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Friday, July 16, 2010 

Hmmm. Sorry. When I posted Chapter One of the story yesterday I failed to post the Prologue that came before it. Found in on the disk this morning while looking for Chapter Two. Anyway. I'll paste it here.






Prologue

Gillian
Belfast -- 1974

Some things she never talked about and never would. She was six years old the first time her father took her to the circus. There were funambulists, and big cats, jugglers, and elegant ladies in spangled tights astride their ring horses. There were elephants, and acrobats, aerolists, and comely men in leotards swinging from the high trapeze. She remembered the smell of the sawdust spread about the smooth turf and the scent of the wet canvas near their seats in the stands in the very top row. There were sweet biscuits shaped like menagerie animals and balloons tied to look like wee dachshunds. There were chocolates, and nuts, and there was spun candy floss.
And joeys.
There were so many joeys. Clowns in every size and in every shape. Clowns on bicycles, and in tiny cars, clowns on motorbikes, and clowns on ladders. There were girl clowns with bosoms like soft feather pillows, and boy clowns in baggy pants that hung so low on their backsides even her father laughed at their polka dotted underwear. She liked the clowns the best, Gillian thought. They wore painted smiles and never made a human sound no matter how venally they were treated.
After the show they found a van selling fish and chips and went back to their boarding house in fine spirits. "Now we won't be tellin' your mother how I spent my extra fiver," her father told her as he tucked her into bed. "It'll be our secret. If you're a love we'll go again in 'Derry. Will you be my love?"
"I'll be your love, Da," the girl promised dreamily. "Our scheme."
"That's my Gillian," her father said stroking her hair as she drifted off. "We’re Travelers. Always good with the sly stuff."
Later there would be other circuses.
And other schemes as well.

About me

  • I'm B.E.Trumble
  • From Everywhere, United States
  • Ben Trumble works in circus, carnival, and media relations
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