Free Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson Page A

was with you – but isn't he? Has he run off by
himself?'
    'He was never with us,' said Jem. 'It was just
Hetty and me. Oh, Nat, Gideon is truly lost!'

7
    We searched the field for Gideon in case he'd
tried to follow us, but there was no sign of him.
Jem bravely tried creeping round the back of the
tent to see if he had strayed there. One of the circus
men shouted at him, raising his fists in threat.
    'Please, sir, I mean no harm. I'm looking for my
little brother. He's lost!' said Jem.
    'There ain't no little brother here. Now make
yourself scarce before I give you a boot up the
backside!'
    'Madame Adeline!' I called, hoping she'd come
running to rescue us, but she didn't hear me. Other
men did though, and came hurrying out of their
wagons.
    'Clear off, you little varmints. The show's over!'
one growled.
    'Come on, you two,' said Nat. 'They're going to
cut up rough any minute.'
    We all had to run for it. We stopped at the edge of
the field to catch our breath. I started crying again.
    'We'd best take Hetty home, Jem,' said Nat. 'You
never know, Gideon might be back home himself
by now. I dare say he just hid himself somewhere in
the yard. He's that timid he'd never go dashing off
by himself.'
    We hurried home, Nat and Jem holding me tight
by the hands, but even so I kept tripping. I thought
of Gideon, all alone, with no kind big brothers to
help him along, and I felt truly dreadful.
    I stopped thinking entirely of myself and Madame
Adeline. Instead I said over and over again inside my
head, Please let Gideon be safe at home! But when
we ran up the path to our cottage and burst through
the front door, Mother was weeping, Father was
pacing the floor, Rosie and Eliza were wringing their
hands, and even little Eliza was crying piteously in
her cradle.
    They looked at us, mouths gaping. Then Father
and Rosie and Eliza gave great whoops of joy and
relief, but Mother stared past Jem and me, her head
turning left and right.
    'Gideon?' she whispered.
    We had to shake our heads.
    'Oh, Mother, he's not with us,' I said.
    'You have lost your little brother?' Mother
gasped.
    Gideon wasn't technically my little brother – he
was born five days before me and was a head taller,
though very spindly – but I knew it wasn't the right
time to be pedantic.
    'Hetty and I went off together,' said Jem, his face
as pale as whey. 'Gideon was never with us.'
    'You went off to that heathen circus, I'll be
bound,' said Mother.
    Jem hung his head.
    'Shame on you, Jem! How dreadful to lead your
sister astray,' said Father. 'You deserve a good
thrashing.'
    'Oh no!' I said. 'I must be thrashed, Father, not
Jem. I wanted to go to the circus to see Madame
Adeline. Oh, Father, Mother, I rode with her on her
horse and she said I was her Little Star!'
    Mother and Father barely reacted. At least Father
talked no more of thrashing.
    'We must start up a proper search for Gideon.
I thought you would all be fine together – but that
little lad cannot cope on his own. He must be found.
Do you think he tried to follow you to the circus?'
    'He certainly seemed taken with the idea,' Mother
wailed. She glared at me, as if it was all my fault . . .
which perhaps it was.
    Father and Nat went out together to look afresh
for Gideon. Mother sent Jem and me upstairs to bed
in abject disgrace. I cried and my dear brave brother
cried too.
    'It will be my fault if anything's happened to
Giddy,' he wept bitterly. 'Oh, Hetty, I should never
have taken you to the wretched circus.'
    'You only wanted to please me, Jem. Don't cry
so. It's my fault, not yours,' I said, putting my arms
round him, trying to comfort him the way he had
comforted me so many times.
    It was dark when at last we heard Father
and Nat coming back. We jumped out of bed
and ran to the top of the stairs – but they didn't
have Gideon.
    'There's no trace of the lad,' said Father.
'We've had half the village out searching. We've even
tried the woods,