Post by Lona Bailey on Sept 3, 2018 9:32:53 GMT -8
“That wouldn’t be a tangle I see now would it?” Milburn teased eyeing the reel in Amanda’s hand.
“Certainly not! A skilled fisher woman knows better than to get a tangle in her line. I was simply straightening the catch is all” Amanda defended.
“Well as much bragging as I’ve heard from you all afternoon about the whales you’ve caught, I should hope there’s no tangle,” Milburn said with a nod and a swipe at his mustache.
“Caught and released Milburn,caught and released,” Amanda assured.
“Ah yes, always the humanitarian A. Tell me, how’d you get into that cause anyhow? You lose a bet or something?” He asked swatting a gnat back toward the pond away from his forehead.
“Are you just making conversation until the fish start to bite or do you really want to know?” She asked cranking the reel in position.
“No, no, I’d, I’d really like to hear about it. It’s a noble cause Amanda, but it’s not for everyone. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the whole on how you uh, managed to take on this crusade to save the wild as it were.” He explained.
“It may be a long story.” She confessed.
“I don’t like to hear any other kind from you.” He said with a nod.
Amanda paused with a smile and looked out over the pond in front of them with their lines waiting patiently in the water being tossed a little by the breeze occasionally.
“Well, I’ve always loved animals of course, growing up with a few pets, dogs, a cat or two, horses, and maybe even a goldfish,
but I never had reason to consider their experience really, or how we as humans have the power to impact their world so greatly either for good or not so good- never really thought about it- until Relco that is. Relco Fikes Wonders was the name of a large circus that came to Buffalo once a year when I was young. Mother and father took me for the first time when I was about 10 I think. Something happened that night that changed the way I saw, well everything.”
Milburn turned toward her more on the bank and angled his fishing pole across his lap as her tone softened the way it did only sometimes if the conversation took a serious turn away from their usual banter and laughs.
“The circus itself was glorious of course to a girl of 10. I must have been on the edge of my seat through out the entire performance. What wasn’t to love? Animals of all kinds doing tricks, trapeze people, lights, music, the command of the ringmaster. It was all a beautiful blur and I was charged afterward from the excitement well, and the cotton candy. There were all kinds of vendors and exhibits on either side of the entrance to the tent with salesmen shouting over one another. They had elaborate spreads of food and trinkets and displays from all over the world. They even had a skeleton of a real mermaid you could see” Amanda said with an assuring nod. And for only a nickel, Madam Fikes could see into your future just by studying one strand of your hair” Amanda said in a dramatic voice narrowing her eyebrows at Milburn.
“Yes, it was all very fascinating until a particularly loud kitchen wares salesman caught the attention of my mother and father. Kitchen wares certainly didn’t interest a free spirit like me at that age or really any age I suppose,” She laughed.
“But I remember stepping up to the big red curtain of the tent and fiddling with the waves in it while they were listening to the vendor. One wave I found wasn’t a wave at all, but an opening. I pulled it back as any curious 10 year old would and I saw cage after cage after cage with all the animals I had just seen in the ring who seemed so bright and so lively just minutes before. They all seemed deflated somehow and stuffy in those cages. Even at 10 I could tell they weren’t living in ideal conditions. I walked closer to the first cage and saw the three Black bears I had seen do so many tricks in the show: a Mama and a Daddy Bear and a baby, but the baby was separated by a wire divider. The mama bear sat with her outstretched paw on her baby through the wire. It was the saddest thing I’d ever seen in my whole life! I imagined how sad that bear cub must have felt not being able to be with his parents, just like I would if I couldn’t get to mine. I immediately ran back through the curtain and told my father what I had seen. Oh he tried to comfort me and tell me all sorts of reasons why it wasn’t as bad as what I had seen in just that instant. He said maybe the baby was sick and they were trying to keep it quarantined from the others so they didn’t get sick too, or maybe he was prone to bad behavior and they kept him in there for the protection of the others. But I knew better. I knew that whatever the reason, that cub would be better off with his mother and father. Even if he was sick, I knew when I didnt feel well I always felt better with my mother and I was just sure he would too. I was made to stand through the rest of the kitchenwares demonstration, but I couldn’t stop thinking of what I had seen. I felt I had to help that cub get to his mother somehow. If I didn’t who would? I told mother and father I’d wanted to go back and take one more look at the island mysteries exhibit across the corridor while they finished up. I started off in the direction of the booth, but quickly inched back over to where I found the opening like before. I wondered if this time maybe the keeper would listen to reason. I looked around for him, hoping he would either explain or change his mind on where the cub should stay. I spotted him and his tangle of keys an aisle over from the bear cage. I ran up and I tugged on his shirt tail and asked why they were separated.”
“Well, why were they separated?” Milburn asked expectantly.
“He said it was because the little bear had been disobedient during his training earlier that day and that was his punishment. Well, that was the cruelest thing I had ever, ever heard. I indignantly thought to myself ‘I must think of some way to help this cub because no one else will.’ The cage was locked with one of those large metal pad locks. I knew there wasn’t a chance I could budge that. So I did the only other thing I knew to do: I ignored the keeper’s scoldings to get out of the back of the tent and go home and I tossed my yellow beaded bracelet that matched my new yellow hairbow into the cage on the side with the Mama and Papa bear and yell wildly until the so called keeper came to my aid. Mother didn’t tolerate fits as she called them, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t throw one in a pinch.” Amanda winked.
“Oh, I had a very convincing fit, crying and yelling that my beloved bracelet had suddenly fallen off and right into the cage. The keeper tried everything to get me to calm down, and so in desperation he finally said, ‘Ok kid I’ll get it for you just please don’t cry anymore. I hate crying kids.’ I was rather pleased with myself. Once the man was inside the cage searching for my bracelet I must have panicked, because I quickly pushed the cage door to and flip the lock. Before the man realized what happened, I told him I’d bargain with him. I would unlock the door if he would open the passage way to let the cub through to his mother. Well, he yelled and cussed and shook the bars, but all 3 and a half feet of me just stuck to her guns. The Mama bear let out a gruff sigh and he yielded realizing he probably shouldn’t stay in the cage any longer than necessary. He made me promise to let him out as soon as the cub was through. I gave my word as a lady, and though he did a lot of cussing while he was doing it, he unhooked the divider and shooed the cub in with his mom and dad. The cub seemed happier already. I squealed when I saw the family reunite and thanked the keeper profusely,” Amanda smiled brushing a red curl back from the breeze absentmindedly.
“That’s quite a feat for a young lady.” Milburn said proudly. “Whatever happened to that keeper?” He laughed.
“He kept up his end of the bargain so I had to too. I unlocked the lock and ran as hard as I could back behind the curtain where I belonged yelling thank yous behind me as I went. I knew he couldn’t find me in the crowd of people once I was on the other side. I sure felt proud to have helped that little cub at least that day. I never told mother and father what I’d done, but it had a profound effect on me nonetheless. Who knew the circus could teach a girl so much.” Amanda smirked.
“And perhaps you taught the circus a little something that day too.” Milburn wondered outloud with a nod.
“I’d like to think so. The picture of that little cub has forever been in my memory and it really opened up a new perspective for me on how animals aren’t so different than us. They want safety and nurturing just like we do, and as I grew older that desire to understand that and provide that has only increased.”
“That’s a noble and worthy cause A. I think little 10 year old you would be very, very proud.”
“Still, I was taking quite a risk.” She giggled. “I’m just glad my mother and father never knew what I’d done!”
“Did you ever get that bracelet back?”
Amanda laughed. “I almost forgot the best part, Milburn!”
“A few days later, father overheard a rumor going about the office that a small child had somehow crawled inside the cage of a ferocious bear family at Relco’s circus and had been eaten leaving nothing behind but a bracelet” Amanda barely got out through her laughter.
Milburn chuckled hard with a slap of his knee. “You mean?”
“That’s right! They said the keeper was so traumatized by the incident because he tried to save the child from the ferocious family of bears that he wasn’t careful to keep the door shut and the whole family escaped into nearby woods somewhere in Eerie County. Of course that was only a rumor, but I’ve always hoped it was true. A circus is no place for free spirits.”
“I guess that’s why you’ve never belong there either huh?”
“I suppose you’re right on that one too Milburn.” Amanda said quieter as she squinted out at the water. “In answer to your question, no I didn’t get that particular bracelet back, but I figure it was a necessary sacrifice. For years after I would always look for bears if we happened to pass by woods around Buffalo. Just wishful thinking that I may have helped them actually escape captivity completely.”
“Relco Fikes was the name you said?” Milburn asked.
Amanda nodded. “His circus didn’t do so well after that I heard. I don’t know that he went on to do much after his Buffalo stop since that small child was eaten you know,” Amanda flicked her eyebrows with a grin.”
Milburn rubbed his chin. “A man’s whole circus career brought down by a red hair huh? It’s been the fate of many a man.” He winked.
Amanda took a loud, deep breath in and out. “So there you have it! I have officially had the heart of an animal rights activist since age 10!” She announced loudly. “Although I don’t know how much I actually helped that bear family in the long run. The keeper may have put that divider right back up the minute I was behind the curtain I’ll never know.”
“That’s quite a story A. Do you always tell that story when folks ask you about that part of your life.”
“No. I have a much shorter and stuffier answer usually, but if you can’t tell tall tales while you’re fishing I don’t know when you can tell them!” They both chuckled until a sharp tug on Amanda’s line interrupted.
“A, it’s a big one!” He shouted standing to help her reel it in. A small squirming fish emerged from the water on the hook, as Milburn grabbed the line.
“Let me do the honors.” He smiled as he gently held the slippery fish with one hand and unhooked its scaly lip with the other tossing it fish back into its pond. They both stood and watched it dart under the water swimming off in a seemingly intentional direction. “Sure does make you think,” he muttered as he watch the fish swim out of sight. “He could have a mother waiting on him.”
Amanda turned toward him and smiled with her whole face.
————————-
Two months later
Amanda found the usual bills, obnoxious advertisements, a magazine or two in her mailbox, along with a letter marked “FAN MAIL” with Milburn’s return address. She laughed as she opened it. A small handwritten letter from him simply read, “It’s no bracelet, but perhaps overdue peace of mind. Your fan, Milburn”
Behind the note was a small newspaper clipping dated September 1939 Buffalo, NY “Non-Native Black Bears Spotted Living in Eerie County Woods Regional Wildlife Conservationists Says.”
Amanda’s face drew up in disbelief as she read the name of the article. She dropped the rest of the mail from her grasp and sunk into the nearest kitchen chair as she held the clipping. She smiled through tears that dropped onto the counter beneath the yellowed paper, and she nodded with a happy chuckle of pride that she had let her heart guide her so many years ago inside that ragged old circus tent. Among the many, many clippings from her work in helping animals, this clipping didn’t even mention her name, but it would remain her proudest personal accomplishment.
“Certainly not! A skilled fisher woman knows better than to get a tangle in her line. I was simply straightening the catch is all” Amanda defended.
“Well as much bragging as I’ve heard from you all afternoon about the whales you’ve caught, I should hope there’s no tangle,” Milburn said with a nod and a swipe at his mustache.
“Caught and released Milburn,caught and released,” Amanda assured.
“Ah yes, always the humanitarian A. Tell me, how’d you get into that cause anyhow? You lose a bet or something?” He asked swatting a gnat back toward the pond away from his forehead.
“Are you just making conversation until the fish start to bite or do you really want to know?” She asked cranking the reel in position.
“No, no, I’d, I’d really like to hear about it. It’s a noble cause Amanda, but it’s not for everyone. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the whole on how you uh, managed to take on this crusade to save the wild as it were.” He explained.
“It may be a long story.” She confessed.
“I don’t like to hear any other kind from you.” He said with a nod.
Amanda paused with a smile and looked out over the pond in front of them with their lines waiting patiently in the water being tossed a little by the breeze occasionally.
“Well, I’ve always loved animals of course, growing up with a few pets, dogs, a cat or two, horses, and maybe even a goldfish,
but I never had reason to consider their experience really, or how we as humans have the power to impact their world so greatly either for good or not so good- never really thought about it- until Relco that is. Relco Fikes Wonders was the name of a large circus that came to Buffalo once a year when I was young. Mother and father took me for the first time when I was about 10 I think. Something happened that night that changed the way I saw, well everything.”
Milburn turned toward her more on the bank and angled his fishing pole across his lap as her tone softened the way it did only sometimes if the conversation took a serious turn away from their usual banter and laughs.
“The circus itself was glorious of course to a girl of 10. I must have been on the edge of my seat through out the entire performance. What wasn’t to love? Animals of all kinds doing tricks, trapeze people, lights, music, the command of the ringmaster. It was all a beautiful blur and I was charged afterward from the excitement well, and the cotton candy. There were all kinds of vendors and exhibits on either side of the entrance to the tent with salesmen shouting over one another. They had elaborate spreads of food and trinkets and displays from all over the world. They even had a skeleton of a real mermaid you could see” Amanda said with an assuring nod. And for only a nickel, Madam Fikes could see into your future just by studying one strand of your hair” Amanda said in a dramatic voice narrowing her eyebrows at Milburn.
“Yes, it was all very fascinating until a particularly loud kitchen wares salesman caught the attention of my mother and father. Kitchen wares certainly didn’t interest a free spirit like me at that age or really any age I suppose,” She laughed.
“But I remember stepping up to the big red curtain of the tent and fiddling with the waves in it while they were listening to the vendor. One wave I found wasn’t a wave at all, but an opening. I pulled it back as any curious 10 year old would and I saw cage after cage after cage with all the animals I had just seen in the ring who seemed so bright and so lively just minutes before. They all seemed deflated somehow and stuffy in those cages. Even at 10 I could tell they weren’t living in ideal conditions. I walked closer to the first cage and saw the three Black bears I had seen do so many tricks in the show: a Mama and a Daddy Bear and a baby, but the baby was separated by a wire divider. The mama bear sat with her outstretched paw on her baby through the wire. It was the saddest thing I’d ever seen in my whole life! I imagined how sad that bear cub must have felt not being able to be with his parents, just like I would if I couldn’t get to mine. I immediately ran back through the curtain and told my father what I had seen. Oh he tried to comfort me and tell me all sorts of reasons why it wasn’t as bad as what I had seen in just that instant. He said maybe the baby was sick and they were trying to keep it quarantined from the others so they didn’t get sick too, or maybe he was prone to bad behavior and they kept him in there for the protection of the others. But I knew better. I knew that whatever the reason, that cub would be better off with his mother and father. Even if he was sick, I knew when I didnt feel well I always felt better with my mother and I was just sure he would too. I was made to stand through the rest of the kitchenwares demonstration, but I couldn’t stop thinking of what I had seen. I felt I had to help that cub get to his mother somehow. If I didn’t who would? I told mother and father I’d wanted to go back and take one more look at the island mysteries exhibit across the corridor while they finished up. I started off in the direction of the booth, but quickly inched back over to where I found the opening like before. I wondered if this time maybe the keeper would listen to reason. I looked around for him, hoping he would either explain or change his mind on where the cub should stay. I spotted him and his tangle of keys an aisle over from the bear cage. I ran up and I tugged on his shirt tail and asked why they were separated.”
“Well, why were they separated?” Milburn asked expectantly.
“He said it was because the little bear had been disobedient during his training earlier that day and that was his punishment. Well, that was the cruelest thing I had ever, ever heard. I indignantly thought to myself ‘I must think of some way to help this cub because no one else will.’ The cage was locked with one of those large metal pad locks. I knew there wasn’t a chance I could budge that. So I did the only other thing I knew to do: I ignored the keeper’s scoldings to get out of the back of the tent and go home and I tossed my yellow beaded bracelet that matched my new yellow hairbow into the cage on the side with the Mama and Papa bear and yell wildly until the so called keeper came to my aid. Mother didn’t tolerate fits as she called them, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t throw one in a pinch.” Amanda winked.
“Oh, I had a very convincing fit, crying and yelling that my beloved bracelet had suddenly fallen off and right into the cage. The keeper tried everything to get me to calm down, and so in desperation he finally said, ‘Ok kid I’ll get it for you just please don’t cry anymore. I hate crying kids.’ I was rather pleased with myself. Once the man was inside the cage searching for my bracelet I must have panicked, because I quickly pushed the cage door to and flip the lock. Before the man realized what happened, I told him I’d bargain with him. I would unlock the door if he would open the passage way to let the cub through to his mother. Well, he yelled and cussed and shook the bars, but all 3 and a half feet of me just stuck to her guns. The Mama bear let out a gruff sigh and he yielded realizing he probably shouldn’t stay in the cage any longer than necessary. He made me promise to let him out as soon as the cub was through. I gave my word as a lady, and though he did a lot of cussing while he was doing it, he unhooked the divider and shooed the cub in with his mom and dad. The cub seemed happier already. I squealed when I saw the family reunite and thanked the keeper profusely,” Amanda smiled brushing a red curl back from the breeze absentmindedly.
“That’s quite a feat for a young lady.” Milburn said proudly. “Whatever happened to that keeper?” He laughed.
“He kept up his end of the bargain so I had to too. I unlocked the lock and ran as hard as I could back behind the curtain where I belonged yelling thank yous behind me as I went. I knew he couldn’t find me in the crowd of people once I was on the other side. I sure felt proud to have helped that little cub at least that day. I never told mother and father what I’d done, but it had a profound effect on me nonetheless. Who knew the circus could teach a girl so much.” Amanda smirked.
“And perhaps you taught the circus a little something that day too.” Milburn wondered outloud with a nod.
“I’d like to think so. The picture of that little cub has forever been in my memory and it really opened up a new perspective for me on how animals aren’t so different than us. They want safety and nurturing just like we do, and as I grew older that desire to understand that and provide that has only increased.”
“That’s a noble and worthy cause A. I think little 10 year old you would be very, very proud.”
“Still, I was taking quite a risk.” She giggled. “I’m just glad my mother and father never knew what I’d done!”
“Did you ever get that bracelet back?”
Amanda laughed. “I almost forgot the best part, Milburn!”
“A few days later, father overheard a rumor going about the office that a small child had somehow crawled inside the cage of a ferocious bear family at Relco’s circus and had been eaten leaving nothing behind but a bracelet” Amanda barely got out through her laughter.
Milburn chuckled hard with a slap of his knee. “You mean?”
“That’s right! They said the keeper was so traumatized by the incident because he tried to save the child from the ferocious family of bears that he wasn’t careful to keep the door shut and the whole family escaped into nearby woods somewhere in Eerie County. Of course that was only a rumor, but I’ve always hoped it was true. A circus is no place for free spirits.”
“I guess that’s why you’ve never belong there either huh?”
“I suppose you’re right on that one too Milburn.” Amanda said quieter as she squinted out at the water. “In answer to your question, no I didn’t get that particular bracelet back, but I figure it was a necessary sacrifice. For years after I would always look for bears if we happened to pass by woods around Buffalo. Just wishful thinking that I may have helped them actually escape captivity completely.”
“Relco Fikes was the name you said?” Milburn asked.
Amanda nodded. “His circus didn’t do so well after that I heard. I don’t know that he went on to do much after his Buffalo stop since that small child was eaten you know,” Amanda flicked her eyebrows with a grin.”
Milburn rubbed his chin. “A man’s whole circus career brought down by a red hair huh? It’s been the fate of many a man.” He winked.
Amanda took a loud, deep breath in and out. “So there you have it! I have officially had the heart of an animal rights activist since age 10!” She announced loudly. “Although I don’t know how much I actually helped that bear family in the long run. The keeper may have put that divider right back up the minute I was behind the curtain I’ll never know.”
“That’s quite a story A. Do you always tell that story when folks ask you about that part of your life.”
“No. I have a much shorter and stuffier answer usually, but if you can’t tell tall tales while you’re fishing I don’t know when you can tell them!” They both chuckled until a sharp tug on Amanda’s line interrupted.
“A, it’s a big one!” He shouted standing to help her reel it in. A small squirming fish emerged from the water on the hook, as Milburn grabbed the line.
“Let me do the honors.” He smiled as he gently held the slippery fish with one hand and unhooked its scaly lip with the other tossing it fish back into its pond. They both stood and watched it dart under the water swimming off in a seemingly intentional direction. “Sure does make you think,” he muttered as he watch the fish swim out of sight. “He could have a mother waiting on him.”
Amanda turned toward him and smiled with her whole face.
————————-
Two months later
Amanda found the usual bills, obnoxious advertisements, a magazine or two in her mailbox, along with a letter marked “FAN MAIL” with Milburn’s return address. She laughed as she opened it. A small handwritten letter from him simply read, “It’s no bracelet, but perhaps overdue peace of mind. Your fan, Milburn”
Behind the note was a small newspaper clipping dated September 1939 Buffalo, NY “Non-Native Black Bears Spotted Living in Eerie County Woods Regional Wildlife Conservationists Says.”
Amanda’s face drew up in disbelief as she read the name of the article. She dropped the rest of the mail from her grasp and sunk into the nearest kitchen chair as she held the clipping. She smiled through tears that dropped onto the counter beneath the yellowed paper, and she nodded with a happy chuckle of pride that she had let her heart guide her so many years ago inside that ragged old circus tent. Among the many, many clippings from her work in helping animals, this clipping didn’t even mention her name, but it would remain her proudest personal accomplishment.