Diamond Read online

  ‘Not stolen, Addie! What harsh words! How quick you are to jump to conclusions. I bought this little fairy child. I paid five whole guineas for her too, so I hope she’ll work very hard and repay my generosity.’ He gave me a little shake.

  ‘Don’t, Beppo, you’re frightening her. Poor little creature, you look scared to death.’ She leaped gracefully from her horse and knelt down beside me. Her face was even prettier close up, her cheeks so pink, her lips very red. I breathed in deeply because she smelled beautifully of fresh roses. I felt the tears trickling down my face.

  She reached out and gently mopped them away with a lace handkerchief. Her hand was so white and smooth and delicate. I realized how grimy I’d become since living in Willoughby Buildings, where there was just one cold water tap outside for goodness knows how many families. But even if I scrubbed all day in a hot tub, I knew I could never get my skin as white and perfect as hers.

  ‘There now, my dear. My name is Madame Adeline – and this is my dear horse, Midnight. Would you like to pat him?’

  I nodded timidly. She took me by the hand. Mister was reluctant to let go of me, but Madame Adeline pulled his fingers away from my wrist.

  ‘Let her be, Beppo. Poor little girl! You’re pinching her. She’ll get a horrid bruise. There now.’ Madame Adeline rubbed my sore wrist tenderly. ‘What’s your name, dear?’

  ‘I’m Ellen-Jane Potts, ma’am,’ I whispered.

  ‘Not any more you’re not,’ said Mister. ‘That’s no name for a little circus star.’

  ‘Little Star . . .’ murmured Madame Adeline, sounding sad.

  ‘Think of a name for her, Addie – you’ve got the knack for it,’ said Mister, suddenly wheedling.

  ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,’ said Madame Adeline, tucking my hair behind my ears. ‘My, you have lovely bright hair. I shall wash it for you with my special shampoo and then it will sparkle in the sunlight. What shall we call you? Like a diamond in the sky . . . Diamond! There’s your name, little one – Diamond.’

  ‘I like it! Little Diamond, the Child Wonder!’ said Beppo. ‘Oh, Addie, I knew you’d come up trumps. That’s your name now, Miss Fairy. Little Diamond. Say it now.’

  ‘Little Diamond,’ I lisped obediently.

  Mister chuckled and rubbed his hands together. ‘Yeth, lickle Di-mond,’ he said, imitating me.

  ‘Twinkle then, little Diamond,’ said Madame Adeline, and she lifted me up, her graceful arms surprisingly strong, and sat me on top of Midnight. I gave a little shriek to be up so high, and slipped sideways the moment the horse moved a hoof.

  ‘Whoopsie,’ she said, swinging me down again. ‘Well, she’s not a natural horsewoman, I’ll tell you that for sure.’

  ‘Hands off! I’m not having you training her up. She’s going to be a little acrobat,’ said Mister.

  ‘She’s too old to start,’ said Madame Adeline, which surprised me utterly.

  ‘I’m eight years old, ma’am,’ I said. ‘Though most folk think I’m only about five.’

  ‘See! Out of the mouths of babes . . . We’ll bill her as an infant phenomenon,’ said Mister. ‘She’ll do a turn with my boys.’

  ‘No, you can’t do that to her! She’s a light little thing and will look as pretty as a picture once she’s had a good scrub, but if you try cricking her bones bendy at this stage, you’ll just break them,’ said Madame Adeline.

  ‘I’ll hardly need to touch her!’ said Mister. ‘Right, little Diamond, show Madame Addie here what you can do. Go on then! Turn a cartwheel and walk around on those hands like a crab.’

  ‘I don’t want to,’ I said shyly, ducking my head to hide behind my hair.

  Mister drew my hair aside like curtains and stared straight into my eyes. ‘Now listen to me, little fairy,’ he whispered. His voice was so soft I could hardly hear him, but so sinister it was like the hissing of a serpent. ‘It’s not what you want any more, oh dear me, no. I’m your master now and you’ll do exactly what I want, understand?’

  I swallowed and then nodded.

  ‘Then put on a show for Madame Addie here, pronto!’

  I stepped away, trembling so that I could barely stand, but when I obediently stood on my hands, I felt steadier. Madame Adeline clapped enthusiastically at once, calling ‘Bravo!’ which encouraged me further. I cartwheeled in a circle, I capered backwards like a crab, I sprang up and did a back-flip and landed lightly the right way up, arms outstretched.

  ‘Oh my, she has it all off pat!’ Madame Adeline declared. ‘Bless the little sweetheart. You’re right, Beppo, she’s a natural.’

  ‘Wait till I’ve trained her up a little. I reckon she’ll be better than all my boys put together. My five guineas are a very sound investment, you’ll see. Right, my twinkly little Diamond, come and meet your brothers.’

  ‘My brothers, Mister?’ I thought for one moment that he’d purchased Matthew, Mark, Luke and baby John too – but when he led me over to a red wagon there was no sign of my own kin.

  There were three young men there, stripped to the waist, wearing tight breeches. The eldest looked the strongest, with broad shoulders and arms like great hams, though his waist was small and his stomach flat as a board.

  The middle one was slighter, but his wiry arms were taut with muscle too. He was in the middle of a wrestling match with his older brother, managing to shove and heave with almost as much strength.

  The youngest was just a boy, only a few years older than me. He was watching his brothers upside down, standing on his hands. He pulled a face when he saw me and stuck out his tongue, waggling it rudely. I did likewise. I wasn’t frightened of silly boys, and I could do a handstand too. But then he shifted his weight until he was standing on only one hand. He waved the other at me insolently. I tried not to look impressed.

  ‘Boys, boys! Do you call this nonsense practising?’ said Mister, clapping his hands. ‘Pay attention now.’

  The two young men stopped wrestling and the boy whipped through the air and landed lightly on his toes. All three stood to attention. It was clear Mister expected to be obeyed instantly.

  ‘That’s more like it,’ he said. ‘Now, I’d like to introduce you all to this little fairy here. She’s Diamond, Acrobatic Child Wonder, my new shining star.’

  All three glared at me. The youngest looked positively outraged, his eyebrows wrinkled and his mouth gaped, showing his missing teeth.

  ‘Ain’t I your child wonder?’ he said.

  ‘You’re all my little wonders,’ said Mister. ‘This here’s Tag, Diamond. You’re to pay particular attention to him. He’ll learn you all his tricks. Regular little crowd-pleaser, he is.’

  The youngest looked slightly appeased, but he still frowned fiercely at me.

  ‘And this is Julip, my middle lad,’ said Mister. ‘He flies through the air like a bird, don’t you, boy?’

  ‘Flipperty-flap,’ said Julip, waving his arms.

  ‘And this here is Marvo, my eldest. Strong as an ox, aren’t you, son? Show off your muscles to little Diamond here.’

  The big lad flexed his great arms until his veins looked as if they’d burst through his taut skin. Then he stepped forward, picked me up with one vast hand and thrust me high in the air. I waggled my legs in protest and he threw me free. I landed in an undignified heap on the grass. Mister and the three boys all laughed at me. Tag actually spat contemptuously.

  ‘Pick me up, Marvo,’ he said.

  Marvo lifted him effortlessly in one hand and then threw him too. Tag tucked himself into a tiny ball and turned two somersaults in the air before landing neatly on his feet, his arms outstretched in acknowledgement. He nodded at me triumphantly.

  ‘That’s it, you show her, Tag,’ said Mister. ‘Give her a quick routine, boys, so she can see what we do.’

  The three all instantly straightened, shoulders back, chins in the air, stepping out like little princes, though they were still barefoot boys. Marvo stood still, muscles flexed. Julip ran up to him and flew through the air