Read Online The Sequin Star by Belinda Murrell - Free Book Online

the ringmaster strode up and down the verge, barking orders.
    â€˜What’s happening?’ asked Claire. ‘Is this where we’re stopping?’
    Rosina shook her head and raised her arms. She stretched her neck from side to side. ‘This is where we unload for the parade into St Leonards. Everyone gets dressed in costume. You’d better get dressed too. I’ll lend you something.’
    Claire looked at Rosina in horror. ‘No, it’s all right,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘I don’t need to get dressed up.’
    Rosina smiled. ‘But Alf will expect you to add some glamour to the parade. Even the grooms have to wear uniforms. The circus is all about creating the illusion of being the biggest, the boldest and the most spectacular.’
    â€˜But what will I do in the parade?’ asked Claire. ‘Just walk along?’
    â€˜I think you can ride Empress, the second elephant,’ Rosina suggested with a grin. ‘She’s not as big as Elsie.’
    â€˜I can’t ride an elephant,’ retorted Claire. ‘I wouldn’t know how.’
    Rosina looked like she was enjoying herself. She tickled Lula’s belly. ‘We’ll have a menagerie groom walking beside us. All you have to do is hold on with one hand, wave with the other, keep your back straight and just keep smiling. I think you can manage that.’
    Claire felt a bubble of excitement well up inside her. She was going to ride an elephant in a circus parade.
    â€˜Oh, and make sure you don’t look back during the parade,’ Rosina added. ‘It’s bad luck, and we certainly don’t need any more of that.’
    Once more it was a flurry of activity and a quick meal standing around the trucks. Brownie the cook handed out slabs of rabbit pie with slices of buttered damper, served with mugs of hot tea.
    Afterwards, all the animals had to be unloaded from the trucks, harnessed, costumed and tethered in the shade while the circus folk changed from their everyday clothes into costumes. The ribbons were removed from the horses’ manes and tails, and the hair detangled with their fingers so that it flowed, long and wavy. The horses arched their necks and lifted their tails, ready to show off.
    â€˜Gorgeous,’ Rosina declared. ‘Now it’s our turn. But we have to hurry.’
    The girls rushed to the caravan to get ready.
    Rosina lent Claire a turquoise-blue tutu spangled with silver stars, along with pink tights and satin ballet shoes that tied around the ankle with ribbons. She wore her dark hair pulled back with a blue headband sparkling with sequins. Rosina helped her apply some heavy stage make-up: foundation, powder, rouge, black kohl around the eyes, mascara and bright, red lipstick. It reminded Claire of preparing for one of her ballet concerts.
    Rosina wore the scarlet and diamante tutu from the night before. She peered in the mirror as she fixed her headdress in place. The pink-and-white ostrich feathers were attached to a headband and held in place with a diamante and sequin jewel.
    She examined Claire’s appearance critically. ‘Just a touch more lipstick and you’re ready.’ She slicked some added colour on Claire’s lips. ‘Now you look like a real circus girl.’
    Claire stared at the mirror. She didn’t recognise herself, but she quite liked what she saw. She looked exotic and adventurous. She twitched the headband lower on her forehead. The turquoise made her eyes look very blue.
    Outside, the roustabouts, now dressed in their brightly coloured uniforms, helped position the animals in the procession. The three young Sterling children were running about, dressed in miniature clown costumes with thick white make-up and bright red noses. They waved to Rosina and Claire, who thought they looked adorable in their tiny suits.
    Rosina ordered Empress to lift Claire up with her trunk.
    â€˜Now sit on her neck, right behind her