Broken Hill, Broken Lives

Broken Hill Broken Lives

Jim Reiher

Table of contents

Chapter 1: Olivia’s Crush

Chapter 2: Arrival in Broken Hill

Chapter 3: The Local Artist

Chapter 4: New Friends

Chapter 5: Visiting the Family

Chapter 6: The Feed Barn

Chapter 7: Stunned

Chapter 8: A Trip to Town

Chapter 9: Anne

Chapter 10: The Plan

Chapter 11: The Gun

Chapter 12: More Details Come Out

Chapter 13: Seeking Some Guidance

Chapter 14: Broken Lives

Chapter 15: Trouble

Chapter 16: The Aftermath

Chapter 17: Leaving Broken Hill

Chapter 1. Olivia’s Crush

‘What do I think about the relevance of circuses today?’ asked Tony in surprise.

The young cub reporter interviewing Tony, worked for the Sunraysia Daily (the most read local paper in Mildura he boasted to Tony before the interview). He was focused and attentive. He thought this question was one of his better ones that he had come up with.

Tony’s thoughts were racing. Finally, he spoke.

‘A circus is an enigma. A glimpse of the past, trying to stay relevant in the present. As times change, as culture changes, as attitudes to different things change … well … the circus seems to resist sometimes … but then again, in some ways it also adapts with the times – depending on the particular thing under scrutiny. But the circus will always be relevant. People will always make time for them.’

That answer helped shape the next question from the reporter.

‘What have you changed, or seen change, since you began in circuses?’

‘Well …we have a lot more prominent women starring in the show now, and working behind the scenes too. For example, our lion tamer is a woman named Gabi. One of our most loved acts is a young acrobat named Olivia. And our on-site motor mechanic is a woman.’

The reporter nodded and scribbled notes as Tony spoke. More women … lion tamer … mechanic …

‘Also, we’re really fortunate to have indigenous performers in the show too: brothers – two of them – who are part of our acrobat team. In the old days, a circus was almost entirely focused on Anglo or European men – for the most part, at least.’

More scribbles and notes. Not like old days. Acrobat abos, he wrote. And then, thinking to himself, Better change that word later, of course.

An extra thought came to Tony’s mind: ‘And, of course, modern circuses don’t have stalls that show off people with strange deformities anymore – that’s a healthy and good change from the old days!’

The reporter’s pen was writing as quickly as it could. No freaks, he wrote to summarise the last point. The reporter grimaced slightly as he wrote that. He realised that both that phrase and his last one he used were inappropriate. He knew he would change the wording later, if these parts of his notes were to be included in the story.

‘And what have you resisted changing?’ he asked. ‘What old traditions are you trying to hold onto?’

‘The most obvious is the move away from live animals. We still keep ours. We have our lions, an elephant, horses, and more. I hope we don’t ever lose that aspect of circus life.’

‘Might it cause some people to not come to your circus? If they feel strongly about you keeping animals in cages?’

‘It might, and that’s their right. But I’ll always argue that we love our animals, and treat them well, and care for their health and wellbeing. We spend a lot of time and money caring for the animals.’

‘Yes, but they are kept in small confined spaces most of the time, aren’t they?’

‘For some of the time, yes. But we try to make them not too small, and we keep them clean and tidy with plenty of ventilation and natural light.’

The reporter changed the topic. ‘What else has stayed the same?’

‘Well, we’re a nomadic group who live in caravans and live with very few possessions. That’s always been the way of circus performers. We don’t make much money but we love what we do. That’ll never change. I guess what has changed is that the caravans are more modern and we have computers and other modern technology at our disposal.’ Tony paused and thought a bit more. Finally, he added: ‘We’re also very loyal to each other. The whole circus crew is a lot like a family, really.’

The interview went on for a bit longer and soon the young journalist was gone.

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The resultant feature article appeared a few days later.

‘The Sunburnt Circus visits Mildura’ ran the heading across the top of page three. It continued:

‘For the last three weeks, Mildura has been home to the travelling troupe that make up the crew and performers of the Sunburnt Circus.

‘About eighteen people call the circus caravans and tents their home. They are made up of both men and women, and young and old. The youngest member of the group is a thirteen-year-old boy (one of the two sons of the owners of the circus) and the oldest member of the group is Tony Borkowski, the father of the boys and owner and manager of the whole operation. Women are more prominent than in the old days, according to Tony. Our lion tamer, one of our most popular acrobats, and our on-site mechanic are both women, he added. And our troupe is also most fortunate to have two indigenous Australian performers in the acrobat team as well.’

The biggest challenge for the Sunburnt Circus is the growing debate around keeping live animals in circuses. Tony does not want to give that up and, despite more voices saying it is archaic and cruel to the animals, he argues that the animals in this circus are much loved and always cared for.’

As Tony read through the whole article, he thought, I always prefer small country town journalists and local papers. They’re more concerned with accuracy than sensationalism. This is a fair article.

Janice saw her husband reading the paper and reminded him, ‘Don’t forget to leave that for me to cut out and put in my scrapbook.’

‘You’ve been keeping these clippings for as long as I can remember,’ came the reply. ‘How could I ever forget that?’

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The Sunburnt Circus was finishing up at Mildura. The last few days in the large country town were great for the circus. A packed house each performance made the entire crew feel elated and appreciated. It was as if the locals suddenly realised that the circus was not going to be there much longer. They seemed to finally get it: unless they came out now they would not be enjoying a circus for – well – who knows how long?

The performances went off without any hitches. They were spectacular.

Sixteen-year-old Olivia dazzled the crowds as she stood tall and slender on the back of the circus’ beloved horse, Storm. Around and around the ring they went, with Olivia juggling what looked like three large 10-pin bowling pins. She did that whilst balancing so effortlessly on Storm. Olivia’s father, Glen – one of the clowns – watched from the sidelines. He grinned as he reflected on how Olivia had embraced the juggling skills of her family, but rejected clowning itself. He thought, Oh well, a bit of the family tradition being passed on is better than nothing.

It was then Julius the elephant’s turn at demonstrating his talents. He was much admired by the crowd. He especially brought a roar of laughter and cheering as he rotated a number of hula-hoops around his trunk whilst standing on one leg. Tony always enjoyed watching Julius perform. I can’t even get one hula-hoop spinning! he thought.

The three clowns, Glen, Lisa and Brett, won laugher from the crowd with the silly antics and crazy props. There had been a fourth circus clown, Eric, but he had moved on a few months back. It was sad to see him depart, but the clown troupe survived. They adapted their act for three. The tiny clown car and the slapstick comedy had not lost its appeal, even if it was pretty much the same basic act that had been in circuses for decades. These three added their own unique parts to their routine as well. But who doesn’t love a silly tiny clown car with what seems like ridiculously large clowns trying to all get into it? The wild wigs, the baggy clothes, the big shoes and the painted faces: the clowns knew that they were indispensible to the circus, and they revelled in it.

As always, the acrobats and trapeze artists were incredible. When Olivia came back centre stage – this time walking along a tight rope and juggling three balls – the crowd was captivated. More than one person would always be heard saying something like, ‘But she seems so young!’ or, ‘She makes it look so easy!’

There was a net below the trapeze act, but it seemed utterly redundant as these experts at their craft took ownership of the sky. The smooth transitions between each aerial artist and the swings were done seamlessly. They were done so perfectly, in fact, that it made some of the younger children watching wonder if just maybe some people can fly.

The lions were always a crowd pleaser and the lion tamer, Gabi, did not disappoint. She had Oscar and Joe jumping onto raised boards and then dutifully walking along them. That was followed by the two lions jumping through designated hoops and then rolling over. Another construction saw them leaping from a platform on one side of the cage to a platform on the other side, with Gabi herself standing in-between them. Although the two platforms were less than two metres apart, they seemed like two sides of a great canyon with a giant (Gabi) standing between them. Gabi’s head was just a bit higher than the platforms. Oscar and Joe both made the distance, while doing a shallow semi-circle in the air, to miss hitting Gabi. To top it off, these wonderful, wild, intimidating creatures allowed Gabi to pet them. The crowd was captivated.

As she came off stage, Gabi spoke briefly to Tony. ‘Oscar seems a bit off his game tonight. I don’t think anyone noticed, but he’s a bit slower than usual. He seems to be labouring in his breathing as well, and I sense that he’s hurting too.’

‘Let’s talk more about that after the show,’ Tony replied.

Soon Matt and Pete brought the usual cheers and applause as they did their motorbike stunt show for the millionth time. The way they rode inside the sphere! They just missed each other as they did their intersecting loops that seemed to defy gravity. It was loud and it smelled of that foul smell of petrol fumes, but it never failed to get a thunderous applause.

Olivia was standing in the wings, admiring the stunt rider brothers, particularly the older one, Matt. She had known Matt and Pete for some years now, but she had recently started noticing how good looking the older brother was. She stood there in the shadows of the side entrance flaps, and her mind began to reflect.

Sure, he’s twenty-four and I’m sixteen, but hey, Mum and Dad are seven years apart in age. Matt’s just one more year older compared to them. And … he’s so good looking. Ever since his sister has been with the circus, he comes over to our van a lot to see her. I wonder if he notices me? I think he does … he just keeps his cool so as not to give it away. Pete’s nice too, but Matt’s dreamy … I wonder if Matt wants a girlfriend? Am I his type? He hasn’t said anything, but sometimes I think he looks at me. Not in a creepy way or anything. More in an admiring way. I think. I need to ask Anne what she thinks. I wonder if he likes thin girls. I hope so. Most guys do, I reckon. Maybe something might …

‘Time to be getting ready for the next act, Olivia,’ broke in Tony.

Olivia snapped back to the task at hand. ‘Sure,’ came the reply and Olivia ran off to join the acrobat team that was preparing to come out next.

Tony watched her race off and wondered why she had been dawdling. Then he looked over to Matt and Pete. He smiled and wondered which of the two young men she might have a crush on.

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Tony did catch up with Gabi after the show. They stood besides the lions’ cage and watched Oscar, especially, as Gabi went over her concerns in more detail.

‘His pads are harder than they should be too,’ she added.

‘Let’s separate them just in case he’s got something that’s contagious,’ suggested Tony.

As they were organising separate cages for the two lions, Tony continued. ‘We’ll find a local vet in Broken Hill, and give them both a check-up,’ he concluded.

‘That sounds good Thanks, Tony.’

In the back of his mind, Tony tossed around the advantages of keeping lions in the circus. They were definitely a popular act with the crowds. At the same time, they were often the target of animal liberation protestors and their criticisms of his circus. And then there was the cost. The circus spent over $12,000 a year feeding the two lions. There were times when Tony wondered if it was really worth it. He always ended up concluding that it was, but at moments like this he had his doubts. Oh well, he thought, we can at least get the vet to check them out and see what might or might not be happening here.

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The last full day in Mildura was passing by uneventfully. People slept in, and others were up practising their routines (again) in readiness for the evening performance. By mid-morning everyone was up and about and the common morning tea moment arrived. Janice had baked some of her famous cakes to celebrate a successful time in the town. Everyone was eating and talking and drinking tea or coffee.

Olivia wandered up to Matt who was sitting with Pete. Dan and Kenny were with them too.

‘Hi,’ she said, wondering what else to say.

‘Hi,’ replied Dan. Kenny grunted something similar. Pete nodded as if to say it too. Matt looked up and his eyebrows lifted up and down quickly with a small head movement.

Olivia wondered. What does that mean? The eyebrow