Читать книгу Boys' and Girls' Circus Book - Enid blyton - Страница 7

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Pip and Susy-Ann looked round the old caravan. It was dark, for the door was shut, and as there were only two rather small, very dirty windows, not much light came in. But it was lovely to the two children! They were in a house on wheels! They would soon be rolling away through the countryside with a circus. They were safe; they would not have to catch the bus and go to new homes away from one another.

Pip hugged Susy-Ann in joy. He could hardly believe that it had all happened so easily. They looked round to see what the caravan was like.

At the front of the caravan were piled all sorts of odds and ends—poles, tent canvas, a few benches in need of mending, sacks of sawdust, an old parrot cage—dear me, what a lot of odd things there were!

“Are we going to sleep here to-night?” asked Susy-Ann in a whisper.

“Yes,” said Pip. “There aren’t any beds, Susy-Ann, but I guess we’ll be able to make some with these sawdust sacks and the tent canvas! And look—there’s an old rug to cover us! We shan’t need much covering on these warm nights.”

Susy-Ann stood on a sack and looked out of the little high window. She could see the field gate from there. From the other window she could see the circus camp, with the men and women hurrying now to get ready to pull out of the field.

Then Jerry found a little flap of wood at the front of the caravan, which, when he pulled it back, made a peep-hole to look out in front.

“I suppose Jerry will drive this horse,” he said to Susy-Ann. “Look, we can talk to him through this peep-hole, Susy-Ann. What fun!”

“Here comes Jerry!” said Susy-Ann, in excitement, looking out of one of the windows.

“Be careful that no one sees you peeping, Susy!” said Pip, pulling her back from the window. “If we are seen now we shan’t be able to go with the circus!”

They heard Jerry’s cheerful whistle as he came near the caravan. He patted the big brown horse.

“Well, Brownie!” he said to the horse. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yes!” whispered the two children inside the caravan, knowing that Jerry was really speaking to them, and not to the horse. Jerry climbed up to the driving-seat and took the reins.

Already all the other caravans were moving off through the gate. Soon the field would be quite empty. The three elephants were pulling big travelling cages. They were so strong that they could have pulled the whole circus along! They trumpeted a little as they went out of the gate. They were glad to be able to go for a good long walk again.

Jerry jerked his horse’s reins. Brownie set off sedately, walking in the row of caravans. The old caravan creaked and shook and rumbled as it went. It was difficult to stand up in it. The children sat down on the sacks, enjoying the feeling of moving along.

“Our house is moving!” said Susy-Ann, jumping up and down on her sack. “Won’t it be fun to live in a moving house? We shan’t see the same garden every time we look out of the window, as we did at home; we shall see something different every day we are on the move!”

With the trumpeting of elephants, the screeching of parrots, and the yells of the excited chimpanzees, the circus went on the road. Nobody but Jerry knew that two extra children were with it. Nobody guessed who was in the little old caravan!

“I wonder where Mister Binks is!” said Susy-Ann suddenly. “You don’t suppose he has been left behind, do you, Pip? I can’t see him anywhere.”

But just then a well-known snort came from behind the caravan! The children listened, and mingled with the noise of the trotting of horses’ hoofs they could hear the tiny trit-trot of Mister Binks’ hoofs too.

“He’s tied to the back of the caravan!” said Pip, listening. “He’s all right, Susy-Ann. He will enjoy a walk like this.”

Mister Binks sneezed three times. Susy-Ann looked alarmed. “I hope he hasn’t got a cold,” she said. “I’ve never heard him sneeze before.”

“Don’t be silly, Susy,” said Pip. “You know what a dust is thrown up on a dry day like this—well, I expect the dust is getting into Mister Binks’ nose and that’s why he’s sneezing!”

Pip was right. Mister Binks did not like the dust. He sneezed and sneezed.

Along the country lanes went the circus procession, making all the country folk stand and stare. The elephants went so slowly that they were soon left behind, but as they did not have a rest on the way, as the horses did, they always caught up in the end!

After a while Pip quietly slid back the little front peep-hole and looked out. In front of his caravan was a closed cage, where Delia’s bear was sleeping away the afternoon. Pip whispered to Jerry.

“Oh, Jerry! Isn’t it exciting?”

“Yes!” said Jerry. “So far everything is all right! Be careful when you look out of the windows, in case anyone sees you. Sometimes Annabella rides up and down the procession on her horse, and she might just catch sight of you! And if ever you hear me singing ‘Pop goes the Weasel,’ crouch down at once and cover yourselves with sacks or something. You’ll know there’s danger about.”

“Right, Jerry,” said Pip.

Jerry clicked to the horse and it cantered along more quickly to catch up the travelling cage in front. Mister Binks snorted behind, and sneezed loudly.

Susy-Ann pressed her face anxiously to the peep-hole. “Jerry!” she said, “is Mister Binks having plenty to eat?”

“Plenty to eat!” said Jerry, with a giggle. “Well, he ate both my mother’s dish-cloths last night! She had spread them out on the grass to dry, and Mister Binks found them. That was the end of the dish-cloths!”

“Oh dear!” said Susy-Ann. “I do wish that goat would mind what he eats!”

“Have you got anything to eat in there?” asked Jerry.

“Well, not much,” said Susy-Ann. “Just some bread and butter and jam. Nothing to drink at all.”

“You’ll find a big jar of water in one corner,” said Jerry, clicking to the horse again. “I put it there for you. If you’ll make do with bread and jam for tea, I’ll try and get you something nice for to-night.”

“Oh, thank you, Jerry,” said Susy-Ann. “You are kind to us!”

“Look out!” said Jerry. “Here comes Annabella on her horse! Get away from the windows and shut the peep-hole. You needn’t hide under the sacks, because she won’t come in.”

Pip shut the peep-hole quickly. He pulled Susy-Ann down, and they stayed there whilst Annabella rode past on her magnificent horse, seeing that everything was all right with the people, horses, and animals. She did this two or three times each day that the circus was on the road.

“All right now!” said Jerry, after a bit. “She has gone to the head of the procession, and she’ll stay there for some time. I’ll let you know if she comes back again.”

It was fun watching the roads and the hills and the hedges and fields from the dirty windows of the old caravan. They went along all the afternoon. At five o’clock the horses had a rest. The procession pulled up on the side of a common, and soon kettles were boiling for tea.

“We’d better have something to eat too,” said Pip, and he took the stale loaf of bread out of his bag. He found the butter, and Susy-Ann took the lid off the jam-pot.

Snowball the mouse struggled out of Pip’s collar, which was tight with the heat of the day. She was not going to miss her share of tea-time! She sat on Pip’s knee, waiting for crumbs.

“We haven’t got a knife!” said Pip, in dismay. “How are we going to cut the bread?”

“Ask Jerry to lend us his,” said Susy-Ann. But Jerry had gone to his mother’s caravan for tea and was no longer on the driving-seat in front.

“Well, I’ll break the loaf in half and we shall have to chew it,” said Pip. “What shall we use to spread the butter and jam?”

The children frowned at one another, wondering what to do, but as there was simply nothing to use they dipped their fingers into the butter and jam and spread them with those! It seemed to do quite well.

It was a happy little party in the old caravan, munching bread and butter and jam. Snowball ate her crumbs, and washed her whiskers afterwards with a dainty paw. Mister Binks stamped outside, longing to come in. Jerry had set the caravan on grass so that the goat could feed, but he was so anxious to get to Susy-Ann that he didn’t eat even a mouthful of grass!

Soon the circus was off again. Jerry climbed on to his seat in front. “Open the peep-hole, Pip,” he said in a low voice, looking all round to see that nobody was watching him. Pip opened it. Inside the caravan fell a packet. Susy-Ann picked it up.

“Chocolate!” she said. “Oh, thank you, Jerry! Just what I feel like—with nuts in too! Lovely!”

Pip and Susy-Ann sat munching the chocolate, very glad that the miles were slipping by. Snowball ran about the caravan floor, picking up tiny bits of chocolate.

“We shall camp soon,” said Jerry, in a low voice; “as soon as we come to Furze Common. Stay in the caravan till I come to you. I’ll bring you something for supper.”