Ten Thumb Sam

by Rachel Muller

  Max turned around. “What are you talking about?”

  “Don’t play innocent with me,” said Albert. “I didn’t have anything to do with the mix-up in your act last week—you had no right to sabotage mine!”

  Max folded his arms across his broad chest. “Calm down, Albert. I had nothing to do with what just happened out there.”

  “Why should I believe you?” said Albert. “You’ve been jealous of my act ever since it took third prize in the seventeenth annual Manitoba Magician’s Convention.”

  “Jealous?” Max looked surprised. “My act won a silver medal in the nationals that same year! And even if I was competing with you, I certainly wouldn’t need to sabotage your act!”

  Albert glared at Max for a moment, his hands still clenched. “Yeah, well, you better believe I’ll be watching you, Max!”

  “Wow,” said Sam after his uncle had stormed off. “I was afraid he was going to sock you.”

  Max took a deep breath before turning to his son. “Tell me honestly, Sam; did you have anything to do with this?”

  “No, I didn’t,” Sam said angrily.

  “Are you sure?”

  It was Sam’s turn to clench his hands. “Of course I’m sure! Why would I do something like that?”

  “Maybe to get attention?” Max suggested.

  “I don’t need that kind of attention,” said Sam, shaking his head. “I can’t believe this! It’s not enough that everyone thinks I’m a loser with no talent. Now I’m getting blamed every time something goes wrong!”

  Sam stomped away before his father could say anything more.

  Chapter Ten

  Sam saw Loki before he saw his cousin. The magpie flew into the grove of trees where Sam was sitting and perched on a branch a few feet above Sam’s head.

  “Everyone’s looking for you,” Harriet said as she pushed aside the branches to get to Sam.

  “So go tell them you found me,” Sam said sullenly.

  “I’m not a snitch,” said Harriet. “I just thought you might be interested in my notes.”

  “Notes?”

  Harriet fished some loose papers out of the back pocket of her shorts and handed them to Sam. “I’ve been reviewing everything that’s been happening around here lately,” she said as she sat down. “All the things that have gone wrong since my family arrived.”

  “Circus Sabotage,” Sam read aloud. “I see you’ve got my name at the top of the list of possible suspects.”

  “There have been four incidents since last Sunday,” Harriet said, ticking them off with her fingers. “Martin’s juggling plates went missing, Snowball and Oliver were switched, the generator for the air conditioners died, and, finally, my father’s sandcastle trick was sabotaged. You were sort of involved in the first incident, and circumstantial evidence links you to the animal switch.”

  “What does that mean—circumstantial evidence?” Sam interrupted.

  “It’s a technical expression,” his cousin explained. “It means that there’s no actual proof that you did it, but the evidence seems to point to you.”

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake,” said Sam. “I don’t have to prove anything to you!”

  “Just tell me—did you wreck my dad’s trick? I won’t tell if you did.”

  Sam flung his arms out in exasperation. “No, I didn’t wreck your father’s trick! I didn’t do anything to the stupid generator, I didn’t plant Oliver in my dad’s hat, and I didn’t steal Martin’s stupid plates!”

  “I thought sabotaging a generator was a bit out of your league,” Harriet admitted.

  Sam grunted. “Thanks, I think. So what about all the other people on your list? You’ve got my whole family and your whole family down here.”

  “If it’s just one person, it doesn’t really make sense, does it?” said Harriet. “Members of both of our families have been targeted. And everyone suffered equally when the air conditioners wouldn’t work.”

  “So who do you think it is, then?” said Sam.

  “I don’t know. I thought we could keep our eyes open for anything suspicious when we sell cotton candy at the show tomorrow afternoon.”

  Sam shrugged. “All right. I don’t think anything’s going to happen, though. Everyone’s being too careful.”

  “Maybe,” said Harriet. “I guess we’ll see tomorrow.”

  As usual, the trapeze acts opened the Saturday afternoon show. Herbie and Robbie performed their act first. When the boys were finished, Irene and her daughters climbed the ladder to take their turn in the spotlight. The second trapeze act began smoothly. But just as Elizabeth was turning a double somersault in the air and Louise was preparing to catch her, something small and dark hurtled toward them. Startled, Elizabeth missed her sister’s outstretched arms. The audience gasped as Irene, hanging from a second trapeze, swung forward to catch Elizabeth. It wasn’t graceful, but Irene managed to grab her daughter by the ankle before she plummeted to the safety net. The crowd cheered in relief.

  “That was Loki,” Sam said to himself in amazement as he started down the bleacher steps. “What on earth got into him?” With his eyes focused on the bird circling the top of the tent, Sam didn’t see the man in the gray suit until it was too late.

  “Hey, watch it, kid!” said the man as Sam crashed into his chest.

  “Sorry,” Sam called over his shoulder.

  Harriet ran past just as Sam reached the ground.

  “Where did he go?” Sam asked. “I lost him.”

  Harriet pointed. “Through that gap!”

  Sam followed his cousin through a side exit. “Loki, Loki!” they both called once they were outside.

  They finally found the magpie in the same grove of trees that had sheltered Sam the evening before.

  “Who let you out of your cage?” Harriet asked as the bird flew onto her shoulder.

  Loki spread his wings and flapped, then resettled himself.

  “Look, he’s missing one of his tail feathers,” said Sam.

  “Someone deliberately hurt him,” Harriet said angrily. “He couldn’t have gotten out of his cage by himself. Someone must have taken him out and then yanked out one of his feathers!”

  Sam shook his head. “No wonder he was in such a hurry to escape.”

  That evening, Mary Ann’s cats caused a disturbance. As Mr. Pigatto was announcing Mr. Poponopolis and his dog act, the two Siamese cats streaked in through the performers’ entrance. They raced into the center ring before anyone could stop them, knocking over the obstacle course that Mr. Poponopolis had just set up and sending the terriers into a frenzy.

  As suddenly as they had appeared, the cats were gone. Mr. Poponopolis lunged for his dogs, but they ran after the two cats. Poor Mr. Poponopolis could only stand and shake his fists as the animals disappeared under the bleachers on the far side of the tent.

  During Sunday’s matinee, Martin opened his unicycle act by juggling a set of dishes. While the dishes spun in his hands, Martin cycled around the center ring. He went faster and faster as the crowd cheered him on.

  Without warning, Martin’s unicycle suddenly collapsed. Martin was thrown to the ground. The dishes he’d been juggling followed him down, smashing to pieces around him. There were cries of horror from the audience as Irene and Max rushed into the ring.

  Sam threw his tray of candy floss aside and raced down the bleacher stairs. He had to elbow his way past a crowd of spectators into the circle of performers that had gathered around his brother. Martin lay groaning on the ground between his parents.

  “Is he okay?” Sam asked.

  Max nodded curtly. “He’s still conscious. Looks like he’s going to need stitches, though. And he’ll need a doctor to look at his arm.”

  “I’ve called an ambulance,” a white-faced Mrs. Pigatto said. “It’s on its way.”

  “I’ll make an announcement cancelling the rest of the show,” said Mr. Pigatto. “We’ll need some crowd control too, or the ambulance attendants will never be able to get in here
.”

  “What can I do?” Sam asked his father.

  Max shook his head. “Nothing right now. Go back to the bus and wait.”

  When he returned from the emergency room that night, Martin had a cast on his left arm and twelve stitches in his forehead.

  “Are you all right?” Annabel asked tearfully as he limped through the doorway of the bus.

  Martin gave his sister a grin. “Hey—it would take more than a little tumble to hurt me.”

  But Max was not smiling as he followed his son onto the bus. “Dad,” Sam began, but his father cut him off with a wave of his hand.

  “I have just one thing to say tonight,” Max said, addressing everyone on the bus. “I’ve asked Mr. Pigatto to call a special meeting for the whole circus, nine o’clock sharp tomorrow morning, center ring. And I expect everyone,” he said, his eyes resting briefly on Sam, “to be there.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Everyone had gathered in the big top by ten to nine the next morning. Mr. Pigatto climbed onto a pedestal and addressed the assembled group.

  “I expect you all have a pretty good idea why Max wanted this meeting,” he began in an unusually subdued voice. “We’ve had a number of misadventures recently, and Max and I agreed it was time we all discussed the situation together.”

  “Let’s get right to the point,” Sam’s father said, stepping up beside the ringmaster. “There’s a practical joker among us. Someone who seems to think that endangering members of my family is funny.”

  “Now hold on a minute, Max,” Uncle Albert interrupted. “What about the rest of us?”

  “It’s not just my family that’s been targeted,” Max admitted. “But the other pranks were harmless compared to what could have happened to Irene and the twins when that bird flew at them! Not to mention what happened to Martin yesterday. My son’s arm is in a cast, and I want to know who’s responsible!”

  “I think it’s Sam,” Sam heard Elizabeth whisper to Louise. “He’s jealous of the rest of us because he has no talent.”

  “Ouch!” Sam said angrily as someone poked him in the side. He turned to confront Annabel. “What was that for?”

  “I think it’s you too,” his youngest sister said in a loud voice, putting her hands on her hips. “You knocked over Dad’s magic cart on purpose to wreck my disappearing act. I bet you did everything else too!”

  “What?” Sam sputtered.

  Mr. Pigatto broke in. “That’s a very serious accusation, Annabel.”

  “Well, Annabel did see Sam put Martin’s dishes in Mary Ann’s bunk,” Elizabeth pointed out.

  “Yeah,” said Annabel. “I saw him!”

  Sam’s face was burning. “I’ve already explained that!”

  “We need to hear the truth, Sam,” his mother said gravely. “Did you loosen Martin’s wheel last night? Or play any other pranks on anyone this week?”

  “No, I didn’t!” Sam said, fighting hard to keep his voice under control.

  “Listen, Sam,” said Mr. Pigatto. “This isn’t a trial. We just need to consider all the possibilities.”

  Herbie spoke up. “Well, if we’re considering all the possibilities, Mary Ann has been angry at everyone lately. She keeps talking about revenge.”

  Mary Ann squealed. “My own brother! I’ll get you for that!”

  “See?” he said.

  Harriet put her hand up. “If you think about it, anyone in our family could have done it.”

  “What are you talking about?” her father demanded.

  “It’s just that these ‘accidents’ didn’t start happening until after we arrived,” Harriet said.

  “But what would your family have to gain from sabotaging the Triple Top?” asked Mrs. Pigatto. “You came here as a last resort.”

  “Yeah,” said Mary Ann. “The truth is the Stringbinis have as much motive to sabotage the circus as anyone in our family.”

  “Why?” Elizabeth and Louise demanded in unison.

  “So you can pin the blame on us and then kick us out,” said Mary Ann

  “That’s ridiculous!” said Elizabeth.

  “We’ve been totally nice to you!” said Louise.

  “Okay, girls,” Max said, raising his hands. “You’ve all made your points. We could come up with a motive for everyone here if we thought about it long enough. Right now we’re going in circles. Unless someone steps forward and confesses, we’re no further ahead than when we started.”

  When no one spoke, Mr. Pigatto cleared his throat. “All right, then. Whoever the culprit is, I hope he or she gets the message. We will not tolerate any more pranks in the Triple Top Circus. There will be no more incidents!”

  “Thanks,” Sam told Harriet as the meeting broke up.

  “For what?”

  “For standing up for me.”

  Harriet shrugged. “Think things will get back to normal now?”

  “What’s normal in a circus?” Sam sighed.

  The circus performers remained on alert for the next few days, but as the week passed and nothing happened, they began to let their guard down. By the following Sunday afternoon, they were almost relaxed.

  Sam and Harriet were selling cotton candy in the bleachers just before the matinee performance when Sam suddenly elbowed his cousin. “See that guy in the gray suit on the other side? I’ve seen him before. I crashed into him last week when we were running after Loki.”

  Harriet squinted in the direction Sam was pointing. “How can you be sure it’s the same guy from this far away?”

  “It’s him for sure. It’s not just the suit—he’s got a mustache like a walrus.”

  “C’mon—that’s too weird,” said Harriet. “We were in Winnipeg last week. He would have had to travel halfway across the province to come to this show.”

  “So maybe he’s a traveling salesman,” Sam suggested, “or maybe he’s something else.”

  “Something else,” Harriet repeated slowly. “Are you really sure it’s the same guy?”

  “Positive. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  “You mean, do I think he might be the person sabotaging the circus?” Harriet asked.

  “Right,” said Sam.

  Harriet shook her head slowly. “I don’t know. Don’t you think someone would have noticed him at some point by now, if it was him?”

  “Not if he was careful. Maybe he comes at night, when we’re all asleep.”

  “Doesn’t the circus have some kind of alarm system?” asked Harriet.

  “Not exactly,” said Sam. “Mr. Poponopolis’s dogs are tied up outside at night. They’re supposed to bark and wake everyone up if anyone is sneaking around. But if someone gave them meat or some bones to chew on, they’d keep quiet. It’s not like they’re real guard dogs.”

  “I don’t know,” Harriet repeated. “It could be him, I guess. Let’s watch him this afternoon and see what he does.”

  The show was just beginning as Harriet appeared in the bleachers directly across from Sam. In between his own candy sales, Sam watched the man in the gray suit from his side of the tent. There was definitely something suspicious about him. He didn’t laugh or clap with the rest of the audience. He just sat with his arms crossed. As the last act before intermission was starting, he pulled out a cell phone.

  A commotion in the center ring interrupted Sam’s surveillance. He looked down and saw a trio of clowns buried under a safety net that had somehow fallen on top of them. Other circus performers were already racing into the center ring to help untangle the clowns from the heavy netting.

  When Sam looked up again, the man in the gray suit had disappeared. Harriet was also gone. Sam quickly scanned the bleachers on the far side of the tent before hurrying down the stairs toward the nearest exit. Once he was outside, he had to dodge a few mothers and fathers chasing their toddlers. There was no sign of either Harriet or the man in the gray suit until Sam reached the edge of a nearby field that was being used as a parking lot. A dark sedan was just pulling away in
a cloud of dust on a gravel road leading away from the field.

  “That’s him,” Harriet announced breathlessly as she appeared at Sam’s side. “He got away.”

  “What happened?” asked Sam. “I looked down when the net fell, and when I looked up again you were both gone.”

  “He stood up just as the net was falling,” said Harriet. “I followed him outside from a safe distance. There was someone in that car waiting for him at the side entrance.” She shook her head in frustration. “I tried to get the license plate number, but it was covered in mud. It was a British Columbia plate, though. I could see that much.”

  “It’s got to be him,” said Sam. “He’s got to be the one sabotaging the Triple Top!”

  “Too bad we didn’t actually see him do anything,” said Harriet.

  “Oh, come on! Look how he raced away from the scene of the crime!”

  “Pretty suspicious, all right,” Harriet agreed. “It just doesn’t prove anything.”

  “Yeah, I know—it’s circumstantial evidence,” said Sam. “But now at least we know who to watch for. I’ll be ready for him next time,” he promised as he watched the dust on the gravel road settle.

  Chapter Twelve

  Sam was stacking dismantled circus equipment next to one of the trailers when he overheard his father talking to his mother the next morning.

  “We just had a visitor, a Mr. Burkenoff,” Max told Irene. “He’s a federal safety inspector.”

  “What did he want?” Sam’s mother asked.

  “He was here because of what happened yesterday afternoon with the safety net,” said Max. “We’ve just been fined ten thousand dollars for having an ‘improperly installed safety device.’ If we don’t pay the fine in full by the end of the month, Mr. Burkenoff is threatening to shut us down.”

  “Oh dear,” Irene sighed. “This has really gotten serious, hasn’t it?”

  “Dad,” Sam broke in, “I was going to tell you-Harriet and I saw someone yesterday—”

  “Hold on a second, Sam,” his father said as a black limousine drove toward them. “Looks like we have another visitor.”