Read Circus of Thieves and the Raffle of Doom for Free Online Page A

going to a bank to borrow
money for a circus is like going into a tiger cage and asking for a massage. It’s not going to happen. In the end, there was only one person who’d lend them money. Armitage.’
    ‘Armitage?’
    ‘Armitage Shank.’
    ‘Your circus dad.’
    ‘Exactly.’
    ‘I still don’t know what that means.’
    ‘I’m coming to that. First you need to know who he is.’
    ‘A crook?’
    ‘Exactly. You’re quick.’ Billy smiled in approval. ‘Armitage Shank has been on the circuit for years, running dodgy circuses which open up and shut down, then open up
again somewhere else under a new name. He’s always on the run, and the police are always after him because of his shady deals and dodgy practices and general crookery. Basically the first and
only rule of the circus world is Stay Away From Armitage Shank.’
    ‘So why did your parents ask him for money?’
    ‘It was the only way to keep the circus going. It was either take Armitage’s money, or sell everything, give up and move into a . . . a . . I can’t say it.’
    ‘A house?’
    ‘That’s the word. I mean, it was the worst thing that could possibly happen. It was the nightmare that makes you tremble and sweat and scream, but on the brink of becoming reality.
We would have had to become civilians.
Bleuuuurrrrgggghhhh!
No offence!’
    ‘So you had to take his money?’
    ‘Exactly. That was when we became Shank’s Impossible Circus, and my parents became his employees. It was Armitage who made Mum get rid of the safety net. He said it spoiled the
excitement. And I suppose you know the rest.’
    Hannah didn’t know the rest, but with an awful sensation in her stomach she felt she might be able to guess. Billy wasn’t crying, though, and Esmeralda was his mum, so Hannah knew
she mustn’t, either. Using all her mental strength, she clamped down on her tear ducts.
    ‘My dad was the catcher,’ Billy continued. ‘It wasn’t his fault. I mean, you can’t get everything perfect every single night – that’s why you need a net
– but he never got over the guilt. His main thing in the show was juggling, and after the funeral he just couldn’t do it any more. He had the jitters. He kept dropping things.
Eventually Armitage sacked him and Dad had to leave. I wanted to go with him, but Dad wouldn’t let me. He said he didn’t have anywhere to live, or any way to make a living, and he
wouldn’t know how to look after me. He told me to stay with the circus, and he promised that as soon as he could, he’d come and get me. He promised that he’d get back on his feet,
but he needed to know I was safe, and looked after, and this circus was the only place he knew where that would happen. Then he went, and my name was changed to Billy Shank, because Armitage
doesn’t have any real children and he thought having a son in the show would be good for his image.’
    ‘He changed your name? He can’t do that!’
    ‘It’s only a stage name. The one I had before was, too, so it doesn’t make much difference. You don’t think my mum was born Esmeralda Espadrille, do you?’
    ‘I suppose not.’
    ‘Her real name was something like Wendy Dunn. I’m not even sure. My dad was Ernesto Espadrille, but off stage everyone called him Clive.’
    ‘That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard,’ said Hannah.
    ‘It’s just a name.’
    ‘Not the name. The rest of it.’
    ‘Oh. I suppose it is pretty bad. Thanks for not crying.’
    Hannah shrugged. She didn’t know what to say. Billy wasn’t looking at her any more. He was scrunching up bits of hay and tossing them at his feet.
    ‘The past is the past,’ said Billy, after a while. ‘And I know Dad will come and get me eventually. What upsets me now is the stealing.’
    ‘The stealing?’
    ‘WHAT DID YOU SAY?’
    Billy and Hannah both jumped. Neither of them had heard him coming. Neither of them had seen the door open. They just heard the voice; that icy, terrifying voice, right