Table of Contents
No clowning aroundtheres a real robbery at the circus!
Aunt Molly looked on her seat and on the floor in front of her.
What are you looking for? Cam asked.
My handbag. I forgot where I put it.
Cam reached under Aunt Mollys seat and took out the handbag. Aunt Molly opened it and said, Let me give you money so you can buy some ice cream or cotton candy.
Aunt Molly sat down. She took a scarf, a few gloves, a hairbrush, and an old woolen sock from her handbag. She put those things on her lap and looked inside her bag again. Then she said, I had my wallet when I bought the tickets. Now I cant find it.
Cam searched through the pockets on the side of the handbag and the ones in Aunt Mollys coat. Eric looked on the floor. But the wallet was gone.
The Cam Jansen Adventure Series
DONT FORGET ABOUT THE YOUNG CAM JANSEN
SERIES FOR YOUNGER READERS!
To my favorite boy, Michael Seth Adler
Chapter One
Cam Jansen and her friend Eric Shelton waited while Cams Aunt Molly bought tickets for the circus. Then they all went inside the large arena.
The lobby was noisy and crowded. Some people were rushing to their seats. Others were buying circus programs, toys, flashlights, and whistles. Aunt Molly bought a program for Cam and a flashlight with a spinning red and blue light for Eric.
On the way to their seats a short, fat clown bumped into Aunt Molly and then bowed to her.
Aunt Molly bowed to the clown. Then she turned to Cam and Eric and said, Im already having a good time.
As they walked on, they passed another clown. He was holding a large chalkboard with the message, Elephants are underpaid. They work for peanuts.
Aunt Molly, Cam, and Eric laughed as they read the sign. Then they walked up the stairs and through the doors into the large arena. Their seats were in the third row from the back.
This place reminds me of the circus I saw in Montana, Aunt Molly said as she sat down. It was in a tent. They had a bear on roller skates. I was sitting very close, and that bear kept falling off his skates. I thought hed fall right into my lap.
While Aunt Molly spoke, Cam looked through the circus program. Eric was spinning his flashlight.
No, I think the circus was in Mexico, or maybe it was Milwaukee. I get all those M places confused.
Aunt Molly worked for an airline. She had traveled all over the world. Now she was on vacation. She was visiting Cam and her parents. It was the first time in almost ten years that she had seen Cam. The last time Aunt Molly had visited them, Cam was still a baby.
The bears in this circus dont skate, Cam told Aunt Molly. It says in the program that they dance and ride motorcycles.
Oh. In the other circus it was the poodles that danced. The monkeys rode the motorcycles.
Eric put the flashlight in his pocket. Then he said to Cam, If you give me your program, Ill give you a memory quiz.
Just a minute, Cam said as she turned the pages of the program. As she looked at each page, she closed her eyes and said, Click.
Cam always says, Click, when she wants to remember something. My mind is like a camera, Cam often tells people, and cameras go Click.
Cams friends say that she has a mental camera. Some people call it a photographic memory. They mean that Cam remembers just about everything she sees. Its as if she had photographs stored in her brain.
Cam gave Eric the circus program and closed her eyes.
How many elephants are in the parade? Eric asked.
Six. And each one wears a blue-and-gold blanket.
Eric turned the page and asked, How many acrobats are there in the Elkans Troupe?
Ten, and the one in the front has red hair just like mine.
Can you really remember all that? Aunt Molly asked.
Sure, Cam said. Her eyes were still closed. And I remember that youre wearing a white blouse with pink and yellow flowers on it, and in the middle of each flower is a tiny red dot.
Cams real name is Jennifer. But her friends started calling her The Camera when they heard her say, Click, so often. Soon The Camera was shortened to Cam.
Cam and Eric lived next door to each other. They were in the same fifth grade class. On school nights they often did homework together.
Music started to play, and Cam opened her eyes. The lights in the arena dimmed. Eric and the other children with flashlights began spinning them. The arena was lit with hundreds of spinning blue and red lights. A spotlight was turned on, and the ringmaster walked out. The circus was about to begin.
Chapter Two
Ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages, welcome to the Jack Wally Circus, the ringmaster called out. Watch now as Jack Wally leads the circus parade.
The music played louder. Then an old man holding a silver cane and wearing a bright red jacket, red pants, and a white top hat walked out. Behind him were the clowns. One was juggling as he walked. Another danced in with a mop. There were clowns on stilts, one in a baby carriage, and another clown in a tiny car that he drove backwards around the ring.
Look, Eric said to Cam. Here come the horses.
And here comes the Elkans Troupe, Cam said.
There were elephants, monkeys, bears, and camels in the parade. Small dogs wearing clown hats and little skirts ran out. Circus men and women in fancy costumes smiled and waved.
Look, here comes the circus fat lady, Cam said.
Aunt Molly laughed and said, She looks more like a thin lady wearing lots of padding.
Just as the parade was ending, the ringmaster called out, I direct your eyes now to the wire high above you. We proudly present the Bailor Brothers!
I cant look, Aunt Molly said, and covered her eyes.
Two men in bright yellow costumes walked slowly across the high wire. They were holding long poles to help them keep their balance. When they got to the platform at the other end of the wire, the men picked up a few wooden clubs. Then they walked back onto the wire.
Whats happening now? Aunt Molly asked.
Theyre juggling, Cam said.
And its not scary, Eric said. The wire isnt even shaking, and anyway, theres a safety net.
