Free The Sequin Star by Belinda Murrell Page B

turned and fled, just like that roustabout. He was lucky he wasn’t mauled.’
    Kit smiled at Rosina and Claire. ‘My father went on safari in Africa once. He told me that he was faced by a lion who mock charged him. His guide had told him that the only hope in such a situation was to stand still and face the lion down – to run for it was certain death.’
    Rosina pursed her lips and nodded. ‘Good advice. Thanks for saving Claire.’
    â€˜It was nothing,’ said Kit. ‘But what you did was astounding. You showed incredible bravery to go up to that lion and get it off that boy.’
    â€˜You might have been killed,’ Claire added.
    Rosina laughed. ‘Not killed. I’ve known Sultan since he was a tiny cub. I fed him from a bottle and played with him all the time. He’s just big and doesn’t know his own strength. I wouldn’t trust him with strangers when he’s frightened, but he loves me.’
    Claire looked at her in disbelief. ‘You are amazing.’
    â€˜She certainly is,’ agreed Kit with a grin.
    At that moment Jem ran over, Jaspar loping beside him. ‘Don’t relax yet,’ he admonished. ‘A roustabout’s work is never done!’ He grinned. ‘Alf said I have to go and help Frank find Elsie. Want to come along?’
    â€˜The horses?’ objected Rosina, glancing over towards the temporary yard where the twelve liberty horses were grazing. ‘I haven’t plaited up their manes and tails yet.’
    â€˜All the ring stock has had water,’ Jem assured her. ‘But Elsie is running loose in the town, frightened, and probably damaging things.’
    Rosina nodded. She looked at Claire and raised an eyebrow. ‘Do you want to come too?’
    Claire couldn’t decide if it was more nerve-racking to chase a rampaging elephant through town or stay here on her own with strange circus folk and terrifying animals.
    â€˜I’ll come,’ she decided.
    Kit fell in beside them as they hurried out of the lot and back down the main street.
    â€˜Cripes,’ said Jem, pointing to a fence that had been knocked over. ‘I think we’re on the right track.’
    The trail of destruction included three fences, a crushed chicken coop and a clothes line trampled into the mud. But the culprit was nowhere to be seen.
    â€˜I think she’s up ahead,’ Rosina called, pointing to a crowd of people, milling in the road outside a strip of shops. A loud crash sounded. Claire could hear raised voices.
    The four ran towards the commotion. Lula held on tightly to Rosina’s shoulder.
    The throng were gathered around the greengrocer’s shop. Out the front were stands that had once held pears, apples, tomatoes, lettuces and green beans. The stands were now smashed, their contents strewn over the ground. Frank was surrounded by angry townspeople who were shouting accusingly. Frank was yelling back at the crowd, calling them terrible names.
    Elsie stood in the middle of the carnage, flapping her ears. Her long trunk snaked over the ground, picking up shiny green apples and popping them in her cavernous, pink mouth. Elsie smiled a wide-mouthed welcome when she saw Rosina and Jem. The greengrocer and his family were still cowering inside the shop.
    â€˜Look, the circus girls are here,’ said a woman in the crowd. She glared at Claire still dressed in her tutu and sequins. Claire shrank back beside Kit, uncomfortable with everyone staring at her.
    â€˜The one with the monkey is wearing trousers ,’ sniffed another housewife loudly.
    All eyes switched from Frank and Elsie to Claire, Rosina and Lula.
    â€˜What are you going to do with this elephant?’ demanded a man beside them. ‘Look at all the damage it’s done.’
    â€˜It might have killed someone,’ shouted another man, pointing at Elsie with an accusing finger.
    With her graceful dancer’s posture, Rosina stepped