Free Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson

sternly, digging
me in the ribs. 'Sit quietly. You'll see Madame
Adeline again at the end.'
    'Will I really?'
    'If you are a good girl and sit as still as a mouse,'
said Jem.
    I tried my best, though I behaved like a very agitated mouse, quivering and sniffing. At last the
band struck up and all the circus artistes trooped
back into the ring. Even great Elijah plodded out,
trunk waving in the air. My wondrous Madame
Adeline came trotting in on the pirate horse. She
waved and smiled at everyone, but her head was
turning, glancing this way and that. She was looking
for someone. Looking for me?
    I stood right up on my seat and waved both
arms in the air like a windmill, shouting, 'Madame
Adeline! Madame Adeline!' Jem had to hang onto
me hard by my dress hem.
    'Goodbye, Little Star!' Madame Adeline called,
kissing her hand and waving just to me.
    I waved and waved back. Then everyone paraded
out of the ring and the band stopped playing and
the audience stopped clapping. Everyone started
filing out. Jem pulled at me, but I clung to my
seat, not moving until all that was left of the show
was an empty tent and dirty sawdust. Then I burst
into tears.
    'Whatever is the matter now, Hetty?' asked
Jem.
    'I want the circus back!' I wept.
    'You're the absolute limit! Aren't you ever
satisfied? You've seen the circus. In fact you've been the circus, doing your double act with
Madame Adeline.'
    'I want to ride with her again. Oh, Jem, let us go
and find her.'
    'Don't be so silly, Hetty. She'll be in one of the
wagons at the back of the tent, with those big bad
men who will catch us and whip us.'
    'I don't care. I want to see Madame Adeline. I have to see her. She will want to see me. I am her
Little Star,' I bellowed, stamping my foot.
    'You're a little whatsit,' said poor Jem, giving my
arm a shake. 'Why won't you ever see reason, Hetty?
I try so hard to please you but it's never enough.'
    I felt bad then, but not enough to modify my
behaviour. I pulled free from Jem when we got
outside the circus tent, ready to run right round it
to the back. I wasn't looking where I was going and
fell headlong over a long rope snaking across the
grass. I banged my head hard on a tent peg and it
hurt so much I burst into fresh floods of tears.
    'It hurts, oh, it hurts!' I wailed.
    'It serves you right,' said Jem crossly, but he
knelt down beside me and cuddled me close. It only
made me cry harder.
    'Is that our Hetty screaming?' It was Nat, jostling
his way through the crowd. 'Did you get in to see the
circus?' he said, sounding awed. 'I tried with some
of the village lads, but we were all chased away.
You two are so lucky! So why is Hetty bawling? My
Lord, she's going to have something to cry for when
we get home! Mother is beside herself and Father
is furious. You're in for a right royal paddling, you
three.'
    'What do you mean, you three ?' said Jem.
    I scrambled to my feet, scrubbing at my eyes and
runny nose with the hem of my dress.
    'Yes, you're really for it now!' Nat chuckled
heartlessly. 'Mother's been searching for you for
hours. Seems she wanted Giddy for some trifle, and
then she couldn't find any of you. Eliza said you
might have gone to the circus but Rosie pointed
out you had no pennies. Mother's so demented she
feared you'd all been stolen by the circus men.'
    'I wish they would steal me,' I said, sniffing. 'I
want to be with Madame Adeline.'
    'Madame Addywho?' said Nat. 'Not the woman
in the parade showing off all her legs as bold as
brass? You should have heard what the lads said
about her!'
    'Don't you dare talk about her in that way!' I
declared, flying at Nat, ready to reach up and pull
his hair.
    Jem hauled me back and shook me hard, shocking
me into silence. 'Shut up, Hetty, or I shall slap you,'
he said. He turned to Nat. 'You said three. Is Gideon
missing too?'
    'Yes, that's why Mother's in such a particular
fret,' said Nat. 'We all told her he'd be fine so long
as he