“So how can you help me solve my problem?” Joey said.
“Where’s Brownie?” Nancy asked.
“He’s probably already in his cage, ready for the parade to the circus train,” Joey replied. “Why?”
“Is it the same cage he was in during the performance?” Nancy asked.
Joey shook his head. “No, his real cage is bigger,” he said. “It’s the one he stays in when we’re traveling.”
“Can we see it?” George asked.
“All right,” Joey said.
When they reached Brownie’s cage, the trainer was standing beside it.
“Harry, these are some friends of mine who live here in River Heights,” Joey said. “They wanted to see Brownie one more time before we left.”
Nancy thought Harry looked mad about something. Brownie was sitting inside his cage, but he had his back turned to everyone.
“We really do like Brownie,” Nancy said. “He does some great tricks.”
“He sure does,” Bess and George agreed.
“Well, there’s one trick I’m going to have to unteach him,” Harry said. “Opening the door of his cage.”
Brownie opened his mouth and made a noise. Nancy was almost positive that it sounded like a giggle.
“Why don’t you just put a padlock on it?” George suggested.
“I tried that, but it makes him unhappy,” Harry explained, “and he won’t perform his tricks if he’s unhappy.”
Nancy was looking at the rear of the cage. She pointed to a huge pile of blankets. “What are those for?” she asked.
“That’s Brownie’s bed,” Harry replied.
“It looks kind of lumpy to me,” said Bess. “I’d never be able to sleep on that.”
Harry shrugged. “Well, it doesn’t seem to bother Brownie,” he said. “Look, kids, I’d love to stand here and talk to you some more, but—”
“Could we look underneath the blankets?” Nancy interrupted.
Harry gave them a puzzled look. “What for?” he asked.
“We’re trying to solve a mystery,” Bess told him. “We look everywhere for evidence.”
“Well, you’re not going to find any evidence here,” Harry said, “but I don’t have time to argue.”
Harry opened the cage. He climbed inside and headed toward the blankets. Brownie made his giggling noise again. Nancy, George, and Bess just looked at one another.
When Harry lifted the pile, everyone gasped. Underneath were the clowns’ big red noses, the sequined capes, the feather headdresses, and several bowling pins.
“Brownie’s the circus thief!” Nancy declared.
Chapter Ten
Circus Stars!
“Look, everybody!” Joey called out to the circus performers. “The thief was Brownie!”
Several of the clowns ran over to Brownie’s cage. “Joey’s right!” they shouted. “Here are our missing noses.”
The clowns got their big red noses. The acrobats got their sequined capes. The women who rode the elephants got their feather headdresses. And the jugglers got their bowling pins.
Finally, everything that Brownie had stolen had been returned.
“Dad! Dad!” Joey shouted. “The Clue Crew solved the mystery!”
Mr. DeLuca came up and put his arm around Joey. He was still dressed in his ringmaster’s outfit. “I’d like to meet the detectives who saved my circus,” he said.
Joey introduced Nancy, Bess, and George to his father. “They’ve solved a lot of other mysteries here in River Heights too,” he said. “They’re famous.”
“We all thought it was one of the performers,” Mr. DeLuca said. “That was bad for morale. Everyone was suspicious of everyone else. We had some performers who were going to quit and go to another circus.”
“It would be great to go to school with friends like the Clue Crew,” Joey said.
Mr. DeLuca looked down at Joey. “I’ve been thinking about what you said, son, and if you really want to stay in River Heights with Uncle Frank, then I’m going to let you.”
“Oh, Dad!” Joey exclaimed. “That’s great! Thank you so much!”
“There’s one condition, though,” Mr. DeLuca added. “You have to spend some time during the summer with the circus, because I’ll really miss you.”
“It’s a deal, Dad!” Joey agreed.
Just then Mr. Drew walked up. Nancy introduced him to everyone.
Mr. DeLuca turned to the Clue Crew. “You deserve a reward for solving this mystery,” he said. He pulled out his wallet. “I think that—”
“We don’t want any money, Mr. DeLuca,” Nancy told him, “but there is something else.”
“You name it!” Mr. DeLuca said.
“Could we ride on one of the elephants for the trip back to the circus train?” Nancy said.
“Oh, wow!” Bess and George exclaimed. “That would be so cool.”
Mr. DeLuca looked at Mr. Drew. “Well, I think that can be arranged, if it’s all right with Mr. Drew,” he said.
“I don’t see why not,” Mr. Drew said. “And I think I can speak for Bess’s and George’s parents too.”
“Tina!” shouted Mr. DeLuca.
One of the elephant riders ran over to where they were all standing. “Yes, Mr. DeLuca,” she said.
“Would you find some costumes for these girls?” the ringmaster said. “They’re going to ride Julie to the train.”
“Of course! I’ll do anything for the Clue Crew,” Tina said. “They got my favorite feather headdress back for me.”
The Clue Crew followed Tina to her trailer. She found perfect costumes for all three of them. When they were dressed, Tina took them to where the elephants were already lined up.
“Tony! Julie has some riders after all!” Tina called. “The Clue Crew!”
“Great!” Tony exclaimed. He set a ladder next to Julie, and the Clue Crew climbed up and onto the elephant’s back. “I’ll be leading her, so you won’t have to do anything except wave to the crowd,” Tony told them. He climbed up the ladder and helped the girls strap themselves into Julie’s safety harness.
“We can do that!” the three friends said.
A few minutes later Tony said, “Here we go, Clue Crew!” He held out his elephant hook, and Julie grabbed it with her trunk.
“Oh!” Bess cried. “Won’t that point hurt her?”
“No,” Nancy assured her. “It’s just used for commands, and elephants know that.”
Within minutes they had left the circus grounds and were headed through downtown River Heights.
The crowds waved and cheered when they saw Nancy, Bess, and George. Several of their friends shouted, “Clue Crew! Clue Crew!”
The Clue Crew waved back.
“This is so cool!” Bess said. “I feel like I’m really in the circus.”
Suddenly the girls saw Deirdre. She was standing with Madison and Amanda.
“How did you get to do that?” Deirdre shouted to them. “It should have been me! I’m the one with the backyard circus!”
“We solved the mystery!” Nancy called back. “We found the circus thief!”
“Who was it?” Madison yelled.
Just then the Clue Crew heard a scream from behind them. They turned. Brownie had reached out of his cage and grabbed a woman’s purse. Harry was scolding him and telling him to return it. Reluctantly the bear handed the woman back her purse. The crowd laughed.
“One guess!” George shouted to Madison.
Ahead they could see the circus train at the station.
“I don’t want the parade to end,” Bess said. “I think I’m really good at this!”
“I know something else we’re really good at,” Nancy said. “Solving mysteries.” She grinned. “I wonder what the next one will be?”
Have Your Picture Taken with
Brownie the Bear at the Circus!
Now that you’ve gone to the circus with Nancy and the Clue Crew, you can have your picture taken with Brownie the Bear.
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You Will Need:
An inexpensive 8 x 10 picture frame (with glass or clear plastic)
Rounded-point scissors
Glue
8 x 10 construction paper (one sheet each of white, brown, and black)
A big glass, a small glass, a large button, and a small button
A black crayon or marker
A picture of yourself that your parents will let you cut out
Put the mouth of the big glass on the brown construction paper and draw around the rim to make Brownie’s head.
Put the mouth of the small glass on the brown construction paper and draw around the rim to make his snout (the nose and mouth).
Put the large button on the brown construction paper and draw around the edge to make Brownie’s two ears. Cut out the circles and set them aside.
Put the large button on top of the black construction paper and draw around the rim to make Brownie’s nose.
Put the small button on top of the black construction paper and draw around the edge to make his two eyes. Cut out the circles and set them aside.
Place the head circle and the snout circle in the lower right-hand side of the white construction paper, about an inch from the bottom and a half inch from the right side. Let the bottom circle overlap the top circle. Glue these two circles onto the white construction paper.
Next, take the two brown ears and glue them at angles to the head circle.
Draw a smile (with the black crayon or marker) on the top brown circle.
Then glue the black nose just above it.
Finally, glue the two black eyes onto the head.
Now you have Brownie the Bear!
But you need to put yourself beside him.
Here’s what to do:
Take the picture your parents let you have and cut around yourself.
Glue yourself next to Brownie.
If you want, you can draw in the background where you had this picture taken: under some trees, in front of the circus tent, or in front of Brownie’s cage. It’s up to you!
*When you’ve finished, put the picture in the frame and hang it on your wall. You’ll be able to show all your friends that you had your picture taken with Brownie after you read Circus Scare. They also may want to read it and then have their picture taken with Brownie the Bear!
Carolyn Keene, The Circus Scare
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