Ascension (29 page)

The trouble with this strategy was that the Ursaris were difficult to get in touch with. They had no telephone, and Martin
knew that if he were to win over Anna, he would first have to win over Salvo, and there was no point in sending him a letter; as far as Martin knew, Salvo might not even read English.

He was thus faced with a difficult choice. He could either stay in New York and work on somehow gaining the support of the other Respectables, who though scattered were much easier to raise through conventional means, or he could travel across the continent and speak with the Ursaris. If he failed to gain their support, or if their support did not sway the Respectables, there would be no time to try anything else. It was a huge gamble, but Martin had a little of his uncle in him, and he decided to risk it. He made arrangements to travel to British Columbia.

Salvo did not immediately recognize the well-dressed man who walked up his driveway. He knew the man looked familiar, but it took him a long time to realize that it was Martin Fisher-Fielding. He was not someone Salvo had ever expected to see at his farm.

Martin strode confidently up to Salvo, who was replacing the broken handle of a shovel. He extended his hand, and Salvo shook it.

“Welcome,” Salvo said, wondering why Martin was there but not knowing how to ask him.

“Thank you. This is beautiful country here.”

Salvo looked around, as if to verify what he had said. “Yes, it is.”

“I’ll get to the point, Mr. Ursari—”

“Salvo.”

“Yes. Salvo, I need your help.” He explained the situation to Salvo, who though not ignorant of Fisher-Fielding politics had no idea how precarious the balance of power was. When Martin was done pleading his case, Salvo spoke.

“I will help you. I do not know if Anna will go along, but I will try. Norris Fisher-Fielding is not someone Cole would have wanted running his circus.”

“Thank you.”

“But if this works, if the F-F becomes yours, then I will need you to help me.”

“Of course. Anything I can do.”

Salvo hesitated, aware of the implications of what he was about to say. “I want to return to the wire.”

“The Fisher-Fielding Extravaganza should never have let the Ursaris go. If I become president, the first thing I will do is reinstate your contract.”

“I will hold you to that, Mr. Fisher-Fielding.”

Martin nodded. Salvo was a reasonable man, he thought. Norris was a fool to have made an enemy of him.

“My wife is in the house. We will go and see what she says.” Salvo motioned to the house, and they walked up the path towards it. Before they entered, Salvo put his hand on Martin’s forearm. “It would be better if we did not mention the wire yet,” he said.

“Right,” Martin said, and they entered the house.

Anna listened to Martin’s pitch, her face betraying no expression. She had known that eventually someone would want to try and unseat Norris, but she had not thought it would be so soon. At any rate, her mind had been made up before Martin had even arrived.

“I have no love in my heart for Norris,” she said slowly. “I hope you can get the circus out of his hands. I’ll help you in any way I can, but …” She paused. Martin’s face dropped, knowing that there was more coming and that it would not be good. “But I will not go to New York to vote, and I won’t deal with the others. I want no part of these politics.”

Martin’s heart sank. He was defeated, he knew. Salvo sat silently in the corner, trying to think of something to say to Anna that might change her mind.

“Let me ask you,” Anna said, “how much do you think my share of the F-F is worth?”

Martin shrugged. “Right now, not very much. Perhaps thirty or forty thousand dollars, at best.” Salvo’s eyebrows raised. That sounded like a lot of money to him.

Anna nodded. “That seems about right. Here’s what I’ll do. You can have my share of the F-F, Martin.”

Martin frowned. “I’m afraid I can’t, Mrs. Ursari. You aren’t allowed to sell your share. That was one of the conditions of the original agreement. The shares of the Respectables—” He stopped at this, unsure whether Anna was familiar with the name given to her group, but she did not appear fazed—”these shares cannot be sold.”

“I know. But they can be given away. And I’m giving them to you.”

Martin blinked. “You are?”

“Yes. The Fisher-Fielding Extravaganza is a special thing. It’s where I met my husband, whom I love more than anything. We aren’t rich, but we don’t need money. Nor do we need to own part of something that’s not ours.”

Martin stood, his face beaming. “Thank you, Mrs. Ursari. Thank you.”

Anna took his hand, and she smiled. Salvo fetched his bottle of rye whisky and they drank a toast to Cole Fisher-Fielding, and another to seal their deal. After Martin left, hurrying to the nearest lawyer’s office to have the necessary papers drawn up, Salvo asked Anna why she had done it.

“Etel did not start the fire,” she said, “and it was wrong of Norris to say she did. My father would have voted against Norris,
and he would have got others to do the same. And,” she put her hand on Salvo’s cheek, “without the F-F, we would never have met.”

Salvo smiled, feeling guilty for deceiving her.

That night Anna lay in bed, wondering if she had made the right decision. She knew that a return to the wire would put an end to their way of life, and she hated to leave it, but she had known for some months now that there would be no other way.

She could even trace back to the date when she had realized that it would be nearly impossible to keep Salvo off the wire. It was 1950, their wedding anniversary, eight years since they had been hastily wed in the ring of the Fisher-Fielding Extravaganza, everybody in a hurry because they had just finished a matinee and there would be an evening performance in a couple of hours. She had not at the time of their marriage yet begun to hate the circus, and if asked at that moment she would have sworn she never would.

One of the first things Anna learned when she joined the F-F was that the circus meant different things to different people. Some of the performers were there because they were good at something that only the circus would pay them to do. Others were there because they had always been there, the children of performers or workers; they knew of no alternate way of life. Still others were there because that was all that was left for them, the circus being the only place that would give them a warm meal and a job. Some, like her, had come running from elsewhere.

When she met Salvo Ursari, Anna knew full well that he was the exact opposite of the kind of man her father wanted her to marry. And her father was pushing her to marry someone, anyone, of the sort that he approved. She knew it was only a matter of time until she found someone among that crowd whom she did not loathe, and that would be it. For her there would be a life of luxury, privilege and infinite, immaculate boredom. For her,
at age twenty-six, the sort of life promised her was barely better than death.

When she had looked up that day in the crowd, and she had seen Salvo nearly fall and then look straight to her, she knew two things: She knew that a life with this man would never be boring. And she knew that he needed her, like no one she had ever known needed her. When their gaze met his eyes spoke to her. Save me.

She had not at the time realized that this was exactly what would happen, that she would feel compelled to remove Salvo from the wire, to save his body as well as his spirit, but this is what she had done. And she hated him for it, for making her love him so much she would feel it necessary to keep him from the one place he was alive.

All during the time after the fire, and even in the months preceding it, she knew that she must get Salvo away from the wire. She believed that if he saw another side of life he would not need to walk, that he would grow used to a different life.

On the night of their last anniversary, Salvo gave Anna a framed photograph of herself on the wire. She remembered when the picture was taken but had not known that Salvo had a copy. It was after her first walk across the wire on her own. She was standing on the platform with a goofy grin plastered across her face, her arms raised in victory. Looking at the picture, she thought she looked like an idiot, and said as much.

“No,” Salvo said. “That is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”

Anna looked at him and saw that he meant it completely. A terrible twinge set off inside her. Slowly, over the next few days, she began to see what she had done. She was jealous of the wire, resentful of all the things that it gave Salvo that she could never
give. Apart of her had reasoned that if she could remove the wire from his life, then she would be the most important thing. A wave of guilt washed over her, but still she could not bring herself to speak to Salvo about it. So when Martin Fisher-Fielding showed up at their house, she knew immediately what she must do.

Lying awake that night, though, she began to second-guess herself. Had she romanticized the wire yet again? she wondered. Did she forget so easily what life with the F-F was like? She wondered until light began to come in the window, and would continue to wonder in the weeks to come.

W
HEN
N
ORRIS FOUND OUT WHAT
had occurred, he was furious. There was nothing he could do, however, and when he lost the vote for the presidency he refused to take a lesser position, much to Martin’s relief. The news of Martin’s victory was met by those in the Extravaganza with much pleasure. Martin was well respected as a man who was a capable manager and someone who understood the values that had made the F-F great. As the show ended its tour in the fall of 1957, people looked forward to the next year’s run with great anticipation.

The time had come for Salvo to take the next step towards returning to the wire. He was confident that his training had reinstated his skills, and he needed to assemble a troupe capable of pulling off the act he had envisioned. First, though, he required Anna’s approval. He waited until the children were in bed. They sat in front of the fireplace in the front room, Anna listening to the radio.

“I have something to tell you,” he said. He tried to appear calm, but he could hear the tension in his voice.

Anna nodded. “I was wondering when you would.”

Salvo was surprised. “What?”

“I’m not a fool,” she said, “and I go into the barn from time to time.” She turned her gaze onto him, her face cold.

Salvo said nothing, ashamed.

“You want to go back to the wire.”

“Yes.”

“This life isn’t enough for you? You have to have the crowds, the applause?” Anna’s voice rose, and her brow was furrowed.

“Our life is more than enough. For ten years I have loved our life. But without the wire, I cannot enjoy it.” It shocked Salvo to hear himself say such a thing, because he had not realized it before, and because he instantly knew it to be true.

“Then walk the wire in the barn.”

“It is not the same.”

“You have a family now, Salvo. What if you fall?”

“I will not fall.”

Anna looked him in the eyes. “If I say no, will you go anyway?”

Salvo considered this question. “No. If you say no, I will stay here and grow corn.”

Anna stood, moving to the window. “If we do this, there will be conditions.”

His shoulders slumped ever so slightly. “I understand.” Salvo tried to contain his excitement. He could not believe Anna was softening her position.

“I mean it. It will be done a certain way.” She tried to sound resolute, but she knew her resolve was already seriously weakened.

“Yes. It will be done right.”

“I pray to God I don’t regret this decision.”

“You will not.” Outside it began to rain, lightly at first, then heavily, the drops sounding like bells as they struck the roof’s metal gutters.

A
LL DAY LONG
E
TEL WAITED FOR
J
ÁNOS
, who was a few weeks past his thirteenth birthday, to come home from school. A letter had arrived, and Etel had opened it, surprised when Canadian money had tumbled out, a lot of money. But though she could speak English well enough, she could not read most of what the letter said. She recognized her brother’s name, though, and she could hardly sit still. When János got home he would read her the letter, which, while short, said much.

Late that night the door opened, and András, wilted, trudged through the doorway. He was working nights as a bouncer at a nightclub and days at the hot-dog stand, and he was exhausted. He was startled to see Etel sitting up. A multicoloured pile of money was arranged on the table, and a piece of paper was clutched in her hands.

“From Salvo,” she said, thrusting the paper towards him.

“What does it say?” he asked.

“He is going back to the wire.” A smile spread across her face.

“How?” András could not bring himself to believe her. Surely there was some misunderstanding.

“Norris Fisher-Fielding is gone, and the F-F has invited him back.”

“What is the money for?”

Etel’s smile lessened slightly. “He wants us to come to Canada.”

“Why?” András groped his way into a chair.

“He wants us to walk again.”

András paused. He had not thought he would ever return to the wire. “What do you think we should do?”

Etel’s green eyes shone. “I think we should go.”

András looked at the couch he slept on, the dingy apartment they lived in, and thought how in six hours he would have to be
back at work so that they could afford even this squalor. He thought of János in the next room, of the future the boy would likely have if they stayed in New York, and his decision was made. “Then we will go.”

They left the next day.