Stacy Carlson by Among the Wonderful: A Novel

Author:Among the Wonderful: A Novel [Novel, Among the Wonderful: A]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 1586421840
Publisher: Steerforth
Published: 2011-07-12T05:00:00+00:00

Thirty-five

As soon as I went looking for the children I found Beebe pacing in front of the theater doors. I had avoided him quite successfully since my hellish visit to Saint Paul’s Chapel, despite the fact that he’d left several reconciliatory gifts at my booth. The first was a small cake in a pink paper cup. When I saw it I thought an absentminded museum patron had left it on my counter and threw it away, but the next day, as I returned to my gallery, I saw Beebe scurrying away with his head down. Tucked behind the Giant’s Rings was a tiny yellow-green elephant carved from soapstone. I kept it because it reminded me of a creature I’d loved in Methuselah Jones’ menagerie. Since the elephant, he’d left a tin of peppermints and a tiny cut-glass bauble, but I hadn’t sought him out. When I saw him I felt a curious lurch in the gut; my rage over our botched liaison had cooled to a simmering annoyance over the fact that he apparently did not have the courage to face me again.

He froze mid-stride when he saw me, and then, astonishingly, he smiled shyly. “Miss Swift, do you hate me quite thoroughly?”

“I —”

“Wait! Do not answer! I’ve been so confused as to whether to leave you entirely alone or pursue a further explanation of my ill-received but, you must know, benignly spoken words that night. You made it clear you wanted nothing to do with me.” His voice became rather mournful.

“You lodged me firmly in a world of vice, Mr. Beebe. How was I supposed to interpret it?” I found my rebuke less sharp, less firmly believed, than expected. I suddenly saw quite clearly a fact that dried up my ill feeling: He cared for me. This knowledge hung in the air between us so palpably that I was left quite speechless.

“You misunderstood me,” he insisted.

“Perhaps,” I conceded. “We must all release our iron grip on our beliefs once in a while, mustn’t we?”

“Perhaps?” His face broadened. “Perhaps? Then you do not hate me?”

“How did you know elephants are my favorite animal?”

“I didn’t! I didn’t, Miss Swift.” He opened his palms as if this coincidence were God’s will. Certainly he believed it was.

“Well.” I could not help but return his smile. “Let’s not speak of it again, shall we?”

“Speak of what?” he cried. He lunged forward and took my hand with both of his. “I’m so glad you came to find me!”

“Actually, I didn’t.”

“Oh?”

“But I’m glad I did.”

“Yes.”

I told him about Miss Crawford’s party, and that I was curious about the number of children employed by the museum.

“Well, there are the albino twins, the General Tom Thumb, the four Martinettis. And these.” He pointed to the sign behind him. THE AZTEC CHILDREN. “So, eight.”

“Are the Aztec Children new? I haven’t heard of them before.”

“Yes, they’ve been here only a couple of weeks. They’re onstage right now. Straight from the heart of the South American jungle, ladies and gentlemen.” Beebe aped the master of ceremonies.

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