Just as Mr Chipchase feared, the evening papers weren’t kind. ‘TRAPEZE ARTIST IN TERRIFYING PLUNGE,’ they said, and worse, ‘CHILD USED AS REPLACEMENT ACT,’ which wasn’t even true. It was a bitter blow, and hardly helped my case. Yet Mr Chipchase rose above it. He put on his tartan waistcoat and declared tonight’s performance would be a paper house show, which meant free tickets for all. Despite the headlines, few punters could resist. The big top was full in no time.
And to my very great surprise, I was asked to perform.
My excitement lasted all of ten seconds.
‘It’s a simple routine,’ Mr Chipchase said. ‘How hard can it be?’
Aghast, I’d tried to tell him. ‘Sir, please, Pip can’t do tricks. He ain’t that sort of dog.’
Which was putting it politely. Wild foxes were more obedient than my Pip. But Mr Chipchase’s mind was set. There’d be no high-wire walking, not even a trapeze, just safe, sweet things to win the punters over. And Pip and me doing tricks was part of the plan.
Even Jasper saw the funny side, though it hurt his ribs to laugh. ‘You two, a buffer act? Crikey! Times are hard!’
He was closer to the truth than he knew.
My costume didn’t help. I’d found myself a blue satin jacket and top hat, packed away in a trunk. It wasn’t perfect but with my hair brushed and gleaming, I looked quite the part. So did Pip in his matching bow tie. Yet Mr Chipchase was horrified.
‘Great god! You’ll be recognised!’ he cried.
‘I thought that was the idea.’
Weren’t we showing a child performer all safe and happy? Weren’t we trying to prove the do-gooders wrong?
‘Find yourself a clown suit,’ Mr Chipchase ordered. ‘And for goodness’ sake cover up your hair.’
So waiting backstage, I felt nervous AND ridiculous. The only clown suit I’d been able to find was the vilest shade of horse-dropping green, with arms and legs so long I had to roll them up. Mr Chipchase also insisted I plait my hair and hide it under a hat. The whole get-up made me hot and prickly. Not so Pip, who seemed quite at ease in his bow tie.
In the final seconds, I went over our routine: dog walk, dead bodies, murder hunt, justice. Mr Chipchase was right: how hard could it be? If this went well tonight, it might lead to bigger things. Anything was better than selling tickets and sewing for Kitty Chipchase. Even Blondin must have started somewhere.
Through a chink in the curtain, a blur of horse went past. Rosa was on her last lap of the ring. The crowd roared in delight, whooping and whistling and slapping their thighs. I tried not to think of last night, and the different sounds the crowd made then. The curtain flicked open. Rosa appeared, pink-cheeked as she clapped her horse Moonbeam on the neck.
‘Didn’t he do well?’ she grinned, sliding to the ground.
I must have looked dazed because she nudged me.
‘On you go then.’
I glanced down at Pip. He fixed his eyes on me. One nod and he trotted into the ring like he was off on a morning stroll. I tucked our props under my arm and went after him.
The lights in the ring were fierce. I’d seen them hundreds of times, but being underneath them made me blink. The smell hit me too: sawdust, damp grass, animal sweat. And the stench of five hundred bodies all cramped together on benches around the edge of the ring.
Only the very front row was lit. We called this the pit; it was where the posh sorts sat, and tonight all the seats were taken. Ladies dressed in their finest silks sat with men in top hats. There were children too, eating toffee and swinging their legs.
Mighty Ned cleared his throat. ‘Ladies and Gentlemen . . .’
I took my spot, ready as I’d ever be. Pip sat at my side. Putting down my props, I gave my head a quick scratch. This hat was awful itchy. The crowd was still buzzing from Rosa and Moonbeam’s equestrian skills. They hadn’t quite noticed us yet, so I did what I’d seen the other performers do; I waited for the punters to settle. That moment of shifting and rustling felt like forever.
I kept still, my heart going boom boom inside me. But Pip was getting restless. He yawned, showing the speckled inside of his mouth. Then he put a paw over his eyes and lay down. People cottoned on. They started to laugh.
Mighty Ned joined me in the middle of the ring, facing the audience with his arms spread wide, turning slowly so everyone saw his bright scarlet coat. The hubbub died away.
‘And . . . now . . .’ said Mighty Ned, pausing between words for that extra bit of drama, ‘ladies . . . and gentlemen . . . be amazed . . . be very amazed. For here we have a dog who can . . . really and truly . . . SOLVE CRIME!’
‘Ha ha! Believe it when I see it!’ some charlie called out.
‘Now then . . . a little respect, please . . . because ladies and gentlemen . . . I give you . . . THE GREAT DOG DETECTIVE!’
A roll of drums, a smattering of applause, and the tent went silent. The limelights were on me.
This was it!
Smiling to the crowd, I flourished my arms. The knot in my belly loosened a little. First, we did a lap of the ring, while Mighty Ned took charge of the storytelling.
‘One fine day, a girl and her dog went for a jolly little walk.’
The crowd went ‘aaah’ at Pip, all jaunty at my side.
‘Everything was splendid until . . .’ A drum roll sounded, ‘. . . they took a shortcut through the woods. Soon they were lost.’
The audience ‘ooohed’ and ‘aaahed’ some more.
‘Watch yourself, girlie!’ someone cried.
It was working: they seemed to like us. I allowed myself a little smile. We walked down the middle of the ring, Pip weaving in and out of my legs. A flick of my hand and Pip stopped. I gave him the eye and he spun round on the spot, once, twice and then stood still. The crowd clapped.
Good boy. First trick done.
I felt myself glow with pride.
The lights darkened. Inching nearer the props, I reached out with my foot for the straw-stuffed sack that served as a body. I hesitated, thinking of Jasper. Last night he’d been lying here for real. It wouldn’t do to think of that now. With a quick kick, I positioned the sack where I wanted it, in a heap at the edge of the ring.
‘It was night-time,’ Mighty Ned went on, ‘so the girl and her dog decided to get some sleep.’
I lay down on my side. The audience chuckled. Opening one eye, I saw Pip standing over me, looking worried.
‘Lie down!’ I hissed.
He wagged his tail.
‘Down!’
Someone in the front row rustled a toffee paper. Pip’s head swung round. I gritted my teeth.
‘Pip!’
He looked at me again, reading my face, and laid himself down like he was meant to.
‘But something woke the little dog. He spied a person hiding in the trees. The person ran away, but what he’d left behind . . . was . . . a . . . BODY!’
A click of my fingers and Pip sprang to his feet. He set off across the ring, barking and yapping till he found the ‘body’. He was meant to stand by it, paw raised, looking clever. Instead, he shook it like it was a giant rat. The crowd laughed. Grabbing hold of the other end, I hissed at him to drop it. But to him it was all a game and he dug his teeth in deeper. A ripping noise soon followed. I fell backwards with half the sack in my hands. The audience roared. I wanted to die on the spot.
Quickly things went from bad to worse. Pip got bored and wandered off. The audience grew tired of us too. People turned in their seats to speak to friends in the crowd. Some started slow clapping and calling out names. I took my bows with a heavy heart.
*
Back at the wagon, Jasper was awake.
‘Well?’ he said, propping himself up on one elbow.
‘Don’t ask.’ I tugged off the wretched clown suit, flinging it onto my bunk. ‘It couldn’t have gone worse.’
‘It was your first show. Tomorrow should be better.’
I snorted. ‘Tomorrow? This was my big chance to impress Mr Chipchase and I’ve ruined it.’
‘There’ll be other chances, Louie.’
Jasper was trying to be kind, but it just made me crosser. ‘Not likely! That’s the end of it for me.’
I yanked on my nightgown and wrenched my hair from its stupid plaits. Then I sat by the stove, staring at the ashes. Slowly, I began to calm down. Maybe Jasper was right; tomorrow might be better. And if it wasn’t, then I’d have to convince Mr Chipchase of my real talent, if only he’d let me use it.
Behind me, Jasper winced. I felt awful guilty then for tending my own silly thoughts.
‘Don’t fuss,’ he said as I went to help him sit up.
‘Huh! That’s rich coming from you.’
Once I’d got his pillows comfortable, I made us a pot of tea, and cut the rabbit pie Rosa had brought by. We ate far too much of it, or at least Pip and me did. And as I licked my fingers clean then settled down in my bunk, everything seemed a little bit better again.
Then, out of the blue, Jasper said, ‘I’m sorry you’re having to look after me, Louie. It’s supposed to be the other way round.’
I rolled over to face him. He lay staring up at the roof.
‘We look after each other,’ I said. ‘You’re my family, Jasper, so that’s how it works.’
Except it didn’t, not with my real flesh and blood who’d abandoned me. I tried to push the thought from my mind.
‘What’s the matter, Louie?’ said Jasper.
He looked directly at me now. I reached for his hand but couldn’t quite meet his eye. ‘I’m all right,’ I said. ‘Pip and me need more practice, that’s all.’
‘This isn’t just about dog tricks, is it?’
My stomach turned queasy. Maybe it was the pie. Or maybe it was because I’d never told him about the tightrope. It was my secret. Though now Ned knew of it, and Mr Chipchase and his rotten daughter, it was hardly a secret at all. Yet if I told Jasper he’d only fret. Better to wait until he was well.
‘You say I’m your family,’ Jasper said, ‘yet we never talk about your real family, do we?’
I stiffened. ‘No.’ Pulling my fingers free, I got out of bed.
‘Perhaps it’s time we did,’ he said.
This was far worse than talking tightropes. I started slamming plates onto shelves for a distraction. Pip slithered under my bed. Behind me, I sensed Jasper waiting for an answer. ‘Not tonight,’ I said.
Or any other night.
I’d nothing to say about her, that woman who’d left her own child with strangers. She’d forgotten me. And I’d best forget her.
‘Perhaps tomorrow, then,’ said Jasper.
‘I don’t think so.’
‘We could at least try . . .’
‘Why?’ I picked up the teapot and banged it down again. ‘Mr Chipchase told me she was meant to come back for me. So where is she, eh?’
Jasper sighed. ‘I don’t know. But you mustn’t give up hope. She might still return.’
‘Don’t make me laugh!’
By now I’d run out of things to slam, so I shook my blankets. Jasper reached out and took my arm, forcing me to stop and face him.
‘That’s enough, Louie.’
Letting go of me, he sank back on his pillows. I sat down. For a while neither of us spoke. Eventually I said, ‘Do you want some more tea?’
‘No.’
‘Your medicine?’
‘Not yet.’
‘What, then?’
‘I want you to be happy. Good things will come along, you’ll see.’
I took his hand again. ‘But you’re my good thing, Jasper.’
It was enough. Almost.
There was no point feeling sorry for myself. Things were changing around here; I mustn’t forget it. Jasper would get well again. And Mr Chipchase might finally listen and make me a showstopper.
Yet what if Jasper was right and Mam did come back? I felt a sudden rush of panic. Some things were too much to hope for. Thinking this way was no use to anyone.