Читать книгу Come to the Circus! - Enid blyton - Страница 7

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Just as Fenella and Willie were leaving Mrs. Connie and her troupe of monkeys, Uncle Ursie saw them, and came up.

“Well, Fenella,” he said, “making friends with everyone? Hallo, Cackles.”

“Cackle,” said the goose, and dug his beak affectionately into Uncle Ursie’s boot.

“Hey, don’t do that,” said Uncle Ursie, and pushed the goose off. She hissed, and dug her beak into his leg.

“Too affectionate, that goose of yours,” said Uncle Ursie, rubbing his leg. “Seen my bears yet, Fenny? What, not seen them! Come along then. Finest animals in the show!”

He took them to a big van, one side of which had been folded back. Bars were all along the open side, and at one end was a door. Uncle Ursie opened it and went inside.

A big brown bear stood up as he came in. Fenella had seen so many animals now that she actually didn’t feel afraid. “Come and make friends with Fenny,” said Uncle Ursie to the big bear.

“His name is Clump,” said Willie. “He won’t hurt you. Your uncle has had him since he was a baby. Hallo, Clump.”

Clump grunted right down in the middle of himself. Fenella wasn’t sure what she ought to do, so she put out her hand. But the bear put both his arms round her and gave her a hug. She gasped.

“Haven’t you heard of a bear-hug?” asked Uncle Ursie, with a grin all over his face. “Clump, stand on your head.”

Clump rolled over and then, to Fenella’s surprise, stood on his head. Then he turned three slow somersaults, and ended up sitting beside Uncle Ursie. He at once put his arms round Uncle Ursie’s knees and hugged them.

“Stop it,” said Uncle Ursie. “You’ll crack my knee-joints. Now then—where’s Bobbo?”

Bobbo was asleep in the straw at the very back of the cage. He awoke and yawned. Fenella stared at him, and her heart went out to the little fat brown bear. He was only a baby!

She forgot that she was ever afraid of animals. She held out her arms for the dear little bear. Uncle Ursie picked him up, and gave him to her. He cuddled into her arms and stared up at her out of small, brown eyes. He yawned again.

“Oh, you’re a pet!” said Fenella. “Uncle Ursie, I want to play with him every day. Oh, he’s so cuddlesome and soft. I’d like to take him to bed with me at night!”

“Ho! And I wonder what your aunt would say to that!” said Uncle Ursie. “A bear in your bed, indeed. Bobbo! Do you hear that? This little girl wants to make you a pet and take you to bed.”

“Ooof,” said Bobbo, and rubbed his blunt nose with one of his paws. Fenella really loved him. He was such a baby.

“Does he go into the ring and do anything at all?” she asked Uncle Ursie.

“He goes into the ring all right, but he doesn’t do anything yet. He’s too young,” said her uncle. “He will watch Clump, and do what he does later on. He’s a comical little fellow. Maybe he’ll be a kind of bear-clown. Some bears are just naturally comical you know. Willie, take that goose of yours out of the cage. One blow of Clump’s paw and that will be the end of her.”

“Oh, Cackles can look after herself all right,” said Willie. “We had a tiger here once, and she gave him a peck, because he lashed out with his tail and hit her by mistake!”

It was getting dark now, and Uncle Ursie came out of the cage with the others. Fenella had to put down the baby bear. He grunted softly as if he didn’t want her to leave him.

Uncle Ursie locked the cage. “Come along,” he said to Fenella. “Supper-time. Then bed for you! You must be tired with your long day.”

“She hasn’t seen the horses yet, or Fric and Frac, the riders, or Malvina—and she hasn’t seen Groggy, our old clown—or the others, Ricky and Rocky, and Micko and Tricks,” said Willie. “And there’s Wriggle, too, she hasn’t seen.”

“Yes, I’ve seen him,” said Fenella. “He put his head between his knees and looked out at me from there. I didn’t like it.”

Willie laughed. “Oh, you’ll have to get used to old Wriggle. He’s got a body made of rubber. Wait till you see him tread on his head!”

“He couldn’t!” said Fenella. “You’re making that up. Oh, I wish I could see the clowns.”

“They don’t look any different from me or Willie here,” said her uncle. “Not in ordinary dress, I mean. And they’re not very funny out of the ring, either. Except old Groggy. You wait till tomorrow evening, Fenella, and you’ll see them in the ring, all dressed up in their clown clothes. Then they’ll look like clowns—and act like them, too. You’ll be doubled up with laughter. Come along now, or your aunt will be shouting for us. Get along, Willie, and take that goose with you. The sight of her drives Lou mad, ever since she climbed into the caravan and ate all the salad she had got ready for our dinner.”

“Cackle,” said the goose, and walked away as if she was offended.

“Good night, Fenella,” said Willie. “See you tomorrow. And don’t you run away in the night, or I shall be very cross!”

Fenella laughed. No, she wasn’t going to run away now. She began to feel excited at the thought of sleeping in a caravan. She had never done that before. It would be fun.

She went up the steps into the brightly-lit caravan, followed by Uncle Ursie, who was sniffing loudly.

“Sausages, I declare! My, I’m hungry, too! And onions with them—and tomatoes. We’re in luck.”

At Auntie Janet’s Fenella had never had any supper except a piece of bread and butter. But things were different at the circus. The circus folk liked good meals and plenty of them. There was always a cooking-pot smelling delicious at the back of somebody’s caravan, or the smell of frying sausages or bacon. There was tinned fruit at nearly every meal—peaches or apricots, pears or pineapple.

Such things had been a Sunday treat at Auntie Janet’s. The circus folk had to depend a good deal on tinned stuff, and they bought the tins by the dozen. Fenella was thrilled to see a tin of apricots open on the shelf—and goodness, was that a jug of cream?

It was. The little girl found that she was hungry and she sat down to her plate of sausages, onions and tomatoes with a good appetite. Whatever would Auntie Janet say if she saw her eating a supper like that?

She was very sleepy afterwards, but her aunt made her help with the washing-up. Fenella took a look at the corner where all the gay clothes had been, waiting to be mended. Her aunt saw her look.

“All done,” she said. “Whilst you were out gadding this afternoon. There will be no more for a bit. Everything’s ready for the circus to open tomorrow—but afterwards there’ll be plenty to do again—rents and tears, buttons off, new dresses to make. You’ll have to start work then.”

“I’ll be glad to help you, Aunt Lou,” said Fenella.

“Well, we can’t afford to keep you here with us, unless you do your bit,” said Aunt Lou. “We’re not rich folk, you know. Everybody has to turn to and help in a circus. We’re like one big family. You be a good girl and I’ll be glad to have you. You be lazy and you’ll get the sharp side of my tongue—and Uncle Ursie can tell you how sharp that is!”

Uncle Ursie grunted. “Sharp! It would go clean through a battleship that tongue of yours, once it gets going. You used to be such a sweet-tempered girl, Lou. Don’t you be too hard on the youngster. She’s all we’ve got, now Janet’s gone away. She seems a nice enough kid.”

“She might be worse,” said Aunt Lou, and her voice was not quite so sharp. “She’ll have to have some schooling, too, Ursie. Maybe we’d better ask Presto to teach her lessons, when he’s got time. She’s only ten.”

“I can read and write and do sums,” said Fenella. “And I know a lot of geography and history.”

“Do you now?” said Uncle Ursie, in admiration. “Well, that’s more than some of us know here in this circus. There’s two or three can’t even write their own names. Yes, I’ll ask Presto to teach Fenella when he can. He’s a good-hearted chap, and clever as paint.”

“Who’s Presto?” asked Fenella, with curiosity, for she hadn’t heard of him yet.

“Presto? Oh, he’s the juggler and conjurer,” said Uncle Ursie. “Marvellous fellow. You’ll have to be careful to do what he says, or he may use a bit of magic and turn you into a chimp!”

“Now don’t tell such stories,” said Aunt Lou. “Fenella won’t want to learn from him if you say things like that. Maybe if she goes to lessons with him, that young limb of a Willie will go, too. He’s not had any more schooling than a fly! I doubt if he can read properly yet.”

Fenella was astonished to think that Willie might not be able to read. How dreadful! She had been able to read since she was five. She thought about Presto. Fancy having lessons from a conjurer! That really would be exciting. He might do tricks for her, if she worked well. Living in a circus camp was going to be very exciting indeed.

“Get into your bunk, Fenella,” said her aunt, letting down the little narrow shelf, and piling bedclothes on it. “Go and rinse your face and hands in the stream outside. The light from the caravan will show you where it is.”

Fenella washed herself in the cold stream. She went back into the caravan, found her brush and comb and brushed her hair well. Aunt Lou watched her.

“You’ve nice hair,” she said. “I had a little girl once with hair like yours. It used to shine like that when I brushed it.”

“What happened to your little girl?” asked Fenella. “Did she die?”

“Yes,” said Aunt Lou. “She fell ill, and I couldn’t get a doctor in time. Now you get into bed, quick! You won’t wake up till goodness knows when if you stay up any later. Hurry!”

She didn’t offer to kiss Fenella. The little girl climbed into her bunk sleepily. “Good night, Aunt Lou,” she said.

“Good night,” said Aunt Lou, in her sharp voice, and threaded a needle to do some darning of her own. Fenella shut her eyes.

She heard the shouting of some of the circus folk outside. She heard the whinny of a horse, and the barking of two or three of the dogs. Then she heard the loud cackle of the goose, not far off.

“Willie’s taking her round the field with him,” she thought sleepily. “I like Cackles. And I like Willie and Willie’s mother—and oh, that darling little baby bear, Bobbo! I love him!” And then she was fast asleep, and dreaming that she was wheeling Bobbo in her dolls’ pram, with Cackles walking beside her!