It was her eyes. Those eyes were not human, and they never would be, no matter how long she lived among them. She hadn’t caught the habit of looking away periodically when talking or demurely casting her eyes downward.
Levi wondered what her husband had been like. Her directness must not have troubled him, else she would have at least tried for his sake. She seemed to have loved him that much.
And so Amelia and Levi agreed to their terms of employment under Charity’s disapproving eye. Amelia wanted a certain salary; Levi convinced her to ask for less but take a percentage of the ticket sales. Barnum was sure to make money hand over fist off this woman, and any salary he paid her would be much less than she could take in sales. They agreed to a trial period of six months, after which either party could leave or a new contract could be negotiated.
At this point Levi was glad of Charity’s presence. He wanted a witness in case Barnum decided to ignore the six-month provision and try to force Amelia to stay. There was no fear that Charity would side with Barnum in that case—she was scrupulously honest and didn’t mind contradicting him if the truth required it.
Amelia didn’t know all the terms and phrases used in contracts, but she clearly knew what she wanted and was determined to get it. She told Levi she wanted enough money to travel the world. He forbore from telling her that women didn’t generally travel about on their own—there was no point in discouraging her, it might make her leave—but he knew she’d need a great deal more than she had now. He couldn’t guarantee her enough money to see everything she wanted to see, but he promised to make a good start of it. It made Levi feel better knowing that she wasn’t about to let Barnum take advantage of her, and that he could guide her in that effort.
And he’d be there to make sure of that in any case. He wouldn’t let her sign a contract that wouldn’t benefit her.
Levi said he would have it all written up, and then she and Barnum could sign it so it would be official. He saw a flicker in Amelia’s eyes and wondered if she already had second thoughts.
He slapped his hands on his thighs and stood. “Now to tell Taylor,” he said, and frowned a little. “We’ll have to make an arrangement for your, er, demonstration as well. At a date and time of your choosing.”
Amelia nodded at this, though Charity scowled.
Caroline, who had returned partway through the proceedings proudly bearing a tea tray, spoke through a mouthful of bread and butter.
“Are you going to show how you turn into a mermaid? Oh, I want to see that!”
“And you will,” Levi said. “Soon everyone in New York City will see the marvelous wonder of Barnum’s mermaid.”
Amelia’s hands clenched suddenly, as if she didn’t like the idea of being “Barnum’s” mermaid.
“It’s not too late,” Levi said softly.
She looked up at him, her gaze hardening. “I won’t change my mind.”
He reached out a hand to her. She stared at it for so long he wondered if she would take it. Finally, she placed her fingers in his. Levi was struck by the sudden desire to hold tight, to never let her go. Only the certain knowledge that she would hate anyone who tried to catch her let him release her once she was standing.
“Where is Mr. Barnum?” she asked.
Levi grinned. “In the museum, of course. He’s an exhibit.”
“Just like me,” Amelia murmured.
No, Levi thought. There’s no one in the world like you, and as soon as Barnum sees you he’ll know it, too.
Barnum didn’t seem to belong in his own parlor. That was the first thing Amelia thought when she saw him.
Levi had gone to fetch Barnum from the museum—“It won’t do to have this conversation out in the open with everyone watching,” he’d said—and Amelia had waited in the apartment with a silent Charity and a chattering Caroline. The toddler, Helen, began to fuss just as Levi returned with Barnum, and Charity seized the opportunity to depart, bestowing a cold nod on Amelia as she left.
Amelia was sorry the other woman thought her a trickster, but there was nothing to be done about it. When Amelia was in a tank in the museum and Charity finally saw her there, she would have to believe. In the meantime, there wasn’t any purpose in trying to change Charity’s mind.
Barnum wasn’t especially tall or especially handsome—he had dark curly hair and a squashed potato nose and a dent in his chin and dressed like most of the other men she’d seen in New York. He would have been perfectly ordinary except for his manner, which seemed to suck up all the air in the room. There was more of his personality than could fit inside his body, and she could see how he could trample you with that personality. Amelia was fairly certain he’d already done it to Charity, and she wasn’t about to let him do it to her.
“Mrs. Douglas, Mrs. Douglas,” Barnum said, grasping her hand and shaking it up and down with more force than was strictly necessary. “So my friend Levi here managed to convince you to come and see us, did he? You’ll be our mermaid in the museum?”
“Yes,” Amelia said.
She could tell by his expression that he expected her to say more. To his credit, he didn’t linger or indicate that she was at fault but rolled on with his own conversation.
“Now Levi tells me that the two of you have come to some agreements about terms. He’s a lawyer so he’s going to lay all of this out for us in a contract and then we’ll both sign it and it will be all legal and binding.”
She didn’t really care for the way he said “binding”; it made her think he was imagining something more permanent than she intended.
“Why don’t we have Mr. Lyman review the terms for us now?” she said coolly. “There is one term, in particular, that should be clear before we go on.”
“I’m certain that any financial arrangement—” Barnum began, but Amelia interrupted him. She felt a flash of satisfaction when she saw irritation cross his face.
“It’s not about finances. It’s about my magic,” she said. “As part of the terms I need to demonstrate to you that I am, in fact, a mermaid. You can likely tell me where is the best place for this demonstration, but I will tell you that I need both privacy and the cover of darkness. As well as salt water, of course. There is no change without salt water.”
This time she had managed to silence him. A number of feelings marched in succession—surprise, disbelief, and finally indulgence.
Ah. He’s going to go along with me because he thinks I’m touched in the head.
“Yes, of course,” he said smoothly. “Whatever you like, my dear.”
He won’t be “my dear”-ing me later, Amelia thought. He won’t be able to believe his eyes.
It was the first time she’d ever truly acknowledged to herself that she was something unique among humans, that her ability made her special. Just thinking it made her realize something she’d not thought about properly before.
Barnum needed her. Oh, he could certainly fake up a mermaid with a girl and a costume, but it wouldn’t be like her. It wouldn’t be a real mermaid.
He needed her, though he might not know how much yet.
She gave a little smile and nodded to Levi. “Let’s discuss our terms, then, Mr. Barnum.”
The boy had done it. He’d done it.
Barnum had thought when Levi returned from Maine empty-handed that he’d be stuck showing that old mummy Moses brought him. Lord knew it would have been a slog to sell that shriveled thing—though he could have done it, he was sure; he could sell anything to anybody, and anyone who knew him could tell the truth of that.