The opening ceremony of the circus was held in the biggest tent that Pru had ever seen. It was created by linking several of the smaller circus tents together, so it had kind of a mismatched feel to it, like a huge billowing patchwork quilt.

The evening began with a parade.

“I’m here!” Pru waved at Abigail and Lucky from the stands. Since Pru was doing an exhibition act, she wasn’t in the parade, but her friends were. They were carrying the flag of El Circo Dos Grillos in the welcome pageant. Solana was with them. She was riding her own horse, Luna, and was carrying a candle.

Pru had finished practicing early with Boomerang because Abigail needed to get him ready. That worked out fine, because she wasn’t really practicing much anyway, more like staring at Boomerang, hoping the horse might have a clever idea for their performance. Boomerang wasn’t helpful. He ate the grass while Pru wrote terrible, horrible, rotten ideas in her diary. She’d actually ripped out the page in the end, because there was nothing good on it.

Shaking off the feeling that she’d wasted the day, Pru found a seat in the front row of the stands. She wanted to be close to the action, where her friends could hear her cheer. She planned to be the loudest!

There was an empty seat next to Pru.

“Can I sit here?” a woman asked politely.

Pru glanced up to see Lydia Sebastian standing over her, pointing at the spot on the bench.

“Uhhh…” She felt so uncomfortable, as if she were talking to a big celebrity. She steadied her nerves because this was a good opportunity to talk to the reporter, without Catalina. In fact, Pru took a good look around: Catalina wasn’t anywhere in sight. It was a big tent, but still…. Pru didn’t think she was at the celebration.

Lydia introduced herself.

“I’m Pru,” Pru replied. Since they’d never met before, she added, “I’m the clown act for El Circo Dos Grillos.”

“I look forward to seeing your act,” Lydia said. There was a kindness in her voice that made Pru smile. “Got anything special planned?”

“Sure,” Pru said, pinning a smile on her face. “Lots of things. Big things. Interesting things. Big and interesting things.” Ack. She was sounding more like Abigail than herself. Pru tried to relax.

“That all sounds great,” Lydia told her. “I’m a reporter,” she said, as if Pru didn’t know already. “Maybe I’ll write about you in the paper.”

Pru held up two fingers and twisted them together. “Hope so.”

Pru was trying to think of something else to talk about, when loud music suddenly filled the tent.

“It’s starting,” Lydia said, taking out a pen and paper from her bag. “I love the opening ceremony, don’t you?”

“I’ve never been to a gathering like this before,” Pru admitted. “My friends are in the parade, but I don’t know what else to expect.”

“It’s not a normal parade,” Lydia told her. “Be prepared to be surprised!”

Lucky and Abigail hadn’t told her about anything special they were planning. But then again, Pru had been pretty absorbed in her own act and worries. Now she wondered what Lydia was talking about. She leaned forward in her seat as the flaps at the back of the tent opened and the opening ceremony exhibition began.

Lydia was right. This wasn’t a normal parade. Pru had thought that everyone would just march around the ring, on foot or horseback, waving flags and cheering for the circuses. But it wasn’t like that at all.

From the instant the tent flaps opened, acrobats came in flipping cartwheels. They leaped and tumbled and landed on one another’s shoulders, making a human tower five people high!

“Which circus is that?” Pru asked Lydia.

Lydia grinned. “They’re all from different circuses! That’s the best part.”

Pru couldn’t believe she didn’t know that there had been groups meeting from mixed-up circuses to put on their shows today. Had Lucky and Abigail been working with other groups? Pru realized she didn’t always know what they were doing when she was practicing with Boomerang.

Above her head, trapeze artists began swinging. Pru could see now that this was also a mixed-up circus group. No one had the same costume on, and yet, they were fabulous!

Lydia said, “They can’t do the most impressive tricks here, because those take time to learn, but flipping and catching off the trapeze bars into the arms of someone you barely know is really impressive!”

Pru agreed. The same went for the tightrope acts—they didn’t do their hardest stuff; they saved that for their main performance during the weekend, but the trust the performers showed to their counterparts in other circuses was incredible. El Circo Dos Grillos had amazing tightrope walkers, including Solana. Solana wasn’t performing, but her parents were there, high above the audience. They shared the spotlight with performers from four other big tops, and everyone cheered!

When it was time for the flags, Lucky led the way. She was holding their circus flag and standing, one foot on Chica Linda and one on Spirit. Pru had seen Lucky do tricks like this a thousand times, but when she flipped over and jumped, still standing, onto a strange horse that had moved in next to her—a horse from another circus—Pru was so impressed that she jumped to her feet and cheered.

Spirit didn’t allow other riders on his back, so he stayed beside Lucky. But Chica Linda let a boy from the Russian River Circus ride her, and then the rider leaped from horse to horse while moving. The boy landed, firm footed, on a black stallion, and a new girl landed on just one foot, balanced on top of Boomerang. Abigail had started on Boomerang herself and then suddenly was riding the stallion. Pru hadn’t even seen her move there, it was so fluid.

The horses stayed together, riding fast and in unison, while the riders played leapfrog on their backs. It was dangerous and exhilarating. All the riders held tightly to their circus’s flag, and the horses were dressed in the circus’s colors.

Suddenly there was a loud cheer from the seat next to her, and Pru saw that Lydia was also standing and cheering. Pru had thought she’d be the loudest, but Lydia was good cheer competition! They stood together, shouting and howling and clapping and—through their similar enthusiasm—becoming friends. By the time Lucky landed back on Spirit and Abigail swung up onto Chica Linda, Pru and Lydia were hugging each other, jumping up and down together.

“That was the most amazing horseback riding I’ve ever seen!” Lydia said, making notes on her paper as the horses and riders passed them and rows and rows of trained dogs came barking past.

Pru smiled. “The rider in front was my friend Lucky with her horse, Spirit.” She pointed to Abigail, now sitting back on Chica Linda. “And that’s Abigail. We’re the PALs: Pru, Abigail, and Lucky,” she explained proudly.

“Maybe I can talk to them later?” Lydia asked. “For the article? Would they be open to an interview?”

At first, Pru felt a little pang of jealousy. She hadn’t considered that Lucky and Abigail might get in the newspaper. Would there be room for all of them? How could she make her parents proud if she wasn’t in the paper, too?

But then, as quickly as the jealous feelings came, they left. “I’d be happy to introduce you!” she said. “You should meet the horses, too!”