by Lollie Barr
‘When I was with Hayley at the jumps, we started talking about the future, and she asked me what my dream was. I told her it was to come up with a motorbike trick that nobody had ever thought of and have it named after me. Then she told me her dream was to run her own stunt team. She said if it ever did happen she’d pay me big money and to watch this space.’
‘Hayley was trying to steal you too! Why didn’t you tell me?’ I said.
‘We were talking about dreams, Stunt Boy, not reality. She didn’t actually ask me to work for her.’
He was right. Sometimes people say stuff that means other stuff. It’s confusing. Who the hell was Hayley anyway? She had turned up out of nowhere a year ago asking my dad to give her a job and saying she’d grown up with a poster of him on her wall. He took her on because she was eager to learn and he loved employing girls as he said the stunt world was way too dude heavy. Jem never really took a shine to Hayley, though. She said that she wasn’t a girl’s girl, whatever that meant.
‘It’s all very well having theories, but how are we going to prove it, Stunt Boy? Not with a pair of extra-small, non-latex gloves, that’s for sure,’ said Caleb.
‘Okay, let’s search this place from top to bottom! There’s got to be something here!’
We opened drawers, looked in files, in tool kits, in rubbish bins, searching high and searching low, but there was no mystery smelter to make the replacement spindle or anything. It felt hopeless.
‘Maybe it’s time to throw in the towel and get you to the hospital,’ said Caleb.
‘Yeah, okay,’ I said.
Just then I heard Blindfold’s bark through the wall. He must have nudged the door and gone outside. I followed his bark, past the monster truck, which had an evil smile painted on its grille, to a massive green recycling bin.
Blindfold cocked his back right leg and a stream of pee went all over the bin. I’m not sure if he needed a pee or wanted to get my attention, but I thought it was a good idea to search the bin. Caleb came out and we climbed into the bin.
Chesterley’s people weren’t the sort of people who bothered recycling unlike the people from Stoked, who looked after the environment. It stunk to high hell in that bin. I had to block my nose because I could taste the foul stench in my mouth as I dug through oily rags, old banana skins, newspapers, plastic drink bottles, take-away containers, pizza boxes, animal poo, beer bottles, screwed up oily paper hand towels, plus a whole bunch of used non-latex gloves – exactly the kind of gloves that Hayley favoured.
Then, right at the bottom, I found some photocopied sheets of paper. Someone had been working on a logo. It read ‘Hayley Letters-Chesterley presents . . . Chesterley Monster Circus Stunt Team’.
‘I found it, Caleb, I found it! Hayley and Chesterley must be related!’
‘That’s awesome, Stunt! Let’s keep digging, though,’ said Caleb. ‘We need hard evidence that they rigged the bike.’ He flung handfuls of dirty paper towels behind him.
Then I saw it nestled in the remains of a Chinese takeaway box, the silver glinting catching my eye. It was about as long as a pencil with a thread and a couple of flanges on either end. It looked like its nuts were missing.
‘Caleb! Is this it? Is this the spindle?’ I said delicately passing it to him. He held both ends in his hands scrutinising the piece of metal, and then looked up at me.
‘I think it is, Stunt,’ he said laughing. ‘I think you found it! Now let’s go grab my bikes and get out of this stinky bin and out of this stinky circus.’
Wow! I was going to get to ride on one of Caleb’s bikes!
‘We’ve got to get to the Stoked people,’ I said.
Back inside the hangar, Caleb jumped on the back of the trailer and freed the motorbikes from their chains. Then he hotwired both of the engines. Caleb passed me a helmet and Blindfold jumped on the back and assumed position – left paw on my left shoulder, right paw on my right shoulder. He didn’t have his goggles, but I think he liked riding without goggles because he barked his happy bark. Still, I don’t know if Blindfold actually understood the danger that was ahead.
29
What any kid would do
I could feel the mad buzz of adrenaline coursing through my body. Benny gets an adrenaline rush just as he’s about to wrestle in a big tournament. I remember once he told me that you get a massive boost of glucose and oxygen to your brain and muscles, which improves your physical performance. It comes from the times when cavemen used to get chased by wild animals because they didn’t have guns and stuff. You either had to fight or take flight. People have done mad things when they’re filled with adrenaline, like lift cars off people and things like that.
I get filled with it before I perform. Fred, the sword swallower, gets so much of it, he has a puke bucket backstage that has his name written on it. He throws up before he goes on, which is probably a good thing if you’re sticking twenty swords down your throat into your gut. My dad gets hyped and is like a big kid, jumping around and acting as if he’s a two year old or something. Jem goes really quiet and reads a book. While Sue the Bearded Lady does meditation, where she closes her eyes and watches her breath. She says it calms her down and gets her into the zone.
My adrenaline affects my bowel. That’s because I’ve got lots of hormones surging around my body. I always poo before a show, as there is nothing worse than being ten metres up in the air at the top of a jump and having to squeeze your bum cheeks super tight and smile and wave at the same time.
I could feel the rumbling in my guts right now, as I followed Caleb as we rode out of the paddock. Then from the direction of the crew camp, a ute with a bright light mounted on the top of the cab came screaming towards us, heading us off and forcing us towards the back of the circus. I hit the throttle and sped to the ute’s left side as Caleb went to the right. I turned my head to see a dust cloud rising behind me.
Then it was as if someone had turned on daylight. A deafening roar that sounded like ten million angry lawnmowers choking on wet grass filled my ears. I took a brief glance over my shoulder and saw a sinister smiley face emerging from out of the dust cloud. It was the purple monster truck and it was gaining on my motorbike fast.
A third vehicle, a jeep, came skidding to a stop between the props store and some animal cages. We were surrounded now: the fence behind us, the two vehicles closing in, one in front converging to block our way.
It was fight or flight. Caleb and I had exactly the same thought at the same time and swung our bikes around to face the first ute, which had left the narrowest of gaps along the fence line. Caleb gestured for me to go first and I opened the throttle and sprinted past the jeep as Blindfold’s paws ripped into my skin, holding on for dear life. Caleb was right behind me on his bike.
Then I saw a clown stand up on the back of the ute, struggling with what looked like a heavy silver beer barrel before a glint of silver flew through the air. I turned to see it catch the back of Caleb’s bike, sending him tumbling to the ground.
The ute raced after me and I zigzagged to avoid it as I did a full circle past the props shed and animal feed station. I could have turned left towards the front gates, but I couldn’t leave Caleb. He’d come to save the circus on his holidays when he could have gone to the beach or something! I did a 360 degree turn just as the monster truck revved its guts out as it headed towards Caleb, running over his bike and flattening it. However, part of the bike got stuck beneath its wheels. It reversed back and forth over the bike, revving its huge engine, stating its intention to flatten Caleb as it had squashed his bike.
I turned my bike to face the monster. I opened the throttle and accelerated towards Caleb at the same time as the monster truck expelled Caleb’s bike from beneath its wheels like a used toothpick.
‘Hold on, Blindfold,’ I yelled, feeling Blindfold’s claws dig even deeper into my shoulders as we sped towards a half dazed Caleb, who was no
w on his feet, his hand to his eyes blocking the blinding light.
I leant my weight to the right of the bike, so my knee was almost touching the ground. I kept my left hand on the throttle and decreased the revs to almost nothing.
‘Caleb!’ I yelled as I reached out with my right hand and grabbed his hoodie.
The bike was on the brink of toppling over but, powered by adrenaline-fuelled strength, I managed to pull Caleb up and onto the bike, the weight of his body lying diagonally across the petrol tank, as I righted us with a burst of the throttle.
But Caleb’s weight had knocked the bike off balance, making it wobble. Somehow I managed to keep it upright as I roared past the monster truck, catching sight of Hayley in the passenger seat.
I chucked a 360 turn and took off, outmanoeuvring the ute, but I couldn’t keep a hold onto Caleb for much longer. He was just too heavy and my adrenaline was nearly all used up.
The garage door to the animal enclosure was open, so I drove inside, the revs of the engine reverberating off the tin walls and echoing in the darkness before it idled to a stop. I yanked Caleb off before slamming the roller door down and locking it with a big metal bar.
In the darkness, I could see the animals’ eyes before I flicked on the light.
On the floor, Caleb held his head in his hands. ‘Ow, my head. What happened?’ he said.
‘The clowns knocked you out with a barrel and you came off your bike,’ I explained. ‘I’m sorry that monster truck killed your bike, but at least it didn’t kill you.’
‘You saved my life, man!’
‘I did what any kid would have done, Caleb,’ I said, kind of shy about saving his life.
The evil goon clowns hammered at the door, yelling out how they were going to kill me and stuff including using lots of triple-X rated swear words, too rude to print here. Then about ten minutes later, I heard a voice I clearly recognised.
‘Runt Boy! Runt Boy! You’re dead. You’re dead!’ cried Barry Chesterley hysterically, the door shaking and swaying. ‘Your father may have escaped with his life because I left it to the amateurs, but you’re playing with the big boys now.’
30
Promise on Blindfold’s life
‘Listen, Caleb, I’ve got an idea. I’m going to free the animals and create a stampede,’ I said. ‘I’ll open all the cages and you keep the bike revved, then I’ll open the garage door and leapfrog onto the bike.’
I’m always leaping on and off moving motorbikes. It’s pretty easy but you’ve got to get the timing right. Sometimes if you land in the wrong position you can kill your nuts real bad and they burn like when you’re trying to ease yourself into a really hot bath and forget to cup your nuts in your hand and your nuts hit the hot water first. There’s nothing worse than stinging nuts.
‘Are you all right to ride? I mean, you’ve just been hit in the head by a beer barrel.’
‘I’m okay. I can do it,’ he replied, standing up but still looking wobbly. ‘Anyway you’re the one with the really dangerous job. You’re going to have to be quick opening the animals’ cages.’
Caleb was right. Elephants, lions and bears could kill a man, even if they were tame. I’d seen documentaries where people had raised wild animals since they were babies and they’d been like their pets, or even their kids, and then the animals had killed them. The animals forgot they were friends and attacked them. It’s called animal instinct.
‘I promised the animals that I’d set them free. I promised on Blindfold’s life!’ I said as Blindfold’s ears pricked up and he did a double take. I don’t think he liked me promising on his life.
I picked the locks on the animals’ cages with Caleb’s screwdriver, but didn’t open the doors. Then, when they were all done, I sprinted from one cage to the next and opened the door. Caleb and Blindfold, who had his paws on Caleb’s shoulders, shadowed me in case any of the animals made an unexpected run for it.
But the animals didn’t come out. They were so used to being cowed by being hit with sticks and whips and hooks that they didn’t even make a move to leave their cages.
‘Come on, animals, you’re free, you’re free!’ I yelled frustrated, standing by the garage door, but they didn’t budge an inch. I was starting to get mad that they were ruining my plan to create a diversion. I knew that the circus animals couldn’t escape out into OverEast due to Chesterley’s high electrified fences, but the animals weren’t playing their part.
Suddenly Blindfold jumped off Caleb’s bike and ran inside the elephants’ open cage, his tail between his legs and his head low to the ground in a submissive posture.
‘Blindfold! Come back! Come back!’ I called out, afraid that he was going to be trampled to death.
He turned and looked at me for a second, his big brown puppy-dog eyes fearful; then he walked deeper into the cage. The bull elephant trumpeted and then sniffed Blindfold from his butt to his head and back again. Blindfold was trembling all over.
The elephant’s legs folded and he sunk to his knees. Blindfold walked to the back of the cage then took a run up onto the bull elephant’s back, trotting up his spine to his enormous head. Blindfold then sat down in the crook of the elephant’s neck, between his ears. When the elephant stood up, Blindfold was three metres in the air. He’s a stunt dog. He likes heights. It’s just what he does. He probably wouldn’t make a big deal of it, so I won’t either.
The elephant let out a loud trumpet, throwing his trunk into the air, and Blindfold barked his happy bark, the one where his tongue pokes out the side of his mouth and he looks as if he has a big cheesy grin on his face. The other elephants took it as their cue that they were on the move and started heading towards the open cage door.
‘Stunt Boy, get ready to open that door,’ yelled Caleb, signalling that the other animals must have understood the call of the wild as the lion and tiger lazily made their way towards the cage doors. The big dancing bear must have been really tired because he didn’t even bother getting up. He sniffed the air and let out a low growl as if to say, You go for it, guys, but I’ll just sit this one out.
Blindfold turned in his direction and barked his disapproval, and slowly the bear got up and moved towards the entrance, giving me seconds to release the bar and wrench up the door. I leap-frogged onto the back of Caleb’s bike as it propelled forward past Chesterley and past the clown goons, who were wide-eyed at what was behind us.
I turned around to see the clowns diving inside the windows of their trucks. The last I saw of Chesterley was his puffy jowls swinging as he scrambled up into the monster truck, which suddenly roared to life.
The animals rampaged through the circus, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. The big female elephant threw her head back and charged at the office, smashing the side in, as if it were a dented soda can stomped on by a man with heavy boots, before carrying on through the circus.
I saw two heads appear, their mouths forming O shapes. My uncles looked out, framed by some tattered yellow curtains. I can’t take credit for all this as I hadn’t worked out this part of the plan. It had just happened.
As we raced through the circus, I gripped Caleb tight around the waist, looking for a means of escape, but the fence was too high to jump. The monster truck gained on us, wanting to crush our bones to dust as we tore up the small hill towards the entrance. Racing along the fence line towards the front of the circus, I saw Lefty Blue Eye point at us, recognising Caleb’s bike as Caleb tried to outrun the monster truck.
‘Grip onto me with every bit of strength you have,’ yelled Caleb over the noise of the bike. ‘We’re going over the fence, dude!’
What? Over the fence! It must have been two metres high, was electrified and it had all that barbed wire up the top. Was Caleb completely crazy? Even though I was a little skinny kid and Caleb was a pretty skinny teenager, there were still two of us on the bike! And there was no ramp – how
could we make that kind of clearance?
Earth calling Caleb! This was the dumbest idea ever, but I had to trust that Caleb knew what he was doing, even if we could end up tangled in barbed wire, or worse, dead. Besides, what were the options apart from being turned into human peanut butter by a monster truck with a grudge?
I felt every bump in the ground, every beat of my heart, as Caleb opened the throttle to full power and we roared up the hill, the monster truck in hot pursuit. Caleb headed straight for a large ditch that had a ridge that looked like it had a puffy top lip extending out of it on one side.
I held onto Caleb as if I were superglued to his back. ‘Right, Stunt, when I yell “lift”, we’re both going to stand up as one. When I say “drop” sit back down again. Just follow my body and trust me okay?’
As we got to the top of the lip, Caleb revved the guts out of the bike.
‘Lift!’ he yelled above the din of the bike as we both lifted our body weight off the bike for a micro second.
‘Drop!’ he screamed, as we bounced back down dropping our combined weight on the backseat, compressing the back suspension. It acted like a spring and suddenly we were airborne – and all I could see was the inky night sky.
It felt as if time was slowing down as Caleb held onto the handlebars as the silver glimmer of the knotted barb wire whizzed past my feet. We landed heavily on the other side of the fence, skidding to a stop, the momentum sending the bike sliding out from beneath us as we went tumbling over the top of each other and landed in a tangle of arms and legs.
