Hannah's Journey

“You use Belgians to do the heavy work,” Gunther noted, nodding toward a matched pair of large black horses dragging a ramp into place at the end of one flatcar.

“Belgians, Percherons, Clydesdales,” Levi replied. “They serve double duty as both work horses and performance animals. But the men will handle the actual work of taking the wagons off the flatcars.”

The four of them watched in silence as the work crew set a ramp in place at one end of the flatcar. Then a crew member took hold of the wagon’s tongue and carefully steered the wagon toward the ramp.

“This is where things get tricky,” Levi said. “If he loses control and the wagon starts to roll too quickly then we risk injuring a worker. So that man there—a ‘snubber’—will control the speed using that network of ropes and capstans.”

Hannah held her breath as the unwieldy wagon gained speed and threatened to topple over on its way down the ramp. Safely on the ground another member of the crew hitched it to the team of horses, climbed aboard and drove it across the lot. Then the process began all over again.

“It’s a lot of work,” Gunther observed.

“Especially when you realize that after tonight’s performance we’ll simply reverse the process and move on to the next town.”

“Are those the tents for housing the animals?” Hannah asked, recalling the notice for a stable boy that she and Caleb had seen on the grounds in Sarasota.

“Yes. Gunther, why don’t you and Pleasant go over there to the dining and cook tents and see if there’s any sign of the boy while Hannah and I check out the animal tents?”

Before Gunther could object, Levi had started off toward a large tent where Hannah could see horses and elephants stabled. Without a backward look she followed him.

While Levi spoke with the men working the area, she searched for Caleb. Methodically, she checked every stall and gently prodded every pile of hay that looked bulky enough for a boy to be hiding under with the toe of her shoe. Nothing.

She had searched the large open-aired tent from one end to the other and found no sign of her son. Now she stood at the entrance to the tent looking out across the circus grounds, wondering where he might be and praying that she had not made a mistake in guessing that he had left with the circus.

“Mrs. Goodloe?”

She turned at the sound of Levi’s call. He was walking toward her with another man. The sun was behind them, streaming in from the far end of the tent and both men were in silhouette, and yet there was something about Levi’s confident stride that made her know him at once. The other man was a stranger. She focused on Levi, willing him to break free of the shadows and give her the news she’d prayed to hear—that Caleb had been found.

Chapter Five

“Mrs. Hannah Goodloe, this is my accountant and business manager, Jake Jenkins.”

“Very pleased to make your acquaintance, ma’am,” the small wiry man gushed. He was dressed in a business suit and held a bowler hat that he kept tapping against his thigh in a nervous cadence. “I understand your son is missing?”

“Have you seen him?” Hannah was well aware that she had dispensed with the niceties of meeting someone new and gotten directly to the point. But all through the night and especially in the bright light of day, she had felt that time was of the essence. Either she would find Caleb today or…

“I may have.”

Hannah’s heart beat in quick time. “Where is he?”

“Now, ma’am, I said I might have seen the boy. There was a kid on the grounds in Sarasota yesterday morning as we were loading the last of the wagons. Most everyone was already on board but I saw him hanging around the livestock car.”

“Did he board the train, Mr. Jenkins?” Hannah thought that she might scream if the man insisted on stretching out his story any further.

“I’m not sure.”

“But back there you said…” Levi’s voice was tight, as if each word were an effort.

“I said I might have seen the kid, Levi. You know how it is. We get kids hanging around all the time—granted, usually not at that hour of the morning, but still…”

“Where did you last see him?” Hannah asked, suddenly unable to swallow around the lump of fear in her throat.

“I hollered at him to get going and he ran off toward the front of the train—up where the sleeping cars are. He could have just kept going or he could have boarded one of those cars.”

“Let’s go,” Levi said, taking Hannah’s elbow and ushering her past the dapper little man. “Maybe he’s still there—maybe he fell asleep and…”

“He could never sleep through all of this,” Hannah replied as she practically ran to keep up with his long strides. “Besides, he’s an early riser and…”

“Let’s just be sure.”

But after a thorough search of the sleeping, dining and stock cars there was no sign of Caleb. Levi even spoke to the local authorities to see if they might have spotted a boy obviously on his own in town.

“I’ve alerted the authorities in Sarasota,” Levi told the family when they had all returned to his private car where Hans had prepared lunch for them. “And Hans can arrange for your trip home. However, I’m afraid the earliest train is tomorrow.”

“It’s God’s will,” Pleasant murmured, and Hannah shivered at the very idea that God would be so cruel as to allow a boy to wander alone over yet a second night while his mother was miles away.

“Or man’s failure,” Levi added quietly. “I’ll question my business manager again, Hannah. Perhaps there’s some detail he forgot, something that might offer more information.”

“Thank you,” Hannah replied and stood up. “Please excuse me,” she murmured and did not wait for their permission.

Outside she wandered the circus lot, oblivious to the growing throng surrounding her as people gathered for the matinee performance. But as she found her way around the enormous tent away from the main entrance and the smaller side-show tents and ticket wagon, she began to consider her surroundings through the eyes of her son.

The dining tent was mostly empty now. Only a few of the waiters were left, lounging at one of the tables, cigarettes dangling from their lips as they took a well-deserved break. She followed the sounds of chatter and found herself in what Caleb had described to her as the “backyard” of the circus.

“See, Ma,” he’d explained excitedly, “it’s not so different from home if they have a backyard.”

Hannah watched as a parade of elaborately out fitted animals and performers lined up for their grand entrance into the tent. “The big top, Ma,” Caleb had corrected her when she referred to it as a tent on their tour. “Because it’s the biggest.”

“The big top,” she murmured as she trudged on. She had no idea where she was headed. She only knew that she had to find a quiet place where she could think. She had noticed a little creek near the tracks on their way in. Perhaps…

“Watch it, honey.” Hannah glanced up to find that she’d nearly run straight into a highly made-up woman wearing a skin-tight leotard, tights and a sheer flowing skirt covered in sequins.

Immediately, she averted her eyes. “So sorry,” she murmured. “Forgive me, please,” she added as she and the woman engaged in a kind of dance as one moved one way and the other moved in unison so that they were still blocking each other.

“Hey,” the woman said, “you’re the mother of that missing kid, aren’t you?”

The mention of Caleb took precedence over anything that might have proved embarrassing about being so close to a woman like this. She met the woman’s gaze and saw that beneath the layers of mascara and eye shadow, the woman had eyes that were kind and concerned.

“Yes,” she admitted.

“Thought so. Look, honey, you didn’t hear it from me but some of us were talking and we’re pretty sure we saw the kid. Blond hair, right? Looks like it’s been cut by using a bowl as a cap?”

Hannah nodded, unable to breathe for the rush of hope she didn’t want to allow herself to feel.

“Skinny kid but taller than most. White shirt, suspenders holding up high-water black pants?”

“What are high-water…”

“Too short for him,” the woman explained.