Page 26 of The Ringmaster’s Daughter

Michel turned back to the horses, who had now lost interest in their new visitor and pulled and tore at the hanging nets of hay. He sat on the edge of the wagon and waited.

From far off he saw the sway of a woman walking towards him. His mouth was suddenly dry. Is it her? He squinted in the bright light, then shielded his eyes, seeing, finally, that it was the woman with the auburn hair from the train, not the woman with the emerald eyes who had haunted his dreams.

‘You are from the train, right?’ she asked him.

Michel nodded.

‘Werner giving you a chance, then? I’m not surprised, a strong man like you.’ She smiled at him and sat down, crossing her legs so that her skirt rode up just above her knee. She did not smooth it down.

‘Want a smoke?’ She shook one from a packet and handed it to Michel, allowing her to light it, her long red fingernails clicking at the lighter.

‘It’s Odélie, isn’t it?’ Michel asked.

‘Since the day I was born. And you are Michel. Michel, the man who can tame wild beasts!’

‘Only horses.’

‘All the same to me.’ Odélie rested her chin on a cupped hand, her elbow on her bare knee so that Michel had to look. ‘You’ll like it here. Easy money, different people all the time. It’s nice to have new faces, you know?’

A man in a white shirt and tan trousers walked past, his blond hair neat and smooth, his tanned arms holding a small black box.

‘New wireless, Anton?’ Odélie called out.

‘It is.’ He stopped in front of them. ‘Who’s this?’

‘Michel,’ Odélie answered for him. ‘Our newest.’

Anton dipped his head in a welcome.

‘Can I borrow it later?’

‘Not again. You broke my last one.’

‘I did not! I was listening to the music and then suddenly it just stopped working.’

‘More like you knocked it over!’

‘Either way, Anton, it stopped. That’s all.’

‘Buy your own.’

‘What do you listen to anyway? I’ve never heard it play anything nice.’

‘What’s it to you? You’re not to take it again, Odélie.’

‘And what would you do if I did?’ She ground the cigarette out under her bright blue heels.

‘Don’t do it. I don’t take anything of yours.’

‘You can have anything you want of mine!’ Odélie winked at him, and Anton blushed and walked away.

As soon as he was out of sight, Odélie laughed and patted Michel on the knee. ‘Only a bit of fun. He gets all embarrassed at everything. You should see what he’s like when we are in our costumes, all tight and our legs out! It’s hilarious.’

‘What does he do?’

‘Anton? He’s trapeze. Strong, lean, beautiful to watch. But, like I said, shy and a bit of a loner. You’ll not get him as your friend.’

‘I wasn’t thinking of trying. The ringmaster says I’m to concentrate on my work and keep to myself.’