Chapter 6
The next time Mona awoke, the train had stopped. She was still in the small compartment, but she found her clothes, neatly pressed, hanging on a hook behind the door. She got up, found a small bathroom with a tiny shower in it behind the second door, quickly cleaned herself off in the shower, and, to her horror, as she soaped her legs, discovered a fine growth of downy hair on her legs. The hair on her arms was no longer like lint, but now more than a little visible. Shaving it would do no good. It would all grow back. She had to get away from this madhouse.
Stepping out of the small bathroom after drying off and fixing her hair, she quickly dressed, then noticed there was no one else on the train. This might be her chance to get away.
Stepping off the train, she realized she was right in the middle of the circus camp grounds. She would probably never have a better opportunity than right now.
Turning, she found herself face to face with a tall, stoop-shouldered man who was in his early sixties. He was bald on top, with lots of gray hair on the sides of his head. He had two shining gray eyes, a sharp beak of a nose, and a tight-lipped mouth. The moment he saw her he smiled at her. He was wearing gray-and-white, vertically striped pants, and a white shirt.
"Hi," he smiled. "I hear you're joining us."
"You look sane," Mona said to him.
"I should hope so," he nodded. "I'm the carnival barker, Sy Reskin. I wouldn't last too long at my job if I were insane."
His smile was toothy, perfect, and Mona wondered if his teeth were false or capped. They had to be one or the other.
"I don't belong here," she told him. "I have to get away. If you help me, I'll see to it you get a big reward."
"Oh?" he asked. "How big?"
Greed, she thought. It gets to them every time.
Aloud, she said, "Five thousand dollars."
"That's a lot of money," he admitted. "Even in these inflationary times. But it's not enough to risk the loss of my job, honey. You see, I like it here. My voice is strong even now. There's no reason in the world for me to ever lose it according to the doctors. So I'll probably be a carny right up to the day I die."
'Ten thousand," she said.'
"C'mon," he said, taking her arm.
"Where?" she wanted to know.
"We're gonna go over to my wagon, and there we can discuss this in privacy."
There was that hard glitter in the man's eye that told her that even at his age the urge for sex wasn't dead. It made Mona hesitate.
"I don't like being in a man's wagon alone," she told him looking around as the various other people were busy with their different jobs, finishing the putting up of the tents, making the animals comfortable, feeding them, getting the large circus tent prepared with all the wires and trapezes, and setting up the different games that would lure the suckers, as well as the rides, all of which were portable, and were being put back together again. The only thing missing was a roller coaster, since that definitely was not portable.
"Suit yourself," Sy shrugged, letting go of her.
"Wait!" Mona gasped, desperate. "I'll come!"