Karen's Big Top Read online

  The author gratefully acknowledges

  Stephanie Calmenson

  for her help

  with this book.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  1 Circus Camp

  2 The Big-House Month

  3 Fireworks

  4 B. F. Willie

  5 The High Wire

  6 A Surprise Party for Nannie

  7 The Flying Trapeze

  8 Karen Brewer, Circus Star

  9 The Bowling Party

  10 Lulu

  11 Eavesdropping

  12 Karen’s Tutu

  13 Talking with Jillian

  14 Choosing

  15 Telling

  16 “I Changed My Mind”

  17 Surprise!

  18 The Ringmaster

  19 Karen’s Big Top

  20 So Long

  About the Author

  Also Available

  Copyright

  Circus Camp

  Y-A-W-N. S-T-R-E-T-C-H.

  “Good morning, Goosie,” I said to my stuffed cat.

  “Good morning, Emily,” I said to my pet rat.

  It was a Monday morning at the end of June. But I did not have to get up to go to school. It was summer vacation. I could sleep all day long.

  I did not want to sleep. There was too much to do.

  I tumbled out of my bed. In case you are wondering why I did not climb out of bed like everyone else, I will tell you. In one week I am going to circus camp. I just know that circus performers do not climb out of places. They tumble.

  “Karen!” called Mommy. “Would you like some breakfast?”

  “I’m on my way!” I replied.

  My name is Karen Brewer. I am seven years old. I have blonde hair, blue eyes, and some freckles. Oh, yes. I wear glasses. I even have two pairs. I have a blue pair for reading. And I have a pink pair for the rest of the time.

  While I am getting dressed, I will tell you about the circus camp. It is called the B. F. Willie Big Top. Mr. B. F. Willie and his family run the camp right here in Stoneybrook, where I live.

  The Willies are a real and true circus family. Most of the time, they travel around the country performing. But every year for the whole month of July, Mr. Willie likes to come to Stoneybrook. That is because he grew up here. He takes a break from traveling and performing to teach kids about being in the circus.

  I was finished dressing. I looked at myself in the mirror. I was wearing red sandals, green socks, blue shorts, a pink T-shirt, and purple barrettes in my hair. Not one thing matched.

  “That’s okay, Goosie,” I said. “My clothes are funny. Maybe I will be a circus clown.”

  I ran downstairs to have my breakfast.

  “Hi, Mommy! Hi, Andrew!” I said.

  (Andrew is my little brother. He is four going on five. He is too little to go to circus camp.)

  “Hey, Karen, you have on a lot of colors,” said Andrew. “I can name them. Red, green, blue, poiple …”

  I ate my bowl of Krispie Krunchy cereal and drank my glass of apple juice in record time.

  “May I go out and play with Nancy now?” I asked.

  “Of course,” said Mommy.

  Nancy and I had a lot to talk about. You see, I am not going to circus camp by myself. I am going with my two best friends, Nancy Dawes and Hannie Papadakis. We call ourselves the Three Musketeers. That is because we do almost everything together.

  I started walking toward Nancy’s house. Guess what! Nancy was walking toward me.

  “I was just coming to find you,” she said.

  “I was just coming to find you,” I replied.

  Nancy looked at my clothes. She made a funny face. I could tell she was trying hard not to laugh.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “I know I look like a clown. Hey, let’s both be clowns. Clowns-for-the-day!”

  “That is a great idea!” said Nancy. “I will ask my mother if we can use her makeup.”

  “And I have a box of funny clothes in my closet,” I said.

  We raced back to my house. My little house that is. I have another house, too. It is my big house. I am going to live there in July. There are so many people living in my big house, it is like a circus. That means I will live in a circus house and go to a circus camp.

  July is going to be very exciting.

  The Big-House Month

  I will tell you how I got to have two houses. When I was little, I only had one. I lived in the big house with Daddy, Mommy, and Andrew. But then Daddy and Mommy started fighting a lot. They explained to Andrew and me that they still loved us very much. But they did not want to be married to each other anymore. So they got a divorce.

  Mommy moved with Andrew and me into the little house. She got married again to a man named Seth Engle. That makes him my stepfather. This is who lives at the little house: Mommy, Seth, Andrew, me, Midgie (Seth’s dog), Rocky (Seth’s cat), Emily Junior (my rat), and Bob (Andrew’s hermit crab).

  Andrew and I live in the little house with Mommy for one month. Then we live in the big house with Daddy the next month. Both houses are in Stoneybrook, Connecticut.

  Even when we are not at the big house, Daddy has lots of company. That is because after the divorce, he married Elizabeth Thomas. That makes her my stepmother. She was married before and had four children. They are Kristy, who is thirteen and the best stepsister ever; Sam and Charlie, who are so old they are in high school; and David Michael, who is seven, but an older seven than me.

  Then Daddy and Elizabeth adopted Emily Michelle from a faraway place called Vietnam. She is two and a half. (I named my pet rat after her.)

  Nannie, Elizabeth’s mother, came to live at the big house to help take care of Emily Michelle. But really she helps take care of everyone. Nannie is a gigundoly wonderful stepgrandmother.

  Are you ready to hear about the pets at the big house? They are Boo-Boo, who is Daddy’s mean old cat; Shannon, who is David Michael’s very big puppy; Crystal Light and Goldfishie, who are you-know-whats; and Emily Junior and Bob, who go wherever Andrew and I go.

  I have special names for Andrew and me. I call us Andrew Two-Two and Karen Two-Two. (I got the idea for those names from a book my teacher read at school. It was called, Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang.) The reason I call us two-twos is because we have two of so many different things. We have two houses. We have two sets of clothes and toys and books. I have two stuffed cats. (Goosie is my little-house cat. Moosie is my big-house cat.) I have two pieces of Tickly, my special blanket. And of course, I have my two best friends. Nancy lives next door to Mommy’s house and Hannie lives across the street and one house down from Daddy’s house. Having two of everything makes it easier to move back and forth every month.

  Being a two-two is not always easy, though. Sometimes I miss Mommy. And sometimes I miss Daddy. And even though I have two of lots of things, somehow I still leave a thing or two at the wrong house.

  But most of the time being a two-two is just fine. There are people and animals all around. And there is always something going on. It really is like the circus. Step right up to the Brewer-Thomas Big Top!

  Fireworks

  “ ’Bye, Mommy! See you in August!” I called.

  “Have fun, kids. Love you!” said Mommy.

  It was Thursday, the first day of July. Andrew and I were moving to the big house for a month. We had had fun at the little house in June. Now we were ready for some big-house fun.

  Circus camp did not start until Monday. That meant four free days to do anything I wanted.

  “Hi, kids!” called Daddy. He was waiting for us at the door. He scooped us up in big hugs.

  “Are you ready for lunch?” he asked. “While we eat, we are going to make plans for Su
nday.”

  “What’s on Sunday?” asked Andrew.

  I had to think for a minute. Then I remembered.

  “It is the Fourth of July!” I cried.

  I dropped my things and raced into the kitchen.

  “Hi,” said Kristy. “We’re glad you’re here. We did not want to make any holiday plans without you.”

  (I told you Kristy was the best stepsister ever.)

  We agreed to have an afternoon barbecue with our neighbors. At night, we would listen to an outdoor concert and watch the fireworks.

  I could hardly wait. I counted down the days.

  When I woke up on Sunday, I ran from room to room calling, “Happy Fourth of July!”

  “You sound like a Fourth of July firecracker,” said Elizabeth. She was holding her ears and smiling.

  Guess what. Daddy got permission from the police to close our block to traffic. We held the barbecue right in the middle of the street. Everyone who lived on the block was there.

  “Who wants to have a hot dog-eating contest?” I asked.

  Here is who entered the contest: David Michael, Hannie and her brother Linny, Melody and Bill Korman, Maria Kilbourne, Scott Hsu.

  Sam was the judge. He put out a big plate of hot dogs.

  “On your mark, get set, eat!” he called.

  After three and a half hot dogs, I was stuffed. Instead of eating, I started barking like a dog. A hot dog!

  “Woof! Woof-woof!” I said.

  “Arf!” answered Hannie.

  “Grrr!” growled David Michael.

  We forgot about the contest. We were too busy barking, growling, and howling.

  After the barbecue we piled into cars and headed for Stoneybrook University for the outdoor concert. They played songs like “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

  As soon as it got dark, the fireworks started. They were gigundoly beautiful! First, a big red and orange star exploded in the sky. Just as it was disappearing, I heard a whistling in the air. Another rocket was flying up. It burst into blues and greens and fell like glitter all around.

  “Yipee!” I shouted every time the sky lit up.

  When the fireworks were over, I was ready to go home. I was tired. It had been a big day, even for me.

  “Past,” whispered Kristy when we got back to the big house. “In here.”

  Everyone except Daddy, Elizabeth, Nannie, and Emily Michelle followed Kristy into the kitchen. (They had already gone upstairs.)

  “Listen, Nannie’s birthday is at the end of July. We should plan something special for her,” said Kristy. “I know it is late now. We do not have to decide what to do tonight. Just think of things that would be nice.”

  I had a lot to think about when I got into bed. Nannie’s birthday. And circus camp. Tomorrow was my first day.

  I meant to think about both of these things. I really did. But as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was fast asleep.

  B. F. Willie

  “Is it time to go? Is it time?” I asked.

  “It’s time,” said Charlie.

  It was early Monday morning. Hannie had come to the big house to have breakfast with me.

  Charlie was driving us to camp on our first day. The camp was all the way out at the edge of town.

  On the way, Hannie and I tried to guess what the “B. F.” in B. F. Willie stood for. Butterfly? Baby face? Big foot?

  “I know!” I cried. “He is Big Fat Willie, the fat man at the circus. I can hear his big fat footsteps now. Stomp. Stomp. They are getting closer. And closer. And …”

  “And we’re here,” announced Charlie.

  He pulled up to a line of trailers. Behind the trailers was a tent with a banner that said THE B. F. WILLIE BIG TOP.

  “There’s Nancy,” said Hannie.

  We said good-bye to Charlie and raced up to meet her. A girl who looked about Kristy’s age came up to us.

  “Hi,” she said. “I’m Laura Willie. Mr. Willie is my uncle. He asked me to help greet some of the campers.”

  Laura showed us where to put our lunch and our change of clothes. Then she led us to a meeting area where all the campers were gathering. The youngest campers were around six. The oldest looked around twelve.

  “Hi, Karen,” called a familiar voice.

  It was Ricky Torres. Natalie Springer was there too. They are both in my class at school.

  When it looked like the last of the campers had arrived, a man climbed up on a platform to talk to us.

  “Good morning,” he said. “I am Mr. B. F. Willie.”

  “He is not big and fat at all,” I whispered.

  Mr. Willie looked a lot older than Daddy. His hair was gray, and his skin was wrinkled. But he looked strong and fit. And he had a friendly smile.

  “While you are here, we will teach you as much about being in a circus as we can. As you can see, I am no spring chicken,” Mr. Willie said, flapping his arms like a chicken. “But I still perform in every show. I hope you will grow to love the circus as much as I do.”

  He introduced us to his family. They were his wife, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren.

  “And that’s not all. Every circus member is a member of the B. F. Willie family. For the month of July, that includes every one of you.”

  Wow! His family was bigger than mine!

  I hoped I would get to talk to his grand-daughter, Jillian. She was eight. I had a lot of questions to ask her about life in a traveling circus.

  “And now for the grand tour,” said Mr. Willie.

  He led us into a big circus tent and showed us all the equipment. The trapeze. The trampoline. The clown car.

  “Can you believe it,” I said. “We are in the middle of a real live circus.”

  “Look, there are horses out back,” said Hannie.

  The horses were grazing in a field. When Jillian saw us looking at them, she came over.

  “Aren’t they pretty? We have lots of animals here,” she said. “I love all animals. I help take care of them.”

  “Maybe I could help too. I have a pet rat named Emily. I take very good care of her,” I said.

  “Great,” said Jillian.

  I wondered if Jillian got to ride the horses. I wondered how she could go to school if she was traveling all the time. I wondered if she had a best friend. I would have to ask her all these important questions.

  We took a break for lunch, then changed into our tumbling clothes.

  “One, two, three, over!” called Laura.

  I did a stupendous backward somersault. Then I stood up and took a bow. And another bow. And another.

  Wait till I told my big-house family about my first day at camp!

  The High Wire

  On Tuesday morning, Mr. Willie broke us up into groups of five. Every day the groups would work on a different stunt.

  Ricky was in my group. (I was glad because Ricky is my pretend husband. We were married on the playground at school one day. It is good for married people to do interesting things together.)

  Jimmy, Laura’s older brother, was in charge of our group.

  “Today we are going to learn about walking on the high wire,” said Jimmy. “We will — ”

  “Yipee! I love the high wire,” I cried. “It is the best thing at the circus.”

  “I am glad you are happy, Karen,” said Jimmy. (I wondered how Jimmy knew my name. Then I remembered we were wearing name tags.)

  “We will use this practice rope and net to learn how to balance and how to fall. As you can see, the rope is not as high as a real high wire. But you use the same skills to walk across it,” said Jimmy. “Who will take the first turn?”

  “I will! I will!” I cried.

  “I knew I could count on you, Karen,” said Jimmy, smiling.

  I took off my sneakers and socks and climbed up the ladder. Jimmy showed me how to place my feet on the rope. He gave me a long rod to hold in front of me.

  “This will help you to balance,” he said.
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  I was not scared at all. That is because I have taken gymnastics. My teacher, Miss Donovan, said my balance was very good. I had to concentrate. But I walked right across the rope without even wobbling.

  “That was great, Karen,” said Jimmy.

  “But I did not get to fall,” I said.

  “We will practice that later on. Ricky, why don’t you take the next turn,” said Jimmy.

  Ricky went across the rope, just like I did. I was very proud of my pretend husband. Only one of the kids, Robin, was a little bit scared. But Jimmy held her hand and she went across, too.

  When everyone had a turn walking the rope, we climbed back up and jumped down into the net. That was my favorite part.

  “Good work, kids,” said Jimmy. “Now it is time for lunch. This afternoon, we will not break up into our groups. We will have a surprise for you instead.”

  Here is what the surprise turned out to be. The B. F. Willie Big Top put on a show just for us.

  “I want you to see us perform some of the acts from our circus,” said Mr. Willie. “That way, you will know what you are working toward.”

  Mr. Willie began the show by doing a trapeze act with Mrs. Willie. Mrs. Willie went flying through the air. Mr. Willie caught her just before the trapeze swung away.

  Jimmy and Laura did a juggling act. While they were juggling, Jillian came out riding her pony. She was standing up on the pony’s back.

  Then she did bareback acrobatics. First she did a handstand. Then she did a backward somersault and landed on her horse again.

  She finished by jumping down and juggling with Jimmy and Laura.

  Jillian could do so many things. She must have worked very hard to learn them. I wondered if she practiced all day long.

  I hoped I would get to talk to her soon.

  A Surprise Party for Nannie

  I walked into the big house making believe I was on the high wire. I held my arms out at my sides and carefully stepped into the living room.

  “Oh, my goodness. Look at this daring feat,” said Elizabeth.

  I wobbled a little to make everyone nervous. When I got near the couch, I jumped off the make-believe wire.