The Adventures of Stunt Boy and His Amazing Wonder Dog Blindfold (18 page)

32

I'm a hero

‘W
e're here, Stunt Boy, wake up. Come on, Stunt, time to see your dad,' said Sue, who I was using as a pillow. She stroked my hair really gently as I came to.

I'd fallen sound asleep, Blindfold curled up on my lap, as we'd driven to the hospital in Pikelet's truck. But the thought of seeing my dad gave me so much energy I felt as if I had been asleep for a year, not thirty minutes. However, as I got out of the truck, Pikelet insisted I use him as a crutch because I had achy ribs from falling off Caleb's bike. Pikelet was the perfect height for a crutch, so I didn't say no.

Blindfold walked into the hospital with us. I didn't even think about the fact that he wasn't allowed in the hospital because he was a dog; besides, I didn't have a bag to hide him in, so he walked right through casualty and everybody just stared at us.

We took the lift to Dad's floor. When we got to the nurses' station all the nurses and doctors who had been so kind to us started clapping and cheering. They were making heaps of noise, which could have woken up the whole ward, but they didn't seem to care.

‘Way to go, Stunt!' one called out. ‘You're a hero!'

‘You're amazing!' said another nurse. ‘We just saw you on the television!'

I felt a bit shy and smiled briefly then shuffled off to my dad's room. I opened the door and Ginger Styles and Jem jumped up and came running at me, wrapping me in their arms, crying and laughing at the same time.

Both of them were speaking at ten gazillion miles per hour about how they had watched the whole thing live. They pointed up to the ceiling where the TV was still on.

Dad lay still and serene in his bed, not having a clue of the drama that had unfolded right before his very eyes. Mr Barnstable and two other doctors came into the room with the nurse and Pikelet, Ginger Styles and Sue were asked to wait outside. They'd been slowly easing Dad off the sedatives they'd been pumping into him and now they were stopping them altogether. They didn't ask Blindfold to leave though. Maybe they had seen the TV as well, and knew that he was a wonder dog and a hero too.

Jem and I held Dad's hands on either side of the bed, but nothing happened. Dad remained asleep as the doctors looked on, concerned.

‘Come on, Dad,' I said, bringing his hand to my mouth and kissing it. ‘Come on. Please, Dad, you can do it!'

Still nothing.

Mr Barnstable and the other doctors talked in hushed voices to each other. Then I felt my dad squeeze my hand as if he was opening the throttle of his motorbike. My knuckles got all squashed up together and hurt a bit, but I didn't care.

‘He's squeezing my hand, Jem!' I said.

‘He's coming back, he's coming back,' said Jem, tears rolling down her face. ‘Come on, Dad!'

My dad's left eye started twitching in time with his nose, before his mouth started moving like he was blowing little kisses. Then his tongue popped out and licked his dry lips beneath the ventilator. Then his right eyelid drew up like a blind letting light into a window.

I put my eye right up to his eyeball, which looked all glazed, as if the lights were on but nobody was home. Then I saw his pupil widen to let in the light. Then his left eye popped open and did exactly the same thing.

Jem and I were both crying. I think Blindfold was crying too, as he was making high-pitched yelps. He got on his hind legs, his paws on the bed, so he could take a better look.

‘Stunt Boy, that dog shouldn't be in the hospital, let alone on the bed,' said Mr Barnstable smiling, so I didn't think he minded that much.

Then my dad winked at me and I knew everything was going to be all right.

33

Even better best mates

W
hen we got back to the circus it was about 4 am but everyone was still up waiting for us. The whole crew came running up to Pikelet's truck, surrounding us in a sea of smiling faces. As I got out of the truck, people started chanting my name: ‘Stunt, Stunt, Stunt! Stunt Boy! Stunt Boy!'

I was lifted into the air on Caleb's and Fat Fred's shoulders. While I usually love being high in the air, I went all shy on the inside, wishing they'd put me down as it wasn't just me; Blindfold, Caleb, Benny and Benny's mum and dad were heroes as well.

That night I slept so deeply that I didn't wake up until 3 pm the next day. Really, it was like eleven hours sleep or something. It was good practice for being a teenager. I only woke up because Jem was cooking the biggest fry-up ever. I think my stomach must have woken up my brain because it was so hungry.

I emerged from my bedroom pretty sore and groggy, to find Caleb and Benny sitting at the kitchen table. It was such a brilliant surprise to have Benny back where he belonged. Benny was patting Blindfold, who was already up because he's a dog and dogs don't sleep in, no matter how tired they are.

Benny jumped up and hugged me. Even though we were best mates, I couldn't remember us ever hugging before. It felt good to be hugged by Benny. He called me a triple-awesome legend.

‘You're a legend yourself and so are your mum and dad,' I said. ‘And you're going to the Nationals!'

Caleb, Jem, Benny and I then all hugged each other in a big group, which hurt my sore ribs a bit but I didn't mind because I liked being in the middle of all the people I loved.

We dissected every part of the previous night, filling one another in on the bits we'd missed.

‘How did you get over that fence without a ramp, Caleb?' asked Benny.

‘It wasn't me, it was the slope of the land. That little hill gave me some projection,' he said, but I think he was just being modest.

‘You know the video that the TV station shot has gone viral overnight?' said Benny.

Barry Chesterley, according to Benny, had been brought in for questioning at the police station Benny had been taken to, as had Biker Pete and Hayley.

Benny's mum told him that the animals at the circus had been tranquillised by a gun, which made me all nervous until Benny, the science brain, said this meant they'd been put to sleep so they could be transferred to an animal sanctuary. They would never have to dress up and do stupid tricks ever again.

Ginger Styles turned up and told us that my uncles had been lying about the insurance companies refusing to insure us and the show now could go on. We were back on track.

Sue's beard was the talk of the entire country. Some people got mad saying ladies shouldn't have beards, but I think it is her face and if she wants a beard and can grow one, she should be able to have one. People should be able to be who they are if they're not hurting anybody.

Five days later, my dad was released from hospital, although it would still be months before he was fully better. These days he is hanging out with Ginger Styles a lot. She loves being his nurse, bossing him around. I think my dad loves being bossed around. Ginger is pretty good at managing the circus, so Dad doesn't seem to mind.

Due to me and Caleb going viral on the internet, there has been huge interest in Stoked Stunt Circus and we've had a record number of bookings. We're sold out every night and there's a huge tour booked to travel the whole country. Caleb decided to cancel his next tour and instead stay on at the circus to become our leading motorbike rider. He is spending a lot of time with Jem, but I don't mind. She's a pretty cool sister and he's like a brother to me now.

Benny won a bronze at the Nationals, which means he is the third best wrestler in the Under 14 division in the entire country. He says he is glad he didn't win gold because now he has something to train even harder for.

Benny and I are even better best mates now.

THE END

P.S. Blindfold is still my best best friend, but don't tell Benny.

Acknowledgements

I'm lucky to have amazing kids in my life, children of both family and friends. I love being Auntie Lollie. Thanks for being in my life adored ones, you provide much inspiration. Much appreciation goes to my top class kid readers – Jamali Tiger Barr, Oliver and Avalon Cowles, Carlisle Dowell, Noah Grundmann, Severn Bremner, Tyger Hanlon, Louis Jeffery, Jago Swain,
Barnaby Tuckman
and Eloise Lines, thanks for your great feedback and encouragement.

Extra special thanks to my mum June Barr for endlessly proof reading and being the safety net below my trapeze; my incredibly talented friends at Spaghetti Circus in Mullumbimby, New South Wales, Australia; Julia Styles for an amazing editing job and Claire Craig & Samantha Sainsbury at Pan Macmillan for their fabulous work.

Finally, my brother Dan and family and dear friends Liz and Andy Lewis, Lisa Loughran, Heidi Smith, Emma Marlin, Alex Weiss, Cassie Hanlon, Roddy
Moustaka, Carole Marshall, Gordon Bee, Di Morrissey,
Debra Hayhoe and Holger Mueller, Shawn Thompson, Henrik Tidefjärd, Oliver Collman and Astrid Högner,
Maryanne and Detlef Redpath for yo
ur support.
A big shout out to Colin Childs and Tony Loughran for providing technical expertise.

Stunt Boy
was written in Mullumbimby, Sydney, Melbourne, Majorca, London, Hastings UK, but mainly Berlin. I write in cafes, restaurants, trains, planes, friends' houses, libraries, laundromats, bars, and desk shares. However, special thanks go out to the British Library, my local Berlin neighbourhood cafes – La Cafétteria, Hermann Eicke, Handebestand and the Weineri Forum in Mitte, for allowing me to write in your fine establishments for hours on end.

And, of course, Narayan, for inspiring this book and being an awesome kid.

About Lollie Barr

Lollie Barr is a freelance journalist and author. Ever since she sailed from England at the age of five to Australia, she has had the spirit of a gypsy. Wherever she opens her laptop is her home. She currently resides in Berlin, Germany although can be found sometimes in Mullumbimby, New South Wales. Her first novel
The Mag Hags
was shortlisted for the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards for Young Adult Fiction. Follow Lollie on Twitter
@LollieBarr
and Stunt Boy blogs at
stuntboyrules.tumblr.com

First published 2014 in Pan by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Limited

1 Market Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000

Copyright © Lollie Barr 2014

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.

This ebook may not include illustrations and/or photographs that may have been in the print edition.

Cataloguing-in-Publication entry is available

from the National Library of Australia

http://catalogue.nla.gov.au

EPUB format: 9781743518038

Typeset by Post Pre-press Group

Cover design by Melanie Fedderson, i2i design

Cover images: iStock, Shutterstock

Dinkus by Shutterstock/Melanie Fedderson, i2i design

The characters and events in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Love talking about books?

Find Pan Macmillan Australia online to read more about all our books and to buy both print and ebooks. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events.