by Micol Ostow
Stella and Fernando and I were behind the Easy Trapezee tent while the rest of the Sweet Potatoes were siesta-ing. (Siesta is a fancy word for rest.) Clementine and Linus were keeping us company. We were thinking our hardest to come up with ideas. Even with three heads doing three times the thinking, it was still taking a whole bunch of minutes to come up with a different, eureka!-amazing act. But that’s how good ideas work.
“We could maybe juggle something special,” Stella suggested. “Like juggling all together, I mean.”
“Except,” Fernando said, “when you were juggling the bananas, you dropped them.”
Stella frowned, but Fernando was just telling the truth. “You’re right,” she said.
“We could have a ferret race,” Fernando said. He held out his arm so Linus could scamper across it like a jungle gym.
“But we only have one ferret. And besides, Linus is not super fast,” I said. I pointed at Linus. His scampering was medium-quick. Also he kept slipping to one side of Fernando’s arm.
Suddenly, I sat up straight-straight-straight. “That’s it!” I cried. “Balance!”
Stella and Fernando stared right at me. Of course, they didn’t understand my brilliantness yet.
“All three of us are completely excellent at balance,” I explained. “I balance on my tightwire, Stella balances on top of Clementine, and, Fernando, you balance on your stilts. So our new act should be something about balancing.”
Now Stella understood. “Good idea, Louise!” she shouted. She jumped up. “Oh! Do you know what would make our balancing act even more special? Stefano Wondrous’s Wonder Dogs!”
“Stella!” I shouted. “That idea is perfectamundo! Especially because there are three wonder dogs, and there are three of us!”
Stella giggled, and Clementine trumpeted to say she agreed this was a great plan. Even Fernando was excited. His face was very smile-ish.
“I know you’re a little bit afraid of heights, Louise,” he said. “But maybe we could do something with a flip off Clementine and onto your trampoline? That’s pretty special. Could you try it?”
I couldn’t believe it—for once, Fernando was asking me a for-serious question, not teasing me.
I thought very extremely hard. “That’s a good idea! Stella and I could ride out on Clem with the dogs balanced behind us on her back. I could flip from Clementine onto my trampoline. Then the dogs could jump from Clem to me, and then—bounce!—up in the air again to balance on your arms and head while you’re on your stilts.”
It was a lot of bouncing. And a lot of balancing. But I knew if I could just be one hundred percent brave, we could do it!
“Yes!” Fernando said. “Then you could backflip on your trampoline while Stella backflips on top of Clementine!”
“And then! Clem could pick you up again with her trunk,” Stella said. “Fernando could stilt-walk closer to us. Then two of the dogs could jump from him to us, Lou! Each one of us would balance one dog!”
I knew teamwork was going to solve our problem! This act would for sure save the circus! “Yes! And then we could do a parade out of the ring with the dogs on top of us!” I added. “Let’s go get the Wonder Dogs so we can start practicing!”
It was the last-but-not-least piece of our very fantastic plan!
We walked together to Stefano Wondrous’s tent. The three Wonder Dogs are brothers. Stefano dresses them in their own unique colors, because he says dogs like to be fancy sometimes, too. Eeny wears a red collar. Meeny wears a blue one. And Miny’s collar is green. All three dogs started barking loud-loud-loud when they saw us coming. They were so happy to see us!
(Dogs are the friendliest!)
But there was one tiny problem with our plan: Stefano was nowhere in sight!
“Can we take the dogs without asking Stefano?” Stella asked.
“Don’t worry,” Fernando said. “Stefano lets me take them all the time. I help walk them when he’s busy.”
“Hooray!” I said.
Fernando opened the dogs’ cage and clipped their leashes on one at a time: red for Eeny, blue for Meeny, and green for Miny (of course). I reached into the can of dog treats outside their cage and grabbed a whole bunch.
“Be good dogs and follow us quietly,” I told them, waving the treats, “and you can have some snacks!” The dogs wagged their tails all over the place when they saw the snacks.
(Everyone loves snacks.)
Thank goodness gracious we didn’t run into any other Sweet Potatoes on the way back to the field behind Fernando’s tent. We had my small trampoline and some other props so we could practice putting our new act together. It was complicated, but I wasn’t too-too worried. (The Wonder Dogs are very fast learners!)
Zip! I flipped from Clementine’s back onto my trampoline. Bo-iing!
The dogs were balanced, one on each of Stella’s arms and one on her head.
Zap! They jumped, one at a time, from Stella to me!
Zoom! The dogs leaped from me on my trampoline up-up-up to Fernando. Now they were on his arms and head!
Flip! Stella did her backflip right on Clementine’s back!
Flop! I did my backflip on my springy-sproingy trampoline!
Gently, Clementine picked me up with her trunk and placed me onto her back again, behind Stella.
We did it! We did it! Now it was time for Fernando to stilt-walk over to us.
“One, two, three, hup!” I shouted, like I was Ringmaster Riley, in charge of everything.
But then! I heard it:
A bumblebee.
It was very loud and very buzzish. I wanted to shoo it away. But if I waved my hands, I might lose my balance.
The bee buzzed along, away from me. And right over Fernando’s head, into Miny the dog!
Miny started yapping like crazy. And then he went totally and completely coconuts!
“Oh no!” Fernando shouted.
Everything was happening lightning-quick. One minute, Fernando, Stella, and I were balancing away. The next minute, the stilts were swaying all over the place, and the dogs were all three barking the loudest of ever.
Fernando began to tilt.
And I knew, right then, in my deepest, darkest heart:
He was totally going to fall—kaboom!—over!
W obble-wobble-wobble went Fernando’s stilts.
Yap-yap-yap went the Wonder Dogs.
Eek! Ack! Oh! went my brain.
I shut my eyes.
I waited for the kaboom.
But then:
I peeled my eyes open one by one. Fernando wasn’t wobbling anymore. The bumblebee was gone. What was going on?
“Jed!” Stella shouted. “You’re stronger than a superhero!” She was looking down below.
“Jed?” I asked. I looked over, too.
Below Fernando’s legs, a Jed-ish head peeped up at me. It was Jed, holding on tight-tight-tight to the stilts. Fernando was steady again!
“Holy trapeze!” I shouted. “You saved him!”
“I guess I did,” Jed said. He stepped away from Fernando very carefully. “You were just about to crash-land. I heard the barking and came to see what was going on.”
“I’ll say you did!” Fernando exclaimed. “You dirt-biked around us in a circle like a race-car driver!”
Jed’s face went blushy. “I know a few tricks on my bike. But what are you guys doing out here, anyway?”
It was time to be honest. “We were trying to come up with a stupendous new act,” I explained. “I know you wanted us to calm down. But we have to try to save the circus!”
Jed made a thoughtful face, but he didn’t say anything.
“Fernando, Stella, and I brainstormed some new, on-our-own tricks. But those didn’t work out so well. Then we put our heads together to come up with a teamwork act. We thought we’d be stronger together, like in that math problem. But we didn’t count on bumblebees.”
“People usually don’t count on bumblebees,” Jed agreed.
“That bal
ancing act was our last hope,” Stella said. “But we need more practice!”
Jed’s forehead wrinkled. “You’re still worried about ticket sales? I told you in class, I’m sure you just heard wrong. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“When grown-ups whisper, there’s a lot to worry about,” I insisted.
“And grown-ups never believe that kids can help!” Stella said.
“That’s the truth,” I said. “Lady Edwina doesn’t even let us trim ribbons for Clara Bear’s costumes! She says the sewing scissors are too-too sharp. Pfft.”
“Okay,” Jed said. “There’s one easy way to settle this once and for all. Let’s go talk to Ringmaster Riley.”
Fernando thought about that for a minute. “Okay,” he decided. “My dad will tell me the truth, for sure.”
But before Fernando could climb down off his stilts, Miny leaped from the top of Jed’s head onto the dirt bike handlebars. The Wonder Dog just sat there, wagging his tail all over. It was so, so funny! Eeny and Meeny followed. They looked extremely proud of their jumping.
We all laughed. Those dogs really were wondrous! And even with the bumblebee uh-oh, Stella, Fernando, and I really were very good at balancing.
It didn’t matter that we needed more practice. Because looking at Jed with his dirt bike and the balancing dogs, I had an idea.
“Louise?” Stella called to me. “Are you coming? We’re going to talk to Ringmaster Riley.”
I nodded. “Okay!” I said. Because I had something to tell Ringmaster Riley. There was maybe another stupendous way to save the Sweet Potatoes.
And this could be my best eureka! idea yet!
We found Ringmaster Riley in the Big Top tent. He and Mama and Daddy were deciding where to set up the flying trapeze for the night. The minute we saw the Ringmaster, Fernando and Stella and I ran right up to him, talking all at the same time.
“You need to listen to us!” Fernando shouted.
“Kids can help bring ticket sales up!” Stella cried.
Yap! Yip! Yap! barked the Wonder Dogs.
“Okay, okay.” Ringmaster Riley laughed. “What’s going on?”
“The cotton candy machine exploded! And then Louise heard the grown-ups talking,” Fernando explained. “About ticket sales being down.”
“And we had a superb idea for saving the whole entire circus!” Stella chimed in. “If we could just come up with a stupendous new act!”
“But no one listens to kids,” Jed said, giving Mama, Daddy, and the Ringmaster a glance.
“Louise, I did listen to you,” Mama reminded me. “We talked about this the other day.”
“I know,” I said. “But my squeezy stomach didn’t go away.”
Ringmaster Riley put his finger on his chin in a thinking way. “Tell me more, Louise.”
“We all three heard you arguing with Ethel Teitelbaum! And we saw the cotton candy machine explode,” I said, pointing to Fernando and Stella. “Then I heard Chuck Cluck talking to Cady the Bearded Lady. She said ticket sales are down. And that made me worried. Stella was worried, too. And even Ferret-breath—I mean, Fernando—thought we should try to save the day.”
Daddy laughed. “Cooperation. That’s a nice change.”
“So we brainstormed to try to come up with a new act for each of us. But that didn’t work so well. And then we put our heads together to come up with one teamwork act we could all do. And that didn’t work, either! Fernando’s stilts almost went crashing down!”
“Yikes!” Mama said. “Are you all okay?”
“We are!” I said. “Because of one stupendous person! So I have a brand-new, brilliant idea for saving the circus.”
Stella and Fernando looked confused. Mama, Daddy, and Ringmaster Riley looked curious. I spread my arms out wide like Ringmaster Riley when he was announcing right in the middle of the Big Top ring.
“Presenting…the Dirt Bike Daredevil, Jed!” I shouted.
Jed’s mouth dropped open. “What?”
Stella clapped her hands and Fernando whistled, excited. “Louise, that’s perfect!” Stella said.
Ringmaster Riley’s eyes twinkled. “Go on,” he said.
“Jed is totally, completely, one hundred percent fearless on his dirt bike,” I explained. “He could for definitely have his own act. When Fernando’s stilts went wobble-ish, Jed zoomed up on his dirt bike like a superhero! He did a loop-de-loop around us, then steadied Fernando easy-peasy! Can you even?”
Mama’s mouth twitched up in a smile. “I definitely cannot.”
“It’s the truth,” I told her. “Even if you aren’t worried about ticket sales, I still think our circus could use a daredevil dirt biker! That would be a showstopper.”*
Ringmaster Riley put his hands on his hips. “It’s not a bad idea,” he said. He looked at Jed. “What do you think?”
Jed shrugged. “I don’t know,” he answered. “I’m a teacher. I never thought I’d be a circus performer. Honestly, the idea makes me a little nervous.”
I knew how he felt. I was nervous the first time I had to fly on the grown-up trapeze. But now I knew just how to make the nervous feelings go away.
“We’ll help you!” I told Jed. “All of us will practice right by your side with you until you’re ready for your fabulous debut!”
Now Jed smiled. “It probably would be fun to show off some of my dirt bike skills. But what about the act you three were working on?”
“That act needs more practice, too,” I said. “We can work on our tricks together. After all, you’re the one who taught us that problems are easier to solve with teamwork.”
I felt maple-syrup warm in my stomach now. There was more than one way to save the whole entire circus. Cooperation and sharing the spotlight with Jed could be the very bestest thing for the Sweet Potatoes!
“We did it!” I said. “We saved the day!” I turned back to the grown-ups. “Now let us show you how!”
“Not so fast, Louise,” Mama said. “First of all, you shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions when you saw Ringmaster Riley argue with Ethel. Sometimes adults argue! That doesn’t mean there’s a huge problem brewing.”
I swallowed. “Okay.”
“Now before you show us your act,” Riley said, “I think we should talk to Chuck Cluck and Cady. I’d like you to understand what you overheard.”
I looked at Stella. I looked at Fernando. Both of them nodded at me.
I turned back to Ringmaster Riley. “Okay,” I said. But my stomach gave one last squeeze.
I was finally going to learn the truth of the whispery things!
It was easy to find Cady the Bearded Lady and Chuck Cluck. They were together, right next to the juggling chickens’ coop. The chickens were juggling, and Chuck and Cady were watching close-close-close.
“Cady,” Ringmaster Riley said, “Louise overheard something the other day. She’s a little confused.”
“And worried!” I added.
“Maybe I can clear things up,” Cady said. “What did you hear, Louise?”
“The other night, after my Tightwire Tango, you were talking to Chuck Cluck. You were saying that ticket sales are down. And then I heard you talk about saving the performance!”
Cady looked at Chuck. Chuck looked at Cady. They both looked at Ringmaster Riley.
And then! They laughed!
“Louise, you heard completely wrong,” Cady said. “What I said to Chuck was that ticket sales are sound. Sound means strong. We’re selling lots of tickets! The circus is doing better than ever!”
Better than ever? That was the opposite of needing-to-be-saved! I was so confused. “But then, why did you say we needed to save the performance?”
“Shave. I said we needed to shave some time off our performance. That means make some of the acts a little shorter. So many people want to come to the show, we’re trying to add a second performance to each night!” Cady grinned. “Two performances! Twice the audience!”
“Holy trapeze!” I shouted. “Th
at’s stupendous!”
A thought popped into my brain. “But wait!” I said. “Is that the reason everyone’s been acting so lickety-split quick lately?”
“They have?” Chuck asked. “We thought it was just the juggling chickens.”
“They definitely have!” I said. “Tolstoy the Clown was juggling fast-fast-fast, too. And El Fuego Mateo was swallowing fire like fast-forward!”
Now everyone laughed!
“It sounds like all the Sweet Potatoes had some ideas about saving the circus,” Mama said.
Ringmaster Riley stepped forward. “And wait till you hear what these three came up with,” he said to Cady and Chuck. “I think we’ve got a great new act that our double-sized audience will love.”
“We do!” I shouted. I gave Stella a BFF squeeze. “We did it!”
“But we didn’t save the day,” Stella said. “Because actually, the day didn’t need to be saved!”
“Maybe not,” I replied. I wrinkled my nose. Stella had a good point.
“You tried, though,” Mama said. She made a look-at-the-bright-side face. “And you’ve got a great new act for our new-and-improved, double-feature show!”
“And isn’t it better that the circus didn’t need saving?” Daddy added.
I had to smile at that. “You have a point,” I said.
“Everything turned out a-okay,” Stella said. “And now…the show must go on!”
I laughed like craziness. “Better than that!” I said. “Not ‘show,’ shows!”
