The Fiery Ring (30 page)

When Stella had told Maurice what the plan was, he had panicked. “We’ll lose everything we’ve got! You know once a man runs away, he can’t do anything else but run.” Stella had merely answered, “The circus is going under. Chase is our only hope, Maurice.”

Word had gotten around that Chase would have a rehearsal with the cats on Tuesday morning after breakfast. When Chase sat down at one of the tables outside the cook tent, the buzz of conversation fell off almost to nothing. Chase glanced around and raised his voice. “That’s all right. Just go ahead and talk about it.”

Frances Fairchild, one of the showgirls, sat down beside Chase as he was eating, her eyes big. “I hope it turns out good for you, Chase. I’d like to see your name all over the papers again just like it used to be.”

“Thanks, Frances. It’s in God’s hands now.”

Frances looked surprised but said no more.

Joy had been observing Chase’s reception from the kitchen tent. She turned to Annie and said, “What do
you
think?”

“Well, anything’s possible. When I fell, I couldn’t come back. Of course, I’d lost too much use of this leg, so it was just a physical thing. But with Chase, it’s a matter of losing his nerve. I wish he wouldn’t try it. You remember what Karl looked like after the attack? I’d hate to see Chase slashed up like that.”

****

There was no shortage of hands to put up the big steel cage. Everyone had gathered to watch as Doak led the crew in erecting it. As they worked Oz said to Doak, “I wish he wouldn’t do it, Doak. He’s going to get himself butchered.”

“Maybe not,” Doak said. “A man don’t always know what’s in him until he’s throwed in the crucible.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Why, don’t you remember the story of them three Hebrew chil’un in the Bible?”

“Don’t know that much about the Bible.”

“Well, these three Hebrew chil’un was commanded by the king to bow down and worship the image this king had made of himself, and they wouldn’t do it. So he said he was gonna throw ’em in the furnace and burn ’em up.”

“Did he do it?”

“Well, that’d be gettin’ ahead of the story, Oz. Here, help me fasten this section.” The two men fastened the section of cages, and then Doak smiled. “I always liked what one of them Hebrews said. ‘God can deliver us if He wants to, but even if He don’t want to, He’s still the Lord God.’ Somethin’ like that.”

“But did they get burned up?”

“Nope, they shore didn’t. They got throwed in, and the soldiers what throwed ’em in got burned up, but the king, he looked inside and got quite a shock. He said, ‘We throwed three fellas in there, but I see four, and one of ’em’s like the Son of God.’ Ain’t that a caution, Oz? They come out of that furnace and didn’t even have the smell of smoke on ’em.”

“Why, I would just about as soon be thrown into a fire furnace as in with all those cats. You know how mean they are.”

“Yeah, Mr. Karl he liked to make ’em mean. Reckon he shore paid for it, though.” Doak straightened up and said, “Look, there’s Chase. Wonder what he’s thinkin’ right about now.”

Chase, in all truth, was not thinking clearly. He had been up practically all night praying, and his prayer had not been so much for his safety, although he asked for that too. Rather, he had prayed that he might not have fear, and as he stood there watching the workers put the cage together, he realized with a shock that at this moment he did not have any fear.
Thank you, Lord, that you’re with me.
He turned then, for he caught a movement to his left, and he saw Joy, who had come to stand beside him. Her face was pale, and she said nervously, “Chase, please don’t do it.”

Chase smiled at her and reached out to touch a lock of her
blond hair. “Well, that’s quite a switch. I’ve been beggin’ you not to get in that cage, and now you’re beggin’ me not to.”

“I’ve been thinking about it. I didn’t sleep a wink all night. Karl had these cats trained one way, but it’s not your way from what I’ve heard.”

“No, I never believed in Karl’s methods.”

“But these cats—that’s all they know. He fought them and delighted in making them charge him. Are you going to carry a chair and a whip?”

“I guess I’ll have to with Karl’s animals, but it’s not the best way.” He looked around and saw that every member of the circus was waiting. “Well, I’ve got the best audience in the world. These people know what’s going on.”

“Please don’t do it, Chase!”

“I’ve got to.”

He lifted his voice and said, “All right, bring them in.”

The command was relayed, and soon the cats, as they were trained to do, ran out of the entrance that led into the cage. Chase stepped inside and locked the door behind him, his face intent. He glanced around at Doak, Joy, and Travis, who were his watchers, and saw that their faces were all fixed. He said to Travis, “Pray for me, brother.”

“I am, Chase,” Travis Winslow said. “God be with you.”

The watching circus workers were quiet as the lions and tigers entered the cage. As they filed in they turned alternately to the right and the left. When the animals were new, Karl had watched them carefully, noting which way each cat naturally turned. Then he had arranged the cats in their natural order, making it appear that they knew how to make an orderly entrance into the cage.

The only sound under the big top was the cats’ growling. The animals were rambunctious, which was the way Karl had liked them. Rajah, one of the biggest Bengal tigers, reached out and swiped at the biggest of the lions, a black-maned giant named King. King would have turned and answered the
challenge, but Chase stepped forward and spoke sharply to him. “Back, King—Rajah!”

The lions and tigers circled the cage, knowing their routine as well as anyone who was watching. Chase saw, however, that they were confused because Karl was not there, and he had difficulty directing them to their perches. He had known this would be a problem, for any change in their routine disturbed the big cats; even a change of costume for the regular trainer could be disturbing. They were creatures of habit, and now they were staring at Chase in confusion, slow to obey his commands.

“He’s not going to be able to do it, Stella,” Colonel House said. He shook his head nervously. “Look, he’s having trouble even getting them up on their perches.”

“He’s doing fine, Maurice,” Stella snapped, her eyes narrowed to slits. “He got into the cage. That’s the first big step. Now if he can just get out without getting hurt, it won’t matter. It’s this first time that’s the hardest. You know that. Remember when that wire walker fell? It took all his courage for him to go back up that first time after he healed. After that he was fine.” She whispered, “Come on, Chase. Come on, you can do it.”

Indeed, all of the spectators were pulling for Chase. They had all seen the lions and tigers perform hundreds of times, but they knew this was the crucible for Chase Hardin. None of them knew exactly what he felt like, but they’d all been painfully reminded recently of the real danger in that cage.

Don Fontaine whispered to Gloria, his wife, who stood beside him. “He can do it! He can do it!”

“Yeah, maybe, but those animals sure are nervous. Look at ’em.”

The animals were indeed restless and obeyed the commands reluctantly. Chase was everywhere, it seemed, giving commands, cracking the whip with his right hand, using the chair to fend off the big tiger named Rajah that slapped at him as he went by.

“That big tiger ought to be put down,” Pete Delaney said. He slipped his arm around Annie and held her close. “Just one false move, and they’ll explode just like they did with Karl.”

“God won’t let that happen,” Annie said fiercely.

“He let it happen to Karl.”

Annie had no response to this, and the two of them stood there, silently willing the animals to go through their paces without trouble.

As for Joy, she was watching their every move carefully. She knew these animals well now, and suddenly she yelled, “Watch out for Mazie!”

Hearing this warning, Chase whirled around to find Mazie charging him. He shoved the chair at her and popped the whip close to her head. At the loud crack, she sullenly backed up and resumed her place on the perch.

The silence of the tent was broken only by the growls and snarls of the animals and Chase’s sharp commands as he put them through their paces. The act was ragged, and he had to struggle to get the animals to do even the simplest of tricks, but as Joy watched his face, she saw no sign of fear—just intense concentration. She unexpectedly felt a rush of pride for Chase.
Nobody knows what it’s costing him to do this,
she thought,
but I do.
He had told her about some of the nightmares he’d had over the last two years of being back in the cage with the animals going wild.

Now the strain both inside and outside of the cage was tremendous, but the animals were slowly making their way through their act. He got them all to lie down before him in a line and then roll over, but only after an intense struggle.

As they stood up again, Prince, a large Siberian tiger, took a swipe at Rajah, and the two slashed at each other. When Chase ran to break it up, they both did what tigers often do. They forgot their own fight and charged the trainer. Chase looked into their fierce eyes and snarling faces and thought for a moment he was gone. But he fended them off, snapping the whip within an inch of Rajah’s face, startling the big cat.
He shoved the chair into Prince’s face, and they finally gave way before him.

“It’s almost over,” Joy whispered. She grabbed the bars, still watching intently for any threatening behavior. Finally, with relief, she heard Chase call out, “Rajah, out!” The big tiger dropped off of his perch and padded toward the opening that led back to the cages. One by one the other animals followed, needing no command.

“He’s done it!” Stella cried out. “He’s done it!”

But even as she shouted in her excitement, Maurice stiffened. “Look out!” he cried, and other voices rose in a shout of alarm.

Chase heard all this, and then he heard Travis yelling, “Look out for Jackie!” followed immediately by Doak’s mighty shout, “Chase—get back!”

Jackie was a heavy-maned lion really past the age for performance, but Ritter had kept him in the show. He was a temperamental animal, but a bit lazy and usually went through his routine in a halfhearted fashion. From time to time, however, a fit of rage would seize him, and he would charge the trainer without warning.

In this instance Chase’s back was toward him as he watched the other cats disappear, and for no reason that anyone could see, he suddenly launched himself at Chase.

Chase turned and barely managed to get the chair up before the lion struck. Jackie had a ferocious look on his face, and Chase knew that the chair was all that stood between him and having those claws rip his flesh. As he raised the chair and tried to back up, he shouted, desperate to distract Jackie. It did no good, however, and he realized with despair that no human intervention could dissuade an animal that had gone mad like this. He had seen it before.

A shot rang out, sharp and clear, and then another.

The heavy beast collapsed onto the chair, knocking Chase over in the process. He smelled the animal’s rank odor and rancid breath as they lay almost side by side. But Jackie was
limp. As Chase stood, he saw that the bullet had caught him in the side of the head by the ear. Another bullet hole, he saw as he got to his feet, was in the animal’s side—the brain and the heart. He looked over at the huge form of Doak Williams, who was lowering the rifle. He walked over and put his hand through the cage. “You saved my bacon that time, Doak.”

“He was plumb crazy, Mr. Chase. I hated to do it.” Then Doak said, “He got you on the arm there.”

Chase looked down and saw that his sleeve was ripped to shreds and blood was soaking through the fabric. “It’s not very bad,” he said.

“Every one of them animals has got bad claws, old rotten meat under them. You gotta get cleaned up.”

And then Joy was there. Chase felt her hand on his arm, and when he turned, he saw she was pale, and her eyes were enormous. “Chase, I thought he had you.”

“So did I. If it hadn’t been for Doak here, he would have.”

“Come on, I’ll have to clean that arm out.”

This was easier said than done because now that it was over, everyone wanted to congratulate Chase. Hands appeared from everywhere, and he shook those he could get, and others pounded his back as he and Joy struggled to get through. Raising her voice, Joy said, “I’ve got to get that arm cleaned out. Let us through!”

The crowd parted then, and she led him out of the tent and to her trailer. “Sit down there,” she ordered.

He slumped in the chair. “I don’t want to get blood all over everything.”

“Don’t worry about it. Here, put your arm on the table.”

Chase rested his arm on the dinette table and pulled his shredded sleeve back. “It’s not very bad. It just looks bad.”

“It’s got to be cleaned out. Take your shirt off.”

Chase obeyed and sat back down. Joy heated some water in a pan and found bandages and a bottle of antiseptic. She washed the wound carefully, then said, “This is going
to sting.” She applied the antiseptic liberally, which drew a sharp breath from Chase.

“That does sting,” he said.

Joy did not answer. She bound up the arm with a bandage, saying, “It doesn’t need any stitches, but you’ll need a bandage on it for a day or two.”

There was a knock at the trailer door, and before Joy could rise to open it, it opened and Stella waltzed in. She stared down at the two, who were sitting opposite each other at the dinette table. “Is it bad?” she asked swiftly.

“No, just a scratch.”

“That’s good.” Stella stood beside Chase, her hip touching his shoulder, and brushed his coal black hair away from his forehead. “You had us all worried there, Chase.”

“Jackie had me worried. He shouldn’t have been in there at all. He’s too old and temperamental.”

“I’m glad you’re all right, Chase. You gave me a bad fright.”

Joy was watching these two and realized that the ties between them were still strong. Chase had never talked to her about his past relationship with Stella, but she couldn’t forget the kiss she had seen that night by the menagerie. Chase had insisted that it was nothing, but now as she saw the two of them together, she knew the tie had not been completely broken. Stella might be married, but Joy believed it was more a marriage of convenience than love, and it wouldn’t stop Stella from pursuing the man she truly wanted. And Joy also knew that because Chase was a man, he was weak where women were concerned.