Beneath the Big Top

With a roar, the tiger bounded toward the man in the kahki shirt.
Holding a chair in one hand and a coiled whip in the other, Alfred
hurtled to his knees as the animal leaped into the air. The tiger
sailed over his head, landing behind him with barely a sound.

Alfred sprang to his feet and whirled to face the predator. He kept the
chair between them as the tiger circled. Cautiously he moved closer,
thrusting the chair back and forth as he attempted to master the beast.
A powerful paw swiped the chair, but he held on.

And the tiger roared.

Alfred cracked his whip and the sound echoed like a firecracker. "Oohs"
and "ahhs" permeated through the crowd as the tiger leaped through a
burning hoop. Again the whip cracked. The tiger stood on her hind legs,
towering over the liontamer. Alfred
threw the chair away and the crowd gasped in protest. Once more the
resounding crack of the whip exploded throughout the arena. The tiger
jumped onto a podium where she sat motionless, waiting and
watching.

Tossing his whip to the ground, Alfred backed away. Deafening applause
rewarded him as he turned to the audience. He raised his hands in
triumph and with one last deep bow, moved to exit the animal
enclosure.

Suddenly, he heard someone cry, "Look out behind you!"

Alfred wheeled around, only to find the giant cat already airborne. She
landed on his chest, knocking him backwards to the ground. Man and
beast wrestled together in a struggle for survival as fifteen hundred
people viewed the scene with disbelief.

Pinned beneath the tiger, Alfred tried desperately to gain the upper
hand. He brought his legs up underneath the cat and with all his
strength kicked upwards, tossing
her over his head. He scrambled away as she hit the dirt, flank
first.

In less than a heartbeat the wildcat pounced. Her death cry chilled the
very marrow of all who watched. In a blur of hands and whiskers, fur
and elbows, Alfred grappled with the beast.

Time grew sluggish and the onlookers held their breath. It seemed an
age before Alfred finally had charge of the situation. He was exhausted
but unscathed as both he and the tiger lay locked together on the
ground. Alfred's legs were wrapped around the
animal from behind, his arms curled tightly around her neck. The tiger
fought back fiercely, far from subdued.

The audience continued to watch with nervous anticipation.

"Ringmaster," yelled Alfred.

Immediately, the Ringmaster blew his whistle and a spindly,
pocket-sized clown hurried in. Carrying a diamond studded collar
attached to a leather leash, the clown skidded to a stop when he saw
the tiger.

"I'm not going in there," he said, pointing at the large animal
enclosure.

"The liontamer needs the halter," the Ringmaster said into a
microphone.

"He can come and get it then," said the clown.

"Bernard," said the Ringmaster in a warning tone.

"Nope," said the clown, shaking his head.

"I'm counting to three," said the Ringmaster.

The clown stubbornly folded his arms.

"One -- "

The clown inspected his fingernails.

"Two -- "

The clown yawned.

"Three."

The Ringmaster's whistle shrilled. An ugly, barrel-chested giant ambled
into the arena. Graced with an overgrown nose and protruding jaw, he
must have stood over
seven feet tall.

Bernard forgot all about the man and tiger in the cage when he noticed
the giant bearing down on him. Bounding into motion, he skipped around
the human mountain,
dodging, ducking and side-stepping as meaty arms tried to catch him. He
darted between
tree-trunk legs, pulling faces and cartwheeling like a pesky
gnat.

Without warning, the tiger roared inside the cage.

The clown squealed and vaulted into the giant's arms. Grunting, the
giant pried Bernard away with one arm, lifting him by the suspenders so
they were face to face. The
clown's little legs raced as he tried to dash away in mid-air. But he
was too high off the
ground to gain any momentum.

"Put me down," cried Bernard. "Help! Help!" He tried to run faster as
he dangled in the giant's grip.

"Don't make Gustav angry," said the giant in a deep, rumbling
voice.

"Bernard," said the Ringmaster, "do we have your cooperation?"

"Yes, boss," cried Bernard, "anything you say. Just tell this behemoth
to put me down."

The giant growled and tightened his grip on the clown. Bernard put up
his fists defensively. From a distance the pair were the image of
puppet and puppeteer and the
audience roared with laughter.

"Gustav," said the Ringmaster, "let him down."

The giant grudgingly released his prisoner and Bernard scampered to
complete his
chore. He opened the cage door and hurled the leash at the liontamer.
Within a minute
the tiger was tethered and sitting meekly at Alfred's feet. The crowd
bellowed their
approval.

A team of roustabouts entered the ring as Alfred led the tiger outside
the cage. They began dismantling the animal enclosure, preparing the
arena for the next act.

The Ringmaster took his place on the dais, smiling and waving to the
audience.

"Let's give a big thank you to our performers tonight," he said,
commencing the introductions. "Bernard the clown."

The crowd cheered as the little clown danced about like pugilist. They
laughed as he ran around the giant, and they applauded with gusto as he
finally rode out of the arena on a tiny unicycle.

"Gustav, the giant from Bulgaria," came the Ringmaster's voice through
the sound
system. The giant puffed out his chest and curled his lip, striving to
appear mean and
repugnant. The crowd hailed him with adulation as he too departed the
arena.

"Alfred the liontamer," cried the Ringmaster, "and everyone's favourite
tiger,
Topaz." The crowd went wild. Alfred and Topaz paraded around the arena
before
disappearing through the backdoor.

The Ringmaster was left alone with the crowd beneath the Big Top.

"Ladies and gentleman," he said, "coming up in our show is probably the
most exciting act you'll see anywhere this year. In just a short while,
the lovely, the incredibly beautiful Melody Blister will perform her
death defying trapeze act. Blindfolded, and with no safety net, she
will twist and turn above our heads with the grace of a dove." He
waited for the whistles and cheers to subside before continuing his
speech. "But first, ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce our very
special stunt riders. Please put your hands together for the richly
radiant Ruby Rhinestone and her talented daughter, Marie-Claire."

Beyond the backdoor of the main arena, Ruby and Marie-Claire stood on
the backs of their horses, awaiting the Ringmaster's whistle. Their
colourful costumes were laden with plumes and sequins, their smiles
plastered in place upon heavily made-up faces.

Alfred stood aside as they rode past him into the Big Top. The applause
was thunderous
as they entered, and he caught a glimpse of the pair cantering around
the arena before
the tent flaps were thrown closed by the circus attendants.

He glanced down at the tiger waiting patiently by his side. He leaned
down to remove the collar he knew she hated. "Come Topaz," he said
absently as his thoughts turned to more important matters. He had to
find his wife.

He moved away from the Big Top, the tiger following like an obedient
puppy.

* * *

Inside the smaller training tent, the little girl watched in awe as the
circus' star
somersaulted some thirty feet off the ground.

Melody Blister looked dazzling in red. The sequins and rhinestones of
her costume
caught the light as she twisted through the air. A handsome man,
similarly dressed, hung
by his knees from one of the three trapezes which swung from the roof.
He caught
Melody easily as she stretched out in mid-air. More twists and
somersaults followed, until
finally the beautiful star stood safely on a narrow platform, high off
the ground. A second man in a similar red costume stood by her side.
His name was Anton and he placed a black, silken blindfold across her
eyes.

Anton assisted Melody to the trapeze. She looked as though she were
born in the air, her performance just as spectacular and graceful
without her eyes to see.

Alfred and Topaz entered the tent as Melody somersaulted toward the
dangling man on the trapeze. Alfred watched breathlessly as she went
through her routine without incident.

"Charlotte," he called softly.

The little girl looked around to see her father. "Daddy," she said,
throwing
herself into his arms. "Isn't she beautiful?"

"Yes, she is," he said. "I think you're up next, peanut. Why don't you
find your brother and head over to the Big Top?"

"Okay." She planted a kiss on his cheek. "Will you come and
watch?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world. Go on now, I have to talk to your
mother first."

Charlotte extricated herself from her father's hold. She saw the tiger
sitting behind him. "Topaz," she threw her arms around the giant cat,
burying her face in the animal's
fur. The tiger purred in the child's embrace.

"Charlotte," her father said sternly. She grinned at him and ran from
the tent.

Alfred looked up just as Melody finished her routine. She sat on one of
the trapezes and removed the blindfold.

"Thanks Sergei. I think we're ready," she said. "How do you
feel?"

"Melody," called Alfred from below.

Melody's face lit up when she saw him. "Alfred."

She fell backwards off the trapeze and allowed the safety net to catch
her,
something she'd done a thousand times before. She made her way to the
edge of the
net, then dismounted by rolling over the side. Alfred met her as she
dismounted.

They were a stunning couple. Alfred was tall and athletic, with a
rumpled mop of sandy hair. Melody was small beside him, her violet eyes
sparkling like pools of amethyst.
Her glorious mane of thick, raven coloured hair was fastened high on
her head, adorned
only with a small, diamond-crusted comb. It had belonged to her mother
before she died,
her most precious possesssion. Like most circus folk, Melody was highly
superstitious.
She never performed without her comb.

"What is this foolishness about removing the safety net?" Alfred
asked.

"Alfred, we've been over this."

"Yes, and I thought we agreed you weren't going to do it."

"The circus isn't doing so well. Mr. O'Leary thought it would draw
bigger crowds."

"Listen to me," said Alfred, "you're already a star. You don't have to
do this."

"It's too late now, Alfred."

Alfred gripped her shoulders. "Melody, please."

"Are you questioning my ability as a performer, Alfred?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Well that's what it sounds like to me."

"You are the most talented trapeze artist in the country, maybe even
the world," said Alfred. "And I love you. Our children love you. Think
of them."

"I am thinking of them," Melody said crossly. "We'll all be out of a
home and a job
if I don't do this. Then where will we be?"

Alfred sighed. "You do this without my blessing."

"I have to go," Melody said, pushing away from him.

She left the training tent alone.

* * *

Beneath the Big Top, Charlotte and her ten year old brother Caleb were
in the final stages of their performance. Caleb caught Charlotte as she
somersaulted through
the air, a smaller version of her mother. Their trapeze act was a lot
simpler than the one
Charlotte had witnessed inside the training tent but both brother and
sister were well
rounded acrobats, trained in trapeze, tumbling and trampoline. At just
six years old
Charlotte was drawing crowds of her own, and Caleb had already been
hailed a sensation by the British press. One day they would be
headlining stars just like their parents.

At the end of their act, Charlotte and Caleb smiled and waved from the
high platform before descending the ladder. Charlotte scanned the arena
for her father.

"Where's daddy?" she asked Caleb.

"I don't know," he answered.

"He promised to come," she said, disappointed.

Bowing and waving, they left the centre ring.

The roustabouts removed the safety net from the arena as the Ringmaster
introduced the next act. Melody entered to the sounds of pandemonium
from the crowd. Here she was in the flesh, the star of the show. She
was the sweetheart of an entire nation, and the audience were beside
themselves with anticipation.

Melody tried to calm her frazzled nerves as she greeted her fans.
Smiling and waving like a queen, she cried on the inside. She wasn't
sure she could go through this alone. This was the first performance
her husband had missed in their twelve years together.

At the foot of the ladder, Sergei and Anton took the red, velvet cape
she wore,
revealing the sparkling, figure hugging costume beneath. She began her
ascent of the ladder, dying a little with every rung she climbed.

Outside, Alfred sat on the grass a short distance from the Big Top.
Topaz lay by
his side. The night air was clear, and the moon shone brightly in the
sky. He could hear
the crowd bellowing from the Big Top. Deathly silence soon followed and
he knew Melody had begun her performance.

Closing his eyes tightly, he prayed that the Lord would stay vigilant
at her side. Because God knew that Alfred himself could not bear to
watch.