by Justin D'Ath
‘I never said we’re from the circus!’ Birdy said crossly.
Mr Quinn went and stood in front of the door, his arms crossed. ‘I don’t care if you’re from Mars,’ he said in his best imitation police voice. ‘Nobody’s going anywhere.’
Colt had the knot ready. He looped the rest of the rope in his other hand and nodded to Birdy and Zac. ‘There’s another door, guys. Follow me and have those carrots ready.’
Mrs Burston tried to stop them, but her dainty shoes weren’t made for gym work. Colt ducked under her right arm, Zac shot past on her left, and Birdy did a forward handspring across the tables and beat both boys to the door leading into the kitchen. By the time the two teachers got there, the door on the other side of the kitchen was wide open and moths were flying in from outside.
Colt, Birdy and Zac crept around the side of the building. The rose garden was just ahead. They could see the long, pale shape of the rhino’s back rising out of the rose bushes like a mountain range. There was a big shadowy tree on the other side.
‘How many carrots did you bring?’ Colt whispered.
‘Two.’ Birdy pulled a large, damp carrot from the backpack. ‘One was on the ground, but I wiped it clean.’
Instead of eating it as she’d expected him to, Colt broke the carrot in half and gave both pieces back to her.
‘Here’s the plan,’ he whispered. ‘Use the bits of carrot to lure Assam over to that tree. You’ll need to break the other one up, too. When you go past, I’ll catch him with this rope.’
‘What if he charges?’ she asked.
‘I don’t think he will,’ Colt said. ‘He’s a real guts when it comes to carrots. But be ready to run if something happens.’
‘What can I do?’ whispered Zac.
‘Have you got a phone?’
‘Of course.’
Colt borrowed it and tapped in his mother’s number. Then he gave it back. ‘Go around the corner where the rhino won’t hear you, and call this person.’
‘Who is it?’ Zac asked.
‘A lady at the circus. Don’t tell her who you are, and please don’t say anything about me or this other clown. Just tell her how to get here, and ask her to send Captain Noah and the rhino truck.’
Zac gave a little salute. ‘Will do!’
As soon as he’d gone, Birdy whispered, ‘The panther got out, too.’
‘I know,’ whispered Colt.
‘How do you know?’
‘It was here ten minutes ago.’
‘Here?’ gasped Birdy.
‘In the hall.’
‘In the hall!!!?’
‘I’ll tell you about it later,’ Colt whispered. There was no time to lose. He could hear sirens in the distance. ‘Come on, Clowngirl, we’ve got a job to do.’
Heads down, they crept around the edge of the rose garden. Assam was rustling about somewhere in the middle. When they reached the other side, Colt stopped and tapped Birdy on the arm.
‘Are you sure you want to do this?’
‘Sure,’ she whispered. ‘But if I come out running, Superclown had better be here to help me.’
Colt grinned nervously in the darkness. Should he tell her she couldn’t rely on him having his superpower back yet? Should he tell her he was even finding the rope heavy, so how could he possibly deal with a rhinoceros that weighed as much as a truck? But it was too late. Birdy had already disappeared into the bushes, bits of carrot in both hands. All he could do was hope Assam cooperated. And hope Birdy was quick enough to get out of there if he didn’t.
Colt knelt next to the tree and began knotting the rope’s free end around its trunk. It wasn’t easy. His hands were shaking and the rope was damp and greasy. He had to stay calm and get the knot exactly right. The sirens were growing louder. He knew what would happen if the rhino was still loose when the police arrived. They couldn’t allow him to escape – not at night, not in a city, and especially not in a school where a dance was being held. They’d have to shoot him.
Although Colt didn’t know it, Officer Katt would get her wish.
There were more rustling noises in the bushes. Birdy came backing out, followed by Assam. He dwarfed her.
‘I’m almost out of carrots,’ Birdy whispered as she approached.
Colt was still working on the knot. He hoped Assam wouldn’t notice him. And if the enormous rhino did notice him, Colt hoped he wouldn’t bear any grudges from the last time they’d met. This time the tables were turned. Despite all the pizzas, Colt still hadn’t regained his superpowers. Assam might turn him into a pizza!
The sirens were really loud now. There were lots of them, producing a variety of wails, hoots, woop-woop-woops and wee-wahs. It sounded like every emergency vehicle in the city was on its way to the school.
At last the rope was tied securely around the tree. Colt picked up the other end, where he’d made the sliding-loop knot earlier, and pivoted around on his knees just as Birdy shuffled past him, leading Assam with the last piece of carrot. The huge animal blocked out the sky.
Now! thought Colt.
Leaning forward until he was almost underneath it, Colt placed the loop of rope on the ground under one of the rhino’s descending hind feet. But he misjudged it. Instead of coming down inside the loop, its huge three-toed foot landed on the rope itself. Colt had to wait until Assam raised his foot again, then he dived forward and repositioned the loop one rhino-step ahead of where it had been.
But again he got it wrong.
This time Assam stepped on the knot. Colt started to panic. The rope wasn’t very long. Another metre and Assam would have moved too far from the tree where the other end was tied. The loop would no longer reach him!
All at once the night air was filled with sirens and flashing lights. Two police cars came sweeping in through the school gates. Assam let out a snort of alarm and wheeled around. Colt tried to roll out of the way, but he was too slow. The panicked rhino charged right over the top of him. A heavy foot slammed down on his right shoulder, another one crunched his left thigh.
And everything went black.
‘Are you okay?’ Birdy whispered.
Colt lay flat on the ground. Of course he wasn’t okay! He’d been trampled by a three-and-a-half tonne rhino! Oddly, though, there wasn’t any pain, just the blackness.
Then Birdy straightened his clown’s wig and he could see again.
‘You did it, Superclown!’
The police cars had stopped at the edge of the parking area. Assam was caught in their headlights. He was trying desperately to get back to the rose garden, but something was stopping him. A rope was tied around his rear hind leg. The other end was tied to the tree.
‘We did it, Clowngirl!’
Birdy helped Colt to his feet. He rotated his shoulder, then rubbed his thigh. He felt as good as new. All those pizzas were beginning to do their work.
Bump!
Something landed next to him. It was a big green apple. They were all over the ground. Every time Assam strained on the rope, the whole tree shook and more green apples fell from its branches.
‘GET AWAY FROM THE ANIMAL!’ a voice boomed through a megaphone.
Colt turned and squinted into the dazzling lights. He couldn’t see where the voice was coming from, but its tone made him nervous. He imagined a row of armed policemen crouched next to their cars, their guns aimed at Assam.
‘Everything’s under control!’ he called.
‘THIS IS THE POLICE! I ORDER YOU TO STAND CLEAR!’
Colt stayed where he was. The lights were blinding. Behind him, Birdy was speaking softly to Assam.
‘We’ve got it under control,’ he repeated.
‘STOP PLAYING GAMES! IT’S A DANGEROUS ANIMAL! GET AWAY FROM IT BEFORE SOMEONE GETS HURT!’
‘It can’t hurt anyone,’ Colt called in the direction of the lights. ‘It’s tied to a tree.’
There was a short pause as another police car and a fire engine swung in through the school gates, their lights flashin
g, their sirens wailing.
‘Tell everyone to turn their sirens off,’ Colt called in the direction of the policeman with the megaphone. ‘They’re scaring the rhino.’
Amazingly, the sirens fell silent. Shoes crunched towards him and four large policemen emerged out of the glare. These weren’t teachers dressed up, they were the real thing. The pistols they carried were real, too.
‘Who are you?’ asked the one in charge.
‘Superclown,’ Colt said. It sounded stupid when he said it aloud, but he wasn’t going to tell them his real name.
‘They’re just kids,’ said another cop.
Everyone looked at Birdy. She stood under the tree, feeding Assam an apple.
‘See!’ Colt pointed. ‘He isn’t dangerous.’
A truck drove in through the school gates. At first Colt thought it was from the circus, but when it pulled up next to the fire engine, he felt a stab of unease. It was an army truck. The tail-gate dropped open and two lines of heavily armed soldiers jumped out.
Zac appeared at Colt’s elbow. ‘Is there a war on?’
‘No. But everyone’s a bit freaked out,’ said Colt.
The Boss Cop looked at them in surprise. He must have been wondering why everyone was dressed as clowns. ‘You kids aren’t supposed to be here.’
‘We’ve been catching Lost World animals,’ Zac said importantly. He waggled his phone. ‘I was just calling for backup.’
‘Did you get through to her?’ Colt whispered.
‘She said they’ll be here in five minutes.’
‘Who?’ asked Boss Cop.
‘Someone at the circus,’ Colt told him. ‘The vet.’
‘She said no one should go near the rhino,’ Zac added.
They all looked at Birdy. She was right next to the rhino, stroking his huge triangular horn as he munched on an apple.
‘I guess she didn’t mean Clowngirl,’ Zac said.
There was the sound of thumping boots. A squad of heavily armed soldiers came running towards the tree. They formed a big circle around Assam, Birdy and the apple tree.
Another soldier approached. This one wasn’t running. He looked important and didn’t carry a gun.
One of the armed soldiers saluted him and shouted, ‘RHINO SECURE, MAJOR!’
‘Good work, Captain,’ said the major. But he didn’t seem happy. ‘What are these children doing here?’
‘They seem to have something to do with the circus, sir.’
‘Get them out of here!’ snapped the major. ‘This is a military operation now, not a fancy-dress party.’
‘This isn’t fancy dress,’ Colt said crossly. ‘It was us who caught the rhino.’
The major scowled. ‘You’ll catch a boot in your behind if you don’t get out of here, Bozo!’
Colt tried to return the major’s scowl, but it didn’t really work with his big painted-on smile. Careful who you call Bozo, Bozo! he wanted to say. His whole body was tingling.
His nose was tingling, too. But now it wasn’t pizzas that focused Colt’s super sense of smell. It was a thick, musky odour that raised the little hairs on the back of his neck and produced a knot of fear in his belly.
‘Come on, guys,’ he said, tugging Birdy’s sleeve and nodding to Zac. ‘We’d better do what the Bozo says.’
Boss Cop led them across the lawn towards the parking area. ‘I’ll get one of my officers to run you kids home,’ he said.
Behind them, Assam was still calmly eating apples, surrounded by a circle of nervous-looking soldiers.
They would be even more nervous, Colt thought, if they knew what was in the tree above them.
Boss Cop spoke to a pair of officers standing next to a police car. ‘Lauren, I want you and Steve to take these kids home, please.’
‘No problem, boss,’ said Officer Lauren.
Officer Steve pulled open a door. ‘Get in, guys.’
Colt, Birdy and Zac all piled into the back. The two officers got in in front. Officer Lauren was driving.
‘Nice outfits,’ she said.
‘Thanks,’ said Zac.
Colt stared out his window. They might be nice fancy-dress outfits, he thought, but they were the silliest superhero disguises ever. He was still smarting from being called Bozo.
They drove out through the school gates, squeezing past a big truck coming the other way. Birdy nudged his arm. It was the rhino truck from the circus on its way to collect Assam. Colt wondered if his mum was inside. He wished he could warn her about what was in the tree.
‘Where do you guys live?’ asked Officer Steve.
Zac gave his address.
‘What about your two mates?’
Colt had to think fast. He didn’t want to go back to the circus yet. He and Birdy still had a panther to catch.
‘We live just along here,’ he said. ‘It’s the, um, third house past the traffic lights.’
Officer Lauren slowed the car at the third house and turned into its driveway. The porch light was on, and a man and a woman were sitting outside in cane chairs. The man stood up when the police car pulled in.
Uh oh! thought Colt, undoing his seat belt. He tapped Birdy, who began unbuckling, too.
Officer Steve buzzed his window down and spoke to the couple on the porch. ‘There’s no need to be alarmed, folks. We’re just dropping your kids home.’
‘What kids?’ asked the man.
On the other side of the car, Colt popped his door open and slid quickly out. Birdy was right behind him.
‘Hey!’ cried Officer Lauren.
They raced out of the driveway and charged back along the footpath towards the traffic lights.
‘Come back here!’ yelled Officer Steve.
‘As if!’ giggled Birdy, running flat-out at Colt’s elbow.
Just before they reached the corner, Colt glanced over his shoulder and saw Zac come flying out of the driveway and set off after them. Idiot! he thought. The police knew Zac’s address – they could easily find out who he was. He should have stayed in the car. It came reversing out of the driveway with its tyres spinning and its red-and-blue lights flashing.
Colt and Birdy raced around the corner. They found themselves on the road that ran down past the school sports fields and the circus. About a hundred metres from the intersection, on the other side of the road, a wrecked car was being winched onto the back of a tilt-tray truck. Two police officers in reflective vests were directing traffic around it.
Colt grabbed Birdy’s arm and pulled her through a gate into someone’s front yard. There were no lights on in this house and no one was sitting outside. They dived out of sight behind a waist-high hedge.
Zac came pounding around the corner. He hadn’t seen them duck into the gate and went flying straight past.
Birdy poked her head up from behind the hedge. ‘Zac!’ she hissed. ‘We’re in here.’
He skidded to a stop. Instead of going back to the gate, Zac came crashing head-first over the hedge. He landed on top of Colt.
‘Owww!’
‘Sorry about that.’
As they struggled to untangle themselves, Colt realised he’d lost his clown’s wig. He snatched it off the ground and put it back on before the other boy had a chance to see his real hair.
‘Why did you follow us, you idiot?’ he asked.
Zac didn’t answer. His wig had come off, too, and he seemed to be looking for it. Colt found it and handed it back.
‘Thanks,’ Zac muttered, putting it back on. Then he resumed his search, scrabbling around in the darkness.
‘What have you lost?’ asked Birdy.
Zac pulled something out of the hedge. ‘This,’ he said. ‘You forgot your backpack, guys.’
Colt chewed his lower lip – it tasted of clown makeup. ‘Is that why you came after us?’
‘Yeah. You left it in the police car.’
They all froze as the car in question came crawling slowly past. It was no more than three metres away. Flashing red-and-blue light
s reflected on the dark windows of the house behind them. A powerful torch beam swung back and forth across the lawn, but it didn’t penetrate the hedge.
As soon as the police car had moved on, Colt placed a hand on the other boy’s arm. ‘I’m sorry for calling you an idiot, Zac.’
Zac sat back on his haunches, his white-painted face observing Colt in the darkness. ‘You know my name, what’s yours?’
‘Superclown.’
‘What sort of name is that?’
‘It’s a superhero name.’
‘I don’t get it,’ Zac said slowly.
Colt felt his face growing hot under his makeup. ‘I’m a superhero.’
Zac didn’t say anything for a few moments. He was probably trying not to laugh. ‘What’s your superpower?’ he asked.
‘I’m strong,’ Colt said.
‘How strong?’
Colt cautiously raised his head to peer over the hedge. ‘See that busted-up car down there?’
Zac and Birdy raised their heads, too. The car was on the back of the truck now. Officer Lauren had stopped her car next to it. She had her window open and was speaking to one of the officers directing traffic.
‘What about it?’ asked Zac.
‘I was there when it crashed,’ Colt said. ‘It was upside-down and some people were trapped inside. I had to tip it over to get them out.’
‘When did that happen?’ Birdy sounded surprised.
‘While you were getting the rope.’
Zac spent a few more seconds peering over the hedge. ‘Superheroes aren’t real,’ he said finally.
‘Watch the news tomorrow,’ Colt told him.
There had been lots of witnesses to the car accident. They would all want to tell their story about the amazing rescue. Superclown was going to be famous.
But right now, Colt was more concerned about what else was going to make tomorrow’s news.
How was the story about the escaped panther going to end?
It was frustrating. Colt wanted to get back to the school, but they couldn’t come out from behind the hedge while the police were still hanging around. Officer Lauren must have told the other two cops about them, because now they too were scanning the roadsides as they directed traffic around the accident site. All four cops were on the lookout for three kids dressed as clowns. Even at night, Colt, Birdy and Zac would be pretty easy to spot.