Louise Trapeze Will NOT Lose a Tooth Read online

  Stella made a confused face. Teeny Tiny Town is not an especially watery place. There is no ocean or lake or even pond nearby. The most water that happens here is when we give Clementine a bath.

  “Is it rain?” Stella asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Madame Fortuna said. She squeezed her eyes tight-tight-tight shut. “The image I’m getting is just you, Miss Stella. You’re completely soggy.”

  “Soggy?” Stella repeated.

  “Soggy,” Madame Fortuna repeated, “but happy. And there’s a message, too.” She took a deep breath and went on:

  “Swim, Stella, swim,

  With your long, silver fin.”

  I gasped. A rhyming fortune was extra special!

  But Stella only wrinkled her forehead. “That doesn’t make any sense,” she said. “I don’t have fins. And there’s no place to swim around here.”

  Madame Fortuna opened her eyes and took her hands off the crystal ball. “My predictions are always guaranteed,” she insisted. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “We’ll have to keep an eye out for watery weirdness,” I said.

  Stella nodded. “I guess so,” she said. “But what about your fortune, Louise?”

  My stomach went fluttery. Stella’s fortune-telling went so well—with rhyming and everything!—even if we didn’t know what her watery weirdness was going to be. Now I was even more nervous about maybe getting an uh-oh fortune myself!

  Madame Fortuna really was a psychic extraordinaire. Her predictions were even guaranteed! So what was she going to see for me?

  “And now, my dear, may I have the pleasure of your name?” Madame Fortuna asked, turning to me.

  “Louise Trapeze,” I told her. “I’m one of the Easy Trapezees.”

  “Well, that makes perfect sense,” Madame Fortuna said. “Because you have a very airy aura about you. Your aura is your energy,” she explained.

  My energy was very airy and trapeze-ish! That was good news. (I think—I’m not totally sure what aura-energy really is. It sounds kind of like a special magic cloud floating around me.)

  “Now,” Madame Fortuna said, “for your fortune!”

  I was holding my breath from excitement and nervousness. For a second, I even forgot to keep my lip curled close to my loose tooth. Madame Fortuna wrapped her hands around the crystal ball again. She stared off into space for a minute or two. Next to her, Tarot made a squeaky monkey sound. “Shh,” she told him gently.

  It got very quiet while Madame Fortuna concentrated. I poked at my tooth with my tongue again and tried to pretend I wasn’t worrying. After a moment, Madame Fortuna took a deep breath.

  “I see…you twirling around a trapeze bar?”

  “Oh my goodness gracious!” I cried. “That’s me doing a hip circle! I’m superb at hip circles!”*

  Madame Fortuna smiled at that. But then her smile faded. “Louise, I’m getting a strong reading for you.”

  Eek! I thought. Good strong? Or not-so-good strong?

  Madame Fortuna’s mouth scrunched all up. My stomach gave an eensy flip-flop. My fortune was starting to look not-so-good. She spoke again:

  “There is no cost

  To what is lost.”

  Double eek! “Lost?” I asked.

  Maybe Madame Fortuna was talking about my light-up hula hoop? That was priceless to me, which is a fancy way of saying it has no cost. The same with my gold shoes!

  I felt another twinge in my mouth and remembered something else that had no cost: my tooth! Losing my first tooth would be big-time priceless.

  Maybe that’s what she was predicting—that I was for-definitely going to lose my tooth?

  Oh no! Those mixed-up feelings came whooshing back. This was it, exactly what I’d been afraid of—an uh-oh fortune from the Psychic Extraordinaire!

  Fernando let out a big-time snicker.*

  “You’re going to lose something, Louise!” he said. “Hope it’s not your mind!”

  Our readings were over, and Stella, Fernando, and I were back outside Madame Fortuna’s tent again.

  Stella gave me a worried look. “Maybe it won’t come true,” she said.

  I frowned. “But everything else Madame Fortuna said was totally and completely correct,” I pointed out. “She knew about you performing on Clementine’s back. And she also saw my superb hip circle in the crystal ball! So this will probably turn out true, too.”

  It made me feel peanut-butter-lumpish in my throat to think that, but I had to face facts* like the ninety-eight percent fearless person that I was.

  Fernando said, “You are pretty great at losing things, Louise. What about the time you lost the juggling chickens while you were giving them a bath?”

  He was teasing, but it still made me feel bad. I stamped my foot. “That was an accident!” How was I supposed to know that chickens get very slippery in a bubble bath?

  “Well, no one ever loses things on purpose,” Fernando pointed out. “Anyway, I bet this is one fortune that for sure comes true.”

  Ooh, that made me the angriest. Especially since I was still a little bit afraid about losing my wobbly tooth.

  Before I could stop myself, words came wave-crash-rushing out of my mouth. “Well, I bet you don’t even know what you’re talking about!” I shouted.

  (I was still careful to keep my lower lip tight as ever, even when I shouted. And that is not easy to do!)

  Fernando shrugged. “Okay, then it’s a bet. I bet you’re going to lose something. And soon!” He grinned and wagged his eyebrows in a joking way.

  But I didn’t feel very jokey about any of this! Grr.

  Fernando held out his hand to me. “If it’s a bet, we have to shake on it. That’s what grown-ups do.”

  Double grr. Betting Fernando did not sound like the very best idea. Especially since I thought he was probably right—Madame Fortuna’s prediction would totally come true.

  But those wave-crashing feelings were too-too strong. “I know what grown-ups do!” I snapped.

  Before I could stop myself, I reached out and shook Fernando’s hand in a firm, grown-up way.

  Fernando shook my hand right back, with all his might. “It’s a bet, then.”

  “What does the winner even get?” Stella asked.

  Fernando looked at Stella like she was totally crazy-bananas. “The winner gets to be the winner, duh.”

  As soon as we finished shaking hands, that peanut-butter-lumpish feeling swelled up in my throat again, even bigger than before. What did I get myself into?

  Stella grabbed my hand. “Just you wait, Fernando,” she said. “Louise is going to win, and you’ll be sorry.”

  She turned to me. “Let’s go, Louise. It’s time for siesta, anyway.”

  We said goodbye, and I followed Stella back to our trailers. My feelings weren’t mixed up anymore. Now they were completely and totally bad-mood feelings!

  My tooth was loose. It was probably going to fall out. So that was one thing I would lose—a maybe-hurty thing! And who knew if I’d ever find my shoes, or my hula hoop, or any of the other things that were missing? There was no way I could win this bet.

  If only I hadn’t lost my temper, too!

  Stella was right—it was time to go back to our trailers. It was siesta* time for the Sweet Potatoes.

  But I didn’t think I’d be able to siesta today. My stomach was all fizzy like a shook-up soda. I was still thinking about my uh-oh fortune…and my bet with Fernando.

  When I got to my trailer, I quickly cleaned up the tornado-mess I’d left behind in the morning. I was so full of energy that it took no time.

  But while I was cleaning, I noticed something strange: my silver BFF charm bracelet was missing!

  I was eighty-three percent sure I’d left that bracelet on the little shelf above my bed. It was there when I left to meet Stella earlier! That’s where I always put it for safekeeping.

  (Mama says it would actually be safer to keep it in a box, instead of out on the shelf
in the open. And it was looking like she might be right!)

  Hmm. I flipped my pillow over to see if the bracelet had fallen off the shelf. But the bracelet wasn’t there.

  Suddenly, I heard a quiet-ish scuffling sound from the other side of the trailer. What was that?

  I turned to look, but the trailer was totally and completely empty. Mama and Daddy were in town, shopping. And the rest of the Sweet Potatoes were in their own trailers, of course. I was definitely, totally alone.

  So why didn’t it feel like I was totally alone?

  Louise Trapeze, you are imagining things, I decided. Maybe I really did need a siesta after all. My mixed-up feelings had turned into mixed-up thinkings. I’d have to look for my bracelet—and everything else that was missing!—later on.

  I didn’t think I’d ever fall asleep, but I was wrong. One second, I was lying down on my bed, and the next minute, I was blinking my eyes open again. I wasn’t feeling fizzy anymore. Now my brain was all cobweb-crowded. (Daddy says that’s normal for just-waking-up times.) My mouth was even a little droolish, too!

  I reached for a tissue to wipe the drool away. But when I did, I realized:

  My loose tooth was wigglier than ever!

  Oh no!

  There was a tiny mirror sitting right on the shelf over my bed. (Next to where the bracelet was supposed to be!) I grabbed it and made the most wide-mouth face I could.

  I didn’t see anything different. The tooth still looked very regular-tooth-like. But when I tapped at it, it jiggled like a bowl of raspberry Jell-O.

  But also:

  I had no worldwide idea what I was going to do.

  I was trying my hardest to figure out a solution when I heard it:

  A shout!

  And it was coming from the carnival tents!

  Quick-quick-quick, I jumped into my shoes and ran down to the fairgrounds to see what all the shouting was about. Right away, I found Stella standing in front of Katrina’s tent. “Louise!” Stella cried when she saw me. “You heard it, too.”

  “Mmm-hmm,” I replied. I was super curious about what was going on, but I still tried to keep my lower lip curled close in. I needed to protect my poor hurty little tooth and also keep anyone else from noticing its looseness—for as long as I possibly could!

  “What’s going on?” I asked, looking around. Just behind Stella, Katrina was standing beside her dunk tank. She looked very, extremely worried. “Was that you shouting, Katrina?”

  My words sounded softer and more mumble-ish than ever because of all my lip curling. Stella was definitely giving me a funny look now. Katrina, too. But they didn’t say anything, thank goodness gracious.

  Katrina sighed. “It sure was. You see, my baby sister was supposed to join me for this year’s carnival,” she explained. “We were going to be the Underwater Princesses—she would be my Mermaid Apprentice! And we were going to take turns in the dunk tank so that I could keep my booth open extra late.”

  “That’s a superb idea!” I said. Two mermaid princesses would be double the mermaidy fun!

  For a minute, I was so excited. But when I said the word that’s, my tongue pushed on my loose tooth. Ouch! And whoops! My eyes went wide, and I put my hand over my mouth quick-quick-quick.

  Stella gave me a weensy-bit-funnier look. “Is something wrong, Louise?” she asked.

  “I…uh…bit my tongue,” I mumbled, keeping my face turned slightly away from everyone. “Ow.”

  Katrina made a sympathy face at that. But then she tilted her head at Stella and me like she was having a eureka! moment.

  “Louise,” she said, “I know you’ve got your special light-up hula hoop act lined up for the carnival. But maybe, Stella, you’d like to fill in for my sister as my apprentice? Work the dunk tank with me?”

  “Oh!” Stella looked very surprised.

  Actually, she looked surprised in maybe not the good way.

  “Um, sure.” She pushed a smile onto her face, but it wasn’t one hundred percent real. (A BFF knows these things.*)

  1. When her grandmother gave her a brown knit scarf for Christmas, even though brown is Stella’s most un-favorite color. But Stella still wanted to be polite, of course.

  2. When there were only black jelly beans left at the Sweet Potatoes’ annual Halloween party. (Black jelly beans are spicy and make Stella sneeze!)

  3. When she got a haircut before her sixth birthday and the haircutter made it too-too short. Stella was an extremely good sport about that haircut.

  I would have to ask Stella about her non-real smile later, when we were alone. But in the meantime, I realized something.

  “Stella!” Her name came out of my mouth like a hiss because of my lip curling. “Madame Fortuna’s prediction—it came true! Remember? She said she had a vision of you and water! And the rhyme! It said you would swim with your silver fin!”

  Madame Fortuna was a one hundred percent superb psychic, no doubt about it. Good news for Stella. But bad, badder, baddest news for me!

  Stella blinked. For a minute, her face went for-seriously excited. “You’re right, Lou!” she said. “I can’t believe it!” Then she frowned. “But do you think that means that your prediction will come true, too? Do you think you’re going to lose something?”

  Not if I can help it! I thought. With my lips pressed together, I poked my tongue against my loose tooth. It was the most one hundred percent wobbly of ever by now. My heart skittered as my tooth wiggled and jiggled.

  It didn’t seem fair that Stella got to be a Mermaid Princess while I just got to have a hurty old loose tooth. It was time to be a grown-up, un-jealous BFF. (That would be hard work, but I, Louise Trapeze, am actually very mature.)

  I turned to Stella and spoke as clearly as I could while still staying curled-ish.

  “Why worry about that right now?” I said. “Let’s get you all trained and prepared! You’re going to be a mermaid!”

  “Normally, I can only keep the dunk tank open for a few hours,” Katrina explained. She, Stella, and I were standing in front of her tank as she showed us exactly how it worked.

  There were wooden steps at the back side of the tank’s platform that led up to a small plank. The plank stretched over the opening of the tank, where all the water was. When Katrina was being the Underwater Princess, she’d sit on the plank with her mermaid’s tail curled very dainty-ish. She’d smile and wave when people came up to take their turn dunking.

  And then! The people who came to the dunk tank would give tickets in order to take a chance throwing a beanbag at a special bull’s-eye connected to the wooden plank! If they had very good aim and threw the beanbag nice and hard, it would hit the bull’s-eye in just exactly the perfect-most spot. And kaboom! Down Katrina would go, into the tank!

  When she was floating in the water, her long red wig would wave all around, and her glittery skin and silvery tail would sparkle. It was amazing. Katrina was probably the most magical mermaid of evertimes.

  “The very longest I can usually work the tank is four hours, tops,” Katrina said. “After that, the water makes my skin too pruney.”*

  “But with you here, Stella, we can probably add another two whole hours onto the act! I could do two hours, then you could do one—and then we’d do that all over again. Simple!”

  Katrina dashed into her tent quickly and came back with a mini mermaid costume on a hanger. “This is the outfit I had made for my sister,” she said.

  The outfit Katrina was holding up was so completely spectacular, my eyeballs almost popped right out of my head. It was a smaller version of Katrina’s costume, right down to the seashelly top and the sequiny tail.

  When I saw that extra-glittery tail, I did not feel adult-ish or mature.

  Stella is my BFF, that’s true. But also, she is almost always perfect at everything she tries. Her hair is never twisty-noodle crazy like mine. She doesn’t lose important things like light-up hula hoops, the way I do. And she isn’t afraid of losing her baby teeth.

&nbs
p; Stella’s fortune was a sequiny mermaid’s tail. My fortune was a hurty loose tooth that I was scared to tell anyone about. It was so, so not fair.

  “Try the costume on!” I said in the best happy voice I could do. “Then we can practice your dainty sitting and your graceful falling-into-the-water.”

  “Exactly what I was thinking,” Katrina said.

  “Great minds think alike,” I replied.

  Stella didn’t look like she was thinking alike with us, though. She peered at the costume. “It looks too small,” she said.

  Katrina bit her lip. “I doubt it,” she said. “It’s made to stretch.”

  Stella shrugged. “But it’s so pretty,” she said. “We should keep it clean and dry for the show.”

  “It’s a special material that dries quickly,” Katrina said. She was starting to sound a little confused.

  I was confused, too. Why wasn’t Stella eager to try on her amazing costume? “You could always try the tank just in your bathing suit,” I suggested. “Like to practice.”

  “That’s a great idea,” Katrina agreed.

  Stella made a not-so-sure face. “Is the water super cold?”

  “It’s pretty warm,” Katrina said.

  Stella was being so strange! “Do you want me to test it for you?” I asked. Someone had to!

  Before Stella could answer, I scampered up the steps to the plank. I inched out over the water on my stomach as carefully as I could and dangled one arm off the plank, trying to reach the water.