Ten Thumb Sam Read Online Free PDF Page A

be the only act in the circus.”

    Mr. Pigatto and Mary Ann weren’t the only people unhappy with the new schedule. Sam found himself dodging grumpy performers wherever he went that afternoon. There were heated discussions everywhere. No one wanted to give up any time in the spotlight, and Mr. Pigatto was determined to keep the show from running too long.
    Even Sam’s father was visibly annoyed when he returned to the bus after the Triple Top’s evening performance. “Your brother is something else,” Sam heard his father whisper to his mother on the other side of the curtain when everyone was in bed. “He stole fifteen minutes from me tonight!”
    â€œHe just got a little carried away, Max,” Irene soothed. “Besides, the crowd really did like his act. They gave him a standing ovation.”
    â€œSure they did,” Max muttered crossly. “Why wouldn’t they? He was performing some of my best tricks. That one with the beach towel and the sandcastle? He stole that one from me years ago, when you and I were first dating.”
    â€œWell, you know what they say. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”
    â€œHumph,” Max grumbled. “And another thing; these benches are murder to sleep on. I want my bed back!”
    Sam rolled over on his foamie, trying to find a more comfortable position. He sympathized with his father. Sam’s narrow bunk wasn’t luxurious, but it was ten times better than the floor. When was he going to get his own bed back?

    Sam was awake the next morning before dawn. Something soft brushed against him as he sat up, but he couldn’t see what it was in the dark. Someone above him was snoring loudly. It sounded like Herbie—or maybe Robbie. Trying not to make any noise, Sam felt his way past the curtain and out the back door of the bus.
    His father’s voice startled him. “Couldn’t sleep either, eh, Sam? Well, pull up a chair.”
    Sam felt for one of the folding chairs leaning against the bus and set it up beside his father.
    â€œThe silence is nice for a change, isn’t it?” said Max.
    Sam looked up at the stars twinkling peacefully in the sky above him and nodded. “When do we get the bus to ourselves again?”
    â€œWhen your uncle and his family find somewhere else to stay, I guess.”
    â€œBut when is that going to be?”
    â€œPatience,” said Sam’s father. “Believe me, I know how you feel. It’s crowded enough in there without Albert and his family on top of us.
Especially
Albert. Your uncle has an ego the size of a small country.”
    â€œI really shouldn’t have said that,” Max said a minute later. “Oh well. I’m sure we’ll get through this somehow.”

    The other occupants of the Stringbini bus got up a few hours later. As he listened to the commotion coming from the kitchen, Sam was grateful he’d snuck a peanut-butter-and-jam sandwich outside.
    â€œAnnabel, what’s wrong with your face?” Sam heard his mother ask in alarm. “You’re all red and puffy!”
    Annabel gave a double sneeze in response. “I doh’t dow,” she wheezed.
    â€œYou must be allergic to something,” said Irene. “Did someone let one of the animals onto the bus last night?”
    â€œOliver’s still missing,” said Robbie.
    â€œI doubt Annabel’s allergic to your chameleon,”said Irene. “Lizards don’t have fur or feathers. What about the cats and the magpie? Where are they?”
    â€œLoki’s outside, sleeping in his cage,” said Harriet.
    â€œThe cats are in Mary Ann’s bunk,” said Martin.
    â€œSnitch!” Sam heard Mary Ann shriek. “I can’t believe you just ratted me out!”
    â€œIs that true, Mary Ann?” asked Sam’s mother. “Did you smuggle the cats inside?”
    â€œWell, I couldn’t leave Cleo and Caesar