The Adventures of Stunt Boy and His Amazing Wonder Dog Blindfold (3 page)

4

12 year olds aren't allowed to drive cars

A
fter the meeting, I was torn up inside for all sorts of reasons. Lefty Blue Eye looked devastated that I'd accused him of being responsible for the crash. But he was the one who had access to Dad's bike. Lefty had even stated that the motorcycle had been running like a dream before the crash. Then he'd said we should thank our lucky stars that Dad was alive.

Although everyone was all teary eyed, I was also upset that our cast and crew would care more about money than saving Stoked. That made me so extra mad, I could feel the anger in my face. It made my cheeks pulsate and go all hot and red.

‘Come on, Benny, I need to ride,' I said and we headed out to the practice jumps at the back of the circus. Benny can ride motorbikes too but he's not a stunt kid, and with the State wrestling championships just weeks away, there was no way he was going to risk getting injured. But he said he'd come and watch.

I went into the bike shed and put on my protective padded clothing, slammed shut the lid on my helmet and cranked up my 125cc bike, hoping the roar of the engine and the smell of petrol fumes would make me feel better.

I've been riding motorbikes since forever. My dad got me a super mini motorbike when I was three. I love being on any kind of wheels – one wheel (unicycles are an excellent form of transport!); two wheels – BMXs, skateboards, I even ride an old penny-farthing that's more than a hundred years old (Sue the Bearded Lady does balancing tricks on it in the show). I know how to drive a car, too, but I'm only ever allowed to drive around the circus, and only if my dad is with me. I'd get arrested if I drove it on the road, as twelve year olds aren't allowed to drive cars.

Most of the time doing something that you love can make you forget how bad you feel, but not today. I tried everything – aerial tricks, jumps, three-sixties – but nothing worked. I was doing a simple wheelie when I lost control of my bike and landed flat on my back, knocking the air out of my lungs.

Benny came running over, followed by Blindfold, who licked the visor of my helmet, making it all cloudy with his spit.

‘You okay, Stunt?' said Benny, as I sat up.

I lifted up my dog-saliva-stained visor and looked into Benny's face; his eyebrows were crinkled together in concern. Normally he'd be doubled over laughing if I stacked, which hardly ever happened. But today he didn't even snigger.

‘Yeah, I'm okay,' I said, pretending as if nothing was bothering me, even though I felt like my kidney had taken a holiday to my bum. ‘I don't feel much like riding today though.'

When I ride I have to be totally in the moment but my mind was running faster than my motorbike with everything that had just happened so I couldn't focus. I pushed my motorbike into the bike shed and went past Dad's collection of gleaming machines. It made me miss him so much that I thought I might have hurt my heart in the crash. Then Biker Pete and Hayley turned up ready to practise. Biker Pete had been in the game for about twenty years. When you stand next to him you can smell petrol, even when he's just come out of the shower.

Hayley is a girl, in case you thought she was a boy because boys can also have the name Hayley. It would be sexist to assume that all riders were boys, even though most are. Hayley is a hell of a rider for a girl (well, she's twenty-two), but she smells of perfume and has beautiful long red hair.

‘You all right, Stunt?' said Hayley. ‘You got pretty angry at the meeting, hon. Do you need a hug or something?'

‘Nah,' I said, looking at the floor and feeling my cheeks go red again. Hayley was always embarrassing me by trying to hug me. Everyone at Stoked is super affectionate, kissing and hugging each other all the time. Sometimes the entire circus has a great big group hug. I used to like that stuff when I was little, but I'm not so into it any more. I don't know why.

‘I'll have one,' said Benny, who was still into hugs, especially from pretty girls like Hayley.

‘You know we're all really upset, don't you, Stunt Boy?' Hayley said, her voice all wobbly as she patted Benny's head as if he were Blindfold. ‘Nobody would work for Chesterley over your dad.'

‘So they're just rumours then?' I said, kicking down the stand on my bike, my eyes squinting as I sized up Biker Pete and Hayley.

Biker Pete kicked at a clod of dirt on the floor and it went flying across the shed. ‘This place is full of gossip right now,' he said uncomfortably. ‘I wouldn't take any notice of what anyone says. People are just afraid for their jobs and wondering how they're going to pay their bills.'

‘What have people been saying?' I demanded.

‘They're just rumours, Stunt,' said Biker Pete, running a hand through his messy grey hair.

‘Tell me, Pete. Everyone knows what is going on but me and it's my family's circus.' I watched as Hayley and Biker Pete looked at each other for a moment as if deciding whether to tell me or not. ‘Please.'

‘We really shouldn't say anything, but there was a story going around that Lefty was at Chesterley's last week. Blueberry was visiting her mother OverEast and she swears she saw Lefty's truck turning into the Chesterley site,' said Hayley. ‘But I don't believe it. He's been with your dad since forever, and he hasn't asked Biker Pete or me to join him. If he was serious about setting up a stunt-riding team with Chesterley, he'd need to have riders. And as you know, Stunt Boy, it's nearly impossible to find great stunt riders like us. None of it makes sense.'

‘My dad's accident doesn't make sense!' I said before the thought occurred to me that Lefty Blue Eye could actually have rigged the bike to crash on purpose. It was hard to fathom because he had been with us forever. If I couldn't trust Lefty, who could I trust? From now on, everyone was under suspicion, apart from Jem, Benny and Blindfold, until I found out what the hell was going on.

‘Accidents happen, Stunt, you know that,' said Biker Pete as his hand moved to his grey beard. His fingernails embedded with years of grease. ‘No one wants them to happen, but they do. I broke my back when I was twenty-three. Thought I'd never walk again, let alone ride, but it was an accident. It's a job hazard, little guy.'

‘Yeah right,' said Benny, playing with the zip on his tracksuit. ‘Stunt just stacked it at the jump.'

I got all steamed up inside and wanted to punch him, so I crossed my arms to stop myself.

‘You hurt yourself, babe?' asked Hayley all concerned.

‘It was nothing.' I shrugged.

‘Stunt, I know you think your dad is superhuman, but sometimes even the best riders make mistakes,' Hayley said gently.

I didn't want to argue with her; she was right, sometimes accidents did happen, but deep down I knew someone had sabotaged my dad's bike. And then it came to me in a flash. Who had the most to gain by my dad being dead? Barry Chesterley.

Hayley and Biker Pete got kitted up as I cleaned down my bike. They fired up their engines, the sound reverberating around the tin shed. As they waved goodbye, I raised my hand and held it still as they rode past. I'm sure I saw a little tinge of sorrow in their eyes through their plastic visors.

‘Something stinks to high heaven and it smells like Barry Chesterley.'

‘What are you talking about?' said Benny.

‘The crash! Stealing our people and now even Lefty Blue Eye has been seen at Chesterley's. I've got to know what he's up to and I'm going over OverEast to find out. You coming?'

‘I don't know, Stunt,' said Benny, who has always been more sensible than me. ‘My mum will kill me if she finds out that I've snuck off site and gone all the way to the other side of town. And your sister will kill you too!'

‘Jem isn't the boss, she's just my bossy sister. There is a difference,' I said, annoyed because everyone was making out as if Jem was in charge. ‘Okay, fine whatever, I'll just go with Blindfold if you're too chicken.
Bawk, bawk, bawk, bawk.
'

I started flapping my arms as if they were chicken wings and bobbing my neck in and out as if I was performing the funky chicken dance. ‘
Bawk, bawk, bawk.
'

‘Cut it out with the chicken noises!' said Benny, getting angry too, so we were both cranky. ‘It's okay for you to do mad things, Stunt. You don't have to worry about parents grounding you until your thirty-second
birthday. Anyway, how would you get there?'

‘Duh! Wheels, of course,' I replied, as if Benny were as dumb as water, which doesn't have a brain so it must be pretty dumb.

‘That's triple stupid even for you, Stunt,' said Benny. ‘You're a twelve-year-old kid! You can't ride a motorbike OverEast. The cops will pick you up for sure.'

‘No, stupid, I meant the wheels on the bus!' I said, half smiling. ‘You coming?'

Benny just shrugged, meaning yes, but not wanting me to think that he was doing something just because I had made chicken noises at him.

P.S. Motocross stunts that I love to do:

Dead body:
Holding the bars, lift your body into the air over the front of the bike, keeping your body horizontal.

Tsunami:
Do a handstand in front of the handlebars while keeping the bike level.

Surfer:
Holding the handlebars, stand on the bike seat in a surfing position.

5

A dog is heavy when you carry it in a bag

I
love my circus family but if you're a kid with no mum and with that many people in your family, it's hard to get away with anything because everyone thinks that it's their job to keep an eye on you and make sure you stay out of trouble. It can get pretty annoying with twenty-two people constantly asking you what you're doing, where you're going, or whether you need a hug. It's impossible to get away with anything without it being broadcast around the circus.

And it's especially impossible when you've got a stunt dog following you that thinks you're playing a game because you're stopping and hiding every so often in an attempt to remain unseen.

When we stopped behind the hotdog stall, Blindfold started sniffing the air and whining because he always got a free sausage on show days, but today wasn't a show day, so he was annoyed. When we took cover behind the aerial girls' caravan, Blindfold tried to bark hello because he loves the girls, who always fuss over him and give him extra titbits. I had to put my hand over his snout, which he didn't like one bit. Then, when we hid at the back of the shower block and heard Pikelet singing opera, Blindfold joined in. He's actually got a very good voice for a dog, but it was the wrong occasion to show it off.

‘Shut the hell up, Blindfold. You're going to get us busted,' I hissed.

Blindfold cocked his head to the side and looked at me forlornly because I'd told him to shut the hell up.

‘Chill out, Stunt, and stop being so mean to everyone,' said Benny, patting Blindfold. ‘You haven't trained Blindfold to be sneaky, so how's he supposed to know what to do?'

‘He's my dog and I can tell him to shut up if I want!' I said.

‘Man, you've got an attitude with a capital tude today, Stunt,' said Benny, super cross now. ‘I know you're upset about your dad and everything, but stop taking it out on me and Blindfold. We're trying to help you by going along with your stupid plan.'

I nodded to say that I was sorry but the word wouldn't pop out of my mouth. I didn't mean to be mean but being so full of worries, crankiness just exploded right out of me before I could stop it.

After I'd checked the coast was clear, I ran out and headed for the front gate, ducking behind the box office for cover until Benny and Blindfold had joined me. Then we slipped out unnoticed beneath the
Stoked Stunt Circus
sign that was made out of light bulbs at the front gate.

‘We made it!' I said, punching the air and immediately in a better mood. That mood didn't last long because just as we were walking up the main road to the bus stop, Sue the Bearded Lady pulled up in her car.

‘Hey, guys, where are you going?' she said casually, her elbow resting on the window. People think a lady with a beard is pretty weird. I've grown up with her, so I'm used to seeing her beard. It's not like a bushy pirate's beard, it's more like a collection of very long grey hairs that she can weave into a small plait. You don't notice after a while. In circus circles she's quite famous; she's performed all over the world and her trailer is covered in posters with her name splashed in big letters.

Although he likes to hug Hayley, Benny isn't so keen on hugging Sue. Her beard still freaks him out a bit. Apart from my dad, the only person I like hugging is Sue because she smells like biscuits and she is a contortionist so she can wrap me up like a Christmas present in her arms and legs when she's giving me a cuddle.

But Sue was the last person in the world I wanted to see today because she knows me like Benny's mum knows him. I think Benny's mum has got special powers because she can get inside his brain and know the thoughts as he's thinking them.

Also, I'm a hopeless liar. My face burns up and turns red, as if there is too much blood in my head and my face might explode right off my face! However, Benny is a really good liar but adults don't know this apart from his mum, because Benny is so great, so he doesn't lie to her.

‘We're going over to Mum and Dad's restaurant . . .' said Benny as Blindfold put his paws on the car window to say hello, giving Benny time to work on his lie.

Benny's Mum and Dad have a vegan restaurant in OverSouth. I like chocolate milkshakes and hotdogs, so I don't think I'd be a vegan but I do like vegan food.

‘Hey, Blindfold,' said Sue, patting Blindfold's head.

‘. . . to help my mum clean the front windows because she's afraid of heights,' finished Benny, thinking on his feet.

Brilliant, Benny Boy! I don't know how he can think of things right out of nothing like that. It's a gift, I guess.

‘Okay .
. .
' said Sue doubtfully, her beard starting to twitch. ‘Doesn't your mum usually come over and pick you up, though?'

‘She's stuck up a ladder. She called me on her mobile. She can't get hold of Dad.'

‘Yeah, she's scared of heights,' I offered in support, feeling my face blushing. ‘That's why she works in a restaurant and not in a circus.'

‘Jump in, boys, I'll drive you over,' said Sue. ‘We can't leave your mum stuck up a ladder!'

‘Look, the bus is coming! We've got to run,' said Benny, starting to run off as if he hadn't heard her. ‘Hurry up, Stunt.'

‘Bye, Sue,' I yelled as I followed Benny's lead, Blindfold hot on my heels.

Benny hadn't been lying about the bus – it was coming. I had to run and get Blindfold into the sports bag at the same time. It wasn't easy. I had to hold his ears down so they didn't get caught in the zip! I don't know why dogs aren't allowed on buses. How do people expect them to get around if their owners don't have cars?

Blindfold doesn't really like confined spaces. Once I put him in my straightjacket and left him for ten minutes to see if he could escape on his own, but he couldn't. He just freaked out and Dad got really mad with me. Blindfold always hides now when he sees me messing around with my straightjacket collection.

Benny and I got on the bus, holding a handle each because dogs are heavy when you carry them in bags. We bought our tickets, but we didn't buy Blindfold one because the driver didn't know he was on his bus. Even though Blindfold didn't know how to be sneaky, he did know how to be quiet in a bag. He'd learnt that from going to the hospital to visit Dad.

The bus ride took forever to get OverEast. Stoked is in OverWest. Our city is called Newstadt and has four main districts, the other two being OverSouth and OverEast. If you imagine a circle, Stoked would be at nine o'clock and Chesterley's Family Circus would be at three o'clock, so you can see how far we had to go. Benny was looking very uneasy the whole journey and kept checking his watch like he was waiting for class to finish on a Friday afternoon.

It was after 5 pm by the time we got off the bus. I let Blindfold out of the bag. He cocked his leg against a tree and did the longest pee ever, as if he'd drunk an entire swimming pool. He peed and peed and peed until finally he was finished. Then Benny and I spontaneously cheered. Then Blindfold peed again, which made Benny and me both need a pee, so we lost another fifteen minutes on wee.

Finally we walked up a steep winding hill towards Chesterley's Circus, which loomed out of the late afternoon sunshine like a walled prison. As we got closer we were hit in the face by a revolting smell.

‘Yuck, smart!' said Benny, trying to wave the stink away. Smart is our word for when we smell a fart; it's a combination ‘smell' and ‘fart'. ‘That smell is worse than your morning breath, Stunt.'

It was true, my morning breath did stink in the morning, even though I cleaned my teeth every night before I went to bed. Benny once told me it was because of the bacteria that live in your mouth. Apparently there are over five hundred species living on your teeth and tongue! Benny loves random science facts, even if he does gross me out sometimes.

A steel sign reading
Chesterley's Family Circus
hung down over the menacingly high locked metal gates which were embossed with elephants, lions and bears. There was no way we could get over the top of them. The place looked completely deserted. Usually we do one Sunday afternoon matinee show. People don't come out on Sunday night; they're too busy preparing for the week ahead, getting ready for school or work.

Sunday night for my family usually meant me, Jem and Dad cooking a roast dinner together. Every other night we'd eat in the crew mess with the rest of Stoked people but on Sundays, it was just us together in the caravan. Then we'd watch a movie before we all had an early night, especially on school nights.

Chesterley's looked as if it was an impenetrable fortress rather than a family circus. We followed the perimeter chain fence that was topped with barbed wire. There were even signs saying the fence was electrified! Wow, they really wanted to keep people out, or maybe it was to keep the wild animals in.

There was another strange thing: the ground was as spongy as marshmallow.

‘It feels like we're walking on the moon,' I said.

‘Don't be stupid, Stunt Boy,' said Benny, who loved showing off his big brain. ‘The moon is made of rock not sponge.'

Benny and I started jumping up and down because the ground felt like a trampoline, which was fun. Then I remembered why we were here and I stopped, but the soft springy ground had given me an idea. We followed the perimeter fence towards the back of the circus, where a huge grey building inside the fence gave us cover.

I started digging with my hands, but although the ground was squashy, I could only dig up little clumps of earth.

‘You'll be here until midnight,' said Benny, but I ignored him and turned to Blindfold.

‘Blindfold, come on, come on, boy,' I said, pretending to be a digging dog. ‘Show me how you dig.'

Blindfold loves playing games, so he got down beside me in the same position. His paws worked like a doggy digging machine, clods of dirt flying behind him creating a small hole at the fence line. Benny and I helped make the hole a little bigger.

Finally the hole was big enough and we all slipped underneath the fence and into Chesterley's Circus. Blindfold barked with excitement and I had to tell him to shut up again. He looked at me with those big sorrowful puppy eyes and I had to say sorry and thank him for doing such a good job, then he looked a bit happier.

I felt my heart beating against my ribcage as we snuck towards the back of a big concrete building. I put my finger to my lips to tell Blindfold to be quiet and he nodded.

There was a small crack in the cement running right up the wall. In the middle, it created an eyeball-sized hole. I put my eye right up to it and counted twelve wrinkly grey legs, eight as thick and tall as telegraph poles. The other four were smaller, more like fence posts.

‘Okay, doll face, keep up the good work,' I heard a man's voice say, as I caught sight of a pair of green sparkly shoes. ‘You've done a great job. Won't be long now and we'll all get what we deserve.'

Then suddenly a sad eyeball that looked like a precious amber stone surrounded by folds upon folds of skin appeared at the hole and stared right back at me, its eyelashes poking through the hole and caressing my eyebrow.

‘Sheeba, get here, you stupid elephant,' yelled a voice that sounded like it had been drinking razor-blade milkshakes for breakfast. ‘I swear, get back here right now or you know what is coming to you.'

Then there was a loud crack of a whip and the elephant trumpeted, retreating slowly away, as a man with a whip and a big silver hook came into view.

‘Don't defy me!' he said frothy spit bubbles appearing at the corners of his mouth. ‘She's dumber than Dumbo, this one.'

That's when I saw that the elephant was just a baby! A little baby elephant!

‘You should have broken her by now, Biggsy, shown her who is boss. She thinks you're a wimp! Wimp!' said another voice as a stained pair of green trousers and a very big stomach that looked like a stuffed pillow encased in a yellow waistcoat that hadn't been washed in years filled the frame.

The man came into full view. It was Barry Chesterley! I recognised him from his posters.

‘I don't want excuses from you any more, Biggsy. I want acts that the public wants to see,' said Chesterley. ‘Imagine Sheeba doing a one-handed handstand and the Stoked girl doing a one-handed handstand on top of her! That's what I want for Monster.'

I couldn't believe what I was hearing! Was he trying to steal my very own sister or one of our aerials team? And what or who the hell was monster?

‘It's going to take a bit of time to get her to do those kind of tricks. She's still very young,' said the man called Biggsy. ‘That's another year's worth of training at least.'

‘Give me that hook and I'll show you how we used to break in elephants in the old days,' Chesterley said, snatching the long silver rod that split into two sharp hooks at one end. ‘Hit them on the trunk, or on the ears, where it's more sensitive.'

Chesterley demonstrated by hitting Sheeba on her sensitive baby ears. Even though Benny was an animal-loving vegan, I had to have a witness to what was going on. I didn't want Blindfold to see though because he would get upset if he saw another animal being treated that way because he was an animal himself. I silently motioned with my finger for Benny to look into the hole.

Benny put his right eyeball to the crack. His left eye was all scrunched up, helping his right eye to focus. Then I heard the loudest fart I've ever heard and Benny gave a loud, girlish high-pitched scream and clapped his hand over his right eye.

‘An elephant farted in my eye,' said Benny. ‘Right in my eyeball!'

‘What was that noise?' I heard Chesterley say. ‘Who screamed? Who's out there? Is there a little girl out there?'

Benny and I looked at each other. My heart was beating so fast it felt as if it was going to leap out of my chest and race home in front of me.