The Royal Handmaid (3 page)

“Oh, Jeanne and I will be fine.”

Loren raised a skeptical brow. “She’s a real socialite. I can’t imagine her wanting to be a missionary.”

“She says she does,” Rena said with a shrug. “She hasn’t been thinking about it for long, but she’s got lots of self-confidence.” She moved on quickly. “Here’s another one of my classmates, Lanie MacKay. She’s very handy at a lot of things.”

“Why did you pick her?”

“For one, because she asked to go, and also because she’ll be good for doing the practical things. All those day-to-day things missionaries have to do for themselves, you know. As a matter of fact, so will Margaret Smith.” Rena bit her lip. “I hesitated about including Margaret. She’s overweight, and she may find it all a bit arduous, but she is a fine cook and a great seamstress. She’s good at all kinds of practical things, you know, and she loves the Lord too. Her father is a pastor. She’s a little shy, but I know I can help her with that.”

“What about this Meredith Wynne? That’s an odd name.”

“I’m not sure about her. Actually, she’s the one we’ll need to pray about.”

“Why? What’s wrong with her?”

“Well, she’s not very . . .” Rena hesitated. “I don’t know. She’s brilliant, of course. She’s a linguist. That’s the reason Dalton and I finally agreed to consider her. We’ll need someone to teach us the language, and Meredith can pick up languages as easily as most people pick up a new recipe.”

The two continued to go over the list until Rena said, “You’ll meet them all at dinner tonight, but what do you think about them so far—just from what I’ve told you?”

“Truthfully?”

“Of course, Dad.”

“I’m a little worried. There’s not one person on this list who has actually done any missionary work.”

“I know, but we can all learn together. It’ll take a little shaking down, but it’ll come along all right. I’m sure of it.”

“It won’t be an easy life, Rena. I know you get tired of my saying this, but it’s true.”

“We’ll hire natives to do the hard physical work, and since you’ve been so good to let us use the
Mary Anne
and supply us, we won’t have to worry about all the details most missionaries do.”

Loren laughed. “I think I bought enough supplies to feed a whole village for a year!”

“I know. You’ve been great about it, Dad.”

“But there are only eleven on this list.”

Rena nodded. “I know. We’re having trouble deciding on the last member. Maybe you can help us select the right one.”

“I’d like that.”

She jumped up and began to pace the floor, her words tumbling out in her excitement. “It’s going to be so wonderful! I’m going to keep careful records so I can show the world what great things can be done on a mission field when it’s done right. Of course,” she said with a smile, “we couldn’t do it without you.”

Loren knew this was an honest statement. His daughter did honor him and had made him, as much as she could, a part of the group. He looked down at the list in his hand and wanted to argue that some of the choices were not the best, but he kept quiet. Rena had the bit in her teeth and was speeding away. Nothing he could say was going to slow her down.

He watched as she flung herself around the room, her eyes brilliant with expectation, and he prayed silently,
Lord, you’re going to have to help Rena and the rest of them. They don’t know what they’re getting into!

CHAPTER TWO

Travis’s Marching Orders

Travis Winslow glanced up at the banner spread out above him proclaiming the Barnum and Bailey Circus. He shook his head, and a slight grin touched his lips as he murmured, “Sis and Chase have sure come up in the world. Not much like the old Carter Brothers Circus. You could have stuck the whole thing in one corner of this one.”

The air was rich with circus smells—popcorn, hot dogs, and the acrid aroma of wild animals. No amount of perfume could cover up that! This scene had once been his life, but now as Travis walked along between the sideshows where barkers were shilling the acts, all of that seemed in the very distant past. In fact, it had only been a few years since Travis had been a part of the Carter Brothers Circus, along with his sister, Joy.

When Joy married Chase Hardin, Travis left to enter Bible school with plans to become a minister. The Hardins had since moved on into the world of big-time show business with their now world-famous wild animal act in “The Greatest Show on Earth.”

A lion’s roar penetrated the sounds of laughter and shouting from the people in line to purchase tickets.
Must be one of Joy’s pets,
Travis thought.
I still can’t believe she’d get in the ring with those big cats.

As Travis edged forward to buy his ticket, his mind replayed memories of how he and Joy ran away from home after their parents had been killed in an automobile accident.
Their aunt and uncle took them in, but it was not a happy situation. Travis headed south and eventually got a job on a steamship going to South America. While ashore in Mexico, a man was seriously hurt in a saloon brawl, and Travis was arrested, along with two other Americans, and had to do a year in a Mexican jail. He remembered his shock when he learned that his sister had joined the circus. She eventually became engaged to another animal trainer.

Travis slapped his money on the counter, and a hard-eyed woman with strawlike hair tore off a ticket and handed it to him. “Hope you like it, handsome.” She grinned, revealing a missing front tooth.

“I always did.” Travis returned her smile. Jostled by the crowd, he moved inside the tent, found his seat, and settled down. While he waited he watched the excited youngsters around him, bright-eyed with anticipation. He noticed a middle-aged woman with three small children who was having a difficult time trying to keep them corralled. “Let me help you with that young’un, ma’am,” Travis offered with a smile. He reached out his arms, and the woman gave him a startled look, then laughed. “Don’t know if you can or not. He’s wild.”

“Let me have a try.” Travis took the baby and proceeded to make friends at once. The woman was grateful and said, “You must’ve had some experience with babies.”

“I’ve always liked them but haven’t had any of my own yet. This fellow is a fine one.”

The two chatted until the lights dimmed and the ringmaster made his entrance. Travis held the baby, asleep now despite the noise, and listened to the ringmaster’s grand promises about the most spectacular acts in the world. He felt his mind slipping back to those earlier days. He had good memories of his time with the circus, yet he had no regrets about leaving.

The ringmaster’s stentorian voice rang out, “And now, ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages, I introduce to you Captain Chase Hardin and his wife, the courageous and
beautiful Joy Hardin. You will see them enter a cage with twenty ferocious lions and tigers. Ladies and gentlemen, the Hardins!”

Suddenly a man and a woman slipped in through a side door of the cage. Travis smiled as he saw them.
My sister is more beautiful than ever,
he thought. Joy Hardin had blond hair and blue eyes, and her trim figure was outlined by the silk blouse and snug-fitting jodhpurs. She wore black boots and held a small whip in her right hand. Her husband was a well-built man with piercing eyes and an engaging smile, but the smile disappeared as the first Bengal tiger entered and circled the cage. One after another the animals emerged from their tunnel, alternating lions and tigers, until all twenty of them were in the ring.

Travis watched with pleasure as the two trainers put the magnificent beasts through their routine. He remembered Joy telling him about her first experiences with the wild animals. She had laughed when she told Travis about tiger cubs, saying,
“They have to be fed just like a baby, and someone has to wipe their bottoms until they learn to do it for themselves!”

The air crackled with applause, cheers, and gasps as the huge animals performed their incredibly difficult tricks. The largest of the huge tigers walked a tightrope, then jumped through a flaming hoop. When all the other big cats had exited the cage, the huge tiger remained. The audience collectively held its breath as Joy slipped onto his back and rode around the ring as fearlessly as if she were straddling a pony.

“Aren’t they wonderful?” the woman said to Travis. “I don’t see how they do it.”

“They spend lots of time with those animals,” he said. “They won’t let anybody else feed them. Every night after the circus is over, they go back and feed them by hand.”

“How do you know all that?” the woman asked curiously.

“Well, that lady’s my sister.”

“You don’t say! Are you in the circus?”

“No, ma’am, I’m just a poor preacher.”

The woman laughed. “Well, I’m glad to hear it. I’m a Christian myself. So is my husband.”

“And these children are going to be the same. I can tell.”

Travis enjoyed the rest of the spectacle and before he knew it, the final spec, or parade, was winding its way around the Big Top. Joy was riding on the neck of one of the elephants, just as she had done in the old days, while Chase drove a Roman chariot pulled by two snow-white horses. Smiling and waving to the crowd, they passed right by Travis, but neither Joy nor Chase spotted him. He handed the baby back to the woman and said, “Thanks for letting me hold your young’un, ma’am. He’s a fine one.”

“You’re welcome, preacher, and thank
you.
May the Lord bless you real good.”

Travis got to his feet and slowly moved toward the exit with the crowd, then made his way around back to where the performers’ trailers were parked. He stopped a busy circus hand to ask where Joy and her husband lived.

“That big white one right over there, you see?”

“Thanks, partner.”

He went to the trailer, but no one was there.

“Must be feeding the cats, I guess,” he said to himself.

He sat down on the front step and waited. It was forty-five minutes later when he finally saw them. Joy was carrying a small child in her arms, and when she saw her brother, she let out a cry.

“Travis!” She shoved the baby toward her husband and ran forward, throwing herself into his arms. “Why didn’t you tell us you were coming, you big ape!”

“Don’t know. Guess I’m just not very thoughtful.” Travis grinned. “You’re lookin’ fine, Joy, and you too, Chase.” He put out his hand and returned Chase’s hard grip before exclaiming, “Let me see this here girl child!” He reached for the nine-month-old and held her up. “Why, Leah, you’re as good-lookin’ as your ma. I was afraid you’d be ugly like your old man.”

“So was I,” Chase said with a grin. “Travis, it’s good to see you. Come on inside.”

“Have you eaten yet?” Joy asked.

“You mean lately?”

Joy slapped at him playfully. “Come on in. I’ll fix some steaks, and you can tell us what all you’ve been doing.”

****

Travis sat in the middle of the living room floor playing with Leah while the enticing smells of seared meat and fresh coffee filled the mobile home. He lay back and stood his niece on his stomach, while she gurgled and laughed and jumped. Travis held her chubby arms and glanced over at Chase, who was watching with a smile. “This is some lively girl you’ve got here. She’s gonna run you ragged.”

Joy called in from the kitchen, “She already does! And we’re expecting another one in a few months. A brother, we hope.”

“That means you’ll be out of the act.”

“Just for a while,” Joy said. She was putting plates on the table and added, “I love it too much to quit for good. I always have.”

“You’re just a showoff, Joy—always were. Have to have that applause and be in the spotlight.”

“I just love my work,” Joy rejoined. “Now, you come on and eat. Put Leah in her high chair.”

Travis chowed down on his steak while he listened to Chase and Joy tell him about their lives.

“People think it’s exciting traveling around so much.” Chase shrugged as he tore off a piece of bread and stuffed it into his mouth. “But we never see much of the towns we’re in. New York, Chicago, San Francisco—they’re all about the same. All we see is the inside of the tent. Those cats take more time than babies do.”

“But you love it,” Joy said, smiling, “and you’re the best.”

“That’s ’cause I’ve got a good helper.” He winked and patted her hand.

Travis was pleased at how close the two still were. Now that
they had one baby—and another on the way!—he felt a deep satisfaction in seeing the love that was growing between them.

“You’re not married yet, Travis,” Chase said. “Why is that?”

“No one’ll have me. Too ugly.”

“Don’t be silly!” Joy exclaimed, looking at Travis with an admiring eye. He was lean and tall and rough-looking, but handsome, nonetheless, with a shock of tawny hair and cobalt blue eyes. A scar on his forehead ran into his right eyebrow, and other vestiges of a hard life marked his features, but no one would accuse him of being ugly.

“Don’t you ever want to get married and have a family?” Joy demanded.

“Sure . . . someday . . . when the Lord puts it in my way. I do get lonesome, but I stay busy and don’t let that bother me.”

“Where are you living now? You move around so much it’s hard to keep up with you.”

Travis had indeed moved a great deal. He had been in Bible school only a year when God directed him to leave and go to Mexico. He learned to speak Spanish while he worked among the poor, establishing a mission that grew into a church. While some of the local people he had trained took over the church leadership, he moved on to South America.

“Well, I just got back from Guatemala. Been there a little over a year.”

“What did you do there? Establish another church?”

“Sure did.” Travis nodded, spearing a piece of steak and biting it off the fork. He chewed thoughtfully and said, “I worked with James and Merline Golden, two independent missionaries down there.”

“You told us about them in your letter. They must be fine people.”

“The best I ever saw. Their whole heart’s in preaching the Gospel.”

“What sort of work did you do there?”