Quivering with excitement and nerves, Lilly did as she was told. When she was on the other side, she stayed close to the rope.
The boy patted the mother elephant’s leg. “This is Pepper. She’s five tons of pure talent.” He gestured for Lilly to move closer and she edged forward. “Pepper, someone is here to meet you.” Pepper gazed down at Lilly, the baby huddled between her legs, her giant ears fanning back and forth. “Steady, girl,” the boy said. Then, to Lilly, “Put out your hand.”
Lilly extended her hand and Pepper reached out with her trunk, the rubbery, fingerlike lip tracing the inside of Lilly’s palm. Lilly could hardly believe what was happening. Her heart raced with excitement. Pepper sniffed Lilly’s fingers as if checking to see if she could be trusted, then lifted her trunk, whooshed it past Lilly’s face, and snuffled her cheek. Lilly grinned and shivered, trying not to move. Then Pepper grasped Lilly’s thumb with her trunk and shook it, and Lilly laughed.
“She likes you,” the boy said.
Speechless, Lilly couldn’t stop smiling.
“Guess how old she is,” the boy said.
Lilly shrugged. “Ten?”
“Nope, she’s thirty-four.”
Pepper let go of Lilly’s thumb and opened her mouth in what looked like a smile. The baby came out from between her legs and Pepper started to sway, keeping time with the movement of her trunk. The boy urged the baby forward and told Lilly to come closer. Lilly hesitated and looked up at Pepper, unsure.
“Don’t worry,” the boy said. “They trust me. My father is the boss elephant man, the supervisor of the pachyderms. He can shoe horses, drive a ten-horse team, lay out a canvas, and clown if he has to, but mostly he takes care of the bulls. He feeds them, waters them, and checks for injuries and sickness. He helps the trainer and the veterinarian too.”
Lilly raised her brows. “Pachyderms?”
“A pachyderm is an elephant.”
“Your father takes care of bulls too? I didn’t know there were cows in the circus.”
He laughed. “No, we call the elephants bulls. Doesn’t matter if they’re girls or boys.”
“Oh,” Lilly said. She had to think about that. She edged toward the baby and placed a gentle hand on its wide gray head. Short black hairs bristled from the top of its forehead like a stiff brush. Lilly’s heart filled with wonder and delight and something that felt like joy. Her cheeks hurt from smiling so much. She never thought she’d have the chance to touch a real, live elephant, let alone a baby elephant.
“This is JoJo,” the boy said.
The baby curled his trunk around Lilly’s arm and pulled her closer. She laughed again.
“Wow,” the boy said. “He really likes you!”
Lilly ran her free hand over the outer edge of JoJo’s ear, amazed at the warmth and softness of his thick skin. The boy rubbed JoJo’s temples and forehead.
“They like to be petted here,” he said. “And on their trunk.”
Lilly rubbed JoJo’s trunk, which was still wrapped around her arm, then ran her hand up and down between his eyes.
“All right, JoJo,” the boy said. “That’s enough. Let her go.”
The baby unfurled its trunk and moved beneath his mother, rubbing its little ears on her legs. Lilly couldn’t take her eyes off of him.
“Come on,” the boy said. “I’ll introduce you to the others.” He slipped beneath the rope and made his way over to the next elephant. Lilly followed.
“This is Petunia, she’s twenty-four,” the boy said. “And the one on the end is Flossie, JoJo’s aunt. She’s the oldest of the group at sixty-three, and the biggest. Mr. Barlow claims she’s three inches bigger than Jumbo.” He grinned at Lilly. “And I’m Cole.”
She glanced down at her shoes. “I’m Lilly.”
“Nice to meet you, Lilly.” He kicked stray piles of hay closer to Flossie, then rubbed her trunk.
What is he thinking? she wondered. Is he going to ask why I’m so white and how I ended up in the circus? “So what were you . . .” she started. “Why were you laying in the hay with Pepper and JoJo?”
He shrugged. “I like to be with them. It helps me think. Sometimes my father lets me sleep in their stock car.”
Lilly’s eye grew wide. “They don’t step on you?”
He shook his head. “Naw, they’re used to me.”
“You’re lucky.” She slipped under the rope and moved closer to Flossie. “I just wish they didn’t . . .”
“Didn’t what?”
“I wish they didn’t have to be chained.”
Cole frowned. “I know, but my dad says it’s for their own good.” He ducked beneath Flossie to scratch her belly. “If they got loose and got in trouble, who knows what would happen. Someone might hurt them. People get mad at animals for acting like animals all the time.”
Something cold and sad twisted in Lilly’s chest. Momma said the bars on her bedroom window were there for her own good too, and Merrick said if she ran away someone would hurt her because of the color of her skin, something that wasn’t her fault. It seemed like she had more in common with the circus animals than the people. No wonder she could feel their pain.
“If you want, you can come see the elephants whenever I’m here,” Cole said. “Just don’t let Mr. Barlow or the trainers catch you.”
Lilly couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Really?”
“Sure. Just stay away from the other animals. I haven’t spent as much time with them, so I’m not sure which ones to trust.”
She fought the urge to jump up and down, glad he was still scratching Flossie so he wouldn’t see her excited grin. “Okay. Thanks.”
Just then, the tent entrance flapped open and someone came into the menagerie. Lilly stood rooted to the ground, trying to decide if she should run or hide under the elephant with Cole.
“Hey!” a man yelled. He marched toward her, his face angry. “What are you doing in here?”
Cole scrambled out from beneath Flossie, crawled under the rope, and stood in the aisle. “It’s okay, Dad,” he said. “She’s my friend.”
Lilly felt a strange flutter in her belly. Cole had called her his friend. And he said she could spend more time with the elephants. It seemed almost too good to be true.
CHAPTER 12