A Peacock Song. Part Three. Nataliya Bogoluibova

Donut the Elephant,” the creature whispered. “Or rather, his small and bewitched version.”

      CHAPTER FIVE

      Amita the Juggler was searching Sparky’s dressing room. “The clown seems to be obsessed with shoes! There are so many of them! Does he change boots every hour? I doubt it. There must be another explanation! But now I can’t guess what these shoes and boots are for…”

      “Wait a moment! I’ve got an idea! Sparky may be hiding something very special among all these shoes!” Amita exclaimed. She counted the boots and the shoes. Then she paired them and found an odd boot that had no pair.

      “There might be something hidden in the boot heel,” she thought. Amita took scissors and ripped the heel off. A silver coin flashed inside, reflecting the faint light from the door.

      Meanwhile, Krish was looking through morning newspapers; headlines saying, “No wild animals are permitted to perform in circuses in India. To stop cruelty against animals in circuses across India …From now and then, it’s illegal to force bears, monkeys, tigers, lions, elephants, dogs, camels, horses, and birds to perform in circuses or any other kind of show!”

      “Have you heard the news?” Barry the Parrot dashed into the room. He fluffed his feathers in excitement.

      Krish the Peacock replied, “Of course. It’s everywhere. In the papers and on the circus billboards!”

      “Sparky and others are leaving the circus! They can’t perform anymore!” Raja shouted as he joined them.

      “Now they will get dispersed! I mean…the kidnappers. We’ll have to chase them all over India!” Krish lamented.

      “That’s not all that I came to tell you!” Raja the Chipmunk lifted his head; his eyes were sparkling mysteriously.

      “Come on! Don’t keep us in suspense!” Krish whooped.

      Raja blurted out, “Amita the Juggler was bewitched!”

      “I’ve already known this,” Barry the Parrot mumbled.

      “Really? Why didn’t you tell us about it?” Krish asked.

      “I promised Amita not to tell anyone what had happened to her,” Barry explained, “I couldn’t reveal her secret!”

      Raja continued, “Amita found a silver coin in the clown’s shoe a few hours ago! There’s a parrot printed in the coin. Can you imagine that? There’s my name printed there too!”