The Tiny Ringmaster (12 page)

Ruth sat down at a table by herself. Before she knew it, she was surrounded by lots of people wanting to enjoy their tea with her. They were all very polite and sweet, but it felt a little weird to be an instant celebrity. Ruth wasn't exactly in the mood, so she zoned out while everyone chatted excitedly. She was pushing around a piece of cake on her plate with her tiny fork when she heard a commotion on the other side of her table. She stretched her neck to catch a peek. She beamed when she noticed Pepé squeezing through the crowd. “Pepé!!! Over here!!”

Pepé made a beeline for her. He scooted and squished through the crowd, knocking and pushing people over. “Oh prinzess! Oh BEEEUUUTIFULL prinzess! Pepé iz herez now! Can Pepé zit withz you? Oh! It would makez Pepé zo vary happy!”

Ruth nodded quickly. Pepé pulled out a chair next to her. “Oh BEEUUUTIFUL Ruth! Pepé iz zo vary happy to zit nextz to you!”

Ruth noticed the table had cleared out. She wondered if anyone liked Pepé as much as she did. “Pepé, can I tell you a secret that you won’t ever tell anyone else?” Pepé gasped. “My! Of courz youz can! Pepé ztay zo vary quiet for ze lovaly Ruth!”

Ruth was encouraged. “I'm not very popular back home. In fact, I'm rather normal. No, actually, I'm weird. I don't have many friends at school. The friends I do have are kind of, well, outcasts, and we've been practicing for a talent show, and… we aren't very good. We struggle a lot, and my lead singer can't even remember all the words. We won't be able to beat the popular girls because they are prettier and more talented than us.”

Pepé sat quiet for a minute and became more serious than he ever had before. “Well, I zhink it'z because youz haven't performed in frontz of lotz of peeple. Why do youz zhink Tryfod had youz playing alongz with Ereetol? Zo you don't zhink about ze performeeng. You juz didz it. That'z ze key to greatz performanze, beutiful Ruth. You must knowing your routine zo well that itz becomez juz zhat, a routinez. Juz like evary practize zession beforez. No diffarent than yestarday'z. That'z why we have a drezz reharzal evary dayz. Ze big performanzes are no diffarent zhan ze teeenny onez. You should practize az hard az youz parform. A ‘cauze when you do, well that'z when it becomez majic.” Pepé’s eyes sparkled brighter than the lights in the room, and Ruth felt confident in her task for the first time.

After tea, they all returned to the practice tent, and this time Ruth took Pepé's advice. She simply followed Eritol and worked as hard as she could. She twirled her arms, moved around, sang, and danced - all without realizing how many eyes were on her. She gave her all. Before she knew it, it was time to quit. Tryfod called her over to him. “Ok, Ruth. You ready for the ceremony?”

Ruth stared at him. “Ceremony?”

“Yes, everyone wants a chance to ask you some questions. They are very curious.”

Ruth nodded hesitantly. Although she felt better after her talk with Pepé, she was still a little mad at Tryfod. She couldn’t shake the feeling that Tryfod was hiding something.

Tryfod looked pleased. “Good! Great! Ok, you can go back to your room and freshen up. Eritol will come to get you when we are all ready.”

Ruth decided to make a request. “Tryfod, can I ask one favor?”

“Well yes, my child.”

“Can Pepé be in the front?”

Tryfod was clearly confused by the request. “Of… Of course. We want you to be comfortable.”

Ruth smiled. She was getting the hang of her new status.

Ruth skipped all the way back to her room. She walked in and went to the closet to pick out her outfit. She noticed a telephone on a desk in the corner. It looked like a regular phone, but the buttons had people's names instead of numbers. She had buttons for Tryfod, Pepé, Ginger, and Eritol. She looked in the mirror and wondered if Pepé could do her hair. She picked up the phone and hit the button. It rang twice. “Hallo?? Thiz iz Pepé??”

“Uh... hi Pepé... this is Ruth...”

“ZE BEEEUUTIFUL RUTH!!! How canz Pepé help youz?”

“Well, this ceremony tonight… well… I just wasn’t sure what to wear…”

“Zay no more! Pepé will be therez zhortly to help youz with ze hair and ze make-up! Oh you iz going to look zo majical!” He swiftly hung up the phone. Before Ruth had time to hang up her end of the line, Pepé was knocking at the door.

“Ruth!! Beeuuutiful Ruth!! Pepé iz here!”

Ruth opened the door, and Pepé fell to his knees. “Mua. Mua. MuaMuaMua. I kizz your handz.”

“Pepé, you really don't have to do that. I'm not royalty.”

“Oh but Mizz Ruth you are! But that'z ok! Lez get ztarted!”

Ruth sat down in her chair, and Pepé started his whirl-wind around her. Just like the last time, Pepé was done before he even began. “There! Finé! Ok, Pepé haz to go. He haz to get preety himzelf!” He ran out the door before Ruth could say thank you.

Ruth went back to the closet and searched around. She searched rack after rack, and she squealed with glee when she finally found something to wear. She then sat patiently on her bed waiting for Eritol to come get her.

Finally, she heard a knock on her door. She jumped off her bed and went to answer it. Ginger was standing at her door in a very pretty dress. For a second, Ruth reconsidered her outfit. She could tell Ginger was also a little confused. “Are you ready Ruth?” Ruth nodded.

Ginger quickly wiped the wonder from her face. “Ok! Off we go then!”

The noise from the Banquet Room grew as they approached. Ginger turned around and looked down at her. “Ok Ruth, you have to stay here. I'm going to go inside and tell everyone that we're ready. When it's your turn to come out, they're going to open the big doors towards you. You'll walk on stage where Tryfod is standing. Ok?”

Ruth nodded. It seemed easy enough. Ginger looked down at her with concern, but Ruth wasn’t deterred. “I'm fine Ginger! Go. I'm sure they are waiting on us.” She gave Ginger the biggest smile she could muster. To Ruth's surprise, Ginger bent down, and gave her a huge hug and a kiss. “Knock 'em out!”

Ruth beamed. “I will.”

Ginger gave her another thumbs up and disappeared behind the double doors. Suddenly, Ruth felt very homesick. She felt like it had been forever since she hugged her mom. She wished that her mom and dad could see her tonight at her big debut. They would be so happy for her.

The Banquet Room on the other side of the doors got very quiet, and Ruth could hear one person talking. It sounded a little like Tryfod, but she couldn't be sure. The doors began to slowly open towards her. She looked in and saw that everyone was sitting in front of a large stage. All eyes were on her. She must have stood still for a few minutes because when she finally made eye contact with Tryfod he nodded to encourage her to step forward. She snapped out of it and walked quietly up the stage to the microphone. No one said a word.

Once she got up to the microphone, she cleared her throat. The microphone squeaked, and everyone leaned back in mild disgust. She wasn't sure what she should say. Then, she looked down at Pepé who waved at her, and a surge of her courage came back. Ruth waved to the crowd. Tryfod nodded and spoke. “We can get started. Who wants to ask the first question?”

A woman about seventy-years-old hobbled up a microphone placed in the front of the stage. She was dressed prettily. “Ms. Ruth, I'm Linda. I'm one of the sewers here. I help make the costumes. I was just wondering... well the dress makers were just wondering... actually I think we all were just wondering... what is it that you are wearing?” Ruth looked down at her clothes and giggled. She had almost forgotten.

“Well Ms. Linda…. Umm… you see… well – a black skirt, a white shirt, and a black hoodie. And these are my new favorite tights... white with black stars. Oh! And black sneakers.” Ruth beamed. These questions were going to be easy.

Linda was confused. “Sneakers?”

“My shoes.”

Everyone looked perplexed, but Ruth wasn't discouraged. “Ok, next question.”

A mass of people tried to crowd into the microphone line. A man was up next. “Uh yes, Ms. Ruth, could you tell us about your hobbies?”

“I play the drums.”

“Oh. The drums.” The man walked back to his seat.

A little boy followed him. “Where do you perform at home?”

“Well, actually, I haven't performed anywhere yet. I'm waiting to perform in my first school talent show.”

The little boy was shocked. “You mean you haven't performed in a circus?”

Ruth shook her head. “No. I've never performed in a circus.”

There was uproar in the crowd. Everyone was talking and yelling things at each other. Tryfod stood up and motioned for them to all take a seat. A man from the back of the room shouted at Tryfod. “You told us that she was talented! She hasn't ever performed before!”

Ruth tried not to get upset. She couldn't figure out why they were so mad. She was pretty sure that the prophecy said that she was a kid from Earth. They were all so excited about her visit before. What happened?

Tryfod motioned again for quiet. The crowd continued. Ruth could feel tears stinging her eyes, but she was determined not to cry. They didn't know what they were talking about. Ruth knew if they gave Tryfod a chance, he would tell them everything they needed to know. Tryfod rose from his seat. Someone yelled again from the back. “We even heard a rumor that she’s unpopular at school! Her band doesn’t even like her!”

Ruth’s tears escaped from her eyes. She looked down at Pepé, who looked horrified. She thought could trust him. She should have known that she couldn’t trust anyone around here. They only liked her because she could help them. She tried to wipe the tears now streaming steadily from her eyes. Tryfod became angry with the crowd. “SILENCE EVERYONE!!”

The room stopped dead. No one even moved a muscle. Tryfod's voice boomed from the sides of the walls. There was a mixture of fear, anxiety, and anger lingering in the room. “Will everyone have a seat?!” Tryfod's voice boomed again, and everyone scurried to their seat. “I need you all to understand a few things. First, Ruth is here because she wants to help. Not because we have forced her in any way. If anyone of you does something to jeopardize that, she could go home. Second, I know you all are familiar with the prophecy! You knew she'd be a child! Do you think all children have years of performance under their belts? Do you think she would have been born to a circus family?”