High Wire Read Online Free Page A

side of the big top, was the massive cartoon of him on a billboard. The effect was scary. Kind of 3-D plus.
    â€œUhhh.” I cleared my throat. I glanced down at Pooch. Unbothered by Sorelli, he was chewing the pink leash Cubby had given us.
    â€œWell? Speak up, Zachary. What are you waiting for? Your old-age pension?”
    â€œUhhh. I tried to get rid of him, sir. Honest.”
    I couldn’t explain what had happened, because I didn’t really understand it myself. Maybe it was the jumpy kid. She made me nervous, and she might have made Pooch nervous.
    Maybe I couldn’t dump Pooch off the way orphaned kids got dumped off on relatives.
    Sorelli narrowed his eyes. “You tried to? When I give an order, you don’t try , Zachary. You do .”
    â€œYes, sir.”
    â€œYou think Philippe Petit thought about dogs when he walked the wire between the Twin Towers?”
    How did Sorelli know I idolized Petit? I had never told him. The guy was uncanny.
    I gulped. “No, sir. I’m sure dogs were not on Philippe Petit’s mind.”
    â€œExactly! And that’s how it has to be in the circus. Your performance is everything. You can have nothing else on your mind .”
    By now the whole of the Circus Sorelli company was gathered around, watching in wide-eyed terror. The ringmaster had a track record of reducing people to tears.
    â€œDo you understand, Zachary?”
    There was a silence. I could hear the Circus Sorelli flag flapping. Everyone held their breath the way the audience did when I was on the wire. In a way, I was on a high wire right now. If I made one wrong move, I’d be out of the circus.
    I looked Sorelli in the eye. I said calmly, politely, “No, sir, I don’t.”
    Sorelli’s eyes bulged out of their sockets. He grabbed me by the elbow and marched me to his trailer.
    Pooch trotted after us, still holding the pink leash in his mouth. The collar dragged behind him, bumping on the ground.
    Sorelli’s slam of the trailer door behind us echoed around the circus grounds.
    â€œAccording to our permit, no animals.”
    â€œBut doesn’t that mean performing animals, sir? Pooch isn’t a performer. He’s a pet.”
    I noticed that Pooch had dropped the pink leash and collar. Now, in a corner of the trailer, he was fastening his jaw around one of Sorelli’s shiny black boots. I picked him up.
    â€œI’ve texted my aunt about Pooch. She’ll take him when she gets back. It’s just a few days, sir.”
    Sorelli plunged his big hairy hand into a box of tissues. Wrenching out half of them, he wiped the sweat off his face. “Last night Pooch wriggled out of his collar and ran to you, right in the middle of your juggling act. The city inspectors hear about that, they figure he’s a performer. They revoke our permit and shut us down.”
    My shoulders sagged. I thought, Sorry , Pooch . I tried .
    Sorelli pulled the remaining tissues out of the box. He mopped at a fresh outbreak of sweat on his forehead. “Besides, if I let you have a dog, every other performer and crew member will want a pet. Soon we’ll be overrun with dogs, cats, lizards, birds, fish—”
    â€œOkay, Mr. Sorelli,” I interrupted, before he could go through the entire animal kingdom. “I’ll find a home for Pooch.”
    â€œYou have twenty-four hours. If the mongrel is still around, I replace you. Savvy? There’s somebody else who’s dying for the high-wire job.”
    Cubby , I thought. “Yes, sir.”
    The ringmaster gave me a phony smile that was scarier than any of his scowls. “Do you know why I’m giving you one more chance?”
    â€œNo, sir.”
    â€œBecause I happen to like you. And Zachary?”
    â€œYes, sir?”
    He glared at Pooch. “Get that mongrel out of my trailer!”
    Whitney was waiting for Pooch and me outside. She lifted Pooch up and kissed his flabby face.
    For