Olivia's Enchanted Summer by Lyn Gardner Page B

sympathy went round the listening children. Olivia’s throat tightened and she thought she might cry, too.
    â€œEvie,” said Jack gently, his face serious. “You do realise what you did was unbelievably, unforgiveably dangerous. You can’t behave in that reckless way in a circus. You might have hurt other people and you might have been killed if you’d fallen.”
    â€œI never fall,” said Evie, with a shrug that got Olivia riled up all over again. Evie Purcarete really was one of the most arrogant people she had ever met in her entire life. She expected Jack to say something along the lines of “pride comes before a fall” and read Evie the riot act, but to her surprise a twinkle had crept into his eye.
    â€œWell, Evie, you’re certainly not lacking in confidence!” he said. “And from what I’ve just seen, you have every right to be confident. What you did was wrong, very wrong, but it was a wonderful display. The last time I saw you, you were a bawling scrap of a thing, a tiny little baby. Your father taught you well. If you’re interested,I reckon we might have a spot for you in the Swan Circus.”
    â€œDad!” exclaimed Olivia. How could he just offer a total stranger a job in their circus without asking the rest of them first? In her outrage, she conveniently forgot that she’d done exactly the same thing with the boy-magician. But Jack’s hand silenced her, and judging from the admiring, sympathetic looks on the faces of the other Swans, they weren’t fussed about the lack of consultation. Evie grinned at Jack and her dark, watchful eyes were suddenly full of light. She looked at her sister, who nodded and smiled.
    â€œWe would like that very much,” she said.
    â€œGood,” said Jack, “because you’re the best high-wire walker of your age that I’ve ever seen.”
    Olivia felt as if she’d just been slapped. Evie and she were almost the same age, there couldn’t be more than a few months between them, and Jack was suggesting that Evie was a better tightrope walker than she was, his own daughter, the person he had been teaching almost since the day she could walk. She felt utterly betrayed. And it felt all the worse because Oliviawas now certain that she knew who had booed her during their Swan Circus performances. She felt as though a snake was settling into an uncomfortable coil in her stomach, and as she tried to contain the sandpaper itch in her throat, Olivia realised that she was jealous.

Chapter Ten
    â€œHow could he? How could he do such a thing?” raged Georgia. Her face was tear-streaked and her fair skin blotchy from crying. Olivia and Aeysha were sitting just outside the tent that the three of them shared.
    â€œMy poor mum!” wailed Georgia. “I’m never going to talk to my dad ever again. He’s toast as far as I’m concerned.” Her rosebud mouth was set in a mutinous line.
    â€œOh, Georgia, you don’t really mean that,” said Aeysha carefully. “I can see that it’s really upsetting, and it’s a shock, but it’s not as if your mum and dad were ever going to get back together again. Your mum seems fine about it; she’s only upset because you’re so upset. Only the other day you were saying that she wasrelieved that the divorce was almost through so she’d be able to get on with the rest of her life. You said that she said that she and your dad had both moved on. You even said how much you liked your dad’s girlfriend.”
    â€œMaybe I did,” said Georgia, “but that doesn’t mean I want him to marry her and for her to have his baby. It’s all too soon.”
    â€œBut you’ll love having a little brother or sister, Georgie,” said Aeysha. “You’ve always said that you wished you had a bigger family and that you weren’t an only child. Now you won’t be.”
    â€œDad and