Chapter 6: Lisa's Act

After the excitement of the circus, it was hard to believe that the day wasn't over. But for us circus folk the night went on. Bob, Bradley and I cleaned and locked up the products in the merch tent. As we cleaned up I tried to bring up the show, but they weren't interested. After a couple of attempts, Bob told me the shut up. I told him he was an arrogant little snot.

Then we headed back to the cafeteria in silence. I couldn't understand it. They had let me go see the show because they liked it, but they didn't want to hear me brag about their friends. Bob and Bradley were weird. I was actually glad to see Keith when we entered the cafeteria. He waved and actually got out of line to meet us.

"Hey," I said, "Nice performance."

"Eh, I mucked up a couple twists, but I'm glad you liked it," he replied with a shrug. Of course, the guy couldn't handle a compliment. "I'm surprised you saw it though," he said. "Weren't you supposed to be manning the merch tent tonight?" At this, I looked at Bob and Bradley, but they were no help.

"These two thought I should go," I gestured at the cousins before walking into line. Keith and the boys followed. "It's been such a long time. Everyone has improved so much. You and Cathleen were really something. Where is your sister anyway? I've been hoping to catch up."

Keith eyed me before replying, "Oh, she's still in the dressing room. She should come in with Matt later if I had to guess."

"Matt?"

"Lupin the animal trainer is just a stage name," Bradley said rather helpfully.

"A corny one," Bob added. Keith's shoulder hunched a bit with a laugh, but his face stayed neutral.

We grabbed our food. It was stir-fry tonight and everything was still steaming hot. There were several choices, but I got beef with teriyaki glaze and lots of sticky rice. Tomorrow I'd start worrying about vegetables, but for my first night, I was gonna enjoy my meat and potatoes or rice in this case.

When I left the line, I made to sit by myself, but Keith told me Cathleen would come to his table. I wasn't sure I believed him, but I followed him to find out. Daniel was already sitting there with Jeffrey alone at the table. They nodded at us as we all sat down.

"Rare for you to sit with us, Keith," Daniel said.

"Well it isn't every day the infamous Kelsey Hayes returns to the circus," Keith replied jauntily.

Everyone at the table was awkward for a moment until Keith laughed. Daniel laughed more nervously.

"So, Kelsey says she liked our show," Keith added.

"Yeah!" I jumped in. "It was spectacular." I waved my hands as I talked about the acrobatics, the dogs, the clown skit, and tiger bits. Jeffery and Daniel seemed to swell with pride as I talked about each act in detail excitedly. Even Keith seemed more cocky than usual.

When I talked about the tiger though, people changed. There Jeffery looked uncomfortable and Keith's playful eyes lost their sparkle. I didn't dwell on it. There were many things about that act I couldn't explain, too many things. I hoped that Matt would be able to answer some of them.

Midway through dinner, the conversation had shifted to day to day matters and I had finished my food. I was just about to leave when Cathleen showed up with Matt.

Seeing him up close, Matt looked very plain and oddly familiar. He was tall, but that was the manliest thing about him. He had a lame greased haircut that looked like it belonged to the fifties and his large brown eyes had an anxious look similar to Bradley's. It was hard to believe this guy could train any animal, let alone a tiger. He just looked too meek. He and Cathleen sat down.

"Keith," Cathleen said. "You're here." She narrowed her eyes. Keith smiled.

"Hi ,Cathleen!" I said.

"Oh, hey Kelsey," Cathleen gave me a small smile.

I smiled back brightly. Then I turned to Matt. I held out my hand. "Hi Matt, it's nice to meet you. I loved your act. I've never seen anything like it before." Matt stared at me and my hand that was hovering over the table. His face was a huge mix of emotions I couldn't begin to read. I waited for him to shake my hand. The whole table seemed to be watching us.

My hand was still hanging there when Mr. Maurizio stood up and called for attention. Everyone looked up at him. I withdrew my hand while everyone was distracted. I frowned glancing over at Matt. We made eye contact before he blushed and looked away. Maybe the poor guy was just shy. I didn't want to make anything of it yet. I turned to Mr. Maurizio, feeling the butterflies in my stomach.

"Tonight, is a very special night, my friends," Mr. Maurizio began, "One of our own has returned. Please welcome mi patatina, Miss Kelsey Hayes." He gestured at me and everyone stared. I smiled hard. Many of the looks were confused and others unfriendly. "She will be working with Matt and Mr. Davis as an animal trainer. And tonight, in the tent she will give a little taste of her ability. So, after dinner please come and see our new star shine." He held out his hands for applause and there was polite clapping. He smiled brightly and walked over to me.

"I see you have met Matt already, mi patatina," he said. I nodded. "Good. Good. How long will you need to get ready?"

"An hour to feed Lisa and get ready I think. I—"

"I already fed your bobcat," Matt replied.

"Oh?" I said turning to him.

"Yes, she looked hungry so I fed her some meat from our stock during clean up," He said more to Mr. Maurizio than me.

Mr. Maurizio clapped his hands together, "Fantastico! So, you should be ready sooner? Yes?"

"Yeah, I guess I only need a half hour thanks to Matt."

"Good! I will see to it that you will have an audience. I won't keep you. Talk to Mr. Odoso about the stage and go prepare, mi patatina," Mr. Maurizio said.

I did as he said and had another uncomfortable conversation with Mr. Odoso. Then I borrow the keys from Cathleen and left out quickly to the Gailons' RV. I changed into the safari costume that I used for performances. It was tan with shiny deep green accents. It didn't meet the normal circus criteria for sparkles, feathers, and glitter, but it had the plus side of not looking silly when I performed in Oregon. Now that I was back in the circus though. It felt a little lackluster. As a kid, I'd worn this gold sequined monstrosity. Just thinking about it made me shiver. Hopefully, my official circus outfit would be better.

With my green hoops and riding crop in hand, I went over to the animal enclosures cautiously. I really didn't want to get into another staring contest with Dhiren today. I could untangle the Dhiren mystery later. Right now, it was time for me, Lisa, and the stage.

I called Lisa softly and we both hurried out of the enclosure toward the stage. After warming up and practicing the harder parts of our routine on the circus stage, Mr. Maurizio poked his head into the tent. "Are you ready Kelsey?" he called out to me.

"Yes," I replied. "Bring them in." Mr. Maurizio stepped forward into the tent. He was followed by several people. The Gailon family, Matt, the clown cousins and what seemed to me to be most of the circus. Even Mr. Odoso was there.

I watched the crowd enter intently. The butterflies had reentered my stomach, but I stood straight and tall. I was a part of this circus and I would prove that to everyone. As the last person sat down my eyes flicked over to the tent entrance. I felt myself expecting someone else, but the moment passed and I was forced to address the crowd.

"Hello. My name is Kelsey Hayes. I grew up here with my parents. They were big cat trainers. I hope to follow in their footsteps. Lisa and I are going to give you guys a show," I said simply. A part of me wanted to make a grand speech, but talk was cheap. Lisa and I would show them what we were made of.

First things first, I hit my riding crop against my gloved hand to make a tat-ta-tat-tat sound. Lisa sat down and stared out at the crowd. Her tail straight and lifted with agitation. "Alright, Lisa give our friends a warm welcome." Lisa lifted her paw and waved it. The crowd clapped a little. I smiled.

"I think you can do better than that Lisa," I said cracking the riding crop. Lisa stood up and roared. There was a little more applause. Next were the real tricks. I brought out my green hoops.

"There we go. Now for the real show! Lisa help me out." I threw her my green hoops one by one. Each hoop was a different size ranging from the diameter of a soccer ball to a full hula-hoop. I intentionally threw them badly, forcing Lisa to leap to catch them. Some of the hoops bounced a bit before she got them, but she caught them all. Each time, she captured a hoop she laid them down on the stage forming a pentagon.

When she was done, I cracked my riding crop and she jumped from hoop to hoop with ease. After that, we slowed down so that I had time to move each hoop further away from the one before it. She leaped from the biggest hoop to smallest, never missing a beat. Even as the hoops got further away she still made it inside the hoops just like we practiced. After her last jump of nearly ten feet away, I bowed and called Lisa to me.

"Good Job, Lisa," I said. Then I held out my hand and she shook it. The whole while we were getting earnest applause. I waved and Lisa mimicked me until the crowd fell silent.

"Thank you. Now I need 4 volunteers," I said facing the crowd. Slowly some hands went up. I called up Matt, Mr. Maurizio, Daniel and Mrs. Gailon. Once they were on stage, they took a hoop and held it so it rested on the ground. Then they squatted a bit as instructed. I did the same at the front with the smallest hoop.

Then at the crack of my crop, Lisa ran through our legs and the hoops with ease. This was more a warm-up to get Lisa used to the volunteers. I let her take her time. She seemed most skittish around Matt who held the largest hoop. Probably because he smelled like tiger and dog. When she felt satisfied she came up next to me. I gave her a quick scratch just beneath her chin like she liked and took a deep breath.

"You stay here Lisa. I now would like to set up our last trick." I instructed each volunteer to back away from each other and hold their hoop up at a different height from shin level upward. I held the last smallest hoop above my head facing the crowd.

"Alright Lisa," I said prompting her to start. I couldn't see Lisa for this trick, but I could hear the crowd. The appreciative sounds and even a few gasps as Lisa ran around and started to clear the higher hoops. I stayed very still. As I watched with satisfaction, the looks on Keith's and Bob's face break their usual expressions to show that they were impressed. Finally, Lisa came behind me. I could sense her crouch and spring up. I fought the urge to flee and stayed still. With a blur of motion, she jumped through the ring and landed in front of me with a thud. She had done it!

I took the hoop off my head and bowed. I was breathing hard and smiling harder. I had barely done anything, but I felt like I had been jumping through the hoops with Lisa. Everyone was clapping, even the volunteers on stage. This was the moment I had been waiting for. I never wanted it to end.

A/N: First I'm trying an old editing method. I went back to the older chapters and polished them up like this one. So, hopefully, smoother sailing and reading for now on.

Second, my beta reader, march4fun, gave this story an endorsement. He is the whole reason this fic exists. When we both decided to start writing fics together this summer, I never thought I would get this involved with fanfiction, but I'm having so much fun. I can't tell you how excited I am to take you on this journey. And it's all thanks to march4fun.

He has several stories out right now. Hammer of the Bat is his newest one. It combines the stoic character of Batman with the chaotic Pinkie-Pie Deadpool character of Nora from the RWBY web series as they try to survive Arkham Asylum together. It's super fun so far, so if that appeals to you please check it out.