Dick Grayson was thinking while he gave one of the elephants a scrub down. Pop Haley could be a little gruff at times, but he'd never seen him lose his temper before.
Earlier in the afternoon, he had been walking past the office trailer when he'd heard Pop Haley yell, "Get out of my office, Zucco, and stay the hell away from my circus!" The door had flown open and a seedy-looking man had fallen backward out of the trailer, landing hard on the ground.
The man had picked himself up, dusted himself off, and muttered, "Maybe you'll change your tune after tonight." Seeing Dick looking at him curiously, he had snapped, "What're you lookin' at, kid?" before stalking off, but not in direction of the exit.
A soft feminine, "Hi, there," brought him back to the present. He looked up to see a girl about his own age standing outside the elephant's pen. She had red hair and was wearing a yellow dress with a matching hat, and she was smiling at him.
"Hi," he said shyly. He was very comfortable with the circus folk, and his performances were confident and care-free. Even meeting the public after the shows was easy. His costume was like a shield that he felt safe behind. One on one with the townies, though, was a different matter.
"I saw your show last night," she said. "You must be really strong to do that stuff on the trapeze."
Dick didn't know what to say, so he just shrugged.
"You're Dick, right?" she asked. He nodded and she said, "I'm Shirley."
He didn't say anything. He just kept working on the elephant. He glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw that she was still watching him.
"So how did you get so good?" she asked, breaking the silence.
"Practice," Dick said.
She watched for awhile longer, and then said, "I have to go meet my parents for supper, but I'm going to the show again tonight. Will you be performing?"
He nodded. "Every show."
"Will you be taking care of the elephants tomorrow?".
He shrugged. "If they need help."
"Maybe I'll see you then." She turned and started to walk away. He continued to watch her walk away. She stopped and turned to wave and broke into a broad smile when she realized that he was watching. With cheeks flaming, Dick again focused his attention on the elephant. When he finished, he went back to the trailer that he shared with his parents. His dad was gone, but his mom was putting away some laundry.
"Mom, Can I ask you about something?"
"If it's quick," she replied. "I need to go see if your father needs any help in the show tent."
"Oh," he said. "Well, there was this girl, a townie, watching me with the elephants."
She smiled and raised her eyebrows. "A girl?" she asked. "That's a new subject and it could take a while. Tell you what, let's plan on talking tonight after the show. I'll make hot chocolate." She kissed the top of his head, ruffled his hair, and headed out the door.
Dick frowned for a moment but let it go. "Oh, well," he said to himself. "After the show will be okay. I can always talk to her later."