The Untimely Journey of Veronica T. Boone - Part 1, Laurentide

Preface - The Walter Main

Houtzdale, Pennsylvania – 1893

Mr. T.D. Farnham walked quickly along the platform of the train station, his steps echoing on the wooden boards. Around him was a flurry of activity. The third-largest circus in the country was getting ready to travel. People ran to and fro, horses whinnied, and carriages clacked and creaked as they rolled into place. It wasn't quite chaos but it was close.

Mr. Farnham wore black boots, a frock coat, and a top hat. He slapped a riding crop against his thigh on every other step. Crack! it sounded as he wondered how do to make everyone move faster.

"Get those animals loaded, Peters!" he barked to a dusty man tugging on the reins of two Bactrian camels. "We don't have all day... Watkins, you told me the ponies would be ready to go aboard at 9:30! It's now 9:45 and they're still in the corral. We're not running a boarding house here – if you can't do it yourself then get some kinkers to help you... You there, Oscar! What's taking so long with that boxcar? The door's stuck? You're the Human Cannonball, confound it – blast it open if you have to!... I want to be out of here at noon, people. At noon! Tarnation! Am I the only one with a sense of urgency around here?"

People jumped at his orders. When the circus was underway and customers packed the seats under the big top, T.D. Farnham was "Ringmaster Ned," the jolly, friendly host of Farnham & Main's Spectacular Circus – The Greatest Show on Earth! But when the performances were over and the big tent had come down, he was Mr. Farnham, circus manager, and there was nothing jolly about him then. That's when Farnham was all business, shouting orders and marching around to see that they were carried out.

It was a big job, running a circus. Someone needed to make the decisions: who to hire, who to fire, who should get paid and how much, when the show would open, when it would close, what towns to visit and how to get customers in the door. Someone needed to get the show into a town and then out again. Someone needed to organize the 120 acrobats, trapeze artists, carnival freaks, animal trainers, horseback riders, clowns, candy butchers, and jugglers so they could pack up the entire circus in just a few hours. And someone needed to make sure the train was loaded on time.

"Hercules," Farnham yelled to a huge man with rippling muscles who was helping to herd a baby elephant onto a train car. "What are you doing? If Jimbo steps on your foot I won't have a strongman in my circus. Move out of the way and let the animal trainers handle the elephants. Go find something to pick up."

"Mrs. Burkinov, what are you doing here?" he said a few minutes later to a woman walking along the platform. Mrs. Burkinov wore a blue dress and carried a parasol. She also had a beard covering half her face. "You should be on board with the rest of the sideshow performers."

"Ya, boot I cannot fahnd mah hoosband," the woman complained in a thick Russian accent. She pouted behind her beard.

Mr. Farnham pointed to the end of the train. "Your husband The Tattooed Man was down there a while ago. He's helping Sinbad the Snake Charmer catch rats."

"But vy do they vant to catch rats?"

"To feed the snakes, I suppose. How do I know? But I would appreciate it if you would find your husband and Sinbad both and tell them to get on board. We're on a tight schedule. I want to be on our way to Lewistown in two hours."

Ya, I vill do that," the bearded woman replied and hurried off.

Mr. Farnham kept walking until he reached the end of the platform. There he hopped down to the ground and continued along the tracks until he reached the front of the train.