*** I am not sure if anyone will even like this story, but please review and tell me if I should continue and where you want this story to go, please also read my other Fic " A New Year"… thanks!*** I WILL DEVELOP THE PLOT SOON SO DO NOT SAY IT IS NOT GOING ANYWHERE*** I don't own ANYTHING …don't sue.***
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**DO NOT COPY MY IDEA*** I do not own anything** ***
** I changed a whole lot of things about the story... I recommend you go back and read it over to see the changes... sorry***
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Prairie Lakes, 1893
"Ladies and gentlemen! The most stupendous show this side of the Mississippi- and the other side, too!" the ringmaster announced.
Lizzie leaned forward in her ringside seat. She felt as eager as the little children all around her, who were barely able to stay in their seats for all their excitement. The circus band struck up a tune, filling the big tent with music.
Lizzie caught sight of Geronimo the Clown winding his way through the audience, peering at his ticket stub, checking seat numbers, and looking lost. Then he sat down right in the lap of a finely dressed gentleman looking straight ahead at the circus ring, and waited for the show to begin as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Suddenly he swiveled around, his nose inches away from the man's nose. He jumped up, his painted face contorted in surprise. Next to Lizzie, and angel-faced little girl laughed with delight.
Geronimo's theatrics were followed by the impressive might and control of the dancing elephants, led by the Greek husband-and-wife team of Taos and Adriane, whom Lizzie had met the night before.
Then came a drum roll and two young men in sequined costumes bounded into the ring. One was tall, blonde and very handsome. The other was shorter and just as good-looking, with a shock of jet black hair. Their muscles bulged as they grabbed hold of the trapezes that were lowered down to them. Then they rose up, up, up through the air as the trapezes were pulled toward the top of the tent. Mario and Dario, the Morelli brothers, had been thrilled to meet Lizzie, thinking it might be a solution to their big rivalry, until Miranda told them Lizzie had a young man back home. Lizzie was sure Miranda rather liked the way they competed over her.
Lizzie held her breathe as Dario and Mario flew through the air, their bodies furling and unfurling, sculpting perfectly controlled shapes in space, diving like dolphins and soaring like birds.
Lizzie felt the magic of the circus racing through her like a locomotive moving at top speed. It seemed more wondrous, more spectacular than ever before. Maybe it was because she had met the performers, and because they were Miranda's friends. Maybe it was because they'd told her so many wonderful circus stories- such as about the time the circus train had derailed and the elephants had pushed the cars back onto the track, or about the days when Magnificent Theo W. had been with them, and how could talk k to the animals. Maybe it was because Lizzie was now old enough to appreciate fully the art and skill behind each show. Maybe it was her train ride, all by herself, all the way from Prairie Lakes, that had given Lizzie a tasted for adventure. She felt a thrill of pride that she had gotten up the courage to find her sister. And a tickle of impatience to see Miranda ride out into the ring.
A tiny delicate woman named Marie Pierre was the next act, gliding along the high wire in a satiny white dress. She held a matching white parasol for balance as she danced up near the peaked top of the tent.
As Marie Pierre finished her act, the band went from slow, romantic ballet music in a faster number. Lizzie's pulse picked up too. Miranda was riding into the ring on a golden horse. Lizzie slid to the edge of her seat. This was the moment she had been waiting for.
Miranda, dressed in a shimmering pink gown waved to the audience, her best smile on her face. That smile had always gotten Miranda exactly what she wanted. Now was no exception. The audience cheered wildly. Miranda drank in the enthusiasm of her fans. She walked her horse around the ring slowly, posting in the half-cross-legged position. Lizzie clapped so hard she could feel her hands stinging.
The music picked up speed. Miranda tapped her horse and picked up speed too. Gracefully, like a ballerina, she rose to her felt, making even, and little jumps as her horse's back rose and fell. Then she jumped higher. And higher. It one swift move, she spun in the air, doing an about-face. She rode backward, standing. She spun forward again. Then she headed her horse for a series of hoped suspended from the tent top. The first one hung just about level with the horse's honey-colored ears. As the horse passed under the hoop, Miranda jumped right through it and landed back on her horse. The second ring was higher, and the third still higher.
After the last hoop, Miranda circled around and headed for the first one again but not before hopping around in a half circle so her back was to it. Lizzie caught her breath. Miranda couldn't even see the hoops how could she possibly-
The crowd roared as she jumped backward through the first one, the next one, and the next. And then, as she and her horse thundered around the ring, Miranda executed a prefect front flip. Then a back flip. The audience was on its feet, stamping and applauding. Little children laughed with delight and amazement.
Lizzie felt a surge of pride. No matter how much she missed Miranda, it was clear that she was where she belonged.
"I'll tell you a secret," Miranda said. She and Lizzie stood in the ring, the final bow over, the audience gone. "That last back flip is easier than the front flip I do before that."
"It is?" Lizzie asked.
"Sure. With the back flip, halfway around you can see the horse's back, where you're going to land. With the front flit you can't. You have to do it all by feel. I do the back flip second because it looks harder, more impressive." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a sugar cube. Goldilocks nudged her warm and wet nose into Miranda's palm as she licked up the cube.
"And that trick Geronimo did with the table cloth," Lizzie said. "When he pulled it out from under that huge stack of dished, and then he asked the man from the audience to do it, and the dished went all over the floor, and then he set them up again and asked that girl to do it, and she did. How did that work?
"East. One edge of the table clothe has a hem; it's not smooth, so it's impossible to pull it out from under the dished without upsetting them. The other edge is smooth. Makes the trick easy. It all depends on how Geronimo sets up the tablecloth."
Lizzie laughed. "Even finding out the secrets doesn't make the show any less wonderful. I think I'm starting to understand the spell this place has over you." She stroked Goldilocks mane. "Could I ride her around the ring? Just to pretend there's a crowd, and to imagine what it must be like for you. Would that be alright?"
Miranda saw that expression in her sister's eyes again. "Lizzie, you surprise me. I thought you didn't even like riding. But if you really want to…"
Lizzie nodded. "I do"
"Well all right, then," Miranda said warily. She helped Lizzie onto Goldilocks. "Now, just swing one leg under you and keep the other one out for balance. And don't be scared."
Lizzie made a motion so graceful it caught Miranda by surprise. But she was even more astounded when Lizzie reached down, took the riding crop right out of her hand, and touched Goldilocks flank lightly.
"Lizzie, what are you doing?" Alarm rang in Miranda's voice.
Goldilocks took off around the ring. Miranda expected to see utter panic on Lizzie's face. Instead, Lizzie posted easily, raising her hand in a wave. "Can't you see me greeting the crowd?" She giggled. "Don't look so surprised, Miranda! I told you I have been visiting with Wind Catcher since you left."
"I don't believe this!" Miranda watched her coax Goldilocks into a faster stride. "You got Abraham to teach you to ride!" She had to admit that Lizzie was a natural. "You always were a fast learner!"
Miranda watched Lizzie circle the ring on Goldilocks. "You know you could join the circus. We could be the beautiful bareback sisters," She yelled to Lizzie.
This seemed to encourage Lizzie to put on even more speed. "I feel like I'm flying!" Lizzie shouted, her words trailing behind her. Faster she circled. Faster, faster. And then Miranda saw her slipping.
"Lizzie! Slow down!" But Goldilockses hooves beat the dirt floor of the circus ring at a furious pace. Lizzie's arm flailed out, groping for something to grab on to. Miranda bolted out into the ring.
It must have been her sudden movement. Goldilocks whipped around toward Miranda in an abrupt and lethal change of direction. Miranda screamed as Lizzie was flung from the horse's back. The inescapable end took shape in her mind before it actually happened. Miranda watched in terror as she sister was flung through the air. Lizzie hit the ground with a dull thud and lay absolutely motionless.
Miranda's anguished cries filled the tent as she rushed over and flung herself on top of Lizzie.
"Lizzie?"
There was no response.
"Lizzie speak to me! Say something! Lizzie! Get up! Wake up!"
Lizzie was like a limp, silent rag doll.
Lizzie! Please! Stop playing! You can get up now! Elizabeth! Lizzie! Oh, God, please!" Miranda's screams gave way to a chilling, mournful wail.
Lizzie did not move. The life was gone from her body.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust."
A fine rain misted Miranda's face and mingled with her tears. She was sure her tears would never stop; sure they flowed from a bottomless well of grief. She was so wet, so cold. NO summer sun would ever warm her enough again; no joy would ever fill the chilling emptiness she felt.
Her mother and father looked so old, so frail and bend under their load of sorrow. They stood at the head of the fresh grave as the minister intoned words that gave Miranda such little comfort.
Across the raw hole in the earth where Lizzie's coffin lay, Gordo stood hollow eyes and drawn. He looked like he hadn't slept since he'd gotten the news. His parents bolstered him, one on either side, as if on his own he might slump to the dirt.
"Rest in peace, Amen," The minister said.
"Amen," echoed Miranda.
The minister took several steps back from the grave. Gordo's parents turned and led him away. Was this all, Miranda wondered? Was this the end? She was numb, looking down at the wooden box sunk into the deep, dark rip in the ground.
Soon this grave too would be covered with pink lady's slippers that pushed up from the damp soil. Abraham had called these flowers "the spirits of people I knew and loved." Now he, too, lay beneath the ground. He had died before Miranda returned- on that same chilling day that Lizzie died, as if all the light and happiness had been extinguished from Miranda's life in one dark moment.
Miranda stooped down and picked one of the lady's slippers. Pretending for a brief moment that it was Lizzie's spirit, she brought the flower to her lips, feeling the silky petals moist with rain and tears. Then she flung into Lizzie's grave and bid her sister, her best friend in the whole world, the most final of goodbyes….
THE END
**WANT A SEQUEL** JUST ASK…***