Chapter Six

The show was heading towards its finale. In the middle of the big top, Georgia, Kylie and some of the others, dressed in various shades of green, were swinging round and round, on great multicoloured skeins of material known as silks. They were wearing ballet shoes and were poised en pointe. The effect was beautiful, as if a forest of slender, delicate trees were swaying gracefully in the wind under a series of falling rainbows. The music reached its dreamy climax as the girls spun faster and faster, until it seemed as if they might rise off the ground and take flight. The audience cheered in appreciation, and the Swans moved seamlessly into the very final sequence of the show. The audience were loving every minute. As the show ended and the final cheers died away at last, Olivia and the others ran excitedly into the girls’ dressing room.

“It may only have been nine people, but a standing ovation is a standing ovation,” said Georgia delightedly. Olivia, who was texting Tom to tell him about it, grinned and nodded.

“They loved it,” said Aeysha. “Particularly the silks. I love that bit so much, too. You all look so ethereal. Who would have thought that something so simple as people tumbling and swinging on lengths of material could be so magical?”

“It might look simple,” said Georgia, “but I’m hanging on for dear life.”

“But you don’t look as though you are,” said Aeysha. “You make it look easy. The whole sequence makes me feel tingly when I watch it.”

“It’s because of Kasha’s music,” said Eel.

“And Pablo’s lighting,” said Aeysha. “The way it throws shadows against the sides of the tent is brilliant. Really spooky.”

“And the way he and Jack have choreographed it all,” added Olivia.

“And,” finished Eel, “because we’re all so brilliant on the silks. Well, at least for beginners.”

“Yes,” said Alicia, who’d been listening in, amused. “For total beginners, you are all brilliant on the silks. The cleverness is in the way Jack has disguised your very considerable limitations and played to your strengths. There’s no one thing that makes that sequence so good, it’s the mix of all of them. Take just one element away and it would be distinctly average. The sum is more than the parts. But well done, everyone. I was glad to see you gave it your all, even for such a tiny audience. It’s a lovely show. One of the best the Swans have done.”

Olivia knew that was high praise coming from Alicia. When Olivia and Eel had first arrived at the Swan, their grandmother had dismissed the circus as having no value and had a grudge against it because it had taken Toni away from her and the London stage. Olivia was just beaming at her gran when the woman from the café came up.

“I just wanted to tell you how much my kids and I enjoyed the show,” she said. “I’ll be telling all my customers about it. Shame there were so few people here, it was magic!”

“I wish we could magic up some more,” said Eel, hopping from foot to foot.

“You don’t need magic for that, just a good show. Now you just need to let people know about it,” said the café owner. “You need to get busy leafleting and offering half-price tickets. Maybe even give some tickets away. That’s what everyone does in the first few days to get an audience and generate word of mouth. It’s an investment.”

Eel turned a cartwheel in her excitement.

“Mum, I want to learn how to do that,” said the café owner’s son, who was about Eel’s age.

“Me too,” said his sister, who was a couple of years older.

“I’ll teach you,” said Eel, and she started showing them what to do while the woman continued talking to Alicia and Jack, who had come to join them all.

The café owner smiled at Alicia. “It’s a pity there’s nowhere round here where my kids could learn circus skills. They’d love that.” She looked over to where her children were tumbling about with Eel and laughing. “Come on, you two, time to go,” she called, and they set off down the hill, calling their goodbyes over their shoulders.

Olivia stared after them. “That’s it!” she said, very suddenly and very loudly.

“That’s what?” asked Aeysha, puzzled. “What on earth are you talking about, Livy?”

“She’s started rambling,” said Eel. “Exhaustion must have softened her brain.”

“That’s what we need to do!” Olivia’s eyes were gleaming.

“But what is the what?” asked Jack, rubbing his eyes. He was very, very tired and there was still work to be done to re-rigg and secure the tent overnight. Although they’d be taking any valuables back to the campsite every evening, he was still concerned that the tent would be vulnerable at night. What they really needed was some overnight security but that was too costly.

“Circus-skills workshops!” said Olivia triumphantly.

Jack’s eyes lit up. Alicia’s face sharpened too, as if her brain had gone into overdrive.

Olivia continued. “We give free circus-skills workshops for kids who come to the shows. If the parents buy a family ticket, their children get a free workshop before the show or even the next day.”

Alicia and Jack looked at each other with mounting excitement. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Liv, you are a genius!” cried Jack.

“I think that’s going too far, Dad,” said Eel with a grin, “but it is a fab idea. Let’s do it.”

 

The next morning Olivia and the others were out early on the Royal Mile. They were giving out Swan Circus flyers that were so freshly printed they still smelled woody and inky. Olivia gave them a surreptitious sniff and decided that it was the scent of optimism. They’d had five thousand leaflets printed that morning at what had seemed such vast expense that Alicia had commented drily that clearly the only people getting rich in Edinburgh during August were printers.

Now the Swans were out in force on the streets before the afternoon performance, handing out the leaflets and trying to persuade people to come and see the Swan Circus. Some of the cast had gone down to the half-price Fringe ticket booth and others were out in costume, wandering the streets looking for likely punters.

Alicia advised them only to give the flyers to people who showed genuine interest. Eel had already persuaded a party of Guides and their leader to come to the afternoon show. The leaflets offered a two-for-one deal, but they’d also had a smaller number of flyers printed that offered completely free seats, as well as flyers for the circus-skills workshop.

“We ought to be heading back to Calton Hill,” called Aeysha. They’d all agreed to meet back at the big top at 2 p.m. to run through some parts of the show that needed polishing up a bit.

“Coming,” said Olivia.

They passed a newspaper seller, who was shouting out the headline news. “Daring jewel theft at Devlin Hotel. Thief gets away with priceless horde. Read all about it!”

“Hey, that’s the hotel where we saw those sisters and their dog yesterday,” said Georgia.

“Expect they were staking the place out,” said Olivia, laughing. They walked to the top of the Mound and started down the steps.

“Look,” said Olivia, pointing to where a crowd had gathered. “It’s that boy-magician we saw yesterday. Let’s go and see if he’s got a different routine.”

She ran down the steps as Aeysha called out, “We don’t have time!” after her. By the time she and Georgia caught Olivia up, she and Eel had already threaded their way to the front of the thong.

“I want you to choose a number,” the boy was saying. “Any number, maybe a favourite number, but for your own sakes make it a fairly simple one because you are going to do some arithmetic with it.” The boy paused. “Right, are you all thinking of a number?” The crowd nodded. “Don’t tell anyone your number, it’s your own personal secret number, and for you it’s going to be a magic number. Now double your number.” He paused briefly again. “Now add fourteen.” Some people, including Eel, frowned as they did the adding up.

The boy continued. “What I need you to do now is to divide this new number in two.” Lots of people in the crowd were frowning in concentration. “Almost there,” he said. “I promise, your brains will stop hurting soon. Now take away your original number from your new number, and you will all be left with another number. And I can tell you that the number you are all left with is the number seven.”

A ripple of amazement ran through the crowd and everyone applauded. The boy bowed several times. As the crowd drifted away, he started to pack up his things.

“Hello again,” said Olivia. The boy looked up and grinned. Once again, Olivia was struck by how much he looked like Jack.

“That’s clever but it’s not really magic, is it?” said Georgia shyly.

The boy smiled again. “You’re right, it’s more maths than magic,” he said. “But most people don’t really want to know how or why it works. They just want to be amazed.” He leaned forward and plucked an apple from behind Georgia’s ear before taking a bite out of it. Georgia looked so astonished that they all laughed.

“See, it’s a real apple, but you’ve allowed yourself to be deceived into thinking that it was behind your ear. What you saw and what you think you saw are two different things. The eyes and the brain play tricks on each other.”

“You’re the best magician I’ve ever seen,” said Aeysha.

“Are you in a show?” asked Olivia.

The boy shook his head and looked sad. “I wish,” he said bitterly, and he continued packing up his things.

“You could be in ours. You’d fit right in,” said Olivia, carried away by her enthusiasm, and she shoved a leaflet for a free ticket in his hand.

Aeysha and Georgia glanced at each other. They thought Olivia was being overhasty in offering the boy a chance to be part of the Swan Circus. “Livy…” said Aeysha uncertainly.

The boy looked at the leaflet and a strange look flitted across his face. He whispered, “A circus? You’re part of a circus?”

Olivia nodded eagerly.

“I’ve never even been allowed to see a circus,” he said, “so I can guarantee I’d never be allowed to actually be in one,” and he strode away without even saying goodbye.

They stared after him.

“That was a bit odd,” said Georgia. “He seemed really upset, almost angry.”

Olivia shrugged. “Does he remind you of anyone?” she asked, her voice casual.

“Um, not really,” said Georgia. “Oh, maybe – that bloke who does magic on the telly? But that boy’s better. He should have his own TV show.”

Aeysha was still watching the boy as he disappeared through the crowd. “I know who he looked like just then,” she said. “It was the same body language. He looked exactly like Eel when she’s in a terrible strop.”

Eel gasped indignantly. “Strop? Me? Never!” Everyone burst out laughing, except Olivia, who studied her little sister thoughtfully.