Drowning Utopia

Chapter 2: The Letter

After the last patrons were ushered out of the circus for the final performance, Tessa broke everything down and loaded her act onto the train. The rest of the troop did likewise as Old Faithful sat idly steaming on the tracks running through the fairground. The steam engine and its converted cargo cars were just as eclectic and esoteric as the troupe that road into town on it. Everything was meticulously packed onto the train in a routine manner, with the animal cars in the back, the crew cars in front of them, and the equipment carriages near the front. In effect, their makeshift home. As they worked, Tessa heard from further down the line someone start singing a shanty,

'Take me down to old cape town,

Where the ladies they are waiting,'

Another couple of voices from the troupe joined the song as Donny glanced at Lonny with a smirk.

'Lads, they sing a passionate sound,

Like the cats in need of mating.'

Lonny gave a glare as if to say, 'don't you dare,' but Donny, who locked eyes with Tessa, gave an even wider grin as, in unison, they belted out the chorus—

"Hum! Drum! The aeronaut come

to spend away their pay!

Girls, blush beside your man,

until the break of day!"

Lonny, who rolled her eyes, heaved an exasperated sigh, "I hate this song!"

"Come now, Lonny, it's a catchy toon." Tessa smiled as she elbowed the other woman.

Donny added with a mischievous air, "Just because the one man you had a serious crush on left you to be an aeronaut does not mean that they are all bad."

"Hardly!" Lonny said, crossing her arms as the others continued singing and tearing down the tents, "He left me for an aeronaut, not to be one— hooking himself up with that hussy of a captain made him an airman by default!"

Donny and Tessa laughed as Lonny fumed, "All men are the same, short-sighted and thinking with the wrong head. Besides, it's the lady's job to break the men's hearts, not vice versa."

Donny asked with mirth, "Oh, you speak from experience?"

Tessa mused, "Neither of you can talk. I've lost count of the number of people you have dumped over the years."

"Come now, my dear Tess, just because you refuse to get out there on the dating scene does not give you the liberty to cast stones," Donny said, "Why with your good looks, and charming personality, you could have your pick of any man or woman, should the fancy take you."

"Hey now, I thought we were making fun of Lonny," Tessa said in a mock-chiding way.

It was well past nightfall by the time the arduous task was completed, and the train started to trundle parallel to the cobbled streets, glistening with the moisture accumulating on its slick surface. Motorized steam carriages of the city elite clattered by with purposeful pace while the street trolleys, still pulled by horses, rattled slowly. The smell of coal drifting through the cool air was like an ever-present cloud from the endless sea of smokestacks and steam engines. The gas lamps standing at attention along the road flickered with their yellow hew, playing tricks off the unfamiliar city's glass panels.

Several bystanders watched as they all rolled by. A group of desperate teens broke off from the onlookers and tried to jump the train, grabbing Marcus's attention, who pulled them up. Once safely inside, the ringleader scolded them. Nun the less, he took them all down to the dining car. Tessa had been with the troupe long enough to see this sort of thing many times. She knew one or two would inevitably ask if they could join the circus. Few made it long, and those who did were the exception.