Contents

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Copyright Page

  This is Jack. Today Jack is in a cranky mood.

  His parents are going away for the night.

  Jack’s cousin Sue is coming to look after him. Jack doesn’t want Sue to come.

  He hasn’t even met her before. He wants to go away with his mum and dad.

  They always take him away with them!

  ‘You’ll have fun with Sue,’ says Jack’s mum.

  ‘No, I won’t!’ says Jack. ‘I want to come with you.’

  ‘You can come with us next time,’ says Jack’s dad. ‘This time we want to do something different.’

  Jack crosses his arms and stomps his foot. ‘It’s not fair!’ he shouts.

  Then he runs upstairs and hides under his bed. Maybe if Mum and Dad can’t find me, they won’t go away, he thinks.

  It is dark and squeezy under Jack’s bed. The dust tickles his nose.

  Jack breathes through his mouth so he won’t sneeze. They’ll be sorry when they see that I’m gone, he thinks.

  Just then, Jack’s dad pokes his head under the bed.

  ‘Hey, Jack,’ he says. ‘Sue is here. Come out and say hello.’

  Jack shuffles out from under the bed. He brushes the dust balls off his tummy.

  ‘Hello,’ he says, looking down at the ground.

  ‘Hey, Jack,’ says Sue. ‘Nice to meet you.’

  ‘OK, it’s time for us to go,’ Jack’s dad says. ‘See you tomorrow.’

  ‘Bye, darling,’ Jack’s mum says. ‘I love you.’

  No you don’t, thinks Jack. If you loved me you wouldn’t go without me.

  Jack listens to his parents walk downstairs with Sue.

  He hears them talking in the kitchen. Then he hears the front door close. The house is very quiet.

  Jack sits on his bed and tries not to cry. He feels sad and lonely and a little bit grumpy.

  Suddenly Jack hears Scraps, his dog, barking. And then he hears another noise too.

  It sounds like a dog howling, mixed with a walrus snorting. It is the strangest sound he has ever heard.

  Jack hops down off the bed and creeps down the stairs.

  The sound is coming from the lounge room. Jack peers around the doorway. There, in the middle of the room, is a very odd sight!

  Sue has changed into a sparkly leotard.

  She is standing on her head and singing – very loudly!

  ‘Oh, hi there!’

  Sue shouts.

  ‘I wasn’t bothering you, was I?’

  She flips back onto her feet and takes out her earphones.

  ‘That’s better,’ she says in a quieter voice.

  ‘I can’t hear how loud I’m talking when I have my earphones in.’

  Jack’s mouth drops open. ‘What are you doing?’ he asks.

  ‘Practising,’ says Sue. ‘I have a show on Monday.’

  ‘A show?’ asks Jack.

  ‘Yes,’ says Sue. ‘I’m an acrobat in the circus.’

  ‘Oh,’ says Jack. An acrobat! He feels a flutter of excitement. ‘So … do you sing, too?’

  ‘No, no,’ Sue says, laughing loudly. ‘My circus mates would kill me! I just like to sing while I practise. Sorry, I hope your eardrums are OK.’

  Jack nods and giggles. ‘Right!’ says Sue.

  She puts her hands on her hips. ‘So, what do you usually do at this time of night?’

  ‘Er… have dinner?’ Jack says.

  ‘Great!’ says Sue. ‘What are we having?’

  Jack looks worried.

  ‘Just kidding!’ says Sue. ‘I can cook.

  But I prefer takeaway, don’t you?’

  ‘Shall we get pizza?’ asks Sue. ‘Because it’s a special occasion.’

  ‘Er… sure!’ says Jack. ‘I guess so.’

  Sue jogs over to the phone. ‘I like mine extra-extra cheesy,’ she calls out to Jack. ‘Is that OK?’

  ‘Yes!’ says Jack. ‘I like mine cheesy, too!’

  While they wait for the pizza to arrive, Sue does some more acrobatics.

  Handstands, flips, backbends. She is amazing.

  Jack and Scraps watch the show. When she’s done, Jack claps wildly.

  Then Sue teaches Jack how to juggle!

  Finally, the doorbell rings.

  ‘Pizza’s here,’ Sue calls. ‘Hooray! I’m starving.’

  ‘Shall I set the table?’ asks Jack.

  ‘Nah,’ says Sue. ‘Then we have to wash our dishes. Let’s just have a picnic on the floor.’

  Jack feels worried. ‘Mum doesn’t like me eating in the lounge room,’ he says. ‘We might spill food on the carpet.’

  ‘Hmm…’ says Sue, frowning. ‘I know! Why don’t we eat outside in your cubby house?’

  ‘Really?’ says Jack.

  ‘Sure!’ says Sue. ‘It’s good to eat outside. Everything tastes better in the fresh air.’

  So Jack and Scraps and Sue all squeeze into the cubby. They eat the pizza with their hands, and Scraps licks their fingers clean.

  Sue is right. It is the yummiest pizza Jack has ever eaten.

  It is getting dark. ‘I should get ready for bed,’ Jack says. ‘It’s late.’

  ‘Aw, really?’ says Sue.

  ‘But we’re having so much fun. Oh, I know! Why don’t we sleep out on the grass? Under the stars?’

  Jack gasps. ‘Really? But won’t we need a tent or something?’

  ‘Nah,’ says Sue. ‘It’s a beautiful night. I do it all the time. Do you have sleeping bags? I have some netting in my car. That way we won’t get bitten by mosquitoes.’

  ‘But won’t we need mattresses?’ Jack says. He feels excited and worried at the same time.

  He has never met a grown-up like Sue before!

  ‘A bit of lumpy ground never hurt anyone,’ Sue says, grinning.

  In no time at all, Jack and Sue are in their sleeping bags in the backyard.

  Scraps lies on Jack’s feet. Jack feels warm and snuggly.

  He gazes up at the stars through the mosquito netting.

  ‘This is fun,’ says Jack.

  ‘Isn’t it!’ says Cousin Sue.

  ‘But I still miss Mum and Dad a little bit,’ Jack says quietly.

  ‘I know,’ says Sue gently. She gives him a squeeze.

  ‘They will be home soon. And it’s good to do things differently now and then.’

  Jack nods.

  ‘When I was a little girl, I was a lot like you,’ Sue says.

  ‘What do you mean?’ says Jack.

  ‘I liked everything to be the same,’ she says. ‘I’d get scared if things were different.’

  ‘Then what happened?’ asks Jack.

  ‘I joined the circus!’ Sue says. ‘In the circus we move around a lot. I had to learn not to be scared of change. Doing things differently can be an adventure.

  Just think. If your mum and dad had never gone away, I wouldn’t have met you, hey?’

  She gives Jack a cuddle. Jack smiles. He feels very lucky to have met Sue. She is the most exciting person he has ever known.

  Just then Jack sees a shooting star. ‘Hey, look!’ he says.

  ‘Wow! Did you make a wish?’ asks Sue.

  Jack nods and grins. He used to make the same wish every time.

  But tonight, for the first time, Jack makes a different wish.

  For Sue, Claude and Marta

  The Circus Lesson

  published in 2013 by

  Hardie Grant Egmont

  Ground Floor, Building 1, 658 Church Street

  Richmond, Victoria 3121, Australia

  www.hardiegrantegmont.com.au

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior permission of the publishers and copyright owner.

  A CiP record for this title is available from the National Library of Australia.

  Text copyright © 2013 Sally Rippin

  Illustration copyright © 2013 Stephanie Spartels

  Logo and design copyright © 2013 Hardie Grant Egmont

  eISBN 9781743580004

  Design by Stephanie Spartels

 

 

  Sally Rippin, The Circus Lesson

  Thanks for reading the books on GrayCity.Net