Read Online The Girl Who Walked on Air by Emma Carroll - Free Book Online
Authors: Emma Carroll
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wasn’t listening.
‘I hardly think even you can mess this up,’ Mr Chipchase said. ‘And don’t worry, Kitty’s very good. She never misses.’
First time for everything, I thought bitterly.
The little smile on Kitty’s face said the same.
Chapter 10
The audience, all ten of them, stopped rustling their toffee papers. Kitty Quickblade’s act was about to start. She was done up to the nines in a silver tunic tied with ribbon, which I’d sewn in place backstage. As for my fine costume, it was still the dung-green clown suit. And as usual my hair was plaited tightly and tucked under my hat.
‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ Mighty Ned boomed. ‘We bring you a chilling spectacle . . . A routine where one mistake could mean instant DEATH!’
The crowd gasped.
Ned was laying it on specially thick tonight. Perhaps he’d been told to; perhaps he was still in a sulk with me. Either way, my knees shook hard. If things went wrong tonight, I’d be for it. I’d wave goodbye to any dreams of being the showstopper. Or any notions of staying here at all.
As Kitty bowed to the crowds, I did the same, flashing my best smile till I almost began to enjoy myself.
‘Get in place, weasel!’ Kitty hissed when she saw what I was doing. ‘And stop showing off!’
Reluctantly, I went over to the corkboard. It was round, the size of a table top. All I had to do was stand against it. Yet as Kitty faced me, my whole body started trembling. Her eyes were slits as she shifted the blade between her fingers. A cold sweat crept down my back. I tried to make myself still as a dead thing, all the while my brain screaming ‘Run for your life!’ Next time I’d ask for a blindfold.
Kitty raised her arm. Flicked her wrist just a fraction. The knife spun through the air. It whizzed past my left ear and went thwunk into the board behind me. I breathed again, though I’d barely drawn air when a second knife went whoosh past my right side. A ringing filled my ears. The blade, still quivering, tickled my cheek. Now I couldn’t move my head.
Zip . Another knife skimmed my left elbow. Then the same on my right side. I twitched in alarm. Kitty took aim, tipped her hand. A glint of steel, then thwack thud as the final knives hit the board either side of my legs. The spectators clapped half-heartedly.
Kitty turned to the crowd. Mighty Ned started speaking. I supposed this was my cue to move but I couldn’t. The knives snagged my sleeves and trouser legs, leaving me pinned like a butterfly in a glass case. I tried wriggling my arms, then . . .
Thwack thud.
My heart stopped. Directly above my head a new knife stuck out of the board. I glared at Kitty, who gave me a nasty little wink. This time the audience clapped with gusto. Kitty bowed to the crowd. Then she turned and tried to tell me something with her eyes.
‘What?’ I mouthed.
She nodded furiously. A snigger went through the audience. She ‘shooed’ with her hands at the board behind me. Then I realised: she wanted her knives back.
My entire outline was marked out by daggers. A couple of sharp yanks freed my arms. Reaching up, I grabbed the other knives. Most came out easy enough, though my trouser leg tore. But the finaI blade had caught in my hair. Across the ring, Kitty eyed me coldly. People began talking and shifting in their seats. Try as I might, the knife wouldn’t budge.
Screwing up my eyes, I jerked forwards. The pain was fierce, the ripping sound even worse. Then I was free. A great hunk of hair hung from the knife. The crowd cheered and clapped like mad things. It beat the sound of being scalped alive any day of the week.
Clearly Kitty didn’t think so. Crossing the ring, she looked ready to thrash me. ‘Get that last knife out! Quickly!’
She tried distracting the crowd but by now they were cheering for a different kind of act.
‘Swap over, why don’t you?’ A man shouted out. ‘Let the red-haired lassie do the throwing, and the dark one take the
‘I hardly think even you can mess this up,’ Mr Chipchase said. ‘And don’t worry, Kitty’s very good. She never misses.’
First time for everything, I thought bitterly.
The little smile on Kitty’s face said the same.
Chapter 10
The audience, all ten of them, stopped rustling their toffee papers. Kitty Quickblade’s act was about to start. She was done up to the nines in a silver tunic tied with ribbon, which I’d sewn in place backstage. As for my fine costume, it was still the dung-green clown suit. And as usual my hair was plaited tightly and tucked under my hat.
‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ Mighty Ned boomed. ‘We bring you a chilling spectacle . . . A routine where one mistake could mean instant DEATH!’
The crowd gasped.
Ned was laying it on specially thick tonight. Perhaps he’d been told to; perhaps he was still in a sulk with me. Either way, my knees shook hard. If things went wrong tonight, I’d be for it. I’d wave goodbye to any dreams of being the showstopper. Or any notions of staying here at all.
As Kitty bowed to the crowds, I did the same, flashing my best smile till I almost began to enjoy myself.
‘Get in place, weasel!’ Kitty hissed when she saw what I was doing. ‘And stop showing off!’
Reluctantly, I went over to the corkboard. It was round, the size of a table top. All I had to do was stand against it. Yet as Kitty faced me, my whole body started trembling. Her eyes were slits as she shifted the blade between her fingers. A cold sweat crept down my back. I tried to make myself still as a dead thing, all the while my brain screaming ‘Run for your life!’ Next time I’d ask for a blindfold.
Kitty raised her arm. Flicked her wrist just a fraction. The knife spun through the air. It whizzed past my left ear and went thwunk into the board behind me. I breathed again, though I’d barely drawn air when a second knife went whoosh past my right side. A ringing filled my ears. The blade, still quivering, tickled my cheek. Now I couldn’t move my head.
Zip . Another knife skimmed my left elbow. Then the same on my right side. I twitched in alarm. Kitty took aim, tipped her hand. A glint of steel, then thwack thud as the final knives hit the board either side of my legs. The spectators clapped half-heartedly.
Kitty turned to the crowd. Mighty Ned started speaking. I supposed this was my cue to move but I couldn’t. The knives snagged my sleeves and trouser legs, leaving me pinned like a butterfly in a glass case. I tried wriggling my arms, then . . .
Thwack thud.
My heart stopped. Directly above my head a new knife stuck out of the board. I glared at Kitty, who gave me a nasty little wink. This time the audience clapped with gusto. Kitty bowed to the crowd. Then she turned and tried to tell me something with her eyes.
‘What?’ I mouthed.
She nodded furiously. A snigger went through the audience. She ‘shooed’ with her hands at the board behind me. Then I realised: she wanted her knives back.
My entire outline was marked out by daggers. A couple of sharp yanks freed my arms. Reaching up, I grabbed the other knives. Most came out easy enough, though my trouser leg tore. But the finaI blade had caught in my hair. Across the ring, Kitty eyed me coldly. People began talking and shifting in their seats. Try as I might, the knife wouldn’t budge.
Screwing up my eyes, I jerked forwards. The pain was fierce, the ripping sound even worse. Then I was free. A great hunk of hair hung from the knife. The crowd cheered and clapped like mad things. It beat the sound of being scalped alive any day of the week.
Clearly Kitty didn’t think so. Crossing the ring, she looked ready to thrash me. ‘Get that last knife out! Quickly!’
She tried distracting the crowd but by now they were cheering for a different kind of act.
‘Swap over, why don’t you?’ A man shouted out. ‘Let the red-haired lassie do the throwing, and the dark one take the
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