Read Online The Adventures of Stunt Boy and His Amazing Wonder Dog Blindfold by Lollie Barr - Free Book Online Page B

punishment, Benny and I were banned from seeing each other for two whole weeks! That meant absolutely no contact at all, not even phone calls or chatting online. Nothing. Nada. Benny’s mum had advised Ginger Styles on grounding because she was an expert and Ginger was new to the game.
    Ginger took on every suggestion, including banning me from riding motorbikes, which meant I wasn’t allowed to perform stunts during the show! It was madness. We hardly had anybody coming to see us as it was. Surely the ones that did wanted to see a twelve-year-old stunt kid? She was shooting Stoked in the foot and I had to ask myself why? What was Ginger Styles up to?
    Everyone else thought so, too, but Ginger was determined to teach me a lesson by denying me access to my motorbikes.
    I also wasn’t allowed to leave the premises by myself. The only thing I was allowed to do was visit my dad with Jem. There was no way in the world they would have been able to stop me doing that. No way. Dad was still in pretty bad shape but just being near him made me feel a little better. If he was conscious, he wouldn’t be mad at me for trying to find out what was going on; he’d be proud of me for trying to save our circus!
    After I’d spent five days mooching around the circus doing nothing, the guilt was starting to get to me. Sure, I felt guilty for making everyone so worried, but I felt super guilty for lying straight to Sue’s face. The worse thing was she was being so nice to me, despite the fact I’d looked into her eyes and told a great big fat fib; I wished she’d just tell me off like everyone else.
    I’d avoided her as much as I could, but this morning, at training, she’d tried to be my partner, so I’d quickly grabbed Fat Fred’s hand and started stretching with him instead. Sue had looked at me with disappointment etched on her face, her little beard shaking on her chin and that’s when I felt triple, super awful, terribly bad.
    It was eating me up, so I knew I had to tell her I was sorry, but it was such a hard word for me to say. I wasn’t sure why.
    Later that day, Blindfold and I went to visit Sue at her wooden gypsy caravan at the edge of the big trees where the crew camp was. As I walked up the path, I saw her washing line covered in colourful leotards, lady underpants and bras flapping in the wind. I wanted to turn and run away. Not from her underwear, but from the situation.
    â€˜Sue!’ I called out, feeling a bit sick. ‘Can I come up please?’
    â€˜Sure, Stunt,’ she said, poking her head out of the rounded doorway. I lifted Blindfold up and into her arms. ‘You know you’re always welcome here, little guy.’
    She reached up into a cupboard and pulled out a biscuit tin. Blindfold looked up at her eagerly. He loves Sue’s biscuits.
    â€˜Want one? I made them earlier, they’re still warm.’
    â€˜Thanks,’ I said, a little bashful that she was being so nice to me. She held one out for Blindfold; he didn’t even chew his; he gulped it down in one go.
    I looked at the floor and didn’t say anything.
    â€˜You got something on your mind, Stunt?’ Sue said, taking a little nibble of her biscuit.
    â€˜Yeah –’ I said, trying to find the words. ‘Ah, I’m sorry for lying to you, Sue. Right to your face and all.’
    â€˜You got to speak to people, Stunt, tell them what’s going on for you, not bottle it all up.’
    â€˜I know, Sue, it’s just sometimes words get stuck in my head and won’t find a way out of my mouth,’ I said.
    â€˜Yeah, I get it, Stunt, that’s just part of growing up, but you’ve got a lot going on at the moment, so you need to talk, okay? Don’t just try and solve everything by yourself. We’re all here for you.’
    â€˜Okay,’ I said, feeling as if I could trust her. ‘I’m just not sure who to trust anymore. People are