Heart of Honor Read Online Free

circus. The Circus Leopold was a traveling show that originated in the far north, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The troupe had made its way southwest though small towns and villages to Manchester, then traveled south through the countryside to Bristol, and eventually London.
    Krista and Corrie wandered the grounds until it was time for the early afternoon show to begin. They enjoyed the single ring performance, under a heavy canvas canopy, that mostly featured trained-animal acts. There were two dancing bears, costumed in little red satin skirts and matching hats, and some very charming monkeys that chattered away as they climbed the tent poles into the rafters. The young women watched foot jugglers, tumblers, a pair of gaily dressed clowns and three trick riders who did flips and jumps while standing on the backs of galloping horses.
    The smell of sawdust filled the air, and the music of a calliope drifted across the open field, along with the shouts of barkers hawking their wares outside the main tent. It was an interesting way to spend an afternoon, but Krista was a little surprised at how run-down everything looked.
    On close inspection, she found the brightly colored costumes faded, the big, dapple-gray horses old and swaybacked. Even the circus performers seemed to be weary people who had seen better days.
    Still, the circus was a novelty in London and something to mark the coming of spring.
    “I should like to interview the owner,” Corrie said, determined to show the acts in a positive light. “His name is Nigel Leopold. Let’s go see if he is in his wagon.”
    They set off in that direction, Corrie gazing around, making mental notes of everything she saw. She had an amazing memory for details, which was one of the reasons she was so good at her job.
    “I really liked the bears,” she said as they walked along. “They seemed to be smiling the whole time they danced.”
    Krista didn’t mention that earlier, when she had passed by their cage, she had noticed the trainer tying their lips back with a thin piece of string.
    She glanced at her surroundings and noticed a group of performers heading back to their wagons to prepare for the next performance. One of the trainers was leading five big gray horses away.
    “There’s something about this show,” Krista said. “Everything just seems a bit… ragged. ”
    “Yes, I noticed that, too. I suppose so much traveling is hard on the horses and equipment.”
    “I suppose.” But it bothered her that the animals all seemed so beaten down. The ponies’ ribs showed through their thick winter coats and the bears hung their heads as if they hadn’t the strength of will to lift them.
    She and Corrie made their way through the throngs of people pouring out of the main tent, and noticed a group gathering in front of one of the brightly painted circus wagons. There were bars on the cage, Krista saw, and wondered what animal might be kept inside.
    “Let’s go see what it is,” Corrie said, tugging her in that direction. Coralee was at least six inches shorter than Krista, and smaller boned. They were an odd pair, one short, one tall, one of them blond, the other with fiery copper hair, and yet they had long been best friends.
    As tall as Krista was, even standing at the back of the crowd she could see that the creature in the cage wasn’t an animal at all. The sign above the cage read The Last Barbarian, and beneath it Caution! Approach at Your Own Risk.
    “It is him!” Corrie nearly shouted. “Come—let’s get closer.”
    It was him, all right, the man Krista’s father had mentioned. He was hunched over in the cage, which was too short to allow him to stand completely straight, and naked except for an animal-skin loincloth that hid his manly parts. He stood there shaking the bars like a madman—prodded, Krista saw, by a beefy man with a scar across his cheek, wielding a long pointed stick.
    The man inside the cage was manacled hand and foot, ranting and raving,