Becoming Billy Dare by Kirsty Murray Page B

voice hard.
    Coo-Chee shook his head, rolled up his mat and walked out of the tent.
    Within a second of Jack letting go, the boy fell onto the jagged tin and yelped in pain. Paddy helped him to his feet and wiped away the trickle of blood from the small boy's forehead but the cut was deep and the wound kept bleeding.
    Jack grunted. ‘Take him to Ma Sears. She'll clean him up,’ he said dismissively.
    Paddy stared at the man, suddenly revolted. ‘What?’ said Jack. ‘Listen, boy, you have to have guts to be an acrobat. You have to take the dare, every time, risk your life. If you can't be daring, you'll be nothing.’
    Paddy led the snivelling boy out of the big top and down to the creek where Ma Sears was drawing water.
    â€˜How was your first go?' asked Ma Sears, not looking up from her work.
    â€˜Bobby, he …’ Paddy trailed off, not knowing how to explain what he had witnessed. Ma turned and took in everything instantly.
    â€˜You playing silly buggers again, Bobby?’ she said.
    â€˜He wasn't doing anything,’ said Paddy but Ma Sears held up her hand to silence him.
    â€˜Listen, Paddy. Jack's a hard man when it comes to the ring, but he gets results.’ She picked up Bobby and thrust a pair of kerosene tins at Paddy. ‘Here, bring us some fresh water and I'll get this one cleaned up.’
    All morning Paddy went back and forth between the creek and the kitchen tent, filling the tins and brooding on the training session. Maybe Bobby did act up a lot. Ma Sears didn't seemed worried by it. Who was Paddy to judge? How was he to know if Jack was cruel or fair?
    Paddy knew he could learn from Jack. And he was willing to work hard. He didn't want to be just an ordinary acrobat. He wanted to be something extraordinary. He wanted to ride into the big top and hear the audience gasp, to hear the sharp intake of their breath as he thrilled them with his skill and daring.
    When he'd finished drawing water he crossed over to the paddock where the horses were grazing. He stood watching for a long time before a young dappled grey mare approached him. Paddy smiled. Keeping his gaze down, he cautiously stroked her neck and flank, imagining what it would be like to ride her. When she bent her head and nuzzled him, he whispered into her ear. ‘One day soon, Tattoo, you and me, we'll show that Jack Ace just what daring really means.’

15
The wild child
    They travelled into the Dandenong Ranges, where the tracks grew winding and narrow and giant tree ferns spread their fronds across the roadway. The air smelt damp and sweet and the forests echoed with strange bird cries. Paddy looked around him in wonder. Every twist in the road revealed a new vision of lush, damp rainforest. The sun filtered through the leaves of tall gums and dappled everything with shifting light. Flocks of coloured parrots darted in and out of the shadowy forest, swooping low over the caravan of wagons. Paddy could almost imagine fairy folk living in the folds of the gullies and beneath the spreading tree-ferns.
    The circus never stopped for more than a night or two in any of the small mountain towns and at every stop, shearers and shepherds, farmers and timber-cutters emerged out of the forests to enquire about tickets for the evening show. Paddy was woken hours before dawn to help load up the wagons by torchlight, and the circus would take to the road again as soon as the day began to unfold. After Healesville, they travelled over the Black Spur and the air grew sharp and icy.
    At a small town called Marysville, the circus set up camp on a wide field beside a swift-flowing river. Paddy was carting water up to the kitchen tent on the second morning of their stay when he noticed a ragged man dragging a small child towards the big top. The child was resisting every step, digging its heels into the mud to slow their progress. The child had a mane of long, tangled, black hair and its clothes were so raggedy it was