Adeline narrowed her eyes a bit in confusion. She had been approached for private performances before, and she had certainly been hailed from cars with all manner of intent, but she had never been in a situation quite like this one. Her banner had been posted less than an hour ago. What sort of town was this? She turned away from Jimmy and headed down the gradual slope of the butcher shop parking lot. Drawing her cardigan in close around her, she crossed her arms under her chest, tucking her hands protectively under her arms.
The driver of the car was elegantly coiffed and impeccably styled, and Adeline wondered how on earth she herself could possibly appeal to someone with such apparent wealth and privilege. Adeline didn't mind being gawked at in context, as part of a troupe of willing performers, but she hesitated whenever she was targeted personally, always questioning why. Maximus, for certain, was a tremendous draw, but this woman certainly seemed affluent enough to be in a position to travel with her child to one of Florida's many zoos to view their entire menagerie up close, not just one big cat. Adeline bent her knees and leaned over a bit, in order to be able to see the woman in the Rolls Royce more clearly.
"Hi," Adeline said. "How might I be of help?"
"You're the girl on the banner, are you not?" the woman asked. Adeline was not at all surprised by her flighty, affected way of speaking.
"Yes. I'm Adeline. I'm…the Swan Girl."
Gloria was tremendously pleased. The girl was even lovelier in person than she was on her banner, and well mannered...for any young lady, not just a carny. Earlier that afternoon she had brought the clown home for Dandy to play with. Shortly after Dandy had gone into the playroom, she had seen the strange fellow hustling down the drive away from the house from the vantage point at her sitting room window, where she had been relaxing before departing for her card game. Before leaving, she had gone to check on Dandy, assuming he had simply become bored with the clown and dismissed him as he had with so many other playmates, but he had been nowhere to be found. Not wishing to keep her friends waiting, and therefore without time to go searching for him, she had driven off, worried but unable to help the situation at the time. Now she hoped to rectify the situation and cheer Dandy up with a second effort towards securing entertainment for him, and she had reason to believe she would have more luck with an apparently experienced performer associated with the freak show…regardless of how regrettable their previous experiences with the outfit had been.
"I'd like to engage your services for a private performance, dear!" Gloria said, an intentional whimsical lightness to her tone.
"My son has been rather melancholy lately and I'm sure he would be delighted to have some entertainment. I would pay you handsomely, of course."
Ordinarily, programmed to promote her troupe and not herself, Adeline would have suggested that the woman and her child attend the show, but due to the curfew that was currently on, she couldn't rightly do that. She had overheard Jimmy and Eve, while they hung her banner, discussing the possibility the strongman had proposed of a run of matinees in the interim, until the curfew was lifted, but with no concrete information to give the woman, she was not comfortable making such a recommendation.
Instead, Adeline smiled pleasantly.
"Well, I have done private performances before, but I am in a rather precarious position."
She watched the woman's face fall, but she continued, not wanting to discourage the possibility entirely. With the curfew on, and the date when performances would resume not established, feeding Maximus could be a challenge without the income that would accompany regular engagements.
"I just signed my contract, which forbids me from performing at other venues, or with other outfits, so I would have to clear with Fraulein Elsa beforehand…" She watched the barely veiled condescending face the woman made when Adeline mentioned Ms. Mars' name, and made note of it. "…but I'd be happy to check with her. The circumstances may be different if the audience is limited and admittance closed."
"I would appreciate it if you would, dear." Gloria replied. "Let me give you my calling card….it has my telephone number….."
She reached over to the seat beside her and began to rummage in her purse. Adeline thought to impress upon her the challenges of transporting Maximus, should Elsa agree to the arrangement, which Adeline suspected she might, once she proactively offered to give Elsa a cut of whatever she might make from the performance.
"I should tell you…. Mam…Maximus can be a challenge to transport…logistically, I mean. He's quite well mannered, though you may prefer an outdoor performance…I can't guarantee his claws won't scratch your floors." Adeline laughed lightheartedly.
"Maximus?" The woman asked.
"My lion." Adeline said. She understood the woman's confusion, seeing as Max was billed only as "The King of the Jungle" on their poster.
"Oh, the lion won't be necessary, dear. He's seen them on safari…now, this is my telephone number…" she held the card, which she had taken out of an ornately decorated gold card case, out to Adeline, pointing with a gloved finger at the exchange on the back.
"You may phone me at home any time, dear."
Adeline sensed an unsettling feeling come over her. She watched the woman ogling her right hand as she reached out for the calling card, taking note of the heavy weight of the cardstock and raised gold lettering on the fine linen paper. Certainly lions on safari weren't tame, or able to be viewed from the same proximity as Max. Maximus provided entertainment but also education, being an observable creature who was at the same time not dangerous. What little boy wouldn't be interested in seeing a lion from only a few feet away, especially if he were the guest of honor and the performance was entirely for him? Little boys were usually the most engaged members of Max's audience, delighting in his impressive leaps and resounding roars.
"How old is your son, Mrs. Mott?" Adeline asked, reading her name off the card.
The woman sighed, with a bit of a forlorn tremor to her voice when she replied "Twenty Eight."
Gloria watched Adeline's face intently. She noticed the brief change in the girl's expression, despite how quickly the girl attempted to compensate by neutralizing her features.
"I'll pay you fifteen hundred dollars!" Gloria added, shrilly.
Adeline was processing what she had heard. She had been envisioning a boy of no more than thirteen, whose primary interest would be in Maximus and his impressive physicality, and in Adeline's deformity as a secondary curiosity. Now it seemed that she was the entire focus of Mrs. Mott's solicitation, and she was trying to think of how to tell her what she needed to before the process went any further, uncertain of how to do so in an inoffensive fashion, in case the woman wasn't seeking her services for something offensive. Her suspicion that she was, however, was heightened by the exorbitant fee Adeline had just been offered. Adeline could use carny terminology to communicate quite plainly, but she was absolutely certain that the woman wouldn't understand if she told her that hers was not a kootch show, and that there would be absolutely no blow off of any kind, or any other services rendered to her adult son. Sensing her distress, Gloria asked
"What is it, dear?"
Adeline sighed "I'm…I just want to be certain that you understand my show is not…it's just a circus act. I provide no other….services."
"Of course not!" Mrs. Mott reassured her. "Dandy is a perfect gentleman."
All right, Adeline thought, just looking, then. She supposed that wasn't so terrible. She smiled at the woman to reassure her.
"I'll speak to Elsa and I will call as soon as I have done so. I have my Pitch Cards with me, if you'd like one…"
She gestured back towards the truck to suggest she could go and get one.
Gloria nodded emphatically, though she had no idea exactly what a Pitch Card was.
"Just a moment, I'll be right back," Adeline said. She hurried back up the hill and Gloria watched her go, thinking Dandy couldn't help but be pleased by the girl. Her hands were quite the deformity, and she imagined it would matter little what the girl did in her performance routine as long as Dandy could admire her abnormality, as he had with those rather disagreeable twins. This young lady was quite pleasant and well spoken, and could certainly make up for whatever debacle had occurred with the clown.
Adeline reached the passenger's seat, Jimmy still sitting there with the window open and the ice pressed to his face. It had not been lost on her when she hustled back up to her pickup that her side mirror had been adjusted and Jimmy's face was clearly visible in its reflection, indicating that he had been watching the entire exchange. She pointed to the glove box.
"Could you reach in there for me?" She asked.
"Yeah….what's she want?" He opened the glove box and several sets of playing card sized stacks, neatly held together with rubber bands, slid down onto the glove box door.
"We'll see…" Adeline said, distracted.
He picked one up, turning the stack over. The photo on it featured five lions posing at varied heights, a tall man in a ringmaster's costume in the center, and two women flanking him in fabulous costumes with feathered trains, showing off their webbed hands. He recognized the one on the left quite clearly as Adeline. The caption read "The Magnificent Vestergaards | Benzini Bros. Carnival."
Embarrassed, Adeline shook her head.
"Oh…not that one. Here…."
She leaned forward and reached for another stack. Not quite able to reach it, Jimmy pinched it between two of his digits for her and lifted it up where she could grasp it. She pulled a card from the stack and tossed it absentmindedly towards the glove box, not wishing to keep the woman waiting. As he collected it for her with the hand not holding his ice, Jimmy paused to look at the photograph. Adeline was pictured in costume, apparently seated, leaning against Max, her hands crossed over her chest the way they were in her banner. Max's face was visible beside hers, his large neck craned so he could face sideways, his blazing gold eyes boring into the camera. The white feather fascinator in Adeline's hair intermingled with his voluminous mane. Jimmy noticed this card simply read "Adeline, The Swan Girl | Maximus, The King of the Jungle," but the close up portrait of Adeline was beautiful, her face tipped slightly upward, her eyes cast to the sky, hands plainly visible. Peeking into the mirror, Jimmy hurried, putting the ice and the towel down on his lap for a moment, hastily pulling another card from the banded stack, which he stuffed in the pocket of his shirt, thankful that the pocket was deep enough that Adeline wouldn't likely see it hidden there. Then he re-arranged the cards and shut the glove box, placing the ice onto his cheek once again, turning his attention back to what was happening in the mirror. He watched Adeline's ample behind as she leaned over to hand the woman the card she had taken with her, and Jimmy felt a surge of frustration and hatred for the rich boy who would probably be doing God knows what with that card once his mother brought it home.
Adeline handed Gloria the card.
"Oh! What a lovely photograph!" Gloria said.
Adeline smiled. "Thank you. I'll phone as soon as I speak to Elsa," she re-iterated.
"Thank you, dear," Gloria replied. She was pleased with the girl's manners.
Adeline backed up back to the curb, and Gloria put her car in gear.
"Ta-ta!" Gloria called, and Adeline waved briefly.
Adeline hurried back up to the truck, Gloria's card tucked into the pocket of her jeans. She jumped in the driver's seat, closing the door, and just sat for a moment. Then she turned to Jimmy.
"I think I was just propositioned by a society matron."
The name "Benzini Brothers Carnival" is an homage to a famous literary circus.