Big Top Flop

by Carolyn Keene

  “She’ll be back in a flash, Ms. Bingle,” Nancy promised. She, Bess, and George rushed back to the trailer.

  Bess shivered as they walked inside. “Why is it so cold in here all of a sudden?” she said.

  “Who cares?” George said, grabbing the ringmaster whistle from the vanity table. “It’s show time!”

  The girls raced back to the big tent. George was whisked away by one of the show directors. An usher led Nancy and Bess inside the tent. Hannah was waiting in their special grandstand seats, right next to the circus ring!

  “Watch out for swinging horse tails!” Hannah teased.

  Nancy was so excited she could hardly breathe—especially when the lights flashed off and a spotlight began to swirl!

  “Ladies, gentlemen, and children of all ages!” a man’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker. “Please welcome Ringmaster Rex and our special guest, Junior Ringmaster George Fayne!”

  “Yaaaaaay!” Nancy and Bess cheered louder than anyone as Ringmaster Rex and George entered the ring. When the cheering died down Rex and George stood in the spotlight.

  “George?” Rex asked in a deep voice. “Do you have your whistle ready?”

  “Sure do, Ringmaster Rex!” George replied.

  “Then give a whistle, and let the circus begin!” Rex shouted.

  Nancy and Bess squeezed hands as George put the whistle between her lips. Her chest puffed out and both shoulders rose. She leaned forward as she began to blow. There was just one problem: No sound came out!

  “Where’s the whistle?” Bess whispered.

  “I don’t know!” Nancy whispered back.

  George’s face seemed to redden as she blew even harder. Her arm flapped up and down as she kept trying to whistle. But no matter how hard George seemed to blow, there was no sound!

  “Oh no!” Nancy groaned as she watched George. “Something is wrong!”

  FLEE-RING CIRCUS

  “I can do it! Let me try again!” George cried as Peggy gently dragged her out of the ring. But before George could stick the whistle back in her mouth . . .

  TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Ringmaster Rex blew his own whistle and shouted, “Let the circus begin!”

  George was led away, just as a parade of circus performers marched into the ring. Any other time Nancy and Bess would have been happy to see them, but not this time.

  “Hannah, I want to leave and find George,” Nancy said.

  “Me too,” Bess agreed.

  “But you girls will miss Oodles of Poodles,” Hannah said. “And Shirley the Seesaw Llama.”

  Nancy could see her favorite poodles and Shirley in the parade. Also marching were Fifi and Felix Fabuloso in their own sparkly purple leotards.

  “Shirley and the poodles aren’t our best friends, Hannah,” Nancy said. “George is.”

  “I’ll save your seats,” Hannah said with a smile. “But be back here in a half hour. No later.”

  Nancy glanced at her watch and promised to be back on time. As the horses pranced into the middle of the ring she and Bess stood up and walked out of the tent.

  “There she is!” Bess cried.

  Nancy looked to see where Bess was pointing. George was racing to her trailer. “George, wait!” she called.

  “They gave me a broken whistle!” George shouted back as she kept running. “How could they do that to me?”

  Once inside the trailer George slammed the whistle on the vanity table. Nancy tilted her head as she looked it over. Something about it was different.

  “The whistle isn’t as shiny as it was before,” Nancy said.

  “Maybe George smudged it with her fingerprints,” Bess said while George slipped out of her ringmaster suit.

  But when Nancy picked it up, she noticed something else. “George’s name is gone!” she gasped. “So are the words ‘junior ringmaster’!”

  “You mean it’s a different whistle?” Bess asked.

  “Can’t be,” George said, still frowning. “It’s broken. That’s all.”

  Nancy shook her head and said, “I think the real ringmaster whistle was switched with a broken whistle.”

  George wrinkled her nose as she stared at Nancy. “When did that happen?” she asked.

  “Maybe when we left to look for the party,” Nancy said. “Whoever slipped us the fake invitation probably wanted us to leave the trailer so they could do the switcheroo.”

  “But this is the circus—everybody is happy and nice!” Bess cried. “Who would do something like that?”

  “I don’t know, Bess,” Nancy admitted. “But the Clue Crew can try to find out.”

  Nancy put the whistle back on the table. She reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out her Clue Book.

  “You really do bring your Clue Book everywhere,” George said, cracking a small smile. “Even to the circus!”

  “And I’m glad I did!” Nancy said as she opened her book. A pen was tucked inside. She used it to write the words, “Who Switched Whistles?” Under that she wrote “Clues.”

  “The first clue was the invitation,” Nancy said as she wrote, “written with green ink.”

  “There’s another clue!” George said, pointing to patches of sandy dust on the floor. “Sawdust!”

  “The circus ring is filled with sawdust,” Bess said. “You must have gotten some on your shoes inside the tent.”

  “Ringmaster Rex and I walked in on a clear plastic runner,” George said. She pointed down at her clean shoes. “My shoes never touched sawdust!”

  “Then someone from the circus ring tracked sawdust in here,” Nancy decided. “Maybe a circus performer!”

  “Or a sourpuss!” Bess said angrily.

  Sour? The word gave Nancy another idea!

  “Miles Ling was mad at George for sucking sour candies while he was trying to whistle in the contest,” Nancy said.

  “And Miles was asked to be a junior clown!” Bess added. “Which means he’s probably here today!”

  “We have no proof that a clown was in this trailer,” George said. “Like footprints from giant shoes.”

  “No,” Bess said with a smile, “but we do have that!”

  Bess pointed under the vanity table. Nancy looked under the table and saw something red, small, and round. She picked it up, and it squeaked!

  “It’s a red rubber clown nose!” Nancy exclaimed.

  “And it’s small enough to belong to a kid!” George pointed out. “A kid like Miles.”

  “Does that mean I found a clue?” Bess asked.

  “Yes!” Nancy said. “And now we’re going to find our first suspect—Miles Ling!”

  SAY SQUEEZE!

  Nancy looked at her watch as the girls left the trailer. She remembered her promise to Hannah to be back at the tent in a half hour.

  “We have ten minutes to find and question Miles,” Nancy told her friends. “So we have to work fast.”

  “Miles could be anywhere here at the circus,” Bess said. “Where do we look first?”

  The girls spotted a jumble of arrow-shaped signs pointing in all directions. Nancy read the signs out loud: “ ‘Food Carts’ . . . ‘Blacksmith Shop’ . . . ‘Junior Clown Alley’—”

  “That’s it!” George said. “That must be where the Junior Clowns hang out.”

  The arrow-shaped sign pointed to a small white tent with colorful polka dots. The Clue Crew raced over to it. They peeked through the opening and looked around.

  “No clowns in there,” George said.

  “No anybody,” Bess added.

  “Let’s go in,” Nancy suggested. “Maybe we can find clues that Miles was here.”

  The girls slipped inside the tent. It was filled with colorful clown props like giant baseball bats, tiny tricycles, and squirting soda bottles. A long table with mirrors held pots of gooey clown makeup and crazy wigs!

  “Cool!” George said, pulling a rainbow-colored wig over her curly dark hair. “I’ve always wanted one of these!”

  “And I’ve alwa
ys wanted a pair of these!” Bess said, slipping into a pair of gigantic clown shoes.

  George plopped a funny hat over Nancy’s reddish blond hair. “Try this on for size, Nancy!” she said.

  “There’s no time to clown around, you guys!” Nancy said. “We have to look for clues that Miles was in here!”

  Still wearing the clown gear, the Clue Crew searched for traces of Miles. But Bess found something else. . . .

  “A clown car!” Bess cried out. “Let’s see if we can all squeeze inside just like clowns do!”

  Nancy turned. Bess was already squeezing inside a tiny car with big wheels. It was bright red and yellow.

  “Come on, Nancy,” George called as she crammed inside too. “Pile in!”

  Nancy stared at the tiny clown car. She had always wondered what it was like to be inside one, so . . .

  “Okay, but let’s be quick,” Nancy warned. “Those Junior Clowns and Miles could be here any second!”

  Squeezing inside the clown car was a tight fit for Nancy, Bess, and George—so tight that Bess wanted out!

  “My foot is practically in my face!” Bess complained. “And I’m wearing giant shoes!”

  “I don’t like it either, Bess,” Nancy said. “It’s dark and stuffy in here.”

  “It’s a plastic clown car, you guys!” George groaned. “Not a luxury stretch limo!”

  Nancy was about to open the car door when she heard the sound of voices and loud thumping footsteps!

  “Somebody’s coming!” Nancy hissed.

  “And they’ve got big feet!” George said quietly.

  “Big feet mean clowns!” Bess whispered.

  The Clue Crew sat silently inside the tiny car. They wanted to find Miles, but they didn’t want the Junior Clowns to find them snooping inside their tent!

  Nancy peered out the car’s window. She could see about five Junior Clowns stepping inside.

  “It’s just our luck we had to be in the ring with Shirley the Spitting Llama!” a girl with a bright-red clown wig said.

  “You mean Shirley the Seesaw Llama?” a boy asked.

  “She’s the spitting llama to me,” the girl replied. “Clowns may rule but llamas drool!”

  Nancy felt Bess tug her sleeve.

  “I’m getting a cramp in my foot!” Bess whispered.

  “Wiggle it!” Nancy whispered back.

  The car shook slightly as Bess wiggled her foot with the giant clown shoe. Then—

  HOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNKKK!!!

  Nancy, Bess, and George froze. Bess’s giant clown foot had pressed the car horn!

  “Hey,” a clown said. “There’s only one way to blow the horn and that’s”—the girls gasped as the clown yanked the door open—“inside!”

  Nancy and her friends spilled out of the tiny car. As they stood up they were surrounded by junior clowns!

  “What were you doing in our car?” the girl with the red wig demanded.

  “And what are you doing with our wig, hat, and shoes?” the boy wanted to know.

  The clowns wore lots of makeup, red round noses, and giant plastic flowers on their jackets. Their names were stitched onto their jackets too, but not one of them was Miles.

  “We just wanted to try on some fun clown things, that’s all,” Nancy explained.

  “We’re junior clowns too,” Bess blurted. “Just like you guys.”

  Nancy heard George groan under her breath. Nancy had a feeling Bess’s answer meant trouble.

  “Oh yeah?” Mandy, the red-wig clown, said. “If you’re junior clowns, then show us your best tricks.”

  “Tricks?” Nancy repeated.

  “Every clown knows tricks,” Spencer, a boy clown, said. “That is . . . if you really are junior clowns.”

  Nancy gulped. If she did know any tricks, she couldn’t think of one now!

  “Just go for it,” George muttered. She picked up two juggling balls, but when she tried to juggle—clunk, clunk—dropped them on the ground!

  Nancy turned a cartwheel. Bess hopped up and down on one giant foot.

  Mandy pointed to the girls and shouted, “Wannabes! I’ll bet you never went to circus camp a day in your life!”

  “Let’s show them our favorite trick!” Spencer told the other clowns. “Shall we?”

  The clowns formed a circle around the girls. Nancy gulped again. Now what?

  “Ready? Aim?” Mandy shouted. “Gush!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George shrieked. The flowers on the clown’s jackets squirted water straight at them.

  “Okay!” Nancy shouted as the water kept gushing. “We’ll tell you why we’re really here—just stooooopppp!!!”

  SLICK TRICK

  The clowns finally stopped, but it was too late. Nancy, Bess, and George were dripping wet!

  Nancy spit out a mouthful of water. “We’re here to look for Miles Ling,” she said. “Do any of you know him?”

  While the clowns whispered to one another, Nancy studied their noses. They seemed different than the nose they found in the trailer.

  “A couple of us know Miles from circus camp,” a clown named Chloe said. “He used to get candy ringmaster whistles in his care packages.”

  “We know Miles wanted to be junior ringmaster,” George said. “He became a junior clown at the whistle contest instead.”

  “Nuh-uh,” Arlen said, shaking his head. “Something more awesome happened to Miles after the whistle contest.”

  “What happened?” Nancy asked.

  “Miles went to Chicago with his parents,” Arlen explained, “to film a commercial for Super-Sour Suckers.”

  “But Miles hates Super-Sour Suckers!” Bess said.

  “A commercial director was at the contest,” Arlen said. “He liked Miles’s funny faces and asked him to pucker like that on TV.”

  “How do you know for sure?” Nancy asked.

  “I was at the contest too,” Arlen said. “I saw the whole thing!”

  The Clue Crew traded looks. Was Arlen telling the truth about Miles? Or was he just clowning around?

  Chloe interrupted the girls’ thoughts as she pointed to George. “Hey!” she said. “Aren’t you the junior ringmaster who can’t whistle?”

  “My whistle couldn’t whistle,” George muttered.

  “Bummer!” Mandy said. She held out a tall, colorful can. “Have some yummy peanut brittle to cheer up.”

  “I love peanut brittle!” Bess said, grabbing the can. But when she opened it three fake snakes sprang out of the can into the air!

  “Very funny,” Nancy told the clowns while Bess screamed.

  “Sure, we’re funny!” Arlen said with a grin. “We’re clowns!”

  The girls returned the clown gear before leaving Junior Clown Alley.

  “I don’t think Miles was at the circus today,” Nancy said. “And that nose we found didn’t belong to a junior clown, either.”

  “How do you know, Nancy?” Bess asked.

  Nancy had the rubber nose in her jacket pocket. She pulled it out and placed it over her real nose.

  “This nose is tiny,” Nancy pointed out. “Even for a kid.”

  “There you are!” someone called.

  Nancy turned to see Hannah walking toward them. She looked relieved but also a bit mad.

  “I was looking all over for you,” Hannah said.

  “Sorry, Hannah,” Nancy said. “We were busy doing something and forgot about the time.”

  Hannah looked the girls up and down. “You’re all soaking wet,” she said. “How can you see the rest of the circus like that?”

  “I think we’ve had enough of the circus today, Hannah.” George sighed.

  “And clowns,” Bess added.

  They were about to head for the car when George remembered something.

  “I have to run back to my trailer,” George said. “I left my jacket in there.”

  “Okay,” Hannah said. “But this time—”

  “We’ll be right back,” Nancy said. “Promise!”


  Nancy, Bess, and George raced to the silver trailer. A blast of cold air hit them as they walked inside.

  “No wonder it’s so cold in here!” Bess said. She pointed to one of the windows in the trailer. It was half open.

  Nancy stared up at the window. Did someone open it from outside?

  “You guys,” Nancy asked slowly, “do you think the whistle-switcher climbed in through the window?”

  “The window is high,” George said. “Why would someone climb through the window if the door wasn’t locked?”

  “So he or she wouldn’t be seen going into the trailer?” Nancy wondered. She dragged a chair underneath the window and climbed up onto it.

  “What are you doing, Nancy?” George asked.

  “I want to see if there’s a tree outside,” Nancy explained. “Maybe the whistle-switcher climbed it to get through the window.”

  But when Nancy reached the window, she found something else. Scattered all over the windowsill was—

  “Purple glitter!” Nancy gasped.

  “So?” George asked.

  “The Fabuloso Family was wearing purple glitter leotards!” Nancy said excitedly. “So were Fifi and Felix!”

  “If anyone could climb way up there,” George said, narrowing her eyes. “It’s the Flying Fabulosos!”

  “Fifi and Felix are always playing tricks too,” Bess said.

  Nancy hopped off the chair and smiled. Not only did she just discover a glittery clue, she discovered two new suspects!

  “Maybe Fifi and Felix had a brand-new trick,” Nancy said, clapping her hands to get rid of the purple glitter on them. “And this time it wasn’t on the trapeze!”

  TWIN SPIN

  “Thanks for driving us to the park today, Daddy,” Nancy said the next morning. “What will you do while we work on our case?”

  “I’ll read the Sunday paper here in the car,” Mr. Drew said as he drove. “How would you girls like to work on the puzzles in the kids section?”

  Nancy shook her head as she sat between Bess and George in the backseat.

  “No, thanks, Daddy,” Nancy said. “The only puzzle we want to solve right now is our mystery!”

  Nancy had already told her dad about the case of the switched whistles.