The Great Clown Conundrum by Alexander McCall Smith

Author:Alexander McCall Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781800900172
Publisher: Barrington Stoke

CHAPTER 4

Keeping watch in the dark

“Itching powder!” exclaimed Fern after the show.

“Yes,” said Billy. “Mr Birdcage said that is what happened. Somebody had put itching powder in his jacket – and in Paddy’s as well.”

Joe was intrigued. He had never heard of itching powder before. “How does this itching powder work?” he asked.

“It’s not a very nice thing,” Billy explained. “It irritates the skin and you have to scratch. Some people think it’s funny, but I don’t. It doesn’t really harm you, but it’s not a nice feeling.”

Fern was thinking. “This must be the same person who sabotaged Mr Birdcage’s act last night,” she said. “Now they’ve struck again.”

“Yes,” said Billy. “And what a nasty, low thing to do.”

Fern looked worried. “Do you know where Mr Birdcage keeps his clown outfits?” she asked.

Billy thought that it was in the same caravan where he kept his other props, including the custard powder.

“Somebody must be getting in there somehow,” said Fern.

“But the door is always locked,” Billy pointed out. “Mr Birdcage told us that.”

“Then they’re getting in another way,” Fern argued. “Or they have a key – who knows?”

“It must be happening at night,” said Billy. “Otherwise somebody would see them.”

Billy thought about this. He was worried about what was happening. Not only did it make him sad to see poor Mr Birdcage’s act ruined, but he was concerned, too, about what this meant for the circus. If word got out that Shortbreads’ Circus had an unfunny clown, whose act was always going wrong, then people would either go to another circus – one with clowns who made them laugh – or not go to a circus at all. Either way, that would mean that their parents’ circus would make less money, and if it did not make enough money, then how would people be paid? And if people weren’t paid, they would go and work somewhere else, and that would be the end of the circus.

Of course, that hardly bore thinking about. If Mr and Mrs Shortbread had to close the circus, then where would the family live? In a house? That would not be too bad, Billy thought – lots of people lived in houses and seemed quite happy about it. But living in a caravan was far greater fun, he thought. If you lived in a caravan, you had a different view each time you moved. If you lived in a caravan, you could sometimes wake up in the morning and see the countryside all about you, with cows and sheep and birds in the trees, and a river, perhaps, with fish swimming in its pools. And in the summer you could swim in the river, and splash and throw stones that skimmed across the surface of the water … Oh, there were so many things that made it fun to live in a caravan.

For a few minutes, Billy was lost in his thoughts and did not hear what Fern said. But then she repeated her question to him.

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