Orphan Eleven Read online

  Nico rattled on as Baby splashed water on them. “Hey, don’t get me wet!” He jumped back.

  Nico kept talking about what had happened. Lucy didn’t respond and he finally moved on to the topic of Bald Doris. “Guess who gave her an apprenticeship? Diavolo! He had to do his act with Jabo’s dummy. Not much danger if you’re throwing knives at a rag doll. No standing ovation like the one for Elephantoff. He was furious.”

  Lucy frowned. Having Diavolo jealous of Elephantoff couldn’t be good. And having him throw knives at a spinning Doris? That was awful.

  “Diavolo likes her hair. Yours wouldn’t stay put.”

  Lucy took out her paper, and using her leg as a table she wrote, Target girl is dangerous.

  She leaned down and handed the page to Nico.

  Nico nodded. “Jabo said he’d talk to Diavolo about it. He doesn’t think a kid should be a target girl, either.”

  On the way back to the elephant car, all the trucks and wagons that had been used to move equipment from Winter Quarters to the train yard were being driven up ramps and onto flatbed train cars. Most of the train doors were closed. Only the elephant car door was open, the steep steel ramp waiting.

  Grace helped Lucy slip off, then she tied a rope around Jenny’s neck and guided her up the train car ramp, her back barely clearing the door. Baby followed, heading for the apples, hay, grain, and potatoes inside.

  “I give them goodies on the train. That way I don’t have trouble loading. They’re like my kids, those two. Especially Baby,” Grace explained as Lucy collected her shoes and followed Grace up the ramp.

  When they were inside, the roustabouts stowed the ramp and shut the train car door shunk-a-shunk-shunk, leaving just enough room for a human to slip in and out.

  There was another door on the short side and bars separating the two halves of the elephant car. On one side were the elephants. On the other was Lucy’s bedroll, stacked in the corner with Nico’s, Eugene’s, and Doris’s. Bunk must have had their stuff put there. He kept track of everything.

  “The elephants are good on the train and they have plenty of food. We’ll water them again when we get to Blue Creek. Okay, look…I’m giving you this chance, but I won’t give you a second. Do you understand?”

  Lucy nodded.

  “Three rules, Lucy. One: Animals first. Before you eat, the elephants eat. Before you drink, the elephants drink. Your job is to make sure my animals are healthy and happy. Is that clear?

  “Second: Go the extra mile. Jenny and Baby give their all every performance. I expect the same of you.

  “Third: Don’t lie, don’t cheat, don’t steal, don’t sneak. I need to be able to trust you.”

  Grace dug out a pair of neatly folded blue farmer pants. “Bull hands wear coveralls,” she explained, handing them to Lucy.

  Lucy slipped on the coveralls. They felt strange. She had never worn pants before. She kept her stockings and Betts’s dress tucked underneath, which made her feel more like her normal self.

  When she was ready to go, Grace looked up from the notebook. “One more thing…you can’t expect an elephant to read your notes, Lucy. You’ll have to talk to them.”

  Lucy swallowed hard.

  “The OOFOs will be staying in the elephant car with you. I expect you to keep your eye on Doris. Baby is not fond of her.”

  The train whistle blew.

  “Train’s leaving in five minutes.” Jabo clapped his hands as Doris, Nico, and Eugene climbed into the car, carrying supper boxes for all of them.

  “Here are your meal tickets and your route card. Congratulations, honey.” Grace shook her hand. “You’re one of us.”

  Lucy couldn’t take her eyes off the route card. Finally, it was hers.

  Doris insisted they arrange the bedrolls so that Lucy was hidden. “Diavolo is still mad at you,” Doris said.

  “But she has an apprenticeship now,” Nico said.

  Doris shrugged. “So? He doesn’t care.”

  Diavolo didn’t like Lucy. But would he throw her off the train? Or was this just Doris causing trouble?

  Red-lighting? Lucy wrote.

  “He won’t kick you off,” Nico said.

  “I dunno about that.” Doris puffed her chest up.

  The train moved forward, then backward, then forward again, as they hitched and unhitched cars, until finally the signalman’s lantern flashed and they were on their way.

  They had just finished eating when they heard the ding-ding-ding of a railway crossing and the hiss of train brakes.

  Lucy stood up to peek out. Eugene joined her at the grimy window. “We’re stopping already?” he asked.

  The train pulled into a station, where a small group of passengers waited to get on. One of them looked familiar.

  Lucy’s stomach plunged. It was Frank!

  “Hey, come see this!” Eugene motioned to Nico.

  Nico peeked out the dirty window.

  “He came,” Nico said, stunned.

  Doris crowded in next to them. “What’s he doing here?”

  “I told you I wired them,” Nico mumbled.

  “You said they weren’t coming,” Doris said.

  “Changed his mind, I guess. Doesn’t look like Alice is with him. Willy, either.” A smile flickered across Nico’s lips. “Guess Willy wasn’t as smart as Frank thought.”

  “Willy was the little boy, right?” Doris asked.

  Nico nodded.

  Lucy took out her paper and started to write.

  “Come on, Lucy. Just say it,” Doris blurted out, yanking Lucy’s pencil out of her hand.

  Lucy glared at Doris. Doris would be the first to make fun of her if she stuttered.

  Lucy’s heart beat too fast. She stared at the elephants, opened her mouth, but her throat closed up so tightly she could hardly get the word out. “Wh-why?” she finally managed to whisper.

  “To see me…” Nico’s leg quivered.

  “We went all the way to Chicago and he didn’t want anything to do with you,” Doris said. “He gave me a dollar, but he didn’t give you one cent.”

  Nico scowled at Doris; then he turned back to the sooty window. “I told him there was a poker game on the train,” he whispered, barely audible.

  “So? He could play poker anywhere,” Doris said. “And why isn’t Alice with him?”

  Nico’s eyes shifted. “Alice doesn’t play poker,” he mumbled, pushing open the door and stepping out onto the platform connecting the elephant car to the flat car in front.

  Lucy followed him.

  Nico turned when he saw her. “The game’s in Diavolo’s car. You can’t come.”

  Lucy tried to make eye contact with Nico. “No!” he shouted. “I don’t want you with me!”

  Lucy grabbed his sleeve. He wheeled around. “Look, I owe him, okay? He got me off the streets. Nobody understands that.”

  Lucy’s eyes didn’t waver.

  Nico looked away. “I’m just going to say hello,” he muttered.

  The train started up again. Lucy held on to the rail as they gathered speed, the cold air blowing her hair and whipping her clothes.

  “I said go back!” Nico whispered.

  “N-no,” Lucy said.

  “This is none of your business.”

  Lucy thought about the day Thomas Slater took her to the orphanage. “Just until your mama gets back on her feet. She’ll get better and we’ll come get you,” he had said. She had believed him. Of course she had.

  Lucy didn’t want to speak, but it was dark out here. He couldn’t read the expressions on her face very well. She forced the words out. “How’d you…g-get to the orphanage?”

  Nico squinted. “What are you talking about?”

  “What did he say when he…l-left you?”

  The side
of Nico’s face began to twitch. “I don’t remember,” he mumbled.

  Lucy stared hard at him. He was lying.

  Nico took a labored breath. “He said I’d be going to stay with his aunt for a little while.”

  The train roared on into the night, the moonlit meadows flying by. Their bodies rocked with the train’s speed, and their arms bumped against each other, their cheeks rosy from the cold air.

  “He doesn’t c-care…about you. We do!”

  “I was a beggar. I didn’t have anything. He took me in. He gave me food. He taught me to read.”

  “And wh-when he didn’t…need you?”

  Nico turned away.

  Lucy waited, watching him. But he didn’t say a word and he didn’t look her way. She waited for a long while; then she left him alone. Only he could decide.

  To her surprise, Nico followed her.

  * * *

  —

  The elephants were standing quietly. Eugene was asleep. Doris’s eyes flickered open, then closed again. Lucy was so tired, she collapsed onto her bedroll, her head sinking into the pillow. She was almost asleep when Frank appeared.

  His steps were unsteady in the speeding train.

  “Nico, my man, thanks for the heads-up.” Frank winked at Nico. Then he looked around. “They have you with the animals?” He shook his head. “You should come home, Nico.”

  Nico’s lip twitched. He studied the straw bedding.

  Frank’s camel-hair coat was out of place in the elephant car. But he was so handsome. Who wouldn’t want to be Frank’s pretend son?

  Nico got out of bed.

  Frank put his arm around him. “You have no idea how much Alice and I have missed you, Nico.”

  Nico nodded.

  Lucy stared at him. Nico would go with Frank. And when Frank and Alice grew tired of him, he’d be back at the orphanage again.

  Lucy had lost him, and there was nothing she could do about it. But then a question floated through her sleepy mind and she sat up. “W-Willy?” she asked.

  “Willy went to stay with my aunt for a little while,” Frank said.

  Nico stiffened.

  A shadow crossed Frank’s face. He’d made a mistake and he knew it. “Willy was only temporary. Not like you. You’re part of the family, Nico,” Frank said.

  Nico’s eyes were glassy. He stared at Lucy.

  “Much as I’d like to continue talking to you, Lucy, I’m afraid Nico and I have to go. Game’s about to start.”

  Nico didn’t move.

  Frank snapped his fingers in Nico’s face. “Wake up, Nico.”

  Lucy held her hand out to Nico.

  Nico took it.

  Frank grinned. “I’ve taught you well….You’ve got yourself a dame and everything. But don’t forget what I told you about dames: there’s always another one in the next town. Say goodbye to her, Nico.” Frank’s voice was smooth.

  Nico tightened his grip on Lucy’s hand. “No,” he whispered.

  Frank snorted. “Nico, I didn’t take you for the sentimental type. Let’s go!”

  Nico’s face hardened.

  “Really, Nico? That’s the thanks I get for all I’ve done for you?”

  Nico looked away from Frank.

  Frank sucked in his lips and shook his head. “You won’t get another chance from me,” he said, and then he walked out.

  * * *

  —

  When he was gone, Nico woke Doris. “You know how to get into Diavolo and Seraphina’s car?” he asked.

  Doris nodded.

  “Tell Diavolo to play with his own deck. Frank’s cards are marked. Tell him if Frank drops his glasses under the table or starts coughing and needs water, watch out. Don’t seat him next to a left-hander. And tell him I need Lucy’s chances back in return for this information. And no matter what, don’t let Frank see you.”

  “Got it,” Bald Doris said, and hurried out.

  * * *

  —

  In the morning when Grace slid the door open, the bright sun nearly blinded them. The roustabouts pulled out the ramp and they all climbed down.

  “I did what you said.” Doris ran her hand over the yellow peach fuzz on her head. “You owe me,” she told Nico and Lucy.

  “Th-thank you,” Lucy said.

  “Did you hear what I did?” Doris stuck her face in front of Eugene.

  Eugene smiled at her. “Good job, Doris.”

  They all watched as Jenny cautiously made her way down the ramp, followed by Baby, who shot out, nearly falling on her face.

  Grace and Lucy took the elephants to the watering truck, the unpacking in full swing. Bunk conducted the operation like a master puzzle maker. He knew what should come off first, which trucks should carry poles, and where to take the canvas rolls, stakes, and cook tent supplies. He knew where to find each performer’s trunk and where each one should go.

  The wind flattened Lucy’s hair, blowing it in her face. Buckets bumped against the train. Feed bags flew by.

  Rib and Nevada came to get Jenny. They slipped on her harness and took her to the other end of the train, where she would haul the tent poles to the circus site. Grace collected Baby, who was trumpeting for Jenny, startled by the banging buckets.

  From the meadow came the sound of the roustabouts’ hammers and chants. “Heave-ee, heave-ee, ho. Shake it, break it, let it go!”

  By the time Jenny’s hauling work was done, the cook tent and the menagerie tents were up. Lucy had Baby set up in the elephant corner of the menagerie tent with big stacks of hay, vegetables, and apples. She rubbed Jenny’s legs with ointment and scratched her favorite spot. Then she washed her hands and headed for the cook tent, smiling to herself. Today was the first day she got to go to the cook tent with her very own breakfast ticket. She went the long way around the big top, which lay on the ground, the wind picking up corners and folding it over on itself.

  She’d done just as Grace had asked. Grace had given her a rare smile. It was all working out, Lucy thought, and then she saw the old blue Ford parked outside.

  Mackinac and Grundy!

  Where were Doris, Nico, and Eugene? She had to warn them. Lucy took off running across the meadow.

  But two of Diavolo’s big roustabouts were running after her. They caught her by her coveralls.

  Lucy tried to twist out of their grip. “B-Bunk! Bunk!” she shouted. But it was so windy, her words didn’t carry.

  Mackinac and Grundy stood by the car, clutching their hats to their heads and holding their dresses down.

  Lucy shouted for help, but her words were lost in the wind.

  Where was Jabo? Nico? Grace?

  Lucy tried to twist out of the big men’s hands, but one of them lifted her off the ground, slung her over his shoulder, and lumbered across the grass to the Ford.

  “J-J-J-Jabo! J-Jabo! B-Bunk! Help! John R-R-Robinson John R-R-Robinson!” She beat her fists against his strong back.

  “John—John…Robinson!”

  Matron Mackinac opened the car door and the roustabout shoved Lucy inside. Lucy kicked and screamed, but the two big men leaned their weight against the door until Grundy could get behind the wheel and Mackinac could climb in the back. Mackinac grabbed Lucy and held her fast while Grundy drove down the rutty road.

  Out the window the cook tent got smaller and smaller, and then it was gone.

  March 11, 1939

  Home for Friendless Children

  Riverport, Iowa

  Dear Lucy,

  One moment I’m certain I will find you. The next I’m sure it is lunacy to work all night for money to travel to an orphanage, when you are not there. Every day is like this, my hope going up and down like the needle on my sewing machine. Every time I read Mama’s letter I get so excited I will find you. And then
I read Mrs. Mackinac’s letters and down the needle goes again. Where are you, Lucy? All I can think to do is go see for myself.

  Love,

  Dilly

  March 23, 1939

  Home for Friendless Children

  Riverport, Iowa

  Dear Mrs. Mackinac,

  Now you say that Lucy Sauvé “may have been” at your home but you are “not at liberty to say where she is now, as she has started a new life with the nice family who adopted her.” You say seeing me would only “make the transition more difficult for her.” You say it is “illegal” to tell me who has adopted her. This makes no sense to me, Mrs. Mackinac. Why would there be a law that prevents sisters from finding each other?

  I understand that you can’t let any person “off the street” look through your files. But I am not any person. I am the sister of a girl who was in your orphanage.

  Yours truly,

  Dilly Sauvé

  P.S. One of the office girls got proposed to in a dress I made. All the girls want dresses now. I will have the $$ sooner than I was thinking before.

  “This is the thanks we get?” Matron Mackinac hissed at Lucy as the old Ford rattled across the bridge.

  Grundy glanced back at Mackinac and Lucy in the back seat. “Should’ve picked another one. Nothing but trouble from her.”

  “Wished that a hundred times if I wished it once,” Mackinac said.

  “What we’ve done for that child.”

  “Don’t I know it. Never get any thanks, that’s for sure,” Mackinac grumbled.

  Rage swelled inside Lucy. She dug her nails into the palms of her hands to keep herself in check.

  “Gonna take her straight there,” Grundy said.

  Straight where? Reform school?

  “What time are they expecting us?” Grundy asked.

  “Nine-thirty,” Mackinac said.

  The car windows were fogged up. Grundy rolled her window down a crack. “Gonna be late.”

  Late where? Lucy wondered.