I hadn’t told Molly about Ailsa. I suppose the fact that we weren’t really speaking to each other had something to do with that. In fact, every time we saw each other we just scowled and pulled faces. Molly didn’t even mention Edward stupid Marsh at mealtimes any more. But I could tell that she was excited about something, because she was always on the phone to her mates. Not that I could ever hear what she was saying, because whenever I went near her she hissed into the phone: “Scuzzball sister alert!” and shut up until I’d gone away again.
I didn’t care. I had something far more exciting to think about.
One day after school, Ailsa actually invited us back to the circus with her. First she took us into the caravan where she lived with her parents. It was absolutely amazing. It wasn’t like Jewel’s hippy caravan at the protest site earlier this year. It wasn’t like our tiny little holiday caravan, either. It was enormous! There seemed to be loads of room with a proper kitchen and two big bedrooms. They even had satellite TV!
Her mum was dead nice too. She apparently used to be a trapeze artist and an acrobat too.
“But I feel a bit long in the tooth for that these days!” she smiled.
“No way!” we all chorused. She looked even younger than Fliss’s mum!
“Ooh Ailsa, I like your friends!” Ailsa’s mum started shrieking with laughter. “They say all the right things!”
“I think Mum would really like to be a proper teacher. You know, like Mrs Weaver,” Ailsa confided to us over Coke and crisps when her mum had gone outside. “She’d make a brilliant games teacher anyway. She’s got loads of certificates for all the training she’s done.”
“Hey, she could teach us a few circus skills!” Frankie laughed. “That would be good practice for her. If she could cope with Kenny, she could cope with anyone!”
“Thanks very much!” I punched her lightly on the arm. “I think I’d be quite good on the trapeze, actually!”
Just then, a figure appeared in the doorway.
“Hiya, Dad!” Ailsa got up and gave him a hug. “These are my new friends from school.”
“Hello there!” the man beamed at us. It was only when he spoke that we recognised who he was. It was the Ringmaster! He was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, and he looked kind of different from when he was all done up in his red suit.
“Well, I guess you guys would like a quick tour, would you?” he asked.
“Yes please!” we chorused.
We slurped down our drinks and followed him into the Big Top. It felt a bit weird going inside when there wasn’t an audience. But there were loads of performers practising for that evening’s show. Jugglers were flipping balls over our heads, unicyclists were speeding up and down ramps, and the trapeze artists were practising their moves.
“They’ve got a safety net!” Rosie pointed.
“They always practise with the net,” Ailsa’s father explained. “They practise new moves all the time, and it’s only when they’re confident that they perform them in the shows without the net.”
“It still looks a long way down!” Fliss whispered. “You’d never catch me up there!”
“Oh, I’d love it!” I grinned, happily forgetting how scared I’d been watching the trapeze act on Lyndz’s birthday. “In fact, I’d love to do any of the stuff in the circus, it all looks so cool!”
Ailsa’s father smiled. “Well, cool or not, it needs lots of practice, doesn’t it, Ails? And I think that’s what you should be doing right now. You’ve got a show tonight, remember?”
Ailsa shrugged.
“Your friends can come by another time, don’t worry.” Her father ruffled her hair. “It’s been good to meet you all,” he said, turning to us. “Thanks for helping Ailsa to settle in so well here. It’s kind of tough for her when we move around so much, and it’s not always easy making new friends.”
Ailsa was rolling her eyes and looking dead embarrassed.
“No worries,” I told him. “We’ll just expect Ailsa to teach us all she knows about circus skills before she leaves!”
We were still buzzing with the excitement of having been behind the scenes at the circus when Ailsa ran into school the next morning. Her cheeks were all flushed and her eyes were sparkling. The M&Ms looked at her curiously, but she just ignored them and came flying up to us.
“You… circus… half-term!” she panted.
“Huh?” We stared at her.
“Calm down!” Frankie commanded. “And tell us again – slowly!”
“You… at the circus… half-term!” Ailsa was still too excited to get her words out properly.
“You want us to come to the circus at half-term?” asked Lyndz.
Ailsa nodded.
“You mean you’ll give us free tickets?” asked Rosie hopefully.
Ailsa shook her head. We all looked disappointed.
Ailsa started laughing. “No, it’s better than that!” she said excitedly, having finally recovered herself. “Mum and Dad say you can come and learn circus skills with us over half-term!”
We stared at her, totally stunned.
“D’you mean it?” I whispered at last, hardly able to believe my luck. “That’s brilliant!”
And we all started whooping and cheering and leaping around.
When the bell went, we kind of floated into the classroom. It was going to be SUPERB! I could see myself now, doing death-defying stunts on the trapeze and the crowd cheering wildly far below. I mean, I know that I want to become Leicester City’s star striker and everything, but there was nothing stopping me having a career in the circus first!
It was Fliss who brought us back down to earth. We were in the middle of the Numeracy Hour later that day when she suddenly gasped, “Oh no!” and went very pale.
“What’s up?” I hissed, but she couldn’t reply because Mrs Weaver was focusing her beady eyes on us.
When it was break time, we followed Fliss into the cloakroom where she slumped down on one of the benches.
“We can’t go to the circus at half-term,” she mumbled very quietly. “The Jam Doughnut Incident, remember? We’re not allowed to see each other outside school.”
The Jam Doughnut Incident! How could we have forgotten it?
“There’s no way Mum will let me go to learn circus skills,” Fliss moaned. “She’ll go ballistic if I even ask her.”
The rest of us looked at each other glumly.
“Our parents were pretty mad, weren’t they?” we agreed.
“Look,” I said firmly, trying to be upbeat. “We’ve got to give this our best shot. I mean, it’s not every day that professionals volunteer to teach us circus skills, is it? Think positive!”
The others looked about as positive as I felt when we left each other that afternoon. I kept rehearsing in my mind how I should tell Mum about our plans for half-term. But there never seemed to be the right time to bring it up because Molly the stupid Monster was always there. And I was determined that she shouldn’t find out about it. The last thing I needed was for her to mess things up for me.
You can tell how desperate I was when I actually volunteered to help with the washing-up after dinner. Everyone looked at me suspiciously, and Molly mouthed “Creep!” as I carried the plates into the kitchen.
“So Kenny, what do you want?” asked Mum, swishing the plates around in sudsy water.
“What?” I gasped, looking shocked. “Can’t I help my own mum with the washing-up if I want to?”
“Well, you could, Kenny,” Mum agreed. “But the only time you ever do is when you want something.”
“OK, I’ll come clean!” I giggled, pointing at the dirty water. Then I got serious. “Well you see, the thing is…”
I checked that Molly wasn’t anywhere around and closed the door before continuing.
“Ailsa is this girl who belongs to Circus Jamboree and she’s in our class for a term. We’ve kind of been looking after her and making sure she settles down at school. Well, yesterday we met her parents, an
d they said they’d like to teach us circus skills in the half-term holiday.”
“Oh?” Mum raised her eyebrows. “You mean they volunteered, just like that?”
“Yes – well, no. Ailsa’s mum teaches the people in the circus how to be acrobats, and we said how much we’d like to learn.”
“Hmm,” Mum looked doubtful. “Is it safe?”
“Oh yes!” I promised. “Ailsa’s mum is fully trained, and Ailsa’s dad is really hot on safety.”
“Hmm,” Mum said again.
“Well?” I asked. “Can I go?”
“I don’t know.” Mum wiped her hands on a towel. “We did agree that after that last catastrophe we were going to keep you apart for a while, didn’t we?”
“But Mum—” I moaned.
“But Mum nothing,” Mum said crisply. “I’m going to have to think about this.”
“Well, you won’t mention it to Molly, will you?” I pleaded. “I don’t want her sticking her nose in.”
I dragged myself upstairs and flung myself on the bed. I couldn’t see what Mum’s problem was. I mean, it was Fliss’s mum who had blown the Jam Doughnut Incident out of all proportion. It wasn’t our fault that she can be so neurotic sometimes. I consoled myself with the fact that the others must be having the same grief from their oldies. But I was wrong about that too.
When I got to school the next day, Frankie, Lyndz and Rosie were all chattering to Ailsa.
“It’s going to be so great next week, isn’t it Kenny?” Frankie grabbed me excitedly. “Who’d have thought we’d be learning how to juggle and stuff, in a real Big Top?”
All the air seemed to get sucked out of me, and it took a few moments before I could find my voice.
“What? You mean you’re allowed to go?” I gasped.
“Well, yes,” Frankie said, sensing that something was wrong. “Izzy has colic and Mum’s really tired. I think she thought it would give all of us a break if I did something with you lot during half-term.”
“Oh,” I mumbled. “Can you go, Lyndz?”
“Yep,” Lyndz nodded, smiling. “Our house is always a bit crazy during school holidays with there being five of us at home. And when I told Mum about being able to go to the circus every day, she leapt at the idea.”
“Yeah, I think my mum thought it would be cheaper if I was there rather than being at home,” Rosie admitted. “She’s just splashed out on new throws and rugs and stuff for the lounge, and I think she’s a bit strapped for cash now. And if I’m at home, we’ll only end up going shopping or ice-skating or something. So she was kind of relieved when I told her about Ailsa’s parents teaching us circus skills.”
“I see.” My misery had just multiplied.
But at least Fliss understood how I felt. When she arrived she was almost in tears.
“Mum says there’s no way I can come along to the circus next week,” she sobbed. “I bet she won’t even let me out of the house!”
So that meant that all the others would be having the time of their lives, and I would be stuck at home with not even Fliss to mess about with. It was so unfair.
At break time, Frankie pulled me aside as the others went to get their coats.
“It won’t be any fun without you next week,” she whispered. “You’ve got to get your mum to change her mind. Do you want my mum to have a word with her?”
That was the best suggestion anybody’d had for ages. I mean, Frankie’s mum’s a lawyer! If anyone could put up a persuasive argument for me to be allowed to learn circus skills with the others, it was her.
“It’s got to be worth a try,” I shrugged.
I tried to be cool about it, but all evening I was in a permanent state of panic just waiting for the phone to ring. I had a couple of false alarms when patients called wanting Dad’s advice. But third time lucky. I knew it was Frankie’s mum on the phone when Mum said “Hello, Helena,” then didn’t manage to say anything else except “yes”, “no” and “I agree” for the next half an hour.
When she came off the phone I dived out of the lounge to see what she’d decided – only for her to shoo me away whilst she made another phone call. I was desperate to know what was going on. I mean, my happiness depended on her decision! But did she put me out of my misery? No, she did not. She was still on the phone when I went to bed. And in the morning I didn’t have a chance to ask Mum either because we were in such a rush and Molly was always there.
I felt terrible when I got to school, especially when I saw Fliss leaping about with the others in the playground.
“Great, that’s all I need,” I told myself through gritted teeth. “Little Miss Prissy can go to the circus and I’m the only one who can’t.”
As soon as they saw me the others all came hurtling towards me.
“Isn’t it great?” they squealed.
“Marvellous!” I said sarcastically.
“Aren’t you pleased that you’re coming to learn circus skills too?” Ailsa looked at me, amazed. “I thought you wanted to.”
“But…”
“You don’t know, do you?” shrieked Fliss.
I shook my head, dazed.
“My mum rang your mum and told her that everyone was going and we’d all promised to be on our best behaviour,” gabbled Frankie. “So your mum rang Fliss’s mum and they both agreed that you two could come as well!”
“YESSS!” I clenched my fists in a victory salute. I was going after all!!
The following week on the Monday morning, the five of us met outside Circus Jamboree. Ailsa’s father opened the gates and let us through. Then he looked up and down the road.
“You’re eager beavers!” he grinned. “Come on through, we might as well wait for the others in the Big Top.”
He led the way towards the circus tent.
“Others?” We looked at each other.
“He must mean the other circus performers,” Rosie said. “Maybe we’ll be practising with them.”
The Big Top seemed even larger than when we’d last been in it. There was no-one else about, until Ailsa appeared.
“Hi there.” She was looking a bit sheepish. “There’s something I’d better tell you…”
“Your mum’s not ill, is she? We can still learn circus skills?” I asked anxiously.
“Yes, but—”
Ailsa was interrupted by a volley of laughter. More people were entering the tent.
“The rest of the group’s already here,” Ailsa’s father was saying breezily.
We all looked at each other. There must have been some mistake! We hadn’t planned to meet anyone else. We turned round to see who had joined us – and I got the shock of my life.
“Molly?” I shrieked. “What are YOU doing here??”
I just couldn’t believe my eyes. I thought at first that Molly was playing a trick on me, but you could tell from the expression on her face that she hadn’t been expecting to see me either.
“So,” I glared at her. “What are you doing here?”
“Erm, that’s what I wanted to tell you.” Ailsa had sidled up beside me. “The older kids from the circus found out that you lot were coming, and asked whether their new classmates could come too.”
“Yeah, André invited us, ice-cream girl!”
Standing grinning before me was the loathsome Edward Marsh. I just knew that he had to be involved in this somewhere. Beside them was a tall, dark-haired boy with olive skin. I kind of remembered seeing him in the circus, but Molly had never mentioned that he had joined their class.
“I really do not believe this,” I hissed under my breath, and went back to join my friends.
“I’m sorry,” Ailsa kept saying. “I only found out that there were other people coming last night. And by then it was too late to warn you.”
“It’s not the other people we mind,” I told her. “It’s my stupid sister and her gruesome boyfriend.”
“Well, maybe if you and Molly were actually talking to each other this might not have happened,” Fra
nkie suggested coolly.
Ailsa’s father clapped his hands for our attention. He was standing with Ailsa’s mum and this clown who was wearing an enormous blue wig, a shiny hat and the longest shoes you’ve ever seen.
“I’m the Ringmaster at Circus Jamboree,” he said to everyone, “which means it’s my job to keep everything running smoothly. So first I’m going to split you into two groups…”
Frankie, Lyndz, Rosie, Fliss and I grinned at each other.
“… but I thought it might be fun if we mixed you up a bit so you could make new friends.”
We all looked at each other in horror!
Ailsa’s dad started pointing at us. “You lot go in that group over there with my wife Carina, and the rest of you go and stand with Bobby the clown.”
This whole thing was rapidly turning into a nightmare! Ailsa’s dad had only put me in a group with Fliss, Ailsa, two other girls I didn’t know and, wait for it – Molly the big ugly Monster. I mean, come on! There was no way I was going to spend half-term week with her!
It was pretty obvious that she felt the same, because she snarled as soon as she joined me. Then, when she thought no one was looking, she pinched my leg, hard. I yelped, then I pinched her back, harder. To start with, no one realised what was going on. But by the time we had progressed to thumping each other and yanking each other’s hair, everybody had wised up to the fact that we really couldn’t stand being in the same group.
When Ailsa’s dad and Bobby the clown finally pulled us apart, Molly and I stood panting, scowling at each other. Ailsa’s dad looked horrified.
“Well, I didn’t realise that splitting you up would lead to the outbreak of World War Three. I think maybe we’d better stick to the groups you came in.”
We all reassembled. He went on rather sharply:
“Can I just say that we don’t have animals of any description in this circus, and what we just witnessed looked very much like a cat fight to me. If there’s a performance like that again, I’m afraid you can all say goodbye to learning circus skills. Is that understood?”
We all nodded sheepishly, and I felt really bad. I mean, Ailsa’s family were putting themselves out for us here, and we’d already spoilt it. Although Molly had started it, of course.
Sleepover Girls in the Ring Page 3