Trapped, she turned to face him. “Go on,” she cried. “Beat me all you want. You won’t kill me. You won’t ruin your biggest moneymaker!”
He stopped as if considering what she’d said, then raised the crop, his teeth bared, and hit her again and again, harder with every blow. She curled into a ball to try and protect herself, but it was no use. The crop whipped across her hands and arms and shoulders like a burning flame on her skin. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she was thankful for her bathrobe, otherwise her arms would have been bare in her sleeveless nightgown. Then the boxcar door slid open again and suddenly, Merrick flew backward, as if yanked by an unseen force. His eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open. Lilly looked up to see what happened. Viktor held Merrick by the scruff of his jacket, the top of his head nearly touching the boxcar ceiling.
“What the hell are you doing?” Merrick bellowed, struggling to get out of his grip.
Behind Viktor, Glory stood with Mr. Barlow and his strongmen, her face contorted with anger and fear.
“If you mark her up, what good is she?” Mr. Barlow yelled. “We wouldn’t even be able to use her in the cooch show!” He gestured for Viktor to let go. Viktor did as he was told.
Merrick straightened his shirt and shot Viktor a withering look. “What, you’re siding with him now?”
“Sorry, boss,” Viktor said. “Glory said you were in trouble.”
Merrick pushed his hair from his sweaty brow. “I can handle myself. And Lilly works for me, remember?”
“In my tent, in my circus,” Mr. Barlow said. “She eats my food, sleeps in my train. I’d say at this point she’s more my property than yours.”
Merrick glowered at him, breathing hard, his jaw clenched. For the first time ever, he looked speechless. He eyed Lilly, as if trying to decide whether or not to keep beating her. “You ever turn away another rube, your next job will be in the back lot behind the cooch show!” he shouted. Then, finally, he turned and stomped out of the boxcar, swearing under his breath. Viktor, Mr. Barlow, and his strongmen followed.
Lilly slumped in the corner, her shoulders and back screaming in pain. Her skin felt split open where the riding crop had whipped across her arms.
Glory helped her up. “That son of a bitch,” she said. “As soon as I knew he was headed over here, I got Viktor. I’ve never seen Merrick that pissed off. When Mr. Barlow saw us running, he came too.”
Lilly raked her hair way from her face and started toward her bunk. “Who told him what happened?”
Glory shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Just then, Cole climbed into the boxcar and rushed over to Lilly. “Are you all right?” he said. He wrapped an arm around her and helped her sit on the nearest bunk.
“Yeah,” she said.
“I’ll take her over to the menagerie,” Cole said to Glory. “We’ve got wound salve over there.”
Glory nodded and helped Lilly stand again. Together, she and Cole led her over to the door. Cole jumped out, then reached up to help Lilly down. But instead of setting her on the ground, he scooped her into his arms and carried her toward the midway. Lilly wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his chest, his heartbeat hard and strong against her ear.
As they made their way across the lot toward the menagerie, past Petunia and Flossie pushing tent poles into place with their trunks and heads, past workers and roustabouts putting up canvas and concession stands, several of the men stopped to watch Cole and Lilly pass, probably wondering if she were drunk or dead. After getting a good look, they went back to work without saying a word. They’d seen plenty of strange things in the circus, and they knew better than to stick their nose in a performer’s business.
In the menagerie, Cole laid Lilly on a clean blanket inside Pepper’s stall, then went to get the salve. Pepper lowered her trunk and snuffled the length of Lilly’s body, as if trying to figure out what was wrong. She made a low, quiet moaning noise that sounded almost like crying. JoJo was in the stall next door, having grown too big to share a spot with his mother. He stuck his trunk around the front of his stall and sniffed the air.
Lilly sat up and petted Pepper’s trunk. “I’ll be okay,” she said. “Don’t worry.”
Cole returned with the healing salve and knelt beside her. She lowered her bathrobe from her shoulders and slid her arms from the sleeves. Working slowly and gently, he smoothed the cream over the red marks on her arms and hands. She gritted her teeth and tried not to cry out.
“Thankfully the skin isn’t broken,” he said, checking her face and neck for injuries.
Then she remembered she was naked beneath her nightgown and heat crawled up her cheeks. She thought about him carrying her across the midway and wondered if her breasts had jiggled against his chest. Cole moved behind her to put salve on her shoulders and back, his hand sliding beneath her thin straps. He slid his fingers into the low back of her nightgown and lifted it away from her skin.
She pulled away. “Hey.”
“What?” he said.
“I’m . . . I’m not wearing any . . .”
“I’m looking for whip marks,” he said. “Not trying to see your ass. We’re practically brother and sister, for Christ’s sake.”
She sighed and let him look, her face burning as she thought about him looking farther down than necessary. Not only was the thought of him seeing her rear end embarrassing, but the fact that she said something about it made her feel like a fool. He held the material away from her skin and reached in to apply the salve. Despite the pain and her embarrassment, his warm hands felt good on her back.
“I think that’s it,” he said. “Unless you can feel any I didn’t reach.”
She shook her head, pulled up her bathrobe, and pushed her arms into the sleeves. The salve stuck to the material, but she didn’t care. She didn’t want to sit there half naked any longer than necessary. “Thank you,” she said. “It feels better already.”
Cole put the lid on the ointment and wiped his hands on the blanket. “You’re welcome. But I wish you had stayed in my car last night. Then he never would have had the chance to hurt you.”
“I know,” she said. “You’re right.”
He gave her a weak smile. “Of course I’m right. I’m always right. In case you have figured it out yet, I’m the smartest person you know.”
She grinned. As usual, he knew how to make her smile.
Then his face grew serious again. “What do you think will happen now?”
She shrugged. “Things will probably go back to normal. Merrick’s not going to shut down his biggest draw.”
“Yeah, well, we need to figure out a way to get you away from that bastard.”
“Good idea,” she said. “And since you’re the smartest person I know, why don’t you come up with a plan?” She was trying to make a joke, but Cole stared at her, somber and thinking.
CHAPTER 14