The Magnificent Lizzie Brown and the Devil's Hound by Vicki Lockwood Page B

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    Most of the crowd only had eyes for Nora, and Lizzie was fine with that. Nora went through her routine without a single mistake, flipping onto her hands and back onto her feet, doing a pirouette on Victoria’s back, and even catching the juggling clubs that Lizzie threw to her. The crowd clapped, but the act wasn’t captivating them the way it did when Erin performed with her sister.
    Nora came thundering around the ring for the big finale. Usually, she and Erin would leap through the air, do the splits midjump, and land on each other’s horse. Lizzie wasn’t ready to attempt jumping off, let alone landing on a horse. She quickly dismounted and held Albert’s reins, leaving the saddle empty for Nora to land on.
    She crossed her fingers as Nora rode toward her. A drumroll began. Even without Erin, the leap would an impressive stunt. The crowd had to like it, surely.
    Then a rude voice rang out, aimed at Lizzie: “GET BACK ON THE HORSE, DARLIN’!” A few laughs followed, and Lizzie’s cheeks burned with embarrasment.
    The shouting had spooked Victoria, and she whinnied and reared up. Nora desperately tried to make her leap anyway, but it was a disaster. She toppled from Victoria’s back and fell with a sharp cry, scrambling quickly out of the way in case the horse fell over onto her.
    â€œOh, no!” Lizzie gasped. Hari ran out to calm Victoria. Nora fled through the archway, choking back tears.
    All Lizzie could do was trudge after her. The band quickly struck up a tune to close the act, but not quickly enough to drown out the booing from the crowd. It was only one or two voices at first, then others joined in, yelling, “Boo!” and, “You call that an act?”
    Once safely backstage, Lizzie pressed her back against the wooden archway and tried not to cry. The lion was being led out now. Good. That would entertain this awful crowd.
    â€œLizzie, it’s okay,” Malachy said from the shadows beside her.
    â€œYou must be joking,” Lizzie sniffed. “Didn’t you hear them? I’ve never been so mortified.”
    â€œI know the act got messed up. But at least you went out there!” Malachy said. “None of them can say they didn’t get what they paid for, even if it wasn’t what they were expecting. We advertised the Sullivan twins, and they got the Sullivan twins. Pop kept his word. That’s all that matters.”
    * * *
    Once the show was over and the last of the audience members had filtered out into the night, Fitzy called all the performers back into the big show tent for the traditional after-show chat. It was all part of Fitzy’s style. If any performance hadn’t been up to scratch, he’d let you know while it was still fresh in your mind, so you could do something to fix it. But there was always humor and respect. Fitzy would never humiliate anyone in his circus in front of the others, no matter how badly they’d screwed up.
    Lizzie and Nora still sat uncomfortably, waiting for him to turn his attention their way — as he surely would. The audience had booed! Had anyone in Fitzy’s Circus ever been booed before?
    â€œLizzie, you’re a real trooper. Thank you for stepping in at the last minute.” Fitzy whistled and puffed out his cheeks. “You had a tough crowd tonight, though, girls. I think some of them had had a bit too much to drink. Don’t take it to heart, eh?”
    â€œOkay, Fitzy,” they said together.
    Lizzie had to smile. Now she and Nora were speaking the same words at the same time, just like Erin!
    â€œHari, see what you can do to calm Victoria down,” Fitzy continued. “At this rate, that wretched horse will be the death of — I’m sorry, sir, the show’s finished.”
    Everyone turned to see who had interrupted. Dr. Gladwell was poking his head around the entrance. “And what a rip-roaring show it was!” he said. “Sorry to