The Mystery Circus

Chapter 10

I stood in front of the mirror in my room, smiling at my outfit. I was wearing my tightrope walker's outfit again, only this time, it's for real, not for practice. I was pumping with excitement.

My mother came into my room, and examined my image. "You look beautiful, dear." she grinned widely, hugging me.

"Thanks." I said, and hugged her back. "I'm excited." I grinned.

"I know you are. I'm excited for you too." she smiled.

It was 3 days past when we joined, and Adrian and I have already become pros. It was the second day that I told Doll I didn't need her help anymore, and she agreed with me, saying I was as good as her, if not better.

Today we were performing in front of the whole town. It was the huge performance before the circus left, heading for the next city that we would be going to. I still have to ask Joker where we're headed next. I never got a chance to do it.

"You have 10 minutes to be in the tent." she stated.

I picked up my phone to look at the time. She was right- the show started at 6:00 pm, and it was 5:40 right now. Everyone had to be there 10 minutes early to set up, or do last minute practicing.

"What if I mess up?" I asked, suddenly nervous.

"Don't stress about messing up, dear. You've done it perfectly and never messed up the last three days that you continuously practiced, am I right? You didn't even mess up when you didn't have the harness on." she stated.

"Yeah, you are right. I shouldn't be worrying about messing up. Worrying about it will just most likely cause me to mess up." I announced, spinning around. Smokey, who was at my feet, rubbed against my legs, meowing happily and purring, as if cheering me on.

I picked her up and pet her, cuddling her close to my chest before setting her down on my bed, and stretching.

"Okay, let's go." I say, putting on some black ballerina shoes. They worked perfectly. They're not running shoes, but they help grip. Doll walks barefoot across the wire. I have no idea how she does it, because whenever I try, I can do it, but the wire keeps pressing into the bottom of my feet, making my feet uncomfortable.

I follow my mother and walk out the door. I lock my door behind me, and then continue to follow her through the halls. The second we step off the train into the cold snowy air, I see people wandering around, all wearing winter coats, roaming around the circus. They must have all come to see the show, I guess. At least we'll have an audience.

I walked through the crowd, making my way towards the circus tent, with my mother following close behind me. We finally reached the tent. I noticed David standing in front of the opening, making sure no one got in yet.

We walked up to him.

"Hey." I called as we walked up to him.

"Oh hey, Angel and Lillian." he greeted.

Lillian was my mother's name. Her mother named her Lillian because her favourite flower was a Lily, also because my mother's great grandmother was named Lillian.

David pulled the flap open so we could go in.

"Thanks." I said as I walked by him and into the circus tent. I saw huge spotlights everywhere, with 5 bleachers set up around the room for people to sit on.

"Hey! Angel!" I looked up to see Doll at the top of the high pole, waving her hand at me. "Come up here!" she shouted.

"Okay! I'm on my way up!" I called to her, and started making my way towards the ladder. On my way I saw Adrian throwing knives at a target that was all the way across to the other side of the tent. They had a fence set up down the lane towards the target, just so no one walked in front of the target as he threw the knife.

I watched him throw a knife. He held the knife by the pointed end. He then threw it, and the knife spun through the air, before nailing itself in the middle of the target.

"Good job!" I praised him, smiling. I patted him on the back, before taking off and running towards the ladder. I climbed up the ladder, and stood up at the top.

"Okay, Angel. I've got a really brilliant but stupid idea. It's gonna make the crowd go wild!" Doll exclaimed.

"Okay, what is it?" I asked, curious.

"Okay, so we're both at each of the ends, and a spotlight will shine on both of us. We both start walking across the tightrope towards each other, and meet in the middle." she started.

"What happens when we meet?" I questioned.

"When we meet, either you or me cartwheel or handstand over the other person. So for example, if I were walking in front of you, I would do this." she said, then backed up a few feet.

She then walked right for me. She jumped in the air, landing on a perfect handstand on my shoulders. She then continued to lean, and landed perfectly on the ground, feet aligned.

"This idea is so stupid but it's so brilliant at the same time!" I exclaimed.

"Can you do it?" she asked. I nodded, and did a handstand over her shoulders, landing the exact same way she did.

"Okay, so I think what we should do is I will do a handstand over your shoulders, then we'll keep walking. Next we'll turn around, and go back across the tightrope again, meet in the middle, and you will handstand over my shoulders. Got that?" she asked, really excited.

"Got it. It's perfect!" I exclaimed happily.

"Does Joker know?" I asked. "You know, about the whole thing with the handstands?"

"No, he doesn't. Nobody else knows, either, which will make it a huge surprise for everybody." she giggled.

I high fived her. "This is going to be awesome!" I exclaimed. We sat down and waited as people began to flow into the tent.