Free Olivia's Enchanted Summer by Lyn Gardner

turnedcontortionist. She was lovely, but she’d had such a sad life. Orphaned at a young age, and then brought up by her aunt, I think. Anyway, Nicu was a good few years older than me. He was the best high-wire walker I’ve ever seen, and completely fearless. It was like he belonged in the air.
    â€œHe already had a little girl about four and Cora was expecting again. Toni was just pregnant with you at the time. So it was natural that the four of us became friends, and after a while, Nicu suggested that he and I did a double act together. We both needed the work, but I knew I should never have said yes.”
    â€œBut if he was so good, why didn’t you want to be his partner?” asked Olivia.
    â€œBecause he had a reckless streak. He always pushed everything too far and took unnecessary risks. Performers like that always work solo, because however talented they are nobody wants to work with them. They are a danger to themselves and other people. You only want to be on the wire with someone you trust, someone who will always be ready to catch you if you fall.”
    â€œDid something terrible happen?”
    Jack nodded. “We were in Seville. It was the third performance of the day and we were all tired. But Nicu was fired up. He wanted to try something new at the next performance. But I thought it was a bad idea. We hadn’t rehearsed it enough; I didn’t feel at all confident. Nicu agreed that we’d stick to the usual routine. But as soon as I got out there on the wire I sensed that he was excited. His eyes were glittering. Then suddenly, he launched into the new act. I didn’t have any choice but to go with him – you can’t stop to have an argument with someone when you’re both suspended in mid-air on the wire. He was inspired, extraordinary. I fumbled through the routine as best I could, drenched in sweat, just desperate to get to the end in one piece. And we were nearly there, so close to safety. Nicu flipped on to his hands on the wire. It was amazing, and it was supposed to be the end of the show.
    â€œBut the crowd was going wild, and it just seemed to egg him on. He stood back up on the wire, took a bow, quietened the audience down with his hands and then he just launched into a series of flips along the wire. I’d never seen anything like it, before or since. He was going sofast he was just a blur.”
    â€œWhat happened?” whispered Olivia.
    Jack’s face looked pained, remembering the awful scene. “He flipped perfectly, exquisitely along the wire. But he didn’t stop. It was as if he was possessed. He just ran out of wire and cartwheeled on into thin air. He hit the ground with a hideous thud, his body flung out in a star shape, arms and legs flailing slightly as if they still thought he was cartwheeling.”
    â€œDid he die?” breathed Olivia.
    â€œNo,” said Jack grimly, “but he never walked again. Cora went into premature labour and gave birth to another little girl.”
    â€œWhat happened to him and his family?”
    Jack shook his head. “I don’t know. We lost touch. I’d already met Pablo and we started to cook up some stunts, like the one at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Toni and I left Spain soon after. From time to time I’d hear something about Nicu. He was scraping a living together by teaching, but he wasn’t a well man and it was tough. I think eventually the family may have gone back to Romania, or maybe they came to Scotland. I don’t know. I feel guilty that I didn’t try and stay in touch. I often wonder whathappened to Cora and those two little girls and how they survived.”
    Olivia swallowed. “I won’t lose my concentration again,” she whispered.
    â€œI don’t think you will, either.” Jack smiled. “I trust you.”
    â€œAnd I trust you, Dad,” said Olivia, but as she said the words she wondered if it was really true. The doubt