Never Be Enough- The Greatest Showman

Chapter Four

PT got home and they ate lunch. Charity had some soup warming up while the girls were gone so they could eat when they got back. Once PT got home the girls started eating. They were starving after their morning out.

Charity and Phineas talked while they ate. Mostly Charity trying to get Phineas to tell her where they were going, but he wouldn't tell her.

"It wont be much of a surprise if I just tell you what it is!"

Charity laughed. "No, it wouldn't."

Once they all finished eating they washed up, cleaned their dishes and then left to go wherever Phineas was taking them.

Evalynn was walking ahead of Charity and PT with the girls while they were walking, but she overheard part of their conversation.

"A building? How could we afford a building?" Charity asked.

"I pulled out a loan."

"And how much was this loan?"

He smiled. "10,000 dollars."

She gasped. "Why would the bank loan us 10,000 dollars?"

"We put up collateral!"

"But dear we dont have any collateral."

"Yes we do. In the south china seas. Deep in the south china seas."

They both chuckled and they turned around the corner. A huge building appeared in front of them and Caroline and Helen squealed.

"PT Barnums  American museum of curiosities!" Helen shouted. . "What kind of museum is it?"

PT smiled. "Come on. I'll show you!"

They walked into the building and they were a little confused at first. It looked like there were just statues everywhere. 

PT made the guillotine cut off the figures head, and Charity realized what they were. Helen and Caroline looked terrified.

"Wax figures?" Charity asked.

"Yes. They're all the rage in Europe. See you've already met the most famous people in history! Marrie Antionette with a soar throat. Napoleon."

They followed him as he ran around the museum showing them all the figures. He stopped in-front of a person.

"But they're not all wax! This is the great O'Malley. Master of slight of hand. King of deception."

Helen looked at the man. "You don't look like a magician."

"I'm a thief." O'Malley said, shrugging his shoulders.

Barnum walked over to the animal figures. "This is a ten ton bull from africa, and thats the largest giraffe in the world."

Helen smiled. "Can I climb up its leg?"

"Absolutely not!"

The three girls ran off to look at the rest of the museum while Chairty and PT talked.

"Now I know how this looks,"

"I'd be concerned if you didn't. Were gonna need customers, lots of them." Charity said.

"We'll get them."

After they finished touring the building they went out to hand out posters that PT had made. They were handing then out to anyone who walked by, but they weren't having much luck. A lot of the people were just throwing the posters on the ground and carrying on with their day. They would mutter about never associating with the lower class and that he was wasting his time. The girls were getting discouraged, but Phineas had a huge smile on his face.

He wasn't going to give up just yet. He just needed some time to get the business established. He ran up to the counter where they were selling tickets.

Eventually PT had gotten anxious and went to see how many tickets he sold.

"How many tickets?"

O'Malley looked up. "Four."

Phineas turned and saw Charity and the girls standing there. Charity showed him the four tickets in her hand. He sighed.

The girls had gone home to get ready for bed. Helen and Caroline were in bed. Charity was sitting on the couch paying bills and Evalynn sat at the table adding more to her song.

PT walked in and hung up his jacket. He scanned the room and spotted his wife and Evalynn still up. Or at least they weren't in their beds. They were asleep. He walked up to Charity first and saw the bill in her hand. He sighed. He didn't want her worrying about the bills yet. He took it from her hand and placed it on the table and covered her with a blanket.

He walked over to Evalynn and saw her draped over the kitchen table. He figured that that wasn't a comfortable position to be in so he walked over to her. He pulled the notebook out from under her arms and closed it and set it aside. He shook her shoulders a little bit and her head snapped up.

"Woah. It's just me." PT said chucking.

"Oh, sorry." She smiled.

"Its okay. You just looked uncomfortable so I wanted to put you to bed."

Evalynn smiled again. She wasn't used to being looked after. Her dad would have screamed at her for falling asleep at the table. She pushed those thoughts away and stood up.

She saw her notebook closed on the table and fear flashed through her. He wouldn't read my songs without asking would he?

She grabbed it off of the table. "You didn't read it did you?"

At first PT was confused on why she would ask him that, but then he thought of her dad and how un cared for she was.

"No. Its yours. I'll only read it if you let me. Now go to bed, its late."

"Okay. See you tomorrow."

She walked into her room and fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. She didn't even change her clothes.

Phineas heard Caroline and Helen calling for him so he walked into their room.

"Hi girls."

"Did you sell anymore tickets daddy?" Caroline asked.

"I sold a few. People were rushing home cause its friday, but yeah. Sold a few." He said, grabbing a book of their bed and putting it on their bedside table.

"I think you have to many dead things in your museum daddy." Caroline said.

"She's right. You need something alive. Something sensational." Helen said.

"Thats a big word." He smiled.

"It's your word."

"Like a mermaid!" Caroline said.

"Or a unicorn."

"Unicorns aren't real."

"Mermaids aren't real either."

Phineas eventually got them to fall asleep so he went and sat at his desk. He was trying to think if ways to change the museum. He thought back to that morning at the bank. The short man. He suddenly got an idea.

He knew the perfect way to change the museum.