Sapphic Cowboi (7 page)

“
Hello Maggie” Cecil said to
her warmly holding out his hand to shake “have you settled in okay,
are the horses okay?”

“
I’m settling in, Perry
showed me around” she didn’t mention the horses because she hadn’t
had a chance to go back and see them.

“
Do you think you might be
up to showing them off tonight?” Cecil asked worriedly.

“
Wow, you don’t wait around
do you?” she asked surprised.

“
Well our elephants are sick
and we aren’t certain they can perform tonight, do you think you
can come up with something for tonight?”

“
I could run them through
our games” she began hesitatingly as she glanced between the three
men who were looking at her intently, one of which she hadn’t been
introduced to yet. “But the things you and I discussed I’m not
ready for yet…”

“
That’s fine, I’m sure that
will work out wonderfully, you just need to fill a fifteen to
twenty minute time slot.”

Maggie blinked at the idea; she had never
timed their playing together so she had no idea if she could ‘fill’
that much time.

“
She’ll have to wear
something else” the older man said dryly.

“
We have something we can
pretty her up with” Carlton said as they appraised her.

Cecil could see that the conversation about
her instead with her was making her uncomfortable. He didn’t want
his ‘country bumpkin’ to balk at their plans. “How about we give
her a tuxedo like the Ringmaster?”

“
Charlie won’t like that,
he’s used to running the show” Carlton put in as he looked at the
woman and imagined her in the garb that Cecil was suggesting. It
would be better than the dungarees and button down shirt she was
wearing now.

“
Charlie isn’t going to be
running these horses, she is” Cecil thumbed at her. “She hasn’t
seen the elephant, let’s ease her in gently.”

See the elephant? Maggie wasn’t thrilled to
be talked about and over in front of her and what did seeing the
elephant have to do with her performing in a tuxedo?

“
Well find her something in
time, we need to give them their monies worth!” the older man
barked.

“
I’ll take care of it” Cecil
assured him and taking Maggie by the elbow he escorted her out but
not without noticing that Carlton watched him speculatively as they
went. Mentally he rolled his eyes, just what he needed.

Maggie pulled her elbow from his grip outside
the tent “what was that about? I just got here, early I might add
considering you weren’t expecting me for a few days.”

Cecil sighed; she didn’t understand the
nature of show business. “Our elephant act, one of our biggest
draws may not be able to perform, we need something special,
something splashy, and as you are here, I hope you will take its
place.” He didn’t tell her she had no choice, if she didn’t perform
his father wouldn’t hesitate to tear up her contract. This was
business; this was big business for all of them involved. They
needed the money that each show could generate and without one of
their main attractions they would lose business.

“
Well I suppose I could run
them through their paces…” she mused. “I don’t want to wear one of
those frilly outfits though that we discussed!”

Cecil smiled delighted at her acquiescence;
she would get the hang of things. “I think the tuxedo idea a much
better one anyway” as he started walking with her towards her tent
and corral.

“
What’s this about me seeing
the elephants?” she asked him.

Cecil laughed delightedly. “Seeing the
elephant means you have seen everything there is to see, I was
pointing out to my brother and father that you were still new at
this.”

Maggie shook her head, there was a lot to
learn about this circus business and she didn’t know there would be
a whole new language involved. She laughed at the image of going to
see the poor ill elephants that she had thought she would have to
do. “What about the girl you were going to hire?” she asked.

“
Martha is…” he hesitated on
how to explain exactly. “Martha is a little under the weather” he
said as diplomatically as he could. How to explain to this
backwoods country bumpkin that his brother had gotten her drunk and
her hangover was so bad that she couldn’t get up this morning, much
less this afternoon, or evening, she was going to be a failure but
his brother had wanted her for the show and what Carlton wanted,
Carlton got.

The circus people were
amazing, not only did they come up with a costume for her to wear
but they made it fit well. Perry introduced her to some of the
performers who were accomplished seamstresses and they made it look
perfect for her. Maggie found herself wearing a suit, a tuxedo
suit, right down to the bow tie and top hat. She knew the horses
would think her dressed odd and she made sure she stood by the
corral so they could all smell her and see her and know that this
was
their
beloved
Maggie. They didn’t seem nervous at all, Maggie had butterflies
playing leap frog in her empty stomach.

“
You don’t want to eat
until
after
the
performance” Perry assured her.

Maggie didn’t want to eat, she didn’t want to
perform either, she thought perhaps if she had been able to see the
others and what they expected of her but Cecil had assured her,
play with the horses and the crowds would be happy.

“
It’s time” Cecil came to
tell her, “Which ones are you taking in the arena?”

“
Which ones?” she repeated
dully not sure she was ready for this.

“
Yes, which ones are going
in the arena, which ones are you leaving here?” he eyed the herd of
massive black beasts warily as they watched him with their intense
eyes in the fading night light.

“
Um, I’m not” she told
him.

“
You’re not what?” he asked
wondering if she was going to back out. This created a problem, a
big problem for them all if she didn’t perform.

“
I’m not leaving any of
them” she told him.

“
You’re taking ALL of them?”
he asked incredulously wondering if that perhaps was a bad idea.
That many horses and it was obvious none of them had halters or
halters on them at this point. It could create a problem if they
were out of control.

Maggie nodded not sure if this was a problem
or what he was getting at, she just wanted to get up on Sampson and
soothe her nerves. Wearing the tuxedo made her feel so
uncomfortable. She had told them it would get dirty with her horses
but they had laughed at her and assured her she would be fine.

Cecil wasn’t sure that was going to be a good
idea but he remembered her perfect control of the horses in the
paddock back in her farm yard. He hoped he hadn’t been wrong about
her. He nodded to show her that he had heard her as he watched her
duck under the fence, put the top hat on and approach one of the
black beasts who had crowded around her to snuffle at her. He heard
her talking to them and she soon leapt on one of them. He smiled as
he saw how proud she looked in the tuxedo. With her short hair and
feminine looks, the tuxedo had never looked that good before. He
was praying that this would work out for all of them. He waited for
her nod to open the gate wide.

Maggie rode Sampson as she had hundreds of
times before, probably thousands, the others thought they were
going on one of their trips and jostled for position in the herd,
the thunder of their hooves as they approached the massive tent was
heard even over the thunder of the voices of the spectators and it
lessened for a moment as those near the entrance quieted to hear
what that noise approaching was. Maggie stopped them with signals
and pressure to Sampson’s back, it was easier to feel him bareback
and the trousers she was wearing hid nothing of her muscle control
and his massive back. In the entranceway they stood waiting for a
signal, the ringmaster would announce them she had been told. She
looked over her herd and saw they were glistening in the light of
lanterns and torches, carefully lit to light up the arena but not
burn the tent down. She had spent a lot of time that day before
nightfall brushing and polishing them after their long journey; it
calmed both the horses and her, she had even blacked their hooves
using shoe polish after one of the performers pointed out how nice
it would look, it did look nice and they looked magnificent.

“
And tonight we have for you
a special treat!” she heard Charlie the ringmaster she had been
introduced to earlier. “Fresh from her European tour…” he must be
speaking about someone else Maggie thought and wondered if she
could see who it was, she had never met anyone who had been to
Europe. “Maggie O’Malley and her massive herd of spectacular
Mustangs!” he yelled into his megaphone.

Maggie was startled to hear her name called
or that her horses were Mustangs? They had mustang in them but they
weren’t mustangs and they certainly weren’t fresh from a European
tour! She realized though that the introduction had been her signal
to enter the arena, her hesitation for a moment created a break in
the rhythm of the show and while she would get flak about it from
her fellow performers later for the audience it created a sense of
expectation. She encouraged Sampson to go forward, she was
terrified and kicked him a little harder than she meant to and the
unfamiliar shoes had him sprinting forward, the others taking their
cue from Sampson and sensing Maggie’s nervousness acting up a
little. As a result a herd of stampeding horses entered the arena,
all without halters, constraints, or under any obvious control.
They ran around the arena as Maggie worked to get Sampson back
under control. Her distraction kept her from realizing the mass of
people watching the center ring as she managed to get them going in
a large oval.

No one really realized they were out of
control as she finally calmed Sampson and began to look up. The
lights on her were blinding and she looked back at her horses
realizing their unease at the unfamiliar crowds and probably acting
up from her own nervousness. Concentrating on her horses and
calming them down she didn’t realize what a show she was putting
on. Sampson calmed she switched to Ashes broad shoulders, petting
him and calming him down, she switched to Satan’s, then Ebony’s
backs, and on until she had ridden all twelve of her massive
beasts, on the last six though she had thought about the ‘show’ and
switched from hopping from back to back to jumping, even standing,
and leaping. The applause was deafening.

She brought them all to a
halt sitting once again on Sampson’s back where she quickly leapt
off and began to make signals to the horses, sending six this way,
six that way and playing with them as Cecil had seen the first day
he met her. Their rushing of the tuxedo clad woman had the audience
thrilled, it all looked so dangerous and the performance seemed so
real. Only Maggie knew how skittish the horses really were with all
the lights, the noise, and the people. She didn’t know how long she
was out there playing with her horses but she saw Charlie signal
her with a finger across his neck. She took that to mean to finish
up and she stopped all the horses and signaled them one by one to
their back legs until she had six on one side and six on the other
with their front hooves lashing dangerously close to her head. The
audience went wild in appreciation and Maggie leapt to Sampson’s
back as she headed out of the arena. She stood up and accepted
their applause, ducking down in time not to hit her head with its
top hat on the bar across the top of the entrance before sitting
down astride Sampson once more and galloping her herd back to their
paddock. They were breathing hard but she could tell they were a
lot more relaxed and had had fun in the familiar games they had
always played with
their
Maggie. She slid off after releasing Sampson to
the corral and smiled as he dipped his head as though to speak to
her.

“
That was fantastic!” a
little boy came up to hang over the fence. The horses weren’t done,
they were still worked up and one of the younger ones made a dash
at the boy in fun but to the little boy it didn’t look like a game,
he thought the horse was after him and screamed “arghhhhh!” before
scrambling down and backing away with other young boys who had
followed them from the tent backing away as well.

“
Schwartzie!” Maggie called
to the younger horse who heeded her instantly but swished his tail
showing he was still full of spit and vinegar.

Maggie wanted to take off the tuxedo but when
she saw how many people came to see the horses despite the dark she
realized she would have to stay and be congenial. It was part of
the show she figured as she answered questions.

“
No, they aren’t Arabians”
she answered.

“
Didn’t you hear, he said
they were Mustangs” the friend smacked the other on the side of the
shoulder in annoyance.

Maggie didn’t correct them. Technically they
weren’t Mustangs either.

“
Do you feed them anything
special?” a little girl with wonderment in her eyes watched the
horses who were finally settling down as far as they could get from
the noise of the people around them.

“
Grass, hay, and grain”
Maggie smiled at the little girl wondering if she had ever really
been that small or been as horse crazy.

The mother smiled as she tried to pull her
young daughter away but “no, no, I wanna see” was heard from the
admiring girl.