by Lollie Barr
31
Not the elephant’s fault
I’m not sure how long I was out for but I woke to Sue the Bearded Lady, holding my wrist checking for my pulse.
‘Stunt Boy!’ she said as she looked into my eyes. ‘Stunt Boy! Are you okay?’
‘That was awesome!’ I said sitting up and removing my helmet. ‘That was amazing. Did you see it? Did you see it, Sue? Did you see that jump?’
Caleb was taking off his helmet. ‘We did it. I can’t believe we made it!’
Then it struck me. ‘Blindfold!’ I yelled out. He was still behind the fence.
I looked towards the fence line to see Blindfold on top of the elephant, who was manoeuvring his giant weight as close to the fence as possible. Blindfold then trotted down the elephant’s spine to his tail, took a running jump from there and sailed over the fence, barbed wire and all, before landing, doing a doggie forward roll and running up to me and licking my face.
When I looked up from hugging Blindfold, I saw that the bull elephant and the female had herded little Sheeba behind them, protecting her. The bright lights from the monster truck shone straight at us, turning everything into a blanket of white haze, as dust particles danced in the air.
‘It was Hayley!’ I told the Stoked people as I tried to regain my breath back. ‘Hayley tried to kill my dad!’
‘It’s true,’ said Caleb. ‘That chick is a psychopath! She was gunning for us’.
‘Hayley?’ said Lefty Blue Eye, clutching his chest in shock. ‘Not our sweet little Hayley!’
‘She’s not so sweet, Lefty, and she’s related to Chesterley. She’s up there in that monster truck that just tried to flatten me and Caleb!’ I explained, pointing up at it.
The whole Stoked crew reacted in a total uproar, shaking their fists as they screamed out her name, calling her a traitor and some really rude words that I can’t repeat.
Hayley stuck her head and her entire torso out of the truck window and gave us the finger, as if she had no shame whatsoever for what she had done.
‘Suck it up, freaks. Suck. It. Up,’ she yelled over the noise of the engine at us. ‘Your freak show is over. Stoked Circus is DOA and nothing will be bring it back to life.’
Chesterley popped out of the other window, his face a picture of anger. ‘And start looking for new homes because you’re illegally on my land. I want you gone by the morning or I’ll be burning you out.’
‘You’re going to be arrested for trying to murder my dad!’ I screamed, standing up and holding my ribs, which were all achy and sore.
‘Yeah right, Stunt Boy!’ said Hayley smiling, her middle finger still straight and erect. ‘Fat chance that is ever going to happen.’
I reached down and felt the spindle in my pocket. I knew full well that there was enough evidence to tie Hayley and Chesterley to the plot. There was no way my uncles would be able to sell those criminals the land now.
The Stoked Crew was still going nuts, screaming and shouting at Hayley and Chesterley. Lucky there was a fence between us, as everyone was so het-up, there could have been bloodshed! Then the truck started blasting its horn in an effort to drown us out, but it only provoked the elephants.
The bull elephant’s ears rose high on the side of his head, the light creating almost a see-through effect as if you could see right through them.
Then came a sound I’ll never forget: an elephant’s cry, a deep and guttural EEEEAWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAE that rumbled through my body, making my ribs ache. It was so loud everyone on our side of the fence put their hands to their ears. The bull elephant then broke from its tiny herd and the ground began to quake beneath me.
I’d never seen an elephant run before, but let me tell you, they might be big and heavy but they move as though they’re pumas or Olympic sprinters. The truck spun its wheels in an attempt to reverse away from several tonnes of rampaging elephant.
The elephant bore down on the monster truck and, using its gigantic head as a battering ram, charged. The sound of crushed metal rang out as the truck flipped on its side, the wheels spinning violently. The motor choked on its own petrol and smoke rose from the engine in dirty black clouds.
‘Everyone get back,’ yelled Lefty, shepherding us all away from the fence line. ‘That engine could blow at any second.’ The elephant retreated back to his family, using his body to create a shield, stomping his feet and trumpeting wildly.
Hayley’s head cautiously popped out of the truck. As she jumped down, I saw the bright lights of the devastated monster truck illuminate her green sparkling shoes – the same ones I’d seen from beneath the hot dog stand. She stumbled away into the darkness. Chesterley then emerged dazed and panic stricken, and limped away as if his leg was broken.
Then another head popped out! It was Biker Pete! Biker Pete! He looked shamefaced and embarrassed, as my crew started shouting at him in disgust.
‘You’re never going to be the star of the show, Pete,’ I yelled, riding the anger as if it was a motorbike. ‘You’re going away for a very long time.’
Standing nearby me, Jennifer Pringle smoothed down her hair and the cameraman swung his camera away from the action on the other side of the fence and started filming her.
‘This is Jennifer Pringle at Chesterley’s Family Circus, where we have just witnessed the most unbelievable events. Two teens have just jumped a two-metre fence as a rogue elephant attacked a monster truck and –’
I ran up to her, mad that the wrong person (or animal) was getting the blame again.
‘It wasn’t the elephant’s fault!’ I said, all the emotion of the last few days pouring out of my eyes in the form of tears. I dug into my pocket for the spindle. Then I told her how Chesterley had been beating up his animals to make them do stupid tricks; how Benny’s parents had staged a protest to save the animals; how Benny had filmed it and put it on the internet; how I’d been chased up the rigging by a monkey; how Chesterley had framed me as a mastermind kid criminal; how Caleb had been roughed up by evil clowns and had dirty socks stuffed into his mouth (to which Caleb appeared on camera saying he could still taste ‘a revolting fromage taste in my mouth’. I later found out fromage was cheese; Caleb apparently learnt the word when he performed in France last summer); how Blindfold had led the animals out of their cages; how Biker Pete and Hayley were supposed to be our friends but had conspired with Chesterley to get my dad out of the picture and take over the circus; how my uncles, who didn’t like stunts on account of being shot out of cannons from an early age, were trying to sell off our land and how the insurance company had said they wouldn’t let us perform our fundraising show.
Jennifer Pringle, who couldn’t have got a word in edgeways anyway, just let me talk and talk, until all my words had been used up. I didn’t know at the time, but every word was going out live on TV. Actually, the story went all over the world, on account of the freak of a motorbike jump that Caleb did and an elephant beating a monster truck in a battle.
By now I was shivering, not because I was cold, but because I was so exhausted from having more adrenaline in my body than I’d had in my whole life, which had now all drained away. I suddenly felt so tired that I wasn’t sure my legs would hold up my body.
I wanted to sleep for days, but I had to get to the hospital. I had to see my dad.
32
I’m a hero
‘We’re here, Stunt Boy, wake up. Come on, Stunt, time to see your dad,’ said Sue, who I was using as a pillow. She stroked my hair really gently as I came to.
I’d fallen sound asleep, Blindfold curled up on my lap, as we’d driven to the hospital in Pikelet’s truck. But the thought of seeing my dad gave me so much energy I felt as if I had been asleep for a year, not thirty minutes. However, as I got out of the truck, Pikelet insisted I use him as a crutch because I had achy ribs from falling off Caleb’s bike. Pikelet was the perfect height for a crutch, so I didn’t
say no.
Blindfold walked into the hospital with us. I didn’t even think about the fact that he wasn’t allowed in the hospital because he was a dog; besides, I didn’t have a bag to hide him in, so he walked right through casualty and everybody just stared at us.
We took the lift to Dad’s floor. When we got to the nurses’ station all the nurses and doctors who had been so kind to us started clapping and cheering. They were making heaps of noise, which could have woken up the whole ward, but they didn’t seem to care.
‘Way to go, Stunt!’ one called out. ‘You’re a hero!’
‘You’re amazing!’ said another nurse. ‘We just saw you on the television!’
I felt a bit shy and smiled briefly then shuffled off to my dad’s room. I opened the door and Ginger Styles and Jem jumped up and came running at me, wrapping me in their arms, crying and laughing at the same time.
Both of them were speaking at ten gazillion miles per hour about how they had watched the whole thing live. They pointed up to the ceiling where the TV was still on.
Dad lay still and serene in his bed, not having a clue of the drama that had unfolded right before his very eyes. Mr Barnstable and two other doctors came into the room with the nurse and Pikelet, Ginger Styles and Sue were asked to wait outside. They’d been slowly easing Dad off the sedatives they’d been pumping into him and now they were stopping them altogether. They didn’t ask Blindfold to leave though. Maybe they had seen the TV as well, and knew that he was a wonder dog and a hero too.
Jem and I held Dad’s hands on either side of the bed, but nothing happened. Dad remained asleep as the doctors looked on, concerned.
‘Come on, Dad,’ I said, bringing his hand to my mouth and kissing it. ‘Come on. Please, Dad, you can do it!’
Still nothing.
Mr Barnstable and the other doctors talked in hushed voices to each other. Then I felt my dad squeeze my hand as if he was opening the throttle of his motorbike. My knuckles got all squashed up together and hurt a bit, but I didn’t care.
‘He’s squeezing my hand, Jem!’ I said.
‘He’s coming back, he’s coming back,’ said Jem, tears rolling down her face. ‘Come on, Dad!’
My dad’s left eye started twitching in time with his nose, before his mouth started moving like he was blowing little kisses. Then his tongue popped out and licked his dry lips beneath the ventilator. Then his right eyelid drew up like a blind letting light into a window.
I put my eye right up to his eyeball, which looked all glazed, as if the lights were on but nobody was home. Then I saw his pupil widen to let in the light. Then his left eye popped open and did exactly the same thing.
Jem and I were both crying. I think Blindfold was crying too, as he was making high-pitched yelps. He got on his hind legs, his paws on the bed, so he could take a better look.
‘Stunt Boy, that dog shouldn’t be in the hospital, let alone on the bed,’ said Mr Barnstable smiling, so I didn’t think he minded that much.
Then my dad winked at me and I knew everything was going to be all right.
33
Even better best mates
When we got back to the circus it was about 4 am but everyone was still up waiting for us. The whole crew came running up to Pikelet’s truck, surrounding us in a sea of smiling faces. As I got out of the truck, people started chanting my name: ‘Stunt, Stunt, Stunt! Stunt Boy! Stunt Boy!’
I was lifted into the air on Caleb’s and Fat Fred’s shoulders. While I usually love being high in the air, I went all shy on the inside, wishing they’d put me down as it wasn’t just me; Blindfold, Caleb, Benny and Benny’s mum and dad were heroes as well.
That night I slept so deeply that I didn’t wake up until 3 pm the next day. Really, it was like eleven hours sleep or something. It was good practice for being a teenager. I only woke up because Jem was cooking the biggest fry-up ever. I think my stomach must have woken up my brain because it was so hungry.
I emerged from my bedroom pretty sore and groggy, to find Caleb and Benny sitting at the kitchen table. It was such a brilliant surprise to have Benny back where he belonged. Benny was patting Blindfold, who was already up because he’s a dog and dogs don’t sleep in, no matter how tired they are.
Benny jumped up and hugged me. Even though we were best mates, I couldn’t remember us ever hugging before. It felt good to be hugged by Benny. He called me a triple-awesome legend.
‘You’re a legend yourself and so are your mum and dad,’ I said. ‘And you’re going to the Nationals!’
Caleb, Jem, Benny and I then all hugged each other in a big group, which hurt my sore ribs a bit but I didn’t mind because I liked being in the middle of all the people I loved.
We dissected every part of the previous night, filling one another in on the bits we’d missed.
‘How did you get over that fence without a ramp, Caleb?’ asked Benny.
‘It wasn’t me, it was the slope of the land. That little hill gave me some projection,’ he said, but I think he was just being modest.
‘You know the video that the TV station shot has gone viral overnight?’ said Benny.
Barry Chesterley, according to Benny, had been brought in for questioning at the police station Benny had been taken to, as had Biker Pete and Hayley.
Benny’s mum told him that the animals at the circus had been tranquillised by a gun, which made me all nervous until Benny, the science brain, said this meant they’d been put to sleep so they could be transferred to an animal sanctuary. They would never have to dress up and do stupid tricks ever again.
Ginger Styles turned up and told us that my uncles had been lying about the insurance companies refusing to insure us and the show now could go on. We were back on track.
Sue’s beard was the talk of the entire country. Some people got mad saying ladies shouldn’t have beards, but I think it is her face and if she wants a beard and can grow one, she should be able to have one. People should be able to be who they are if they’re not hurting anybody.
Five days later, my dad was released from hospital, although it would still be months before he was fully better. These days he is hanging out with Ginger Styles a lot. She loves being his nurse, bossing him around. I think my dad loves being bossed around. Ginger is pretty good at managing the circus, so Dad doesn’t seem to mind.
Due to me and Caleb going viral on the internet, there has been huge interest in Stoked Stunt Circus and we’ve had a record number of bookings. We’re sold out every night and there’s a huge tour booked to travel the whole country. Caleb decided to cancel his next tour and instead stay on at the circus to become our leading motorbike rider. He is spending a lot of time with Jem, but I don’t mind. She’s a pretty cool sister and he’s like a brother to me now.
Benny won a bronze at the Nationals, which means he is the third best wrestler in the Under 14 division in the entire country. He says he is glad he didn’t win gold because now he has something to train even harder for.
Benny and I are even better best mates now.
THE END
P.S. Blindfold is still my best best friend, but don’t tell Benny.
Acknowledgements
I’m lucky to have amazing kids in my life, children of both family and friends. I love being Auntie Lollie. Thanks for being in my life adored ones, you provide much inspiration. Much appreciation goes to my top class kid readers – Jamali Tiger Barr, Oliver and Avalon Cowles, Carlisle Dowell, Noah Grundmann, Severn Bremner, Tyger Hanlon, Louis Jeffery, Jago Swain, Barnaby Tuckman and Eloise Lines, thanks for your great feedback and encouragement.
Extra special thanks to my mum June Barr for endlessly proof reading and being the safety net below my trapeze; my incredibly talented friends at Spaghetti Circus in Mullumbimby, New South Wales, Australia; Julia Styles for an amazing editing job and Claire Craig & Samantha Sainsbury at Pan Macmillan for thei
r fabulous work.
Finally, my brother Dan and family and dear friends Liz and Andy Lewis, Lisa Loughran, Heidi Smith, Emma Marlin, Alex Weiss, Cassie Hanlon, Roddy Moustaka, Carole Marshall, Gordon Bee, Di Morrissey, Debra Hayhoe and Holger Mueller, Shawn Thompson, Henrik Tidefjärd, Oliver Collman and Astrid Högner, Maryanne and Detlef Redpath for your support. A big shout out to Colin Childs and Tony Loughran for providing technical expertise.
Stunt Boy was written in Mullumbimby, Sydney, Melbourne, Majorca, London, Hastings UK, but mainly Berlin. I write in cafes, restaurants, trains, planes, friends’ houses, libraries, laundromats, bars, and desk shares. However, special thanks go out to the British Library, my local Berlin neighbourhood cafes – La Cafétteria, Hermann Eicke, Handebestand and the Weineri Forum in Mitte, for allowing me to write in your fine establishments for hours on end.
And, of course, Narayan, for inspiring this book and being an awesome kid.
About Lollie Barr
Lollie Barr is a freelance journalist and author. Ever since she sailed from England at the age of five to Australia, she has had the spirit of a gypsy. Wherever she opens her laptop is her home. She currently resides in Berlin, Germany although can be found sometimes in Mullumbimby, New South Wales. Her first novel The Mag Hags was shortlisted for the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards for Young Adult Fiction. Follow Lollie on Twitter @LollieBarr and Stunt Boy blogs at stuntboyrules.tumblr.com
First published 2014 in Pan by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Limited
1 Market Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000
Copyright © Lollie Barr 2014
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.
