Hetty Feather Read online

  When we reached the stile, Jem lifted me up, and then Gideon, and then we all jumped out into the lane. There was the elephant plodding along the path, a real true elephant with such wrinkled skin, such huge legs, such an immense belly! A man in a military coat and great black boots strode along beside the beast, leading him like a dog on a chain.

  Another man capered about beside them, the oddest creature I had ever seen, with hair sticking up on end and a bright red nose, his feet in great black shoes that flapped comically. He was banging a drum and dancing. Two big boys danced along beside him, dressed in the oddest clothes – sparkly silver shirts and very short breeches and white tights. Jem's mouth hung open in shocked horror, but Gideon pointed in awe. These boys paused and suddenly went forward into a tumble, over and over and up in the air and over and over again.

  'Oh my stars!' said Jem, overcoming his scorn at their girlish garb. He could go head over heels and stand on his hands, and frequently did so to amuse me, but he couldn't possibly caper like these boys.

  Then came great wagons painted scarlet and emerald and canary yellow. There was a message written in curly writing on the sides of each one. I knew my alphabet but I couldn't figure words properly yet.

  Jem read it for us:

  'The Great Tanglefield Travelling Circus.

  Observe Elijah, the largest elephant in the entire world.

  See the exotic animals in our vast menagerie.

  Gasp at Fair Flora dancing on the tightrope for your delight.

  Chortle at the antics of Chino the Comic Clown.

  Marvel at Madame Adeline and her star troupe of horses.

  Hurrah for Tanglefield's Travelling Circus!'

  Almost at the end of this magnificent procession rode a beautiful lady in sparkling pink – wearing no dress at all, just the merest stiff frill. Her long flame-red hair tumbled past her bare shoulders.

  'Just look at that lady with scarcely any clothes!' said Jem.

  'See her tiny shoes! Oh, I wish I had little shoes like that instead of big ugly boots,' said Gideon.

  'Look at her hair!' I said in rapture. 'She has red hair just like mine! See, see!' I repeated, jumping up and down.

  The wondrous woman raised her hand and waved to us, and we waved back wildly, honoured to be noticed.

  Another comical man with a red nose and bizarrely big breeches came capering along at the very end, speaking into a large horn so that his voice boomed out above the hubbub.

  'Come to Tanglefield's Travelling Circus tonight at seven, or Saturday at two. The show will be in Pennyman's Field: adults sixpence, children threepence – a total bargain, so come and see and wonder. Come to Tanglefield's Travelling Circus tonight . . .' He recited it again and again until the procession was out of sight and his voice a tinny whisper.

  'Oh, Jem, Gideon, we must go to the circus!' I said, jumping up and down.

  'We must, we must, we must!' said Gideon, jumping too, pink in the face.

  'But we haven't got ninepence,' said sensible Jem. 'I have the two pennies that Mrs Blood gave me at the Otter Inn for collecting up all the tankards, but that is all.'

  'We will ask Mother,' I said.

  But Mother shook her head. 'Of course I haven't any spare pennies for such a senseless thing as a circus. And even if I had, I wouldn't let you go. Rosie told me they were near naked in that procession!'

  'They were so lovely, Mother, especially the lady all in pink spangles on a white horse. She had red hair, just like mine!'

  'Yes, pink spangles!' said Mother, shuddering. 'A grown woman flaunting herself in front of decent folk, and men capering about foolishly, and a dreaded beast all set to run amok and trample everyone. It shouldn't be allowed. Of course I'm not spending precious money on such a wicked show.'

  'Don't spend your money, Mother, spend mine!' I said.

  'What do you mean, Hetty?' said Mother, frowning. 'You don't have any money, you silly little girl.'

  'I do, I do! The Foundling Hospital gives you money for me.'

  'Don't talk such nonsense, child. That money is to feed and clothe you, not send you to a heathen show like a circus.'

  'Well, don't give me any food any more, and don't make me new frocks or buy me boots. I'd much sooner go to the circus,' I declared.

  'I'll certainly send you to bed without any supper,' said Mother. 'Now hold your tongue, miss.'

  I couldn't hold my tongue. I wanted to go to the circus and see Elijah the performing elephant and all the other animals I'd heard grunting and growling inside the wagons. Maybe there were lions or tigers, wild wolves, even a white unicorn with a silver horn. I wanted to see Flora dancing on the tightrope, I wanted to see the comical clown, and oh oh oh, I so wanted to see Madame Adeline, the flame-haired lady in pink spangles.

  I started to protest bitterly but Jem put his hand over my mouth. 'Be quiet, Hetty,' he said, tugging me away from Mother.

  'But I don't want to be quiet! I want to go to the circus!' I persisted.

  'Ssh! I might know a way,' said Jem. 'Just keep your mouth shut and wait till I tell you.'

  I clamped my lips together and stomped off after him. Gideon stayed with Mother, climbing up onto her lap. He always hated it when I grew stormy. He was so fearful that I'd get paddled – far more fearful than me.

  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 Je
m 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.

  6

  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.