always on the move with never a chance to get your feet planted or learn anything. And what you would learn would be too much and too soon. You don't want it, kid." He shook his head.
"But I do," blurted Jedro.
"You do, eh? What do you know about it?" demanded the lion tamer.
"You've been out there in the sawdust gaping at all the lurid posters and listening to the barkers and you think it's all glamor, hey? But it's not.
It's all illusion, boy. Nothing you see is real. And when you get right down to it, there's not much glamor. It's blood and sweat, racing from one town to another, with no life you can call your own. You know what happens in the end?
You wind up on an ash heap somewhere."
"You like it," insisted Jedro. "You said so."
"Sure, but I'm me and you're you. You can't judge what you'd like by what I like." He looked more kindly at the boy. "Besides, what could you do?"
Jedro grinned. "I can capture lions."
A bystander guffawed and slapped a leg. "The kid's got you beat, Jason."
"Perhaps," conceded the lion tamer.
"I'd do any kind of work," Jedro put in quickly.
"You've really got your heart set on it, haven't you?"
"More than anything," he admitted.
"You'd have to see Dr. Faust. He does all the hiring."
"The owner?" he asked weakly. His heart sank. He had been hoping the lion tamer might put him to work.
"That's the man, kid. What's your name?"
"Jedro."
"What's your last name?"
"I don't know." He scuffed his toe through the sawdust.
Jason Hart saw the boy's downcast look and slapped his shoulder. "Tell you what, you come around in the morning and I'll take you to see him."
"You will?" Jedro's hopes soared.
"I can't promise anything."