3

Mona’s attic bedroom in Grammie and Grandpa’s house looked just the way she’d remembered it from last summer. The bedspread was patterned with ducklings, and an old teddy bear that had been her dad’s was on the pillow. An envelope was propped up on the bear’s scruffy paws.

Inside it were three tickets to the circus and a note:

Happy early birthday!

These tickets include a behind-the-scenes tour to see Amazing, Fearsome, and Cute Animals with your favorite uncle.

See you Sunday!

Love,
Uncle Matthew

Uncle Matthew was Mona’s dad’s younger brother. Except for their red hair and bright blue eyes, they were as different as two brothers could be. Mona’s father worked in an office and was always worried, but Uncle Matthew was a juggler in a circus and never worried about anything.

The circus traveled all over the country. Mona and her parents had seen it in their city the winter before. They’d watched Uncle Matthew juggle small bright balls and long striped batons. And when all the lights in the big top went off, Mona knew that the person in the middle of the ring, tossing flaming torches high into the blackness, was her very own uncle Matthew.

Early on Sunday morning, Mona’s mother and father took a taxi back to the airport. Mona wouldn’t see them again until the end of the summer. For a minute, she felt very alone.

Then Grammie’s hand, warm and comforting, wrapped around hers. Buck, the sort-of border collie, nosed her a ball to throw, and Grandpa said, “Four more hours till the circus!”

Excitement chased the loneliness right out of her body.

It was the best circus Mona had ever seen. Clowns tumbled, poodles rolled barrels, and Uncle Matthew, juggling silvery rings, danced on tall stilts. The lion trainer cracked his whip, and the lion roared back, his tail swishing angrily. The McNeils’ seats were so close they could see his pink tongue and sharp, pointed teeth.

Mona shivered, held her breath, and clapped till her hands were sore—but she never quite stopped wondering what she was going to see after the show.

Finally, when the rest of the audience was going home, full to the brim with amazement and popcorn, Uncle Matthew tapped Mona on the shoulder.

Mona and her grandparents followed him out of the big top, past the other tents and trailers, to one that smelled of hay and animals.

“Keep very quiet,” said the lion trainer as Uncle Matthew led Mona and her grandparents in.

A lioness was lying on the floor of a big cage, with four tiny cubs snuggled against her. She lifted her head and snarled at the strangers. Mona shivered. She didn’t need the lion trainer to tell her they shouldn’t go any closer.

The cubs were about as big as guinea pigs, with spotty golden brown fur. Their eyes were shut tight; they were blind and helpless, and Mona wanted to hold one more than she’d ever wanted anything in her whole life. She could nearly feel how soft and sweet they’d be to cuddle. It was hard to believe they were going to grow up to be fierce, roaring lions.

But the lioness was glaring, her teeth and eyes bright in the darkness as she warned them all to keep away from her cubs. All Mona could do was stand outside the cage and think how she would love them if she only had the chance.