Free No Stars at the Circus by Mary Finn Page B

caravan holding a cowboy’s hat and started to go between the lines, collecting money.
    The last act was Alfredo. He slinked out of the van wearing a kind of ballet costume for men. He was Signor Corrado’s nephew, but this was the first time I’d seen him. He was very thin, especially his face and his legs, but he had as much hair on his head as a lion, except it was greased back.
    He juggled with balls and then with some pretend swords, and Signor Corrado played the organ. Every time Alfredo dropped something Signor Corrado played a bad chord. It was clever because people didn’t know whether to boo or not. They thought maybe Alfredo was a clown, like the poodles.
    But in the end some of them booed anyway. Then the noise behind us got really loud. The man who’d been causing the flea trouble stood up and pointed at where Mama and Papa were, under the trees. He shouted out, really loud.
    “What about them, over there? Why do the likes of them get to stand there and look for free when we have to pay? Don’t tell me
they’re
patriotic Frenchmen! We know what they are!”
    Everybody looked. You should have seen Mama’s face. She looked as if she would faint. Papa took her hand and led her off, away from us. But they kept their heads high, at least as long as I could keep them in view. Signor Corrado made a face at me that meant stay right where you are. Nadia put her hand in mine, the one that was still holding the marionette. The poor old marionette was shaking like a skeleton.
    Some people began to call out to the man, “Shame” and “Steady on”, things like that. But he was still shouting after Mama and Papa.
    “See how they run! See how they run!”
    One of his friends roared out a horrible word. I won’t write it down. I hoped Mama was too far away to hear it.
    But you’ll never guess what happened next. One of the policemen on street patrol rushed over and stood right in front of the line that was making all the noise. He held up his big stick and made sure they all saw it. Then, in a loud voice, he told the man to leave.
    “Get out now, thug. But not before you put some money in the lady’s hat. And if I ever see you here again, ruining everyone’s fun, I’ll lock you up in a heartbeat.”
    La Giaconda spoke loudly too. She said, “We don’t want money from the likes of him, Officer. But thank you for your help.”
    The man had to get up and go off, all red in the face, and his line of friends too, grumbling away. Everyone else watched. Someone cheered and someone booed.
    But when the man got as far as the road he turned round and roared back at us.
    “It won’t be long now till this country is cleaned up! We’ll see who gets kicked out then!”
    The policeman shook his stick at him again and began to move after him, and the man ran off.
    Signor Corrado came over and stood in front of Nadia and me.
    “Don’t worry, my brave ones,” he said. “Alfredo is already on his way to fetch your parents. They won’t have gone far. You just sit tight and when they come back I have something to ask them.”

TOMMASO’S EARS
    It didn’t take long. We saw Alfredo coming back, leading Mama and Papa. He looked like a skinny sausage bobbing along in front of them. Or like the stripy Pied Piper that Mama had told us about.
    Everyone else had left.
    Nadia rushed towards Mama and hugged her. Signor Corrado held out his hand and helped them step over the sandbags. “I apologize sincerely,” he said. “Nothing like that has ever happened before at any performance of ours.”
    Mama had tears in her eyes but Papa was boiling inside. I could see that.
    “You see what they’ve made of our country?” he said. “Of course, it’s not your fault, Signor. But we can’t breathe the air itself now, it seems.”
    Signor Corrado told us all to sit down.
    “I have a proposal,” he said. “I know it will sound strange after all that but hear me out. My wife is joining us.”
    La Giaconda came down the steps of the