Little Stars Read online

  I thought I’d find all these in the circus. I suppose I did at first. But then I realized that it was a cruel, tawdry world and constantly pitching tents and travelling to the next gaff was dreary and depressing. It was such hard work too, performing twice, sometimes three times a day, and then falling asleep bone-weary. If it was hard for me, it was five times that for poor little Diamond, forced to crick her bones to make them abnormally bendy, rehearsing her act many times a day, and then performing in the ring long past a child’s bedtime, always white with fear in case she didn’t please that gargoyle clown.

  ‘Hetty?’ Diamond said insistently.

  I realized she’d been trying to get my attention while I’d been daydreaming. ‘What is it, darling?’

  ‘Where are we going?’

  ‘We’re going to the Cavalcade, remember?’

  ‘But Mr Perkins said it was a den of something-or-other. Isn’t it a bad place?’ asked Diamond.

  ‘It’s a music hall, that’s all. I think it sounds wonderful. You and I are going to be music-hall artistes,’ I said, and I turned my voice into a trumpet and tooted a fanfare.

  A cluster of children hopping about in the gutter jeered at me. I gave them a little bow and consequently made the penny-farthing wobble dangerously. That made them laugh hysterically. Poor Diamond fell to the ground in the process, though thank goodness she’d been taught how to take a tumble.

  ‘Yes, very funny, ha ha,’ I said sarcastically to the gaggle of children. ‘I’m so glad we amuse you. We will amuse you even more when we take our rightful place on the stage of the Cavalcade and get paid good money for our antics.’

  They stared at me blankly, clearly not following.

  ‘So can you please tell us the way to the Cavalcade?’ I asked, gazing around at them all.

  Their faces were still as blank as china dolls.

  ‘What’s the Cavalcade when it’s at home?’ the biggest boy asked.

  ‘It’s the music hall. Isn’t it here? There’s an advertisement for it in the market place,’ I said, helping Diamond to her feet and dusting her down.

  ‘Oh, I get you. It’s in Fenstone, that music hall, miles and miles away,’ he said.

  My heart sank. My legs were stiff and sore from yesterday’s pedalling. I didn’t feel ready to tackle another marathon journey. ‘How many miles?’ I said wearily.

  ‘Three. Maybe four,’ he said. ‘It’ll take you an hour or more.’

  ‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, that’s nothing!’

  I’d been brought up in the countryside till I was nearly six. I used to walk over the meadows and through the woods with Jem for hour after hour, and when my worn boots got too tight, I simply tugged them off and went barefoot.

  ‘Thank you, boy,’ I said in a lordly fashion.

  He sniggered and made a very rude response. I ignored him and remounted the penny-farthing (successfully, thank the Lord). Diamond scrambled up too. I let her stand on my shoulders, just to show off. I pedalled off, and this time several of the children clapped and cheered.

  ‘Idiots,’ I murmured to Diamond. ‘Better sit down when we’re out of sight. Phew, this pedalling is hard work!’

  ‘Let me take a turn,’ Diamond suggested, though she was so small her feet couldn’t even reach the pedals.

  ‘Maybe later,’ I said tactfully. ‘You’re a dear little sister, do you know that?’

  Diamond giggled. ‘You’re a dear little big sister,’ she said.

  It wasn’t a very pleasant route to Fenstone: drab terraced houses and dark factories. The grey roads were littered with reeking horse manure. But I was now in such high spirits that I could have been bowling down leafy lanes, past picturesque thatched cottages, breathing in roses and honeysuckle.

  Diamond was in good spirits too. She started singing hymn after hymn, her voice high and sweet. When she didn’t remember the words properly, she invented her own.

  ‘Praise my soul the King of Heaven,

  To his feet – oh tingaling,

  Ranting reeled restored forgiven,

  Who like Hetty and Di-mond bring . . .’

  ‘You’re a funny sausage! Where did you learn all these hymns? Did you go to church when you were little? I had to go to chapel every single Sunday but I don’t know half as many hymns as you,’ I said.

  ‘Mama used to sing them,’ said Diamond. ‘I sat on her lap and she sang to me. Did you sit on your mama’s lap while she sang to you, Hetty?’

  I shut my eyes momentarily because it was so painful. This was a mistake. I had to swerve violently to avoid the carriage in front of us, stationary because the horse was contributing to the mire on the road.

  ‘Whoops,’ I said as we wobbled past. ‘No, I wasn’t with my mama when I was little enough to sit on her lap. You know I was at the Foundling Hospital.’

  ‘But your mama worked there, you said.’

  ‘I didn’t know she was my mama for years and years. And then, when I found out, she was sent away. And then – and then . . .’

  I couldn’t talk about that terrible summer when Mama slowly faded away and died.

  Diamond was quiet for a minute or so too. Then she stroked my hair and said softly in my ear, ‘I think your mama and mine have made friends in Heaven. They peer through the clouds at us every now and then to make sure we’re being good girls.’

  ‘Well, my poor mama must get very agitated, because I am often a bad girl,’ I said.

  My mood lightened again when we saw a signpost to Fenstone. It was a proper town, with heavy traffic. The road was so crowded that eventually I thought it safer to dismount and push the penny-farthing along the pavement. Pushing was harder than pedalling, but Diamond kept me amused by choosing which house she wanted to live in when we were grown up and rich and famous.

  ‘Which do you like best, Hetty? The house with the pretty blossom trees, or the house with the green shutters, or the house with that dome thing on the roof?’ she asked earnestly.

  ‘If we’re going to be really rich and famous, couldn’t we have a much bigger house? A mansion or a castle with a hundred rooms, and we can choose a different bedroom every week. How about that?’ I suggested.

  ‘No, I wouldn’t like that at all, it would be far too big and scary. I’d get lost, and what would I do if I forgot which bedroom you were in?’ said Diamond, taking me seriously. ‘No, Hetty, please let’s have one of these houses – they’re so pretty and not scary at all.’

  ‘Very well. Let’s have the one with the dome. That can be our bedroom. And we’ll bolt the front door so no one can ever get in, but if a very dear friend comes visiting, we’ll open a window and let down our hair like Rapunzel and they can climb up to see us.’

  ‘Oh yes, I like the dome house best of all too. But we’re going to have to grow our hair right down to our feet,’ said Diamond.

  ‘That’s a good idea. When we’re music-hall stars we’ll be known as the Hairy Sisters and our famous hair will flow out behind us as we walk, like a bride’s train. Woe betide anyone who steps on it!’

  ‘We’re going to use up an awful lot of bottles of rainbow shampoo,’ said Diamond. ‘Hetty, what’s that house right over there, past the shops? The big, big house with the beautiful pale green roof? Is it a palace? Do you think it’s where the Queen lives?’

  ‘I very much doubt Queen Victoria has a palace in Fenstone,’ I said. ‘But let’s go and see.’

  It certainly looked like a palace, with its fine red brick and weathered copper roof, all towers and cupolas. The steps to the grand gilt doors were covered in deep red carpet, and through the windows we could see the glint of a grand chandelier.

  ‘It is a palace!’ said Diamond.

  ‘No it’s not. Read that great big word in gilt lettering, Diamond.’

  ‘You know I’m not very good at reading.’

  ‘Try, go on!’

  ‘Cav . . . cav-al-cad?’

  ‘Cavalcade! We’re here, Diamond. This is the music hall!’

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