Read Online The Lampo Circus by Alexandra Adornetto - Free Book Online Page B

steam-cleaned once Muffy-Boo has finished,’ the accountant responded promptly.
    ‘I’ve been very busy, Your Grace,’ Lampo confessed. ‘The Master keeps me on my toes.’
    ‘Sixty-five pounds to clean up after the Master has been devoured,’ shrilled Mr Ledger, who was on a roll.
    Lampo yelped as though he had been stung by a jellyfish. ‘Jipperty-jippers, don’t talk aboutthe Master like that! You never know where his spies may be.’
    Four ravens that had been perched on the camp gates flew off in unison and headed in the direction of the jade citadel. Lampo shuddered as he watched them.
    ‘Calm yourself, Feddy,’ Bombasta said. ‘The Master will be much pleased. Battalion Minor is well under way and the gladiator is training the brats off their feet.’
    Lampo took a deep breath and exhaled in relief. ‘I hope you are right.’
    ‘Of course I am right!’ Bombasta declared. ‘I am always right! I do so love it when we agree.’
    Just then an elderly woman shuffled out of the kitchens bearing a tray of refreshments for the visitors. It was Nonna Luna, Federico Lampo’s grandmother. Milli and Ernest watched her shake her head sadly at Lampo and Bombasta, put the tray down and make the sign of the cross behind their backs.
    Lampo did not acknowledge his grandmother, so engrossed was he in listening to Bombasta’s advice.
    When she could stand being ignored no longer, Nonna Luna became emboldened enough to draw a tub of homemade meatballs from her apron and placed it in her grandson’s hand. She tucked a bib into his shirtfront and presented him with a fork.
    ‘Not now, Nonna!’ Lampo hissed as he tried to shake her off. ‘You are embarrassing me in front of my friends.’ He pushed the container back at her and made light of the intrusion by feigning amusement.
    Contessa Bombasta wrinkled her nose in disgust. ‘Haven’t you had that old crone committed yet?’ she demanded loudly.
    Nonna Luna shuffled away wearing a martyred expression and Lampo shrugged apologetically at Bombasta.
    ‘Save them for later,’ he called after his grandmother, not so much to make amends for his rudeness, but to ensure his meatballs did not fall into the wrong hands.
    Nonna Luna’s appearance had allowed the children a brief opportunity to confer. Finn and Fennel chewed absently on stalks ofwheat, looking too detached for Milli’s liking.
    ‘Bombasta and Lampo are up to no good,’ she said. ‘It’s what they want with us that I can’t figure out.’
    ‘They’re always plotting something,’ the twins said lamely.
    ‘What about the authorities? Why don’t they investigate? You can’t kidnap children and keep them against their will without someone noticing.’
    ‘In the Conjurors’ Realm,’ Fennel explained, ‘those with power make the rules.’
    ‘But who ensures the rules are not abused?’ Ernest asked.
    ‘Oh, we have a police force but they’re under strict instructions to patrol only the Clover Fields.’
    ‘Why on earth are they doing that?’ said Ernest.
    ‘Because that is the most important job of all,’ replied Fennel matter-of-factly. ‘To protect the four-leafed clovers from being stolen.’
    ‘They hardly ever go near the city,’ her brother added. ‘If you report a robbery or a mysterious disappearance, they’ll more than likely tell you to buzz off. But a clover theft report…’
    ‘They’d be releasing the hounds,’ Fennel finished.
    ‘But that makes no sense!’ Milli objected.
    ‘No,’ Fennel agreed. ‘But we didn’t say it did.’
    Ernest was forced to reach a grim conclusion. ‘It means that if Bombasta chooses to feed the lot of us to her piranhas, there’s not a thing anyone can do about it.’
    Milli felt a tugging at her sleeve and, looking down, saw that a group of younger children had gathered anxiously around her. Milli knew several of them were under ten years of age and had been smuggled into the matinee by well-intentioned older siblings. From their