Kiss an Angel(40)

Alex’s boots thudded on the ramp. “Stop it, Daisy, and get out here.”

She swallowed hard against the constriction in her throat. “Go away.”

“You’re not going to survive here. Your stubbornness is only postponing the inevitable.”

“You’re probably right.” She lost the battle to hold back her tears. They spilled over onto her cheeks. She sniffed, but she didn’t stop working.

“The only thing you’re proving to me is how foolish you are.”

“I’m not trying to prove anything to you, and I really don’t want to talk any longer.” With a shuddering sob, she lifted another heavy pile and barely found the strength to haul it to the wheelbarrow.

“Are you crying?”

“Go away.”

He stepped inside and came around in front of her. “You are. You’re crying.”

Her voice quivered. “Excuse me, but you’re in my way.”

He reached for the shovel, but she snatched it away before he could touch it. A burst of anger-fueled adrenaline gave her the strength to shove the blade under another pile, scoop it up, and thrust it out at him. “Go away! I mean it, Alex! If you don’t leave me alone, you’re going to be wearing this.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

Her arms trembled and tears dripped from her chin onto her T-shirt, but she met his gaze without flinching. “You shouldn’t dare a person who doesn’t have anything left to lose.”

For a moment he did nothing. Then he slowly shook his head and backed away. “Have it your way, but you’re only making this harder on yourself.”

It took her two hours to clean the trailer. Maneuvering the heavy wheelbarrow down the ramp was the most difficult. On the first trip, it tipped, and she had to clean up the mess all over again. She’d cried the whole time, but she didn’t stop. Occasionally, she looked up and saw Alex pass by, his golden eyes watchful, but she ignored him. The pain in her arms and shoulders grew unbearable, but she gritted her teeth and somehow forced herself to go on.

When she had finished hosing down the interior, she stood in the doorway. The jeans and T-shirt Alex had bought her two days earlier were crusted with filth, as was every other part of her. Hair straggled around her face, and her fingernails were broken. She surveyed her work and tried to feel some sense of pride in her accomplishment, but all she felt was exhaustion.

She sagged against the truck’s loading door. From her vantage point at the top of the ramp, she could see the adult elephants chained near the road to advertise the circus to those driving by.

“Come on down here, Miz,” Digger said. “Day’s not over.”

She limped to the bottom of the ramp, keeping a wary eye on the young elephants milling untethered not ten yards away.

He gestured toward them. “The babies got to be watered. Use this bull hook to move ’em over to the trough.” He indicated a pole several feet long with a hook at the end, then walked over to the baby elephants, each of whom had to weigh close to a ton. With a combination of voice commands and light raps from the bull hook, he got them moving toward a galvanized tank filled with water. Daisy stayed as far away as possible, her heart pounding with fear.

He looked back at her. “You’re not gonna git the job done from way over there.”

She moved forward gingerly, telling herself that, despite their size, they were only babies. At least they weren’t nasty little dogs.

She watched as some of them used their mouths to sip directly from the trough while others sucked water partially up into their trunks, then carried their trunks to their mouths. Digger noticed the way she continued to hold back. “You ain’t afraid of ’em are you, Miz?

“Call me Daisy.”

“You cain’t never let any animal see you’re afraid.”

“That’s what people keep telling me.”

“You got to show ’em who’s boss. Show ’em you’re in charge.”

He slapped one animal, moving him to the side to make way for the others. From her vantage point in the bleachers, she’d found the babies cute with their floppy ears, long, curling lashes, and solemn expressions, but now they scared her to death.

She saw Neeco Martin over by the adult elephants—the bulls, she reminded herself, even though she’d been told they were all females. She winced as he gave one of them a strong whack with the bull hook. She might not be an animal lover, but something inside her twisted with revulsion. These elephants hadn’t chosen to be in a circus, and she didn’t think they should be brutalized because they didn’t follow the rules humans set for them, especially when those rules ran counter to the instincts of their species.

“I got to help Neeco git the elephant ride set up,” Digger said. “Take the babies back to the picket line. I’ll help you tether them in a few minutes.”

“Oh, no! No, I don’t think—”

“That one there’s Puddin’. That’s Tater. The one on the end is Pebbles and that there’s Bam Bam. We just call him Bam for short. Git on now, Pebbles. You mind yer manners.” He thrust the bull hook at Daisy and walked away.

Daisy gazed with dismay from the bull hook in her hand to the elephants. Bam opened his mouth, either to yawn or eat her, she wasn’t sure which, and she jumped back. Two of the elephants dipped their trunks back in the watering trough.