Pegasus: A Novel (19 page)

Once he had exercised Pegasus, Nick went to look for Christianna, and found her balancing
on a low wire that had already been rigged. He had ridden one of his Arabian horses
over to find her, and she looked happy to see him. She smiled the moment she did.
She was alone.

“Do you have time to rehearse with me?” he asked her, as she dropped off the wire
easily and hopped to the ground.

“Sure. I just finished.” They had put together a practice ring for the horses, and
Nick had already arranged for rehearsal time between two other acts.

“Come on,” he said with a warm look, and held out a hand to her. She took it, and
he lifted her easily onto the horse, sat her up in front of him, and cantered off
with his arms around her as he loosely held the reins. She was becoming more comfortable
with his horses, and they went back and got Pegasus and Athena and walked them to
the rehearsal ring. And once there, he led them through their liberty commands for
a few minutes to warm up as Christianna watched him. He had gotten even better with
them in the past five months,
although he knew he still wasn’t as good as Alex. And a few minutes later, he helped
her into Athena’s saddle, and they rode side by side on the Lipizzaners, taking them
through their paces. And as Christianna had commented earlier, it looked like a ballet.
She appeared more confident than she felt in the saddle, and Nick corrected her gently
and gave her pointers. And in the end, she stood on Athena’s steady back and rode
around the ring, as he pulled Pegasus aside and then joined her for their finale.
It was perfect, and her blue eyes were blazing when they stopped.

“How was it?” she asked him with a smile of pure pleasure. For a moment, it almost
reminded her of being on the wire. She had felt like she was flying. “It felt great!”

“You are fabulous!” he complimented her, and knowing that no one was watching, he
leaned over and kissed her, and they exchanged a warm smile. They looked like royalty
on his spectacular horses, and after rehearsal, he walked her to where her trailer
was parked. “See you later,” he said, and then went back to the boys, who were thrilled
to be in New York and wanted to go sightseeing the next day. Lucas insisted he wanted
to go to the Empire State Building, since he hadn’t gotten there after the boat. It
was going to be an exciting month, being in the city and performing at Madison Square
Garden. Christianna was as happy to be there as his children, although the Garden
wasn’t new to her. But this time she would be performing there with Nick, who was
her proverbial Prince Charming, and she felt like a fairy princess, riding the beautiful
Lipizzaners with him. And they both hoped that the audience in New York would be dazzled
by their new act.

Their opening-night performance in New York was almost flawless, and Nick was thrilled
with Christianna. She had added a new dimension to his act, and the audience responded
with thunderous applause. It just got better and better for the month they were there.
And they loved being in New York. Christianna went sightseeing several times with
Nick and his boys, whenever they had a day off. Lucas got them to go to the top of
the Empire State Building three times. And Nick invited her to go everywhere with
them. They even managed to go out to dinner alone a few times.

There was tension among many of the Eastern European performers when they first arrived
in New York, as Hitler had occupied Czechoslovakia in March, and many of them still
had relatives there. Gallina and her family were particularly worried and upset. There
was much talk about it and deep concern, which was still ongoing when the circus left
New York in early May, and headed to Boston.

Lucas and even Toby were sad to leave New York. After Boston, they went south to Connecticut,
then to Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia for two or three days in each city.
It was a grueling
schedule after weeks in one place in New York, which they all loved. After New York,
the roustabouts had to set up the circus and tear it down every few days. They were
used to it, but it was an incredible amount of work.

After Philadelphia, they went to rural Pennsylvania, and then New Jersey, Ohio, Kentucky,
Michigan, Wisconsin. They were literally all over the map. They made their way west
in August, north into Canada for a week, and then dropped down to Washington and Oregon
at the end of the month.

They were in Eugene, Oregon, on September 1 when Germany invaded Poland, which panicked
everyone in the circus. They had just gotten to Redding, California, when England,
France, Australia, and New Zealand declared war on Germany on September 3, and the
entire world was stunned. Europe was at war.

Despite the terrible news and his concern for his father, Nick was excited to be in
California, and had looked forward to it for the entire trip. Nick had felt a pull
toward California ever since he had come to the States. They went to San Francisco
for two days, which Nick and his boys found thrilling as they walked along the Embarcadero
and looked at the big ships, and admired the Golden Gate Bridge, which had recently
been finished, and another bridge that spanned the east side of the bay. The views
of the city were beautiful from all sides. And then they went to Los Angeles and San
Diego, and back up to Santa Barbara, where they were given two days off. It was the
opportunity for Christianna and Nick to spend time together. Nick and Christianna
had been hoping for it for months.

Nick had no idea how she pulled it off, but Christianna told her father, brothers,
and aunt that she was going back to Los Angeles for the night with three of the Ukrainian
female gymnasts. They had friends in the San Fernando Valley, and they had actually
invited her
to come along. And she asked them to cover for her instead. They were happy to help,
and two of them suspected the reason, but didn’t know with whom.

Nick asked Gallina to keep an eye on Toby and Lucas, and he borrowed a car. Pierre
the French clown had said he could get him one, and Nick burst out laughing when he
saw what it was. It was the yellow “taxi” that the clowns used during the intermission
as part of their act, with the familiar logo on it that said “The Greatest Show on
Earth.” Nick was waiting in it for Christianna when she came running in a white dress
and proper shoes, carrying a small bag, and she laughed, too, when she saw the car
Nick had gotten for their two days away. They had been planning this for ages. And
she was laughing and smiling as she got in beside him. The car had no backseat so
it could accommodate more bodies when the clowns piled in on top of each other, so
they could spill out in the center ring and make the audience laugh. It was a far
cry from Nick’s blue Bugatti or his father’s Duesenberg, and all he could do was laugh
as he kissed Christianna and drove away. They had actually managed to escape. He took
her to the Santa Ynez Valley, which he had been told was beautiful horse country,
and he wanted to see it with her. It was a two-hour drive from Santa Barbara, and
the countryside was beautiful as they drove along in the ridiculous car.

“Well, no one will have any doubts about where we come from,” he said as they parked
outside a restaurant for lunch, and he followed her inside. They had hamburgers, and
afterward drove the rest of the way. Once they were in the valley, they saw a small
hotel that looked like a Swiss chalet. Nick went inside and rented a room, and then
they went upstairs. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, the weather was warm,
and the room was cozy with a big four-poster bed, and the moment he closed the door
behind them, Nick
took her into his arms and felt the sheer joy of just holding her and being alone.
He had been desperate to share this moment with her for so long, and so had she with
him.

“I can’t believe we did it and we’re finally together,” he said as he breathed in
the clean smell of her hair, and then kissed her neck. They hadn’t had a day and night
off in months, and she was constantly surrounded by her family and could hardly ever
get away. The time they shared was always too brief and infinitely precious, and now
finally they had two whole nights away to do whatever they wanted. It was a luxury
and a gift beyond belief, and they intended to spend it well, discovering each other
and the ecstasy of being together alone at last.

Christianna was so overwhelmed for a moment when they got to their room, that she
didn’t know what to say, as he slowly undressed her, and gently put her in the big
comfortable bed. He slipped in beside her an instant later, turning his back to her
at first as he slipped off the rest of his clothes. He didn’t want to frighten her,
he knew she was a virgin, but she held her arms out to him as though it were their
wedding night, and for them it was. They had waited six months for this, and he wanted
it to be perfect. He took her as gently as he could and made love to her with all
the passion he had felt for her since the day they met. He had never loved anyone
as he did her.

She lay in his arms afterward, with a peaceful look, and she smiled at him with her
enormous blue eyes.

“I belong to you now, Nick,” she whispered.

“And I to you … I love you so much.” He wanted her to promise that she would never
do the high-wire act again. He didn’t want to lose her or have anything bad happen
to her. But he knew he had no
right to ask her to give it up, at least not yet, but he hoped that one day he would.
He wanted her far away from all the dangers in her life, and wanted to keep her safe.

He looked at her then with everything he felt for her and kissed her, and then made
love to her again, and this time it was even better for her. He taught her all the
wonders of their bodies, and reveled in the beauty and joys of hers.

They stayed in bed until the sun was almost setting, and then they showered together
and dressed. She was totally at ease standing naked before him, and he couldn’t believe
how perfect she was. Every inch of her was in proportion and delicately carved. She
was like a statue of a beautiful young woman, and all he wanted to do was gaze at
her in awe. It was hard to force himself to get dressed, but he wanted to go out walking
with her and look around the town. And after they did, they drove out into the countryside,
wending their way around the Santa Ynez mountains, and he stopped when he got to a
bluff. They got out of the car, and stood looking at the sun, which was setting over
the mountains by then, and he knew he wanted to come back here with her one day.

She slipped her hand quietly into his, and leaned her head against his shoulder as
they stood looking down at the valley, and he spoke as though in a dream.

“I want a horse ranch here one day, where I can breed Lipizzaners.” He turned to her
then with a serious expression. “I don’t know how we’ll do it yet, but I want to do
that with you.” It was as close as he had come to a proposal so far, and she gazed
at him wistfully.

“I can’t leave the circus, Nick. You know that.” She was always honest with him.

“We will one day. I want a better life for my boys, and you and our
children, than I can give you there. I don’t want you on the high wire for the rest
of your life,” or at all, he almost said. “We’ll know when it’s the right time, Christianna.
I can’t afford it yet anyway. But I hope that one day I will, and I want you to come
with me. I know this is the place. I knew it the minute I heard about it.” It was
the first thing he’d seen that made up for the country he had lost. He could easily
imagine a life here one day, with her. And he wouldn’t leave the circus until she
was ready to go with him. He felt like he’d come home as he looked out over the valley
from their vantage point, and he put an arm around her just as the sun disappeared
behind the hills, and then he kissed her, and they got in the car and went back toward
their hotel.

He took her out to dinner that night at an Italian restaurant. They laughed and talked,
and she told him about growing up in the circus and wanting to be a clown, which made
him laugh.

“You would have made a beautiful clown.” He chuckled. “I’m afraid that’s what Lucas
wants to be now too. Toby says he wants to be a vet, for horses, which isn’t a bad
idea. We could use a vet if we’re going to have a ranch one day.” He spoke of it as
though it were a reality, and she looked at him with worried eyes.

“You’re serious about that, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am.” She could see that he was.

“What if I can’t go with you?” she asked in a sad whisper that touched his heart.

“Then I’ll have to kidnap you. I know it will be the right thing for us,” he said
quietly, but she couldn’t imagine leaving everything she knew.

“I’ve never been anywhere but the circus. I don’t know any other life.” Her eyes were
huge as she said it to him, and he could see that
she was scared. He reached across the table and took her delicate hand in his own.

“I want to share my life with you, Christianna. I can’t give you the life I left behind
in Germany, but I think I can give you a good one here one day, when we’re both ready.
A happy life for us and our children.” It was the second time he had referred to their
children that day, and she smiled as he said it.

“It’s what I want too,” she said softly. “I just don’t know how to get there.” Her
family would be a major obstacle to overcome. They would fight her every inch of the
way if she tried to leave with him, and he knew that too.

“We’ll find a way. Together. I’m here with you.” She nodded, and he lifted her fingers
to his lips and kissed them. “Don’t worry. It will be fine.”

“I hope that’s true.” She wanted a life together as much as he did, but she couldn’t
imagine it away from the circus, and he could.

“It is true,” he said quietly. And then he paid for their dinner, and they left the
restaurant and went back to their hotel and made love again. It was the most perfect
night of her life, and when she woke next to him in the morning, he was smiling at
her. He had been watching her for hours as she slept peacefully.