Circus Wolf by Lynde Lakes

dropped down and removed the drape. Sure enough, Tigra was gone and another
tiger crouched inside the cage.
    To a burst of applause, Tigra appeared outside the
main cage. Suddenly handlers were herding the remaining tigers to their escape
door. Once they were gone, he dropped down, did a few somersaults, bowed, and
gestured toward Tigra who had just reentered the cage. Her flashing eyes and
thin lips told him he’d gone too far. She grabbed his hand in a pinching hold,
and, together, they bowed. He’d survived his second encounter with a tiger. But
if looks could kill, he probably wouldn’t survive his next encounter with
Tigra.
    ****
    Tigra paced her caravan fuming about Hugh’s antics
and her boss’s call. Coleman loved the performance. Well, she didn’t love it.
She glared at Hugh. “What possessed you to change the act? I’m the head of this
team. You’re the new-hire assistant. You put us in tremendous danger. Not to
mention the trauma you caused my tigers. Your clown costume and monkey antics
agitated them big time. Not to mention your bull-riding insanity.” She’d never
admit to him that he’d pulled it off like a pro. “Where the hell did you learn
to jump and climb like that? And ride a tiger like a
bull?” She rushed on without giving him a chance to answer. “Don’t you realize
you took a huge risk riding Stripes and hogtying him with that flimsy chain of
silk? Damn you. Stripes may never be the same again. For safety’s sake, he
might have to be retired. If that happens, I’ll…” She breathed in, trying to
calm down. She hated… hated her
complete loss of control. On the one hand, she was proud of Hugh. During the
whole escapade he had never shown fear. Even when Stripes
chased him around the cage. He did flips and climbed the cage bars. And
the crowd loved him. Damn him! She wanted the boss to fire him! But Coleman
wanted to keep him and incorporate thenew
act . Sure.Over Hugh’s dead body!
    Hugh met her gaze with forthright intensity. “I’m
sorry. I got caught up in the crowd mania. The laughter and applause was like a
drug. I wanted to do more and more to delight them and keep them laughing. It
was insane and I can’t believe now I took such risks. I won’t do it again. I
probably couldn’t do it again. But you were great! Thanks for backing me up.”
    “Backing you up? Let’s get this straight, Hugh. This
is my act and—”
    “Wait just a minute.” His voice deepened and his
tone took on an edge that surprised her, coming from this soft-spoken man. He
stepped close and drilled her with a glare as rigid as granite. “I did what was
necessary to avoid ending up like your last assistant. No one was there to save
me from mutilation and death but my own wits. Just like there was no one there
for Rolo.”
    Tigra’s breath caught as if he’d slapped her. How
cruel to bring Rolo and her failure to save him into this. With all that was in
her, she held back a rush of tears and fought to keep the quiver out of her
voice as she said, “Okay. I see your point. But—”
    “Dammit, Tigra, if you love your tigers as much as
you say, and I know you do, don’t you realize if Stripes had managed to get me
down, maul me, and kill me he would’ve had to be put down just like Candy?”
    Tigra opened her mouth to speak, but her throat
constricted.
    “Being your assistant is more dangerous than lying
down in front of a herd of trampling elephants. When you saw the trouble with
Stripes, since this is your act and if you are the boss of it, why did you
allow the backstage handlers to release more tigers into the cage?”
    “I didn’t. That wasn’t supposed to happen and all of
the crew denied opening the hatch.”
    He snickered. “Then, based on what happened to Rolo
and what happened today, I’d say I’m the least of your problems, Boss-lady. Or
were the slip ups today part of you and Coleman’s plan to keep the thrills
coming and the revenues flowing in?”
    She stared at him,