Hetty Feather (6 page)

Jem pulled me out of the door and leaned me up
against the side of the pigsty. 'I'll take you to the
circus tomorrow, Hetty,' he said.

'Oh, Jem! You really will? But how will you get
the money?'

'I think I know a way of getting in without
needing any money,' he whispered, tickling my ear.

'But the comic man said sixpence for adults,
threepence for children,' I said.

'I know, I know. But Nat told me a way to get in
for nothing,' he hissed.

'Oh! Truly? Then let's go now!'

'No, no, we can't go now, Mother would know.
This is a bad, secret way, Hetty. We will get into
terrible trouble if we are caught,' Jem said, looking
wretched. 'Perhaps we shouldn't try. I should set
you a good example.'

'Oh no, we
must
go! I don't care if we do get into
trouble. I want to go to the circus so badly, Jem.'

'I know. And so do I,' said Jem.

'And Gideon does too,' I said.

'Yes, I know, but I don't think we can risk taking
Gideon. He will only start wailing or tell Mother,'
said Jem. 'This has to be our secret, Hetty.'

'Our secret,' I repeated solemnly.

'What are you two up to?' said Mother, coming to
the back door with a bucket of potato peelings for
the pig.

'Oh, we – we were just playing circus, Mother,'
said Jem. 'Hetty was pretending that our Polly Pig
was the elephant.'

'Yes, yes, and I am the lady in pink spangles on
her white horse,' I said, hitching up my skirts and
galloping round and round.

Mother sniffed. 'No more talk of circuses, you
silly pair. Hetty, you feed that pig, and Jem, you run
up to the top field to see if Father needs a hand with
the horses.'

'Yes, Mother,' said Jem, rushing off.

'Yes, Mother,' I said too, taking the bucket of
peelings. 'Here, Elijah Elephant, eat up – you need
to grow a long wavy trunk,' I said, patting our pig
on her snub nose.

'Oh, Hetty, you and your picturing,' said Mother.
'Still, at least you've stopped pestering. You can be
a good little lass when you really try hard.'

I fidgeted under Mother's warm gaze because I
was intent on being as
bad
a little lass as I possibly
could. I held my tongue obediently that evening,
though Gideon talked non-stop about the circus.
He pranced about the table, twirling round and
pointing his toes, till Father groaned and gave him
a prod.

'Stop that silly flouncing nonsense, lad.'

Gideon's face crumpled and he crouched in a
heap on the rag rug.

'He was only dancing, Father, like the circus folk,'
I said.

'Boys don't
dance
,' Father said firmly.

I opened my mouth to tell him we'd seen the
circus boys dance –
and
tumble head over heels and
do handstands – but Jem gave me a nudge. It was
never a good idea to contradict Father.

'Boys march like soldiers,' Father said. 'Show
him, Jem.'

'Watch me, Gideon. Left, right, left, right,' said
Jem, striding about and swinging his arms.

Gideon stumbled along limply, unable to tell his
left from his right. 'I don't want to be a soldier,' he
said miserably when we climbed into bed that night.
'I want to be a circus boy.'

'I want to be a circus girl, just like the lady in
pink spangles,' I said.

'Oh, I wish wish wish we could go to the circus,'
said Gideon.

I bit the thumb I was sucking. I badly wanted to
take Gideon with me the next day – but I knew Jem
was right. He would blurt everything out to Mother,
to Father, to Rosie, to the whole family, even to the
pig beside the privy. Whereas I knew how to keep
my mouth shut when necessary.

I behaved in an exemplary fashion all Saturday
morning. I even ate all my vegetable soup at
dinner time, though I usually fussed and picked
out the bobbles of barley and carrot, refusing to
eat them because they looked as if they'd been
eaten already.

Mother patted me on the shoulder. 'Good girl,
Hetty!' she said proudly. 'Now I'm going to feed
young Eliza and have forty winks. You children go
and play and give me a bit of peace.'

Rosie and big Eliza went off arm in arm, talking
big-girl chat of dresses and hairstyles and boys in
the village. Nat ran off carelessly, kicking a stone,
to meet up with his friends. That left Gideon, Jem
and me.

Gideon looked at us happily. 'What shall we play?'
he asked.

Jem and I looked at each other.

'Hetty and I were thinking we might play by
ourselves right now, Gideon,' said Jem.

Gideon's face fell. 'Are you going to the squirrel
house?' he whispered.

'Well, we might be,' I said uneasily.

'But you're not allowed,' said Gideon. 'Mother
said.'

'Yes, so you'd better not come, Gideon, or you'll
get into serious trouble,' I said.

'But I don't want
you
to get into trouble, Hetty.
Or Jem. Please don't go,' Gideon wailed.

'Hush! We
have
to go. Now,' said Jem.

'But I haven't anyone to play with,' said Gideon,
and his lip puckered.

'Picture someone, Gideon,' I said. 'Make them
up. Here, I can see a little boy standing beside you,
a kind, friendly boy. He likes dancing, just like you.
You can dance together.'

Gideon looked round wonderingly, as if I'd
actually conjured a child out of the ether – and Jem
and I seized our moment and ran away.

There were children running from all over the
village, courting couples, mothers, fathers, even
old grandmothers and grandfathers hobbling along
on sticks – all of them bound for Pennyman's
Field to see the circus. We could hear the drums
and see the top of a great striped tent, with all
the red and green and yellow wagons parked in a
semicircle behind.

I couldn't see the wondrous flame-haired Madame
Adeline or the tumbling boys in silver. I couldn't
even spot enormous Elijah the elephant, but as
we entered the field I saw the two clowns with
red noses capering at the entrance to the tent.
There was a stall selling sweetmeats and another
selling little metal clockwork figures, comical cats
and mice.

'Oh, Jem,' I said, tugging his hand – and he
bought me a penny gingerbread heart hanging on a
pink ribbon.

Now we only had one penny left. We needed a
whole handful of pennies to get into the tent to see
the circus performance. Everyone was standing in
a line before the ticket booth, handing over their
pennies and getting tickets in return. We watched
two boys trying to run right past without paying,
but a big man caught them both by the scruff of
their necks and sent them flying with a kick to
their backsides. I clutched Jem. I was used to being
paddled, but I didn't want an ugly big man to kick
my
backside.

Jem squeezed my hand reassuringly. 'We'll
go round the back,' he whispered. 'Nat says
you can tunnel in under the tent, so long as
you're speedy.'

I started trembling with excitement. We ran
off, circling right round the tent. My eyes popped.
There was Elijah, chained by his huge wrinkled
leg to a stake, wearing a red and gold beaded cap
with a matching saddle stretched over his vast
back. He waved his trunk at us, then lifted his tail
– and did an unmentionable thing! Huge dollops of
unmentionable things!

I started spluttering with laughter, but Jem put
his hand over my mouth.

'Ssh, Hetty,' he hissed.

He'd spotted Elijah's trainer sitting on an
upturned tub, smoking a cigarette. Jem pulled me
flat against the canvas of the tent so that he couldn't
spot us. Three children suddenly came running
past, squealing at the sight of Elijah in all his exotic
splendour. The trainer man stood up, threw away
his cigarette and whistled. Another man dressed in
a red tailcoat came running from the nearest scarlet
wagon. He held a long whip tight in his hand.

They moved in a flash, seizing the legs of the
children as they wriggled underneath the canvas. All
three were hauled out, shaken fiercely and shouted
at. The redcoat man cracked his big whip and I shut
my eyes tight, but I think he simply whipped the
ground, not the boys. They were all crying now,
even the biggest boy. He wore a blue cap stuck on
his head at a jaunty angle. The redcoat man seized
his cap and hurled it high across the field, and then
all three were shoved and kicked on their way.

My heart hammered hard inside my bodice. What
if the men were to see Jem and me? I shook in my
shoes, but Jem held me tight.

'It's all right, Hetty,' he whispered into my ear.
'We won't try while they're lurking here. We'll just
have to wait patiently.'

We waited and waited and waited. We heard loud
music inside the tent, shouts of excitement, roars
of laughter. The circus performance had started.
We were stuck outside, still intent on avoiding the
eyes of the redcoat man, the trainer and Elijah the
elephant. The great beast raised his head every now
and then, trunk high in the air, as if he was sniffing
us out. He strained against his stake. I held Jem's
hand so hard my nails dug into his palm.

Then more men came, pushing a cage of howling
hairy beasts. I saw their coarse dark coats, their
long snouts, their great teeth – and I thought of
grandmothers and little girls in red hooded cloaks.
The redcoat man cracked his long whip and strode
off after the wolves, all set to subdue them inside
the tent.

We heard gasps and cries and sudden bursts
of applause. I fidgeted from one foot to the other,
desperate, till the caged beasts were eventually
wheeled back and off to the side of the field. Elijah
and his keeper stayed swaying and sitting, while
the two silver-suited tumbling boys came dancing
down the steps of another wagon. They paused to
rub their hands and coat their sparkly slippers with
some dusty stuff in a box.

'It's rosin, to stop them slipping,' Jem
whispered.

Then they gave Elijah a fond poke, turned a couple
of somersaults for practice, and ran into the ring.
We heard more clapping and then a great
'Ooooh!'
as the two boys performed some special trick.

I quivered. I did badly want to see the two boys
so I could try to copy their tricks for Gideon. I was
tired of standing so still, so scared of these big
men with their whips and hard boots, so sad that
the circus was happening without me. Perhaps we
should simply run away as fast as we could?

Jem felt me fidgeting and put his hands on my
shoulders to steady me – just as Elijah's trainer
stood up, stretching his arms in the air. I froze – but
all his attention was on Elijah. He went up close to
the great beast, lolling against the huge front legs.
Elijah lowered his head, waved his trunk and opened
his mouth. I held my breath, wondering if the beast
was about to devour his master before my very eyes.
But the elephant looked as if he was
smiling.
He
slowly and tenderly wrapped his trunk around the
trainer's neck and shoulders so that they stood in
weird embrace.

Jem and I stood there, breathless. Then the man
muttered something, Elijah unwound his trunk
and stood majestically to attention, head up, trunk
forward, ears alert. The trainer unhooked his chain
from the stake and strode forward in his shiny boots.
Elijah followed meekly, like a great grey wrinkly
dog on a lead. They disappeared inside a flap in the
tent, leaving only a mound of elephant dung on the
grass.

'Quick, Hetty! This is our chance,' said Jem,
pulling my arm.

We darted forward, praying that no more men
would come out of their wagons and catch us. We
could see one of the circus men standing by the
tent flap – pitchfork in hand! We couldn't simply
follow Elijah and his trainer or we'd be skewered.
Jem ran round to the side and fell to his knees
with a bump, as if in prayer. Then he stuck his
head under the tent canvas. He pulled at me to do
the same. I copied him obediently, though I was
terrified my head would be prodded with a pitchfork
on one side of the canvas, my backside kicked by
a boot on the other. But I wriggled forward on my
tummy into the hot, noisy tent, and at last we were
both safe inside!

The ring was brilliantly lit but the spectators
all around the tent were in darkness. We could
just make out circles of seats, rising in tiers. Jem
pulled me up and we edged our way round the
back of the tallest tier until we reached an aisle.
Now we had a proper view of the circus ring,
scattered with sawdust and edged with a little red
wall. Elijah was in the middle of the ring
on his hind
legs,
waving his trunk triumphantly while everyone
clapped him.

The audience was so absorbed that no one
noticed as we crept forward and slipped into two
empty seats almost at the front. We watched Elijah
perform his tricks, while the silly clowns with red
noses darted in and out of the ring, pretending to be
scared of him. Then Chino took a clockwork mouse
out of his pocket and set it clacking and squeaking,
and Elijah lumbered across to a big box and climbed
right up on it, as if he was terrified in turn. The
trainer pretended to be frightened too, so Elijah
bent his head, took him in his trunk, and lifted him
high in the air away from the scurrying mouse. Jem
and I laughed heartily, loving their antics now that
we were safe in our seats.

When Elijah eventually plodded out, the
clowns stayed in the ring, capering with some
of the children in the audience and playing with
buckets of water.

'You can run down and join in, Hetty. I'll save
your seat,' said Jem.

I shrank back shyly, not liking the funny clowns
with their painted faces and clumsy clothes, scared
they might throw their buckets of water over me.

'It's not like you to be bashful, Hetty!' said Jem,
putting his arm round me. 'Are you pleased we got
into the circus? I told you I'd find a way.'

'I'm very, very, very pleased,' I said.

The band struck up again, and a plump lady in
a tight magenta costume came dancing into the
ring. She ran over to a vast ladder at the side and
started climbing up it, rung after rung, up and up
and up, as nimble as a squirrel. She reached a little
platform right at the top and clasped a long pole
waiting there. We saw a taut rope stretching all the
way across the tent, high in the air. She was Flora
the tightrope walker!

The lady gave a flourish, seized her pole and
stepped out onto the rope! She walked right along
it, even pointing her feet and dancing, as if she was
a magenta fairy flitting through the air. It hurt
my neck to watch her and I could hardly breathe
because I was so scared she'd fall. Jem had warned
me so many times that I mustn't ever try to edge
along the tree branches in our squirrel house. He
nudged me purposefully now.

'You mustn't try this lark, Hetty, promise!' he
whispered. 'My Lord, isn't she amazing?'

We watched as she skipped along, walked
backwards, even
sat
upon the rope, arranging her
deep-pink skirts around her and taking a book out
of her pocket, pretending to read! These seemed
marvels enough, but when she'd advanced all
the way over to the other side, she took something
from under a cloth on the other lofty platform. It
was a little perambulator on two wheels with a
baby doll sitting up inside. She took the vehicle,
wobbling alarmingly, so that we all went
'Ooooh!'
Then she balanced it on the rope, with dolly still
inside. Flora walked steadily back across the rope,
as casually as any mother wheeling her baby. When
at long last she reached the other platform and took
her bow, she seized the doll and made
her
take a
bow too.

Then Chino the clown came capering back with
his silly friend, Beppo, plus two very little clowns in
comical baby gowns with woollen booties on their
feet. They had greasepaint on their faces and silly
red noses. At first I thought they were simply child
clowns, but then I spied a flash of silver beneath
the baby gown and realized they were the two
tumbling boys dressed up. They kept playing tricks
on the clowns, leaping up into the air, landing on
their hands and then walking upside down all
round the ring. There was a lot of fun and games
with bottles and napkins. Jem laughed so much he
nearly fell off his seat. Then at last all four clowns
took a bow and ran off. That seemed to be the end of
the circus, because everyone clapped and then stood
up, stretching.

'Oh!' I said. 'Oh dear, Jem.'

'What is it, Hetty? Aren't you enjoying the
circus?' Jem asked.

'I think it's wonderful, but now it is ended and I
didn't get to see her, the lady in pink spangles with
red hair.
My
lady,' I said, nearly in tears.

'It's all right, silly. She'll be in the second half.
This is only an interval, Hetty. There's lots more to
come, I promise.'

'Really! And so we haven't missed her? We really
will see her?'

'Yes, we will.'

'She's the one I like the best,' I said.

'But you haven't even seen her perform yet!'

'I still know.'

'I like the clowns, they are
so
funny,' said
Jem, chuckling. 'I should so love to set folk laughing
like that.'

'We could have our
own
circus!' I said. 'You could
be a clown, Jem, and Gideon can be a boy tumbler,
and
I
will wear a short pink skirt and ride on my
horse. Let us run away and start our circus, you and
me and Gideon, and then I won't have to go to the
hospital,' I said earnestly.