Free Nanny Piggins and the Rival Ringmaster by R. A. Spratt Page A

should dress like a leopard more often.’
    ‘Thank you,’ said Nanny Piggins. ‘I think I’ll wear it next time I have to go down and argue with Headmaster Pimplestock. Apart from looking fabulous, it allows for a lot of flexibility of movement, which is so important when you need to put somebody in a headlock.’
    ‘But on a more shocking note,’ said Esmeralda, pointing to the nature strip with her trunk, ‘did you know somebody has dug an elephant trap out the front of your house? Those things areso dangerous. I could have sprained my ankle. And if you get stuck in the bottom of one it can be terribly boring if you haven’t got a magazine with you.’
    ‘I’m sorry, Esmeralda. I’m afraid I dug that. I know it was insensitive of me,’ said Nanny Piggins, ‘but we so rarely see large African wildlife in our street I didn’t think there would be any harm. I’ll have Boris fill it in immediately.’
    ‘Is Boris here too?’ asked Esmeralda. ‘I’d love to see him again. Kodiak bears and giraffes are the only animals I don’t have to speak down to.’
    ‘So, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?’ asked Nanny Piggins.
    ‘My visit?’ asked Esmeralda.
    ‘Why are you here?’ asked Nanny Piggins.
    ‘Um …’ said Esmeralda. ‘I can’t remember.’
    ‘I thought elephants were meant to have good memories,’ Michael whispered to Nanny Piggins.
    ‘I’m afraid that is just a sarcastic joke,’ said Nanny Piggins. ‘They have terrible memories. But no-one ever likes to say so to an elephant’s face in case the elephant turns around and sits on them.’
    ‘Perhaps I wrote a note on my hoof?’ said Esmeralda. ‘I often do that if it’s something important. Can you see if there is a note down there?I’d look myself but my feet are a long way away and I don’t have my glasses with me.’
    ‘There is a note on this foot,’ said Samantha, crouching by Esmeralda’s front left hoof.
    ‘What does it say?’ asked Nanny Piggins.
    ‘ Visit Sarah Piggins ,’ read Samantha.
    ‘Not terribly helpful,’ said Nanny Piggins.
    ‘Hang on,’ said Michael, ‘there’s a note on this hoof too.’ He was crouching by the front right foot.
    ‘Oh good,’ said Esmeralda. ‘What does that one say?’
    ‘ Run away from circus ,’ read Michael.
    ‘Does that jog your memory?’ asked Nanny Piggins.
    ‘Let me see …’ said Esmeralda as she scratched her head with her trunk. ‘Run away from circus … visit Sarah Piggins … now why would I write that? Oh my goodness! I remember why I had to run away!’
    ‘Why?’ asked Nanny Piggins.
    Esmeralda burst into tears. ‘It’s too dreadful. I don’t want to talk about it.’
    ‘There there,’ said Nanny Piggins, giving Esmeralda’s leg a comforting hug. ‘I think you need to come inside for a slice of cake and some hotchocolate. You’ve obviously been through a terrible ordeal.’
    ‘Thank you,’ sniffed Esmeralda.
    ‘Um, Nanny Piggins,’ said Derrick. ‘How are we going to get her inside? She twice as big as the front door.’
    ‘We’ll take her in through the front window,’ said Nanny Piggins.
    ‘But she’s three times as big as that,’ protested Michael.
    ‘Yes, but if she demolishes that wall, we’ll just tell your father a runaway car hit it,’ said Nanny Piggins. ‘He can’t get cross about that.’

    And so five minutes and considerable structural damage to the house later, they were all sitting around the kitchen table listening to Esmeralda’s tale of woe.
    ‘Ever since he left it’s just been awful,’ wept Esmeralda.
    ‘Since who left?’ asked Nanny Piggins.
    ‘Since … what’s his name … short man … big bottom, red coat …’ Esmeralda struggled to remember.
    ‘The Ringmaster?’ asked Nanny Piggins.
    ‘Yes, the Ringman! That’s it,’ said Esmeralda. ‘Ever since he left it’s been terrible.’
    ‘But surely you don’t like the Ringmaster?’ asked Nanny Piggins.
    ‘Like him?’ asked Esmeralda,