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The projector suddenly stopped whirring, which plunged the entire room into darkness. I started looking around myself for orientation when a faint glow appeared ahead of me. I wondered what caused it until the tent flap was pulled back and I saw it was a lantern. The stagehand, who held it, poked his head in.
“It’s time, Ms. Bindi,” he said.
I was nearly floored to find myself sitting on my cot in the tent once again. There was no sign that I’d gone anywhere, much less, the strange place I’d entered through the wardrobe. Nothing to show I was gone except the pair of gloves I now held in my hand.
My hesitance caught the stagehand off-guard, and he asked, “Youareready, aren’t you?”
“Oh, yes, yes, I am,” I replied, rising to my feet and pulling on my gloves. “I was just waiting for your call, actually.”
The stagehand nodded and gestured with his free hand. “Right this way, then...”
I had to fight the urge to run into the night and hide as I left the tent because I was all too aware that a great challenge awaited me this night and it couldn’t come too soon.
Chapter Fifteen
I could barely hear Laurent’s familiar patter from my covert location in the stands.
It wasn’t due to the poor amplification; his announcer voice rang out as loudly and clearly as usual. I imagined anyone could have heard him from a mile away. But for me, his voice was tantamount to the buzzing of an insect, an annoyance that I acknowledged but then dismissed, because his overpowering voice was insignificant compared to the thoughts running through my mind.
The bright spotlight did its job of lighting up the stage while leaving the rest of the big top in shadows. Even so, I vainly looked for my fellow troupe members, all of whom were hidden until it was time to perform their acts. I could only wonder how many of the other performers would rise up when the show concluded. Jiang’s guarded optimism hinted to the general reluctance to get involved. Any hesitation in loyalty could damage the odds of success, which left with me with two questions: whom could I trust outside my immediate circle? And how would I gather them together after tonight’s performance?
The faster rhythm in the band’s drumming made my anxious thoughts evaporate. I glanced up just in time to see the spotlight drifting from the center ring as it ‘searched’ the audience. Laurent, once more, exaggerated his actions while hunting for his ‘lost little bird’, I had to be ready for the big moment when he ‘found’ me.
Plastering a fake smile on my face when the light beam finally landed on me, I began to rise from my seat as the music ascended in a triumphant fanfare.
“Ah, I see our little bird, friends!” Laurent called out. “Poor little thing... she must be so tired from her long journey.” With a gesture that had been rehearsed innumerable times just this afternoon, he opened up the birdcage door and gestured towards it while saying, “Perhaps our little darling wants to come home and enjoy a well-deserved rest?”
While he spoke to the audience, I made my way to the stage. As always, the audience members who sat on the aisles stretched out their hands toward me. But I wasn’t concerned because my gloved hands would ensure that no one ended up marked. As expected, my slow arrival to the stage was due to the usual glut of well-wishers. My fake smile transformed into a genuine grin as every contact was followed by a single thought:one more survivor that defied the Reaper!
When I eventually reached the stage and walked over to Laurent, he took one glance at my gloves and I noticed his smile falter slightly. I tacitly challenged him with my gaze, daring him to comment on the gloves. He knew at once not to say a word, and his eyes turned from me back to the birdcage.
“Come now, my pretty bird, come inside and rest,” he said with overly exaggerated concern. “You shall have no rest outside these bars.”
Well, if that weren’t the truth!I thought as I began the slow process of pouring myself into the birdcage. As always, the audience was mesmerized as my body slid into the cage by inches. Halfway through, I could hear people’s comments, discussing how impossible it was for any human body to accomplish what I’d just managed. That only stoked my encouragement. I had to prove them wrong once again.
As I brought my entire body inside the confined space, Laurent closed the cage door behind me. Then I saw something that alarmed me, because it had no business anywhere near my act. A pale horse trotted around the edge of the stage, passing in front of the audience slowly. Yet, everyone seemed completely oblivious to its presence. Why hadn’t Laurent mentioned this part of the act to me?
While I wondered what to make of it, Laurent continued his ridiculous patter. “Oh, that position looks so uncomfortable! How can you sleep properly in such a compacted form?”
Did he not see the horse? I asked myself, completely befuddled as a sense of concern started to well up within me.Am I the only one who can see it? My questions passed through my mind as I slowly inverted myself inside the cage. Upon my completion of the process, the white horse once more came into view. This time, it was closer, only inches from the spotlight. It locked its eyes on mine and my heart began to race with fear. The horse looked as solid and real as the birdcage that confined me, yet no one else reacted to its mysterious presence. Was I seeing some sort of ghost?
It walked closer to Laurent, who looked at me with a practiced expression of dismay. “Oh, dear, dear, dear! You’re still wide awake.”
This was the new improvement designed by Laurent and hence, the part I was dreading the most. It definitely got easier to turn myself sideways after abundant rehearsals, but now I’d have to turn upside down. One advantage of being upsidedown, was supporting myself on my hands, which I planted beside my head. But being horizontal required the strength of my fingers and toes, which were required to stay aloft. As if that weren’t difficult enough, my next task was even harder: slowly climbing the cage bars like a ladder, horizontally. It required the maximum strength of less-used muscles and I knew I’d be hurting for hours to come. I feared it could be potentially disastrous on this night of all nights.
Ignoring my misgivings, I performed the trick just as smoothly as I’d rehearsed it. I distracted myself by chanting the movements in my head:fingers, knees, toes! Fingers, knees, toes!...Despite all my caution, my poor muscles protested and ached just as I’d expected. I kept telling myself to just finish the act and the pain would subside. That single thought kept me on task as I slowly performed my miracles.
I barely started my final stunt when fat beads of sweat dropped from my temples. Some of them rolled into my eyes, forcing me to squint. I had to temporarily halt the act. To my amazement, a thick, pink tongue suddenly licked my drenched forehead, and I opened my eyes wide in alarm. I would have recoiled in fear to see the white horse, but I didn’t have enough space. The horse then pulled back with a snorting sound and I began my gradual move, and the horse stayed nearby. The myriad questions that ran through my mind had to wait until I finished my performance.
I lowered myself to the cage bottom and grimaced at the pain, curling up so I could fit into it properly. The band used their instruments to notate every achievement I made in my effort. My muscles illustrated the notes with painful harmony but I forged on. Nothing could relieve them but my eventual release.
Laurent announced, “Ah, now that our poor, tired bird has had a little nap, do you think she’s rested enough to come out of her sanctum?”
The audience responded with a unanimous, “Yes!”
Laurent then said, “Yes, maybe it’s time we set her free.” That got an even more enthusiastic response in the affirmative. Laurent swung the cage door wide open, and I began my sluggish extrication. First to emerge was my top leg, which I happily stretched outside the cage, followed by my other leg. Then I maneuvered my hips and torso through the tiny cage door, following with my arms, shoulders and head. After pouring myself on the ground in an exhausted heap, the pain made every cell of my body hurt. My exhaustion was not exaggerated. Taking a deep breath, I stood up and spread my arms like a winged goddess for the crowd. The audience rose to its feet and cheered my accomplishment. My heartfelt smile could not be diminished as I soaked up their generous adulation. Once again, the thrill of living my lifelong dream as a circus star was all I could see or think about.
“Miss Bindi Bairam, ladies and gentlemen!” Laurent announced with a flourish. I bowed to Laurent, as well as the audience. I was so glad to know the potential victims I’d encountered would not be threatened now, thanks to the gloves. My act finally ended, I exited off the stage, knowing a pair of stagehands were already waiting for me.
