Chapter 30: Channel Crossing
"We are pleased to inform you that Circus Gehlhaar has been chosen to be one of the showcase circuses for this coming year's Brighton Circus Festival."
It was a rare European heat wave. Even at night the temperature hardly dropped and most of the circus had taken to sleeping on the roofs of their trailers rather then endure the stifling heat inside. During the day it was nearly unbearable indoors and out. Even though they did the best to air out the main tent, within the first few minutes of every rehearsal everybody's leotards were dark with sweat. At night it didn't get much better. It was hard to imagine how the audience could stand it.
Lars, Ivan, and Kurt lay in the shade of a large tree trying to stay as cool as possible.
"Even with all the resin in the world my hands still get slippery in this heat." Lars complained.
"Us too." Ivan agreed in his broken German, "Sweat gets on the hands, on the wire. Very dangerous."
Kurt decided it was too hot to complain and stayed silent. Christian trudged over and threw himself on the ground next to them.
"I tried dumping a bucket of water on my head, but it evaporated. Then I tried to get Amanda to turn the hose on me but she wouldn't do it. Something about 'conserving water', that bitch." He said running his hands though his hair. "Man Kurt, it's hotter than hell out here. Can't you do something about it?"
"I tried." Kurt said without opening his eyes, "but my pitchfork melted. Sorry." He briefly debated some sort of retaliation for the jab at his sister but decided against it. Christian and Amanda were spending an awful lot of time together these days so Kurt was sure he hadn't meant it seriously.
"Oh well." Christian sighed. "You were our only hope. Now we're screwed."
They sat in silence again. Kurt figured that their only real hope was for it to rain. A jet of water hit his face and he thought he'd gotten his wish, but when he opened his eyes, it was Wolfgang with a squirt gun.
"Where did you get that?" Christian asked. "Do you have any more?"
Wolfgang shook his head sadly. "Nah, I found this in the tent. Some kid must have left it. Here, it's yours." He tossed it to Christian who immediately used it to hose down Lars before turning it on himself.
"Check this out." Wolfgang said. He held out what looked like a magazine and tossed it to Kurt.
"The Brighton Beach Circus Festival." Kurt read in English off the cover. He opened it and turned the pages, which showed glossy photos of different circus acts. He looked at the back, "It's in England." He said. Lars took it and he and Ivan paged through it.
"And listen to this." Wolfgang pulled an envelope out of his back pocket with a flourish. He removed the folded paper within. "Dear Mr. Wagner," he read, "that's me, not you Kurt."
"I figured."
"We are pleased to inform you that Circus Gehlhaar has been chosen to be one of the showcase circuses for this coming year's Brighton Circus Festival. Please make arrangements with our offices so that we can provide the proper space and equipment for your needs. And the rest is just the business stuff. This is a big deal." Wolfgang said, tapping the letter with this finger. "Not every circus gets to showcase at Brighton."
"When is it?" Christian asked.
"The first week in May." Wolfgang said. "The Brighton festival runs all summer, but the circus festival opens it."
"I've never been to England." Kurt said. "We've never played there before."
"Yeah, we'll have to ferry all the trucks across the channel. And I'll make arrangements for us to tour around Britain for a while since we'll be over there."
"I've never been on a boat either." Kurt said.
"This is great, you guys can work on your English." Christian said.
Both Kurt and Lars looked hurt. "My English is fine." Kurt said.
"Yeah. What's wrong with the way we speak English?" Lars asked.
"Well, your accents then. God forbid either of you should pronounce a 'W'." Christian said. Lars reached over and wrestled the squirt gun out of his hand only to discover it was empty.
For the first time Circus Gehlhaar toured through the winter. Les Chansons de la Foret had received critical acclaim all over Europe, enough that Wolfgang had amassed a small collection of reviews and press clippings. Though Circus Gehlhaar nearly always played to a packed house, their notoriety was more of a local phenomenon. Now they had the unique experience of reading about their performances and seeing pictures of their circus in newspapers. Most of the photos were of Nightcrawler though occasionally Petra or Lars found their way in to them as well. If all the publicity Kurt was getting made Margali nervous, she didn't say anything to anyone about it.
For the winter half of the tour the tents were stored and they played at indoor venues, another unique experience for Circus Gehlhaar. And so for nearly 10 months they stayed on the road, playing to audiences each night. They were tireless, fueled by the success that seemed to grow with each performance as well as the knowledge that it came not from any one of them, but all of them.
Time seemed accelerated and before anyone knew it, the winter was over. Leaves were returning to the trees and the days grew warmer. They had played in countries they had never been to and for audiences larger than they thought possible. Now they made their way toward the coast of France where they would cross the English Channel and play what would be the most important shows of Circus Gehlhaar's career.
