The Fear In Yesterday's rings

bleacher section, opposite Harper and me. As the animal and her rider came abreast of the box, I raised my hands above my head and applauded. This was not a good idea. I'd no sooner raised my arms than Mabel's incredibly powerful yet delicate, sinuous trunk whipped around under my arms, encircling my chest, and plucked me straight up out of my seat.

'Sheeit!' I screamed as I was lifted high in the air and then deposited unceremoniously on my stomach, arms and legs splayed to the sides, in the valley between Mabel's two huge skull mounds, virtually in Luther's lap. The trainer looked even more startled than I was. 'Jeeesus Christ!'

So much for my skepticism regarding the acuity of an elephant's long-term memory.

The fact that Mabel had decided to shanghai an old friend during the course of her performance obviously wasn't going to keep her from completing her star turn. Without missing a step, and with me bouncing around and with only a precarious grip on a strap of her head harness to keep me from falling to the ground, she reached the next bleacher section and immediately went into another pirouette.

The people, naturally assuming that this hilarious spectacle of the plucked-up dwarf dangling from Mabel's head harness was all part of the act, were out of their seats, screaming, stomping their feet, and clapping with wild enthusiasm. Mabel, of course, was loving it too, and she proceeded to raise her feet even higher as she 'pranced.' I could feel my fingers beginning to ache as I held on for dear life.

'Hey, look!' I said to Luther, shouting to be heard over the roaring cheers of the crowd. 'I'm really sorry about this!'

Luther had gotten over his initial shock, and was studying me, his glacial blue eyes bright with amusement. 'Frederickson!' he shouted back in a voice laced with a heavy German accent. 'Mabel's first mahout! Obviously, you imprinted her! She loves you! You are her only true master! I must say I'm quite jealous!'

I looked into the hard features of his face to try to see if that was his idea of a joke, decided he was at least half serious. 'Yeah, that's great!' I yelled, tightening my grip on the harness with my left hand and extending my right. 'How about helping me get up in the saddle?'

He grinned, then reached out and gripped my right wrist with fingers that felt as strong as steel cables. He effortlessly dragged me on board, then helped me turn around so that I was sitting cross-legged, just in front of him, with a secure grip on Mabel's harness.

'Are you okay, Frederickson?'

'Yeah,' I replied over my shoulder. 'It's been some time since I've taken an elephant ride, but I think I can manage not to fall off. What happens now?'

The crowd noise was beginning to subside as people settled back in their seats to enjoy the spectacle of the 'world's greatest animal trainer' and a foolish-looking dwarf sitting atop the 'monster elephant,' and Luther was able to speak in a normal voice.

'I'll let her finish the routine,' he said evenly, 'and then I'll take her back so that you can dismount with some dignity. It's a pleasure to meet you, Frederickson. I've heard and read a good deal about you. I regret that we never had a chance to work with each other. I understand you're now well known as a private investigator, but I must say I was most impressed with what you managed to achieve with Mabel here. People also told me you worked with Bengals when you were with the circus.'

Mabel had reached another bleacher section and was going into her curiously dainty pirouette. I half turned so that I could look into Luther's face, his startlingly blue eyes. He still had a look and air of amusement about him; despite his compliments, I had the feeling that he still couldn't quite believe there was a dwarf riding along with him on Mabel.

I said, 'I never got in a cage with any Bengals, Luther. I just played with them. I used to like to help raise them from the time they were cubs.'

'Always the best way.'

'With me, working with animals was always just a hobby. Strictly amateur hour.' I paused, added: 'There was a time in my life when I pretty much preferred animals to people-most people.'

'Oh, I still feel that way,' Luther said easily. 'Did you ever think about working tigers in the ring?'

'No. I never felt like getting eaten.'

Luther grunted. 'I believe you would have made a very good professional animal trainer.'

Mabel, still running on automatic pilot, finished her dance, moved on to the last bleacher section, started turning once again.

'I was having enough trouble getting people to take me seriously as a tumbler and aerialist, Luther. I just don't think too many people would have taken to a dwarf tiger tamer.'

'The tigers must have taken you seriously. That's all that counts.'

'What about you, Luther? Why is it that nobody ever heard of you until you came to work for World Circus? And why do you stay when you're so obviously ready for bigger things?'

He paused a few seconds before answering. 'I'm quite happy with World Circus, Frederickson.'

'Are you? Now that Goebbel-Williams has retired, you'd have top billing at Ringling, or with Clyde Beatty. Here you're just another act listed in fuzzy print in a cheap program. As a matter of fact, that's true of every performer with World Circus, and you've got top-drawer acts. It's almost as if the owner wants to keep the circus going-but just barely, without too much publicity. What's going on here, Luther?'

'It's a long story, Frederickson,' he said carefully. 'I wouldn't want to bore you.'

'Oh, I'm sure I'd be interested. Where did you people come from, and why is it nobody seems interested in moving on to the bigger arena shows?'

Mabel finished her pirouette and started back around the sawdust track.

'Ho!' Luther barked, reaching over my right shoulder and rapping Mabel smartly on the top of the head with the blunt end of his mahout stick.

Mabel stopped dead in her tracks.

'Back!' Luther commanded, rapping her two more times. 'Ho! Back!'

Mabel stayed where she was. Luther waited a few seconds, then rapped her twice again, this time harder.

'Back, Mabel! Ho! Back!'

Mabel still didn't move. The crowd began laughing again, hooting at the trainer and the dwarf atop the recalcitrant elephant. Luther reversed the stick in his hand, used the steel hook at the end to goad her as he repeated his command for her to reverse direction. There was still no response from Mabel. The crowd began to laugh even louder. They were loving this unexpected clown act.

I again glanced back at Luther, who now looked a good deal more surprised and frustrated than amused. I said, 'I used to use a baseball bat on her; Louisville Slugger, Henry Aaron model. You wouldn't happen to have a baseball bat tucked away up here, would you?'

'No, Frederickson,' Luther said somewhat tersely, 'I don't have a baseball bat. If I'd known Mabel was going to arrange to have you join me up here, I'd certainly have brought one.'

'Mabel was always such a prima donna, as I know you've discovered. She likes the crowd response, and she doesn't want to give up the limelight.'

Luther shook his head. 'That's not it. It isn't the crowd, it's you. She wants to finish out the act with you, to show you what she can do.'

'The act isn't finished?'

'No. I told you: I was going to take her back and let you off before we continued.'

'Well, Luther, what the hell? I'm already up here, so why don't we all just go ahead and do whatever else it is you do so that we can keep Mabel happy?' The fact of the matter was that I was thoroughly enjoying myself in this, my first return to my circus alma mater. I was enjoying the limelight. It was exhilarating to be riding this great beast, and I wanted to prolong the experience for as long as possible.

Luther, an enigmatic smile on his face, didn't answer right away. Finally, he said, 'I thought you might prefer to get off.'

'Nah. I'm fine, Luther. Go ahead and finish the act.'

'You're sure?'

'Hey, it's not as if this is the first time I've ever ridden an elephant. Let her rip.'