Being Butch Green || ✓

Chapter 27 - The Magic of Circus Gumboola

We glided under the flap effortlessly.

The tent was alive with a buzz of excitement. The tall striped canopy of the tarp castle fluttered slightly in a morning draft, and a small arena, littered with fine sawdust, catered for acrobats practicing leapfrogs over each other. They stretched and contorted themselves like paper, gleaming in suits of ice-blue sequins. A trio of beautiful chestnut Arabians cantered around them; pink feathers and sparkly reins making them glint in the harsh artificial lighting. Two large poles were being pulled up by dozens of men in slacks. They shouted and heaved the poles into a vertical upright position, before a set of men furiously tied a large safety net beneath it.

"Wow," Hailey gasped under her breath as we stopped to spectate the pre-show scene.

I smiled over at her. "Looks like there's no tiger's enclosure after all."

"Do you think we lost those men?"

I crouched down to see through the flap. The trio were charging towards us over the grass, their ridiculous black capes fluttering like fish behind them. "I don't think so. Quick! This way!"

I tightened my grip on her hand and led her around the stands. We kicked up dirt as Hailey's eyes were drawn solely to the prancing horses. She watched them trot and prance around a cowboy dressed in equally sparkly spurs. Ignoring the whole affair, I dragged her around to the other side of the tent and slipped under the seating.

Together, we peaked through an open slit in the metal and eyed the flap we'd slithered through. They bolted in, standing like confused sheep as they gazed at all the sparkly beings before them.

"Do you think they'll find us?" Hailey asked quietly.

"I think they're too busy getting lost in all the sparkles."

"But will they find us?" she pursued, giving me a worried frown.

"I doubt that," I reassured her, observing the men as they were ushered out by yet another clown. "But you can count on them coming back."

She sighed. "Well, we'd better get out of here whilst we can."

She stood and moved to go, but I pulled her down. "Don't you think that's what those men want? For us to think it's safe then fall for their trap?"

"I didn't think of that," she paused, "So, what are we going to do then?"

I shrugged, trying to think of a plan. "We could stay?"

She smiled. "You really think so? But don't you think Maggie will be upset when they find out we didn't come to rescue them straight away?"

I gripped her shoulders, pulling her towards me. "I think she'll just be glad that we're safe."

She nodded as I let go of her. "Hey, Butch?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks, for everything back there. You kinda saved me."

"Don't worry about it, it's what friends do, right?"

Where the idea that we were friends came from, I have no idea. I never had any solid friends to hang on to, and it frightened me. What if she was here for the long haul? Did being friends - newbie friends - mean anything to her? Or did she just think of me as some random dude that had stumbled into her life by shear accident?

"Besides," I began, "you can't beat a good circus show. Without the tigers of course."

She smiled. "No, that you can't."

We both lay comfortably in the dirt, peeping through the gap as the horses reared up and finished their practice round. They were led away by the cowboy and out of sight as the men hauling up the poles finished. Two of them climbed up to adjust a few ropes and the catch net, working like little robots.