him!”
“Leave him alone,” whispered Hackenschmidt. He smiled through his pain. “It is what they were supposed to do, after all.”
He winced and groaned. There were cuts andbruises all across his face. The savage marks of boot soles and fists. A ring of bitter red around his throat.
“They'd have killed him,” said Wilfred. “We had to drag them off. Had to say if they killed him there'd be no cash. Swine.”
Nanty muttered strings of words:
“The last day, on the last of all days…”
Hackenschmidt reached out to Joe.
“Was easy for them in the end, boy. Easy to beat Hackenschmidt. Just wait for the day he says he's had enough, then get kicking.”
“Seven of them in the end,” said Wilfred. “Others at the fringes waiting to jump in. And the crowd baying and laughing. ‘Go for it!’ Even while they were going out, already fighting over how to split the thousand quid. Bloody swine.”
Charley put his arm around Joe's shoulder.
“Ah, Tomasso,” he whispered. “What are we come to, my Tomasso?”
Hackenschmidt licked the blood that trickled from his lips.
He smiled.
“Help me up, Joe.”
He stretched out his great hand. Joe took it, felt the great weight of Hackenschmidt as he raised himself painfully from the floor.
“Good lad,” whispered Hackenschmidt. “Aren't we lucky to have found a boy like you in a place like this?”
“It was meant to be,” said Corinna.
“Yes,” said Hackenschmidt. “Not luck. It was always meant to be.”
They all sat together on the sawdust floor beneath the twinkling candles, and they leaned close to Nanty Solo as she began to speak.
Fifteen
“In the deepest of the deep, in the darkest of the dark,” she said, “there lived a tiger. Ah, it was a thing of tale and rumor. An impossible thing of stripes and cruel cold eyes and great curved teeth and claws and a tongue that could lick flesh and skin from bone. It was longer than the length of a man and higher than the height of a boy. Such a creature, a creature of the foulest terror and the finest beauty, could surely not exist. It padded only through the tales brought back into this world by ancient travelers. It lived alongside their dragons, their sea monsters and unicorns. It prowled only in our dreams, only in the hidden corners of our minds. It roared deep inside our secret hearts. We did not expect to see this thing, even though we had come to love it, even though we were terrified by it. Paltry souls, we could not imagine the power of the earth and the air and the seas and the sun to bring such a creature into being.”
She smiled, and reached out to touch Joe and then Corinna, who sat on each side of her.
“Then, at an unknown time on an unknown day in the distant past, one of us stepped into the forest. Who was it? Someone who understood that what we imagined could also be something that we touched. Someone who understood that as we stepped into the forest we stepped into the unknown fringes of the mind. Someone like you, Corinna. Someone like you, Joe Maloney. As you walked, you began to smell it, the hot, sour breath, the stench of its pelt. You felt the animal wildness on your tongue, in your nostrils. The tiger moved toward you through the forest, as if it knew you, as if it was drawn to you. You heard its footpads at your side. You heard its long slow breath, the sighing in its lungs, the rattle in its throat. And then it stepped out from the forest and stood across your path. The cruel eyes stared into you. The hot tongue, harsh as sandpaper, licked your arm. The mouth opened, the curved teeth were poised to close on you. You couldn't move. You prepared to die… But you didn't die. You stood before the tiger and you didn't die….”
There was movement in the darkness of the performers' tunnel. Joe looked. Nothing. Then he saw the two clowns there, holding some great burden across their arms. Corinna touched Joe's forearm tenderly. Nanty touched his hand.
“We brought the
“Leave him alone,” whispered Hackenschmidt. He smiled through his pain. “It is what they were supposed to do, after all.”
He winced and groaned. There were cuts andbruises all across his face. The savage marks of boot soles and fists. A ring of bitter red around his throat.
“They'd have killed him,” said Wilfred. “We had to drag them off. Had to say if they killed him there'd be no cash. Swine.”
Nanty muttered strings of words:
“The last day, on the last of all days…”
Hackenschmidt reached out to Joe.
“Was easy for them in the end, boy. Easy to beat Hackenschmidt. Just wait for the day he says he's had enough, then get kicking.”
“Seven of them in the end,” said Wilfred. “Others at the fringes waiting to jump in. And the crowd baying and laughing. ‘Go for it!’ Even while they were going out, already fighting over how to split the thousand quid. Bloody swine.”
Charley put his arm around Joe's shoulder.
“Ah, Tomasso,” he whispered. “What are we come to, my Tomasso?”
Hackenschmidt licked the blood that trickled from his lips.
He smiled.
“Help me up, Joe.”
He stretched out his great hand. Joe took it, felt the great weight of Hackenschmidt as he raised himself painfully from the floor.
“Good lad,” whispered Hackenschmidt. “Aren't we lucky to have found a boy like you in a place like this?”
“It was meant to be,” said Corinna.
“Yes,” said Hackenschmidt. “Not luck. It was always meant to be.”
They all sat together on the sawdust floor beneath the twinkling candles, and they leaned close to Nanty Solo as she began to speak.
Fifteen
“In the deepest of the deep, in the darkest of the dark,” she said, “there lived a tiger. Ah, it was a thing of tale and rumor. An impossible thing of stripes and cruel cold eyes and great curved teeth and claws and a tongue that could lick flesh and skin from bone. It was longer than the length of a man and higher than the height of a boy. Such a creature, a creature of the foulest terror and the finest beauty, could surely not exist. It padded only through the tales brought back into this world by ancient travelers. It lived alongside their dragons, their sea monsters and unicorns. It prowled only in our dreams, only in the hidden corners of our minds. It roared deep inside our secret hearts. We did not expect to see this thing, even though we had come to love it, even though we were terrified by it. Paltry souls, we could not imagine the power of the earth and the air and the seas and the sun to bring such a creature into being.”
She smiled, and reached out to touch Joe and then Corinna, who sat on each side of her.
“Then, at an unknown time on an unknown day in the distant past, one of us stepped into the forest. Who was it? Someone who understood that what we imagined could also be something that we touched. Someone who understood that as we stepped into the forest we stepped into the unknown fringes of the mind. Someone like you, Corinna. Someone like you, Joe Maloney. As you walked, you began to smell it, the hot, sour breath, the stench of its pelt. You felt the animal wildness on your tongue, in your nostrils. The tiger moved toward you through the forest, as if it knew you, as if it was drawn to you. You heard its footpads at your side. You heard its long slow breath, the sighing in its lungs, the rattle in its throat. And then it stepped out from the forest and stood across your path. The cruel eyes stared into you. The hot tongue, harsh as sandpaper, licked your arm. The mouth opened, the curved teeth were poised to close on you. You couldn't move. You prepared to die… But you didn't die. You stood before the tiger and you didn't die….”
There was movement in the darkness of the performers' tunnel. Joe looked. Nothing. Then he saw the two clowns there, holding some great burden across their arms. Corinna touched Joe's forearm tenderly. Nanty touched his hand.
“We brought the
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