“Save your breath to cool your tea.” He moved on to the next stage, but Vivienne wasn’t interested in seeing any more curiosities.
She was rather sick with them now.
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “If the police cared, Cade would be out of a job. I’ve seen at least three police officers in the crowd.”
“He’s a frightened young man,” she insisted.
“Exactly.” He scowled. “He isn’t one of those street dogs you saved from starvation. His situation is more complicated than you can imagine, and what makes you think he isn’t happy to do this?”
“Captain, he can’t be happy. He’s suffering, and you’re a doctor?—”
“Leave me alone, Lady Vivienne.”
She meant to follow him, but she spotted Mother’s velvet hat coming through the crowd and heading towards her.
She hid behind a flap between two canvas walls and waited for the spectators to walk away. Footsteps thudded. She held her breath and kept an eye on the passageway through a narrow opening as Mother walked past without spotting her.
“Vivienne?” Mother called, craning her neck right and left. “Can you see her?”
“She must be in front of us,” Dobkins said. “Maybe she’s at the other end.”
More people walked past.
When there was a moment of calm before the next wave of people arrived, she came out of her hiding place and checked that no one was close before approaching the cage.
Her legs trembled, and her palms became clammy, but she wouldn’t do anything too dangerous. She only wanted to understand if Lion Boy wanted to be there.
Lion Boy sat with his head hanging over his chest, his shoulders shaking lightly. Tears streamed down his cheeks, leaving strips of clean skin under the dirt. Bruises covered his arms and legs. He looked exhausted.
“Can you understand me?” she said.
He raised his head, and once again, she was struck by his deep amber eyes. Eyes that showed too much pain. The pupils weren’t as dilated as before. Guessing his age was difficult, but ifshe looked past the dirt and the beard, she would say he was a couple of years older than she was, nineteen maybe.
“Do you understand me?”
He launched himself at the bars, grabbing them with both hands. She cried out, jumping back out of reach. She stared at him, her heart beating in her throat. He stared back through the curtains of his long, dirty hair. He stretched out an arm, inch by inch, towards her. His lips moved, but no sound came out.
“Do you understand me?” she asked again.
He nodded, withdrawing his arm.
She licked her dry lips and searched the passageway. No one was in sight for now. “Were you raised by lions?”
He shook his head.
“Can you talk?”
Another no.
Captain Jackson was right.
“Do you want to leave this place?” She stepped closer.
He nodded.
“You don’t want to be here.”
No.
