The Butterfly Tree by Woody Woodburn

Author:Woody Woodburn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction Sagas
Publisher: BarkingBoxer Press
Published: 2024-03-19T00:00:00+00:00

JAMES ROBINSON—The Unquestioned Greatest

Bare-Back Rider And Acrobat Who Has Ever Lived!

~~~

An Exhibition Peerless And Matchless Over All Others!

A Glittering Galaxy Of Artists Performing Dazzling Acts!

Sven “Braveheart” Eriksson’s Tremendous Menagerie Of Rare Wild Beasts!

The Greatest Show On Earth!!!

~~~

Remember The Name:

Robinson & Howe’s Champion Circus

Don’t Forget The Date: Saturday At Two O’Clock

Friday morning bright and early, a long string of eye-catching mustard-and-ketchup-red boxcars rumbled into the Bellaire train station.

The remainder of the day saw the tent, equipment, and Tremendous Menagerie Of Rare Wild Beasts! unloaded from the train and transported by horse-drawn wagons to the fairgrounds—coincidentally, a mere stone’s throw away, by a powerful arm, from the very spot Doc had delivered Jamis and Lem into the world.

On this day, Doc delivered the twins on site in time to watch the circus arrive.

Lem, especially, was mesmerized by the parade of animals—elephants, big cats, bears, zebras, horses, a rhinoceros and hippopotamus, camels, even alligators—that looked like Noah’s Ark disembarking. Jamis, meanwhile, was most captivated by the impressive railroad train. Doc’s favorite part, a crowning memory he would cherish into old age, was the glowing elation on Jamis and Lem’s faces.

No ticket was required for this pre-performance spectacle and so a good hundred townspeople, an equal mix of children and young-at-heart adults, turned out. While everyone else watched in awe as the muscle power of two elephants and a handful of horses, plus a dozen men including the circus’s Herculean Strong Man, erected the colossal canvas tent, Doc slyly ushered the twins away on a surreptitious quest.

Hidden from the crowd’s view by the rising tent, the traveling zoo encamped under nearby shade trees. Exceeding Doc’s hopes, he and the boys found the lion-tamer feeding his collection of big cats: three lions, two tigers, and one each panther and leopard, all in individual cages.

“You can’t be here,” the lion-tamer commanded.

“Don’t mean to bother you,” Doc said politely, extending a handshake. “I’m Dr. Jamison—everyone calls me Doc. I was just bringing my sons by to say hello to the tigers. This is Lem—and this is Jamis. I hope you don’t mind if they have a quick look-see before we all get outta your way.”

“Aw, you ain’t bothering me none,” the lion-tamer said, flashing a sudden smile so warm it threatened to melt the beeswax off his impressively curled handlebar mustache. “I’m Sven. Nice to meet y’all. The tigers are Pollux and Castor—named after the ancient Greek’s Gemini twins. I’m just feeding ’em a late lunch. You’re plenty welcome to watch—just make sure you keep them hands back from the cages. Don’t want you boys getting the nicknames One-Hand Lem and Nine-Fingers Jamis.”

Sven laughed at his own biting humor and then went back to feeding his feline troupe.

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