The Magnificent Lizzie Brown and the Mysterious Phantom by Vicki Lockwood Read Free Book Online Page B

you!”
    â€œWho?” Lizzie turned onto her belly and let herself slide down Akula’s side. She felt Erin and Nora’s hands catch her and lower her gently onto the straw.
    Malachy’s voice sounded from the doorway. “I would like to present . . .”
    Erin made a drumroll sound while Nora tooted like a trumpet through her hands.
    â€œ. . . the Great Dru Boisset!” Malachy waved his arm with a flourish, and the boy from the poster came somersaulting through the doorway. Landing as nimbly as a cat, the boy threw out his arms and bowed.
    Lizzie stared at him. She’d thought the artist might have exaggerated how good-looking he was, but no — he really was that handsome, his green eyes sparkling in the half-light.
    â€œAre you one of the acrobats?” Lizzie asked. It was all she could think of to say.
    â€œAn acrobat?” The Great Dru Boisset lifted his hands in mock horror. “Mais non!”
    Nora and Erin collapsed into giggles, and Malachy gave Dru a playful shove. “Stop showing off.” He turned to Lizzie. “Dru works in the high-wire act.”
    â€œThe high wire!” Lizzie felt dizzy just thinking about it. “With that lady on the penny-farthing bicycle?”
    â€œShe’s my sister, Collette.” Dru flung himself down onto a heap of straw. Erin and Nora curled up next to him, pulling Lizzie down beside them.
    â€œDon’t you get scared up there?” Lizzie asked. She couldn’t imagine being that high off the ground.
    Dru shook his head. In perfect English, with the slightest hint of a French accent, he said, “Up there is the only place I feel like me .”
    Lizzie glanced at Hari. “Like Hari with his elephants.”
    â€œAnd us on horseback!” Nora added.
    Malachy sat down. “I feel happiest with my feet firmly on the ground.” He tapped his club foot with his stick. “Even if one of them’s firmer than the other.”
    â€œJoin us, Hari!” Erin called. “I know we’re not elephants, but we’re nearly as nice.”
    Hari grinned and gave Akula a pat, then sat cross-legged beside Nora.
    â€œRight.” Erin leaned forward and stared at Lizzie, eyes bright. “We want to know all about you.”
    â€œMe?” Lizzie felt suddenly self-conscious.
    â€œOf course!” Nora insisted. “You’re the most exciting thing to happen here for ages!”
    â€œI’m not exciting,” Lizzie told them quickly.
    â€œOf course you are,” Dru argued. “You are a mystery, appearing from nowhere in the night.”
    â€œWhere are you from, Lizzie?” Erin leaned closer.
    â€œA place called Rat’s Castle.”
    â€œRat’s Castle?” Nora wrinkled her nose. “That sounds horrible.” She slapped her hands over her mouth. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound rude!”
    Lizzie shook her head. “You’re right. It is horrible. It’s stinky and mean and full of beggars and thieves and there’s no one magic like you lot.”
    Malachy tipped his head to one side. “Is that why you ran away?”
    Before Lizzie could answer, Hari’s steady gaze fixed on her. “What about your family, Lizzie? Won’t they miss you?”
    Lizzie looked down. “My mother and brother are dead.”
    Hari’s eyes grew round with sympathy. “My mother is dead too.”
    â€œSo’s mine,” Malachy sighed.
    Lizzie touched the bruise on her cheek. “And Pa . . .” she hesitated. “Pa’s just . . . Pa.”
    â€œOh, Lizzie!” Nora flung her arms around her. “You poor thing!”
    â€œI’m not a poor thing! Look!” Lizzie shook her off. “Look where I am! I’m not poor at all.”
    * * *
    Later, as the crowds faded and the circus grew quiet, Lizzie snuggled deep into her bunk beside Nora and Erin. The Sullivans snored and mumbled around her, tucked above and