Street Kid Fights On: She thought the nightmare was over. Judy Westwater

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      After that first performance I felt so proud of myself. I was the youngest on the team by miles and I had done it. The show left me on a high. In fact, I was dying to get out there and do it all again. The others were more experienced and consequently calmer so I tried not to show just how excited I was.

      ‘That was fine,’ Speedy said thoughtfully. ‘I think we can go on tour now. I’ll see if I can get some dates organized.’

      I hadn’t realized that we’d get to go away as well. ‘Where will we tour to?’ I asked keenly.

      ‘I’ll see what I can line up. Just round the country a bit. Anything within a day’s drive.’

      I told them that I had no ties at all, nothing keeping me in the Manchester area. I could travel anywhere they wanted me to, round the world if need be.

      Every few weeks Speedy got a booking and the four of us would set off in the bus, with our gear packed into the boot or tied onto the roof. Travelling around was hard work because of all the setting up that had to be done – I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so exhausted. On top of hauling the equipment we performed in two shows a day. But it was fun and I loved it. I wouldn’t have swapped my job for anything.

      It was sunny that summer and we drove with the bus door open. I loved sitting in the breeze on the steps with the road whizzing by below me. Of course, these days the police would go crazy about that kind of thing.

      ‘You better not fall asleep there, Judy,’ Speedy teased. ‘We don’t want to lose you!’

      Actually, a couple of times it was a close thing.

      ‘I’ll be fine,’ I said. ‘You just worry about the driving.’

      Most people at the fair had more than one act and it wasn’t long before I was asked to expand my repertoire. On top of the Australian Air Aces, Speedy was a knife thrower and shooter and Vicky was his target. She wore a green, spangly bikini with cowboy fringes on it. I agreed to fill in for her sometimes.

      ‘Don’t worry,’ she told me. ‘It’s only gone wrong once.’ She showed me a three-inch scar on her arm where Speedy’s aim had gone awry. ‘That was a while ago,’ she said. ‘He’s much more experienced now. The main thing is to stay absolutely still.’

      I swallowed nervously and tried not to think too much.

      Speedy set up the board he used as a backdrop and winked at me as I climbed onto the podium and took my place. As I stood there waiting for the first of the razor-sharp blades, all I could think was, ‘I hope he doesn’t miss!’

      Speedy lined up and threw the first knife fast, with deadly accuracy. A bead of sweat trickled slowly down my forehead as every sense in my body came alive. I couldn’t see it but I heard the blade whizzing past me and embedding itself in the cork backdrop with a thump. My instincts were bristling. My father had thrown things at me all the time. Anything he could lay his hands on, in fact. I had learned to watch the path of the object as it whizzed towards me and move quickly out of the way. The difficulty here was to trust Speedy and stay absolutely still. I heard the second knife whoosh past and land deep in the cork on the other side of my head. Time seemed to stop. I realized that if I was going to hold the position I just had to block it out. The third knife landed in between my legs and I focused hard on my breathing.

      ‘Stay still,’ I willed myself. As far as I was concerned this was a test of my courage and I wasn’t going to chicken out now as, one after the other, I was circled by the blades.

      ‘You’re a cool one,’ Speedy said with a grin at the end.

      ‘Thanks.’ My skin was clammy with sweat and I could feel the adrenaline pumping round my body as I stepped away from the outline of knives behind me. I’d done it.

      ‘Fancy trying the revolver, then?’ he asked.

      ‘OK. Why not?’ I think in some ways I was always looking for challenges to stretch me a bit and test my own strength. If Speedy had asked me to walk on a tightrope over Niagara Falls, I’d have done it just to prove that I could.

      Vicky helped me into a tunic that had balloons attached to it. I took up my position again and Speedy tied a blind-fold round his eyes and began to shoot at the balloons. The gun shots were very loud and came in quick succession. I did my best to stay calm. As the balloons burst one by one, my tunic fell to the ground, revealing me in a sequinned bikini. Though my heart was thumping I lifted up my hands and gestured triumphantly as I’d seen Vicky do. Then I took a bow to an imaginary audience and Speedy jumped up beside me and bowed too.

      ‘Well done, Judy,’ Speedy said. ‘It’s as though you were born to it.’

      Little did he know.

      The audience loved that act. Speedy was so reliable that I came to trust him completely. I loved the act and felt greatly honoured when asked to fill in for Vicky. Their belief in me gave me a real feeling of acceptance.

      After the show Bobby often went out on dates with boys she’d met, but I stayed behind on the bus. I hadn’t a clue about romance. At the age of seventeen, most people know about physical attraction and dating but I was emotionally stunted by my early life. I guess the fact I was so young made them feel protective because Speedy and Vicky took me under their wing and kept an eye on me during those first idyllic weeks of my new job.

      The easy happiness wasn’t to last, though. A new challenge was about to come into my life, one that I had absolutely no resources at all for dealing with. His name was Roger Lethbridge.

       Chapter Two

      One day when we got back to Belle Vue after a week of touring, Speedy asked me if I’d be interested in another job.

      ‘You’d be working with the boys in a different act of mine,’ he explained. ‘It used to be called The Hell Drivers, but I renamed it. Now it’s The Globe of Death.’

      ‘What?’ I asked. ‘Like The Wall of Death?’

      Speedy shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. ‘Nah,’ he said, ‘The Wall of Death is easy. You just ride a bike up a wall. This is much more interesting. Come and have a look.’

      The Globe was a spherical wire mesh cage, about sixteen feet in diameter, with an entrance on one side. Speedy explained that the boys drove a motorbike round the inside and I was incredulous at first. How was that possible?

      ‘Roger!’ he shouted. ‘Come and show Judy, would you?’

      Roger emerged pushing a black motorbike. He was more or less my age, dressed in leather trousers and a jacket. He had still, blue eyes and seemed very confident. I thought he looked nice.

      ‘Hi,’ he smiled and he pulled on his helmet.

      I nodded back.

      Inside the Globe, Roger began to ride in low circles, then as he built up momentum he zoomed upside down over the top.

      ‘Wow!’ I was gobsmacked. This guy was an amazing rider.

      ‘It gets better,’ СКАЧАТЬ