Lynda Plante - Entwined

"Ruda, I want Ruda. Ruda, Ruda !"

Grimaldi lifted her off her feet, sat her down. "Just do as I say. Don't leave the trailer. We'll sort everything out."

Rebecca shook with terror as Grimaldi threw the bench cushions aside, searching for his gun. In her confusion she believed he was going to shoot Ruda. She lurched toward him, clinging to his arm. "No! Please... please don't hurt her!"

Grimaldi pushed her roughly away. "The hurting's been done. Just stay inside, stay inside !"

"She needs me. I have to go to her."

He turned on her in a fury. "You are too late. Stay in the goddamned trailer!"

Grimaldi slammed the door shut and ran toward the torchlights and shouting voices. Every available man had formed a human wall cordoning off the trailer area from the crowds. A voice shouted that Mamon had been spotted. He was behind the animal tents. Hand-in-hand the men walked forward, step by step, drawing the chain of arms tighter as the helpers with the nets ran to the clearing by the tents.

Ruda was running ahead of Mike, repeating: "Don't hurt him... don't let them hurt him."

Helen and the baron were confronted by two parking attendants. "Stay outside the barrier. No one is allowed inside."

The baron demanded to be let through.

"I'm sorry. No one can come into this area until we have clearance. Please wait!"

Helen explained that they were to meet Grimaldi at his trailer. She was informed that no one was allowed beyond the barrier.

"This is ridiculous, Louis, we've been told we can meet him."

"Look over there, can you see?" Louis pointed to the lights. Helen looked, she could see the chain of men, some still in costume, moving closer and closer.

"What's going on?"

Suddenly they saw Torsen and his group.

"It's the inspector. Maybe he can help us."

They hurried to Torsen, but he was unable to do anything. He too had been asked to leave. They all stared across to the lights.

Two men ran into view carrying a large net. They were shouting. "They got him cornered on the open ground over by the garbage cans. We're getting the nets around the back, too. Just in case!"

Torsen stepped forward. "I am a police officer. What's happened?"

The gatekeeper waved his hand to indicate they should all stay behind the barriers. "Everything's under control now, sir. Just keep moving, please leave this area."

Torsen looked to Rieckert, then to the baron. "What do you think's wrong?"

Again the baron approached the gatekeeper. "My wife is with the Grimaldis. Has something happened?"

"Please. Just stay out until I've got clearance. It'll soon be all over..."

"What will, for God's sake?" Louis was furious. He looked back to the lights, and caught sight of Rebecca. He shouted to her but she disappeared. "That was my wife. Please, please let me through!"

"No, sir ... I'm sorry, this is for your own safety."

"Would the public please leave the premises as quickly as possible. No one is allowed near the artists' trailer enclosure. For your own safety, please remain outside the barriers..."

The baron and Helen did not budge, but Torsen and his group began to make their way back to the patrol car. The loudspeakers repeated the warnings. The barrier was now heavily guarded. A group of boys in jeans and T-shirts soaked from the rain tried to climb over. The gatekeepers ran to chase them out. Overexcited and unaware of the danger, the boys dodged the gatekeepers, as if it were all a game.

Helen and the baron pushed back the barrier and made a run for it, just as Torsen returned to help the gatekeepers catch the boys. They made their way toward where they had spotted Rebecca. They could now see clearly the human chain edging closer.

Torsen and Rieckert found themselves in an ugly scuffle with the boys. One of them knocked Torsen to the ground. He shot back on his feet and gave the boy a good belting. "I am a police officer.

Now, do as you're told or I'll arrest you for disturbing the peace. Go on — out, get out! "

The boys trudged away. The gatekeeper thanked Torsen. "A big cat is loose, sir. That's what the panic is about. Obviously I can't tell the kids, they'll think they're tough and try and get back in. But it's under control now, the animal is over on the open ground by the trash cans, that's what the nets were for."

Torsen wiped his bloody nose. "You sure they don't need a couple of extra hands?"

"Thank you, sir, but for your own safety just stay back there. It's all under control now."

One of the clowns ran past shouting that more men were needed over on the far side. Torsen called Rieckert. "Come on, let's go."

Rieckert and his girlfriend clung to the barrier. "Maybe I should stay with the girls. No need for both of us to go!"

"Fine. You do that. Get them into the car, I'll see if I can help."

Mamon was weaving in and out underneath the big trailers, his body low to the ground. The burning torches stuck at regular intervals provided some light. As long as they could see him, there was no reason to panic. They preferred to wait until all the crowds had gone before closing in on him. Meanwhile the nets were being linked up, cornering Mamon.

Ruda put on a pair of heavy gloves and picked up a long pole. Mike followed with a bucket of meat as she pushed her way through.

"Thank you. Please stay back, please back! And keep quiet. Thank you."

"He's under the big trailer with the red shutters, been there a good five minutes!" a trapeze artist informed. Ruda moved on. She entered the circle, two men parted hands to let her in.

Ruda looked around at the fearful faces. "Okay, everybody. I want to entice him back out into the open. Those with loose nets move in closer, everybody else stay back until I give word. He's probably panicky, but I can control him. Stay back... and keep silent."

They did not need to be told twice: No one wanted to get close. The boys began lining up the barriers used in the act, to make an open-air caged arena. A tractor towed Mamon's main cage in close. When everything was quiet, Ruda moved further into the clearing.

The back wall of the tent cut off one route and now the barriers hemmed Mamon in on all sides. He slid between the trailer wheels, his fur flattened, his paws muddy. Then he darted under another trailer, but the lights were on him, and the trailer was low. He struggled, began to toss his head, and eased himself out backward.

"Ruda, he's between the two trailers," Mike called out, then turned as Grimaldi came up behind him. Mike saw the gun, looked at Ruda, but said nothing. "They've got him trapped."

The cage was drawn closer, the trapdoor was open. Mamon could see it directly ahead of him. He was fifty to sixty feet away from the clearing, standing in an alley, trailers on either side. Behind him were the nets. The only clear route was ahead. He began moving slowly toward the arena. He paused, sniffing the air. He picked up Ruda's scent.

"Good boy! Come on, come on, Ma'angel... good boy. Come to Mama, come on..."

Mamon's eyes glittered like amber lights, his teeth gleamed as he approached her. Panic made his chest heave, saliva dribbled from his open jaw. Ruda bent down slightly, whispering encouragement. He kept on coming.

"Come on, good boy... come to Mama! He's coming, please keep silent. Don't unnerve him."

Rebecca slipped under the linked arms of two men. For a brief moment they were confused, thinking she was Ruda. By the time they realized their mistake, it was too late to stop her — she was already running between the trailers.

Rebecca saw the flares and the nets, but they meant nothing to her. She wanted to get to Ruda.

By now, Helen and Louis had been told what was going on and remained waiting outside the ring of men. They couldn't see Mamon, but they could feel the electrifying tension in the crowd.