Sleepover Girls in the Ring

by Fiona Cummings

  Anyway, once me and Molly were away from each other, we started with the real circus stuff. But whereas I had hoped to be walking the tightrope at the very least, we were with Bobby the clown. That should have been cool, but he was making balloon elephants like we were at a kids’ party or something!

  “Boy, is this tame!” I whispered to Frankie. “We didn’t need to come here to learn how to do that. I thought we’d be learning all the good stuff!”

  Frankie ignored me, and Fliss went “Sshh!” and looked really annoyed.

  I gazed over to where Ailsa’s mum was teaching Molly’s group. Some of them were practising walking on their hands with a partner and some were testing out some baby stilts.

  “Hey, look at them!” I nudged Frankie again. “D’you think we’ll be doing that soon instead of this boring stuff?”

  I don’t know if Bobby the clown heard me or not, but he let go of the balloon he was holding and it ended up flying right in my face, making a disgusting noise.

  “Well, excu-u-use you!” he said, holding his pretend red nose and making it squeak. “You seem to have a bit of a wind problem!”

  The others fell about as though it was the funniest thing they’d ever heard.

  “So what’s your name?” Bobby asked.

  “Kenny,” I replied quietly.

  “Well Kenny, thank you for volunteering for this next section. Just step this way…”

  I had to go and walk round the ring after him, but he walked really strangely because of his big shoes and he made me do the same. At first I felt a right dill, but soon I got into it and started goofing around after him. Suddenly he stopped.

  “What’s that?” he yelled, pointing to the ceiling.

  I looked up and – SPLAT! He got me in the chops with a foam pie. He must have had it under his hat! The others were just about wetting themselves, and so was Molly’s group. I was seething, but I tried not to let anyone see. I just wiped a load of foam from my face and flung it in Molly’s direction. It actually landed on Edward Marsh’s neat cargo pants, which was just as satisfying.

  “I think Kenny deserves a big round of applause for being a good sport,” Bobby encouraged the others. “One of the first rules of being a good clown is to respond to others, and Kenny did just that. Well done!”

  I took a big bow and noticed that Molly wasn’t clapping. She was obviously dead jealous that I’d been praised like that. Maybe it wasn’t so bad that she was there after all… If she proved to be useless at circus skills, as I was sure that she would, then it would give me something to goad her about in future. And that could only be a good thing, couldn’t it?

  After that wobbly start, the rest of the day was excellent. The groups swapped over and Ailsa’s mum trained us in the basics of being acrobats. Fliss was ace at walking on her hands, but Frankie was a bit of a disaster – I think her feet were too heavy and kept making her fall over. It all seemed to come so naturally to Ailsa, who kept doing flick-flacks round the ring to encourage us.

  We’d all taken a packed lunch, and as we sat in the seats to eat it, the real circus performers came into the ring to practise. That was fantastic. The jugglers and the contortionists were there, but it was the trapeze artists who were amazing. They just swung about and did flips like it was no effort at all. Sometimes they swung across the ring on the first trapeze, then did a triple somersault or something, grabbing the second trapeze about a split second after another person had swung away from it. Whenever they finished a particular move, we all clapped and cheered. Fliss could just about bring herself to watch it because they had the safety net up.

  When Ailsa’s dad called us all back into our groups, he grinned. “So you’d all like to be trapeze artists, then?”

  “YES!”

  “Well, you know it’s taken these guys years and years to learn what you’ve just seen. We just couldn’t teach you that in a week,” he explained.

  We all went, “Aw!”

  “But for one afternoon only, Mischa and Katya, our most experienced trapeze artists, have agreed to give all those who want one, a go on the trapeze.”

  “Brilliant!”

  “Excellent!”

  “They’re lowering the trapeze for safety reasons,” Ailsa’s dad went on, “but I have to warn you, it still looks an awfully long way down. If you’re brave, have a go. If not, and I have to tell you that you’d never get me up there, Sally is going to be demonstrating unicycle skills and Simon will be leading the juggling classes.”

  “Come on, we’ve got to do this!” I urged the others.

  “OK,” said Frankie a little nervously. “I guess we’ll never get another chance.”

  Lyndz and Rosie both nodded their agreement.

  “Well, I’m staying right here to have a go on the unicycle,” Fliss told us firmly. “If it’s too scary for Ailsa’s dad, it’s too scary for me!”

  “Aw Fliss, come on, give it a go!” I encouraged her. “It’ll be perfectly safe – look, they’re lowering the trapeze right down. You’ll kick yourself when we’re all raving about how brilliant it is.”

  “Well that’s a chance I’m prepared to take,” Fliss sniffed, sounding just like her mum.

  “Right, all those who want a go on the trapeze, line up here,” Ailsa’s dad called. “There’s no need to push, everyone will get a go.”

  We all crowded over to the bottom of those scaffolding-like steps which trapeze artists have to climb up. I saw Molly rushing over too, so I elbowed her out of the way to make sure that I was in front of her in the queue. In fact, I elbowed everybody out of the way, so what do you know? I was the first in the queue.

  Standing at the bottom of the scaffolding, it looked an awfully long way to have to climb up. Butterflies started going crazy in my stomach. I couldn’t wait to have a go on the trapeze, but at the same time part of me wanted to run back and learn the unicycle with Fliss…

  “OK, who’s first?” Katya called down from the top.

  I started climbing with legs quivering like blancmange. It seemed to go on forever! I got level with the net, and still I had to climb up further until Katya reached out a hand and pulled me on to the tiny platform with her. I looked down, and kind of wished I hadn’t.

  “Are you ready?” asked Katya kindly. “First, just get a feel for the trapeze.”

  She held it out for me, and I grabbed on to it. It felt narrower than I’d expected.

  “Just swing out a few times and get the momentum going,” she advised. “Then Mischa will try to catch you. Don’t look down, just focus on your movement. And if you fall, just relax and make yourself all floppy – the safety net will do the rest. OK, are you ready?”

  I wasn’t sure, to be honest, but I nodded and took a couple of deep breaths. Then Katya pushed me gently away from the platform – and I was flying! It was just the best feeling ever!! It was like swinging in space with nothing else around. I swung once, twice, three times, and then I saw Mischa swinging towards me, upside down.

  “Next time, try and grab my hands,” he shouted.

  It looked kind of easy. But when I swung out again, I couldn’t let go.

  “Don’t worry, next time!” he called as I swung away from him.

  I braced myself. I could see him getting nearer and nearer. I let go, tried to grab his hand and… I was falling and falling, but I didn’t seem to be getting anywhere. The net wasn’t so far down, surely? I must have missed it and was falling right to the ground! I tried to scream but I couldn’t. Visions of ambulances and hospitals flashed in front of me. What if I didn’t make it? What if I was going to die?

  BOING! I hit the net and seemed to shoot back about twenty feet into the air. Then I started to laugh and giggle. That had been the most incredible experience! I’d have liked to stay bouncing on the net all day, but one of the other trapeze guys came and helped me off. Someone else was waiting to go at the top and they had to make sure that the net was clear below.

  My legs were shaking more when I climbed
down off the scaffolding than they had when I’d climbed up it. But this time they were shaking through sheer excitement.

  Fliss came rushing up to me.

  “Was it good?” she demanded. “What was it like?”

  “Amazing!” I panted. “Totally brilliant! You ought to do it.”

  “Look, Molly’s having a go!” Fliss pointed up.

  I’d only just looked up when Molly took hold of the trapeze, swung out half-way, then fell off.

  “Way to go, Molly!” I shrieked.

  Whilst some of the other kids were having a go, an ashen Molly staggered from the scaffolding.

  “Oh dear, scared of heights, are we?” I sniggered. “Does Edward Marsh know what a wimp you are, then?”

  “You weren’t as good as Kenny, were you?” taunted Fliss. “At least she managed a few swings on it. And she only just missed the other trapeze.”

  Molly narrowed her eyes at Fliss. “If you’re such an expert, you ought to show us all how it’s done. Go on, then! Or are you just a chicken with a big mouth?”

  She started to cluck. I could see Fliss getting hot and bothered and more and more agitated.

  “Cluck, cluck, chicken!” Molly squawked right in Fliss’s face.

  “Right!” Fliss yelled eventually. “I’ll show you!”

  And she stalked away towards the scaffolding.

  Now, you know as well as I do that Fliss just isn’t good with heights, or anything the tiniest bit scary. This could mean only one thing-DISASTER!

  “Come back, Fliss!” I shouted, chasing after her. “You don’t have to prove anything to my stupid sister!”

  Fliss turned and stared at me. She was red in the face. “No,” she snapped. “I’m going to do this thing. I am!”

  Lyndz and Rosie were at the bottom of the scaffolding, waiting to go up. It was Lyndz’s turn next.

  “Here Fliss – you can go now, if you want,” Lyndz called kindly.

  I pushed Fliss in front of Lyndz. I knew, just like Lyndz did, that if Fliss had to wait to go up she’d lose her bottle completely.

  “Next, please!” Katya called down.

  “Go on, Fliss!” we all urged her.

  And Fliss began her slow climb up the scaffolding.

  “What’s going on?” Frankie raced over to join us. She was still breathless from her turn on the trapeze, something I’d missed because I’d been so busy with Fliss. We explained about Molly.

  “But Fliss hates heights!” she gasped. “She’ll never even make it up the ladder!”

  We looked anxiously up the scaffolding.

  “She’s already up there!” Rosie gasped. “Boy, she must be mad to have climbed that far without throwing a wobbly!”

  Fliss was standing on the platform, as white as a sheet. I swear we could see her trembling, even from the ground.

  “It looks like she’s too terrified to even hold the trapeze!” Lyndz commented.

  “She’ll never do it,” Frankie predicted.

  “Just jump down, Fliss!” I yelled. “That’s the quickest way. It’s dead easy.”

  Fliss looked down, then quickly back up again.

  “Cluck, cluck, chicken!” went my stupid sister.

  “SHUT UP!” the rest of us yelled together.

  “I think Katya’s going with her,” Rosie said. “Look, they’re both on the trapeze together.”

  As we looked up, they both pushed off from the platform. And the strange thing was that Fliss looked dead composed then. She looked all graceful and natural, just like Katya did.

  “Crikey, Mischa’s swinging as well!” I told the others. “Well, that’s one way of getting Fliss to fall into the net, I suppose.”

  Mischa swung nearer and nearer until the trapezes were almost touching.

  “Now!” shouted Katya and Mischa together.

  We all held our breath. A figure fell down, down, down into the net. But it wasn’t Fliss. It was Katya! Fliss had actually made the leap and connected with Mischa’s outstretched hands – and was now swinging there with him!!

  The whole ring just burst into applause. All the performers who’d been practising themselves had stopped to watch Fliss once they’d realised how terrified she was. And now everyone was buzzing with excitement.

  “Don’t tell me she’s going to try a triple back flip now!” I grinned.

  But all the excitement had obviously got to Fliss, who suddenly let go and fell into the net. One of the other trapeze artists rushed over to make sure that she was OK, and helped her down the scaffolding. All the time he was telling her how great she was. Then Katya told her how brave she’d been, and Ailsa’s mum, and Ailsa’s dad, and Ailsa and Bobby the clown and about a million other circus performers too. By the time she reached us again, Fliss was so pumped up with compliments I thought she was going to burst. She kept saying:

  “Did you see me? Did you? I never thought I could do that! Never in a million years!”

  I was pleased for her, I really was. But by the time Lyndz and Rosie had had their turns on the trapeze (and had fallen off after a couple of swings each), I was kind of sick of Fliss telling me how brilliant she was. The only good thing about it was that I could tease Molly mercilessly about it that evening.

  “Yeah, well, let’s see how you and your sad little friends get on with all the other circus skills, shall we?” Molly snapped nastily. “Before you get too big-headed.”

  The next day at the circus, we tried loads of other new skills like juggling, plate-spinning, stilt-walking and unicycling. And the following day Ailsa’s dad called us all together.

  “You’ll find that you take to one skill more easily than the others,” he told us. “So this afternoon I’d like you to start focusing on your specialist skill. It’s better to perfect that rather than know how to do a little of everything. There’ll be a group for each circus skill we’ve covered already. Feel free to try all of them again, then go back to the one where you feel most comfortable. And that won’t necessarily be the one where your friends feel most comfortable,” he concluded, staring hard at Molly and me.

  “I feel most comfortable on the trapeze,” sighed Fliss. “But I don’t suppose that counts, does it? I mean, I know yesterday was just a one-off and everything, but I was obviously a natural.”

  The rest of us rolled our eyes,

  “No Fliss, I think you’ll have to pick something else,” Frankie told her.

  By the end of the afternoon, we’d all gone into different groups. But unfortunately I’d chosen to juggle, and so had Molly. I don’t know whether it was because there were quite a few of us in that group, or whether Ailsa’s dad had seen Molly and me looking daggers at each other, but he split the group into two and made sure that we were kept apart! But Lyndz was with me anyway, so that was cool.

  First we started by flipping one ball up and over into each hand. Then we added another. It worked better than with doughnuts, to be honest. Then, when we felt confident with the way that felt, we added a third ball. Lyndz and I were pretty dreadful. Our balls were flipping about all over the shop. One of mine even landed on one of the plates Fliss was learning to spin in the ring behind us. That didn’t go down too well, I can tell you. But then I didn’t take too kindly to Frankie crashing into me on her unicycle.

  “Watch it!” I yelled as I ended up on the floor with all my balls hitting me as they fell.

  “So-rree!” sighed Frankie, picking herself up. “This isn’t easy, you know!”

  But, with a bit of practice, we all started getting the hang of things. We even started trying to juggle with a partner. Lyndz kept giggling because she said I was sticking my tongue out and I kept putting her off.

  “I’m only concentrating,” I told her.

  But just at that moment I saw something which made me lose my concentration BIG time. It was Molly and Edward. They were juggling together, and they looked really good (although I hate to admit it). They’d got their timing right and everything, and they didn’t drop a ball once.<
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  “I don’t believe it!” I hissed to Lyndz.

  “Molly’s actually good at something! But why does she have to be good at it in front of me?”

  Before we went home, Ailsa’s dad called us all together again.

  “I have an important announcement to make!” he told us, grinning from ear to ear. “We’re all so thrilled about how well you’re doing that we want you all to perform in the circus on Saturday!”

  First there was an astonished hush. Then we all started chattering at once!

  “I can’t do that!” squeaked Fliss. “It’ll be too embarrassing!”

  “Get real, it’ll be brilliant!” I reassured her.

  “In the first half we want you all to open the show by demonstrating the skills you’ve all just been practising,” Ailsa’s dad continued. “Then we’d like you to open the second half of the show by being those great circus favourites – yes, we want you all to be clowns! You don’t have to do anything special, just run about in silly costumes and have a laugh.”

  How brilliant was that!

  We couldn’t talk about anything else all the way home. And when I did get home, Molly was already blabbing about the performance to Mum.

  “It’s going to be great, because me and Edward have this great routine worked out and…”

  “Nanananana,” I mimicked behind her back.

  Molly spun round. “Will you just shut up? You’re only jealous because you’re so useless!”

  “Oh, yeah? Well, at least I’m not all soppy and mushy over a stupid boy. I bet he’s really laughing at you behind your back.”

  “That’s it!”

  Before Mum could stop her, Molly had pushed me against the fridge and was yanking at my hair. I kicked her in the shins and left her writhing on the floor.

  “Stop it you two, now!” Mum shouted. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”

  She hauled us up by our ears and held us there like we were two stinky socks. “It might surprise you to learn that I make the decisions around here,” she told us angrily. “So if I decide, in my infinite wisdom, that you’re too naughty and downright unruly to even go back to the circus again, never mind to star in a performance, then my decision goes. Do you understand?”