High Wire by Melanie Jackson

Author:Melanie Jackson [Jackson, Melanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Young Adult, JUV031010, JUV028000, JUV039140
ISBN: 9781459802391
Google: cijxhQxtFAsC
Amazon: B0095ZIS7S
Barnesnoble: B0095ZIS7S
Goodreads: 16613287
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2012-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

The next morning, before the postmortem, everyone huddled around copies of the Vancouver Sun. The air in the big top grew heavier as we read.

Circus Becomes a Zoo

Anger and fear as necklace theft

disrupts performance

A well-known socialite is vowing to shut Circus Sorelli down after a diamond necklace was torn off her neck.

“It’s an outrage,” Betty Boothroyd fumed of the theft, which occurred during last night’s show. “Citizens should be able to go out without being terrorized. I’m contacting the mayor. I want Circus Sorelli’s license revoked.”

The Circus’s second act was interrupted as police swarmed through the grounds and big top, seeking witnesses to the theft. Several people reported seeing a shawled figure flee from the tent.

After last evening’s events, some circus-goers said they’d be too afraid to return. Boothroyd has gone a step further. She’s withdrawing her daughter Whitney, a gymnast, from the show.

“If audience members aren’t safe, performers aren’t either,” Boothroyd snapped.

But some Vancouverites may be too curious to stay away. In perhaps the most surprising development, high-wire walker Zack Freedman managed to keep his balance and finish his act despite the uproar below.

“Way to go, Zack,” a few kids murmured. Others nodded.

We were all too shocked to say much. Would Whitney’s mom really be able to shut us down?

I found Whitney. She was even more miserable, if that was possible, than the rest of us.

“I wanted to get away from the circus, Zack. But not like this,” she said. “Not in the middle of the season—if we even have the rest of the season.”

Her eyes were full of tears. “I can’t believe Mother would go this far. It’s so unfair to everyone here.”

Sorelli walked into the big top. He didn’t have his usual brisk, impatient step. He looked defeated.

He inserted the DVD of last night’s show into the player. He said nothing as the acts rolled on, even when Whitney flubbed her landing, or one of the clowns knocked over the can of yellow paint instead of plunging into it headfirst. Or later, when one of the trapeze artists missed connecting with her partner on the opposite swing and fell into safety net. Sorelli understood everyone had been knocked off their stride.

Sorelli did manage a crooked smile when my high-wire act came on. “Zen Freedman strikes again,” he said.

He paused. He spoke in a quiet, very un-Sorelli-like voice. “The police have asked me to tell everyone that they want to search the grounds—including our trailers.

“They think the robbery may have been an inside job.”

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