Free In Search of a Memory (Truly Yours Digital Editions) by Pamela Griffin

Angel, you’re as good as your name around here.” The blond laughed. “As soon as you finish with breakfast, I’ll take you on a tour of the midway to help you get acquainted with your new home.”
     
    “I’d like that, but I don’t want to interfere with your work. You’ve already helped me so much. And I imagine I should find my way to the ticket booth soon, whichever one Mahoney wants me at. I noticed there are a number of them all around.”
     
    “Oh, we have plenty of time. Relax. You need to eat, too.”
     
    Angel nodded and gathered her own food, taking a place far down the table from Roland and out of sight of him. Once she ate the bland but filling fare and the dishes and dining area were cleaned to Millie’s satisfaction, Angel joined Cassie, who waited outside.
     
    “Do you have anything casual to wear?” Angel’s bunk mate asked.
     
    “Will this not do?” She glanced at her navy skirt then at Cassandra’s own denim trousers, knotted with a length of rope around her slender waist. “I don’t own anything like that. My aunt wouldn’t hear of it.”
     
    “I have a spare. I only wear them for manual labor—and you’ll find there’s a lot of that before the customers start arriving. Save your nice clothes for then.”
     
    “When is ‘then’?”
     
    “Early evening. Not much sense performing while the kiddos are in school and the parents at work, those lucky enough to have jobs. We spend the mornings and afternoons rehearsing and working on new acts. On weekends we open in the early afternoon. I’ve found that every circus or carnival is different, each employing their own set of rules. And about those men you’ll be working for—Pearson’s a bit of a stickler, but Mahoney’s a peach.” She grinned. “He can be all bark and bluster, but he’s really a sweetheart once you know him.”
     
    Inside their railcar, Angel changed into the denim trousers Cassandra lent her. She rolled them up at the ankles and belted them around her waist with a rope. Cassandra also lent her a man’s work shirt. “Father gives me his cast-offs. No sons to bequeath them to.” Cassie laughed, also tossing Angel a pair of flat-heeled shoes she had an extra pair of, which fit Angel surprisingly well.
     
    As they left the railcar, Angel acknowledged the change felt better, warmer, and she didn’t feel so out of place wearing men’s clothes with Cassie dressed the same. Of course, had Aunt Genevieve seen her in anything other than a skirt or dress, she would have had a conniption fit. Angel smiled a little rebelliously at the thought, a smile that disappeared as both girls suddenly came face-to-face with Roland and a shorter man with laughing eyes.
     
    Roland glanced at Angel’s changed attire but didn’t say a word. She wasn’t sure if he approved or not, not that she cared.
     
    “Hey, Cassie,” the other man said. He stood as tall as she.
     
    “Chester.” Her greeting seemed shy.
     
    “I was just taking Roland on a tour of the grounds.”
     
    “Funny. I was doing the same with Angel.”
     
    Barely glancing at Angel, he nodded in greeting. His eyes seemed hopeful as they again went to Cassie. “Well then, how about we go as a group? That way if one of us forgets something, the other can fill in.”
     
    Cassie darted a quick look around then nodded with an open smile. “Let’s do that.”
     
    Angel’s stomach dropped to her toes at this new arrangement. She couldn’t exactly protest, since she did need to know the area and Cassie obviously wanted Chester to walk with them. During the next few minutes, however, the two leaders gravitated several feet ahead, walking together and leaving Roland and Angel to follow.
     
    “I think they forgot about us,” Roland said in amusement after minutes passed without either Cassie or Chester pointing out some attraction or sideshow tent along the midway, giving the new workers no more information.
     
    “It does look that way.” Her words