The Edgemont Boys: The Circus

By Doug Bryant

Going to the Carnival is the highlight of a young boys summer. Having all the money a young boy need when the Carnival comes to town can be challenging. Help from other people can cause trouble with some old rules of the club and with the members that live by them.

In most cases a leader must give in to necessary changes and a leader is one that must keep control of the club rules (old and new) and work with the changes for the good of all club members. Right yea right.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514423776

Doug Bryant

Douglas R. Bryant is a retired employee of forty-five years in the paper industry. He enjoys a good mystery novel and books of fiction. He loves animated films and a good love story. Films that give true charter have inspired him to write his books, The Edgemont Boys: The Bike, The Circus and The Ghost House on Wickham Ave. that captures the 50s and 60s. The Edgemont Boys: The Ghost House on Wickham Ave. tells about the boys entering the house that has been known as being haunted and must not be entered by anyone. His forth book The Championship Marble Game of the year; will be the biggest battle between all the club members, and a must to complete before school starts. Each book delivers a story in the life of The Edgemont Boys going through good times growing up. He and his wife, Linda lives in the South, with the slow lifestyle, hot days and memories of the past. With the help and drive from his wife, of the many stories he has to share, it keeps him ready to start another book.

Book preview

A HOT SUMMER

Remember, I was saying this summer was the hottest summer on record and there was no relief in sight. The boys were getting ready for the circus that was coming to town in July, the first time ever. The carnival got rained out on Labor Day Weekend in May and was rescheduled for July. It rained for three weeks, and the weatherman said that it was the most ever. All of Stumpy Bottom was flooded and people had to leave their homes. It has been three weeks without rain, and the temperature has been over a hundred degrees. We don’t have much summer left before school starts …

This summer is not like any other summer. It is without any doubt the hottest, driest, and most challenging one for animals of all kinds, especially us boys. We cannot find anyplace to swim without fighting snakes or running into old people fishing. There is a swimming pool at the upper end of town that cost only fifty cents to swim all day, I think. Mom told us we couldn’t go, that it was too far away from the house, but we could go to Grady’s Pond once we learn how to swim. We never did tell her that we had been swimming there or that we knew how to swim. How can you learn to swim if you don’t get in the water?

The road sale didn’t go over so well, and the money we got on the second day only gave us a total of $1.50, and that belonged to the club members and must be kept in the clubhouse for the carnival later this summer. We must have another sale maybe this Saturday. We sold no bombs (water balloons), and they may not last another day. This would be a loss of fifty cents. We must sell the bombs even if we have to drop the price. My bike is running well, and I have a way to get places fast. The only problem is that the other boys don’t have bikes. This is where the wagon comes in.

Week Two, Day Six

The Wagon and the Fight

Another Sale Day

The No-Finger Man

Today was Friday, and Wacky, Bucky and I decided to have the road sale again tomorrow. But first we had some things to do. We made sure the stuff for the sale were covered up and everything was in its place. It was around 8:00 a.m., and the boys came by to see what we were going to do today. So we all got together and decided to build a wagon. We had most of the material to get started and planned to complete it before the tree house campout two weeks from this Saturday (the fourth of July). The wheels were a must-have, and we found two from a scooter and two from a tricycle. We had four spikes to nail on the end of a two by four for the axles and some nails, rope, and old wood, and we used Dad’s handsaw to cut the boards. As we started getting things ready to start building the wagon, Cookie starts tell Bucky what to do and that he needs to put all the wood in one pile and the other stuff in another pile. This started it all. The first push-and-shove match of the summer.

Don’t tell me what to do! said Bucky.

I know how to build stuff, and you need to listen to me, said Cookie.

Bucky replies, I have never listened to you before, so why should I listen to you now?

OK. See if I care, said Cookie. Then Cookie left and never came back until we had most of the wagon finished. This took us most of the day. It was about 6:00 p.m. when Cookie showed up, his pants legs and his shirtsleeves rolled up, his hat turned sideways, and he had no shoes on.

Wacky said, Why are you dressed like that?

I am ready to fight, said Cookie.

Who are you going to fight? asked Wacky.

Bucky!

Why?

Because I was trying to teach him how to build a wagon and he would not listen to me. I can build a wagon better and faster if all you guys would listen to me. I am the smart one of the group, said Cookie,

Then Cookie shoved Bucky and the fight was on. They must have wrestled around for an hour. Dirt flying everywhere, rocks, grass, and dust going in all directions! Cookie was slobbering at the mouth like a mad dog, with saliva dribbling down his chin. It was very stringy, and he was slinging it everywhere. My dad told me one time that this is what happens when a dog goes mad.

Davie said, Cookie has gone mad.

That is when we all backed up in a circle around the mad dog and Bucky, the victim. We were watching as if the mad dog was going to bite and eat him alive. Then Wimpy shows up.

What are you guys doing? Have you boys gone crazy? said Wimpy.

The fight stopped. Cookie got up first, dusting off his pants, and then Bucky got up. Both looked worn out. Sweat running down their faces became little mud balls before they hit the ground. Cookie’s knees were black with dirt; his eyes were packed with mud, as he had been crying. His shirt was torn off, and his hat was nowhere to be found. Bucky was all in one piece—his shirt must have been a better brand. Dirty and sweaty and ready to call it quits, both boys looked at each other as if he had won. What a fight!

They both looked at Wimpy. No, we are not crazy were the words that came from both of the fighters’ mouths at the same time.

I have never seen best friends fight, said Wimpy. You guys need to make up and forget this ever happened. What were you thinking? What started this anyway?

Bucky would not listen to me, said Cookie.

Wimpy said, Who made you boss?

Wimpy is smart. He always has good answers to bad problems.

So Cookie and Bucky shook hands, and we all looked at each other and smiled. It was a good fight though. Dirty, sweaty, and long. A real good fight for sure. With the hot days of summer, it makes one short-tempered. (That’s what my dad would say). After some deep breaths, we all looked at the wagon and smiled. All we needed was to put the ropes on for the steering. The next question came up: Are we going to paint it?

Yes, we must paint it, said Cookie. Who would ride it looking like that?

I would, said David.

Wimpy left, and on his way, he looked back and said, There better not be any more fighting.

Bucky said, When we get the rope on to steer the wagon, which one of us gets to ride it first?

I will, came a voice from behind the tree. A voice I was very much used to hearing by now. It was Peggy, standing there with a big smile on her face and her long golden hair hanging down to her waist, and she had a Coke in her hand. No one said a word. We all looked at each other as if to say, Who is going to tell her that she can’t ride our new wagon the first time or ever?

I guess I would be the one to tell her. I did not see anyone else jump in and say, Not you!

They all looked at me as if to say, "You are the one that talks to girls.

You tell her. She is your friend, and the one you go on long bike rides with. The one you are talking to all the time."

Peggy, only boys can ride this wagon, I said with a soft voice.

Well, she said, and off she stormed away. She then turned around and said, I would not ride that piece of junk anyway.

Then out of nowhere came laughter from Cookie. With a smile, he said some stupid words, such as, Is she your girlfriend?

All the blood in my body went to the top of my head. My face was probably as red as a face could be, blood red. Hot peppers could not make my face any redder.

She is not my girlfriend. Don’t ever say that, do you hear me? That was as close to getting a fight started as pushing someone. After taking a deep breath, I told the boys we needed to finish the wagon.

Bucky looked at me and said, Where are we going to get paint?

I believe Dad has a can of black paint in his storage room in the basement of the clubhouse area. Wacky went into the clubhouse and got the paint out of the storage room in the basement and used a nail to get the lid off. Sure enough, it was black, but we didn’t have a paintbrush. Cookie said that one time his sister used a rag on a stick to paint a wood box and it worked fine. So we tried it and it worked. Hmm, that was smart. After we got the wagon painted, we had to let it dry. The paint was sticky, and it took the rest of that day before you could touch it. It looked like a brand-new wagon that came from Western Auto—well, almost. We had a pull rope on the front and new ropes to steer it with. We were all ready to run this machine down the hill for its test run. The inspection team (Cookie, Wacky, David, and Rusty) looked it over and gave us the OK sign to ride it. This is a rule of the club that anything made by the club members had to be inspected before we could use it. Safety first, you know. We knew that we had to get things ready for the road sale tomorrow, so we said we would store the wagon in the clubhouse until the road sale was over, then we would try it out.

The boys started walking back toward the clubhouse with the wagon. We decided to park the wagon in my backyard, under the porch where I put my bike. That way we could lock it up with my bike and I would keep the key. We were all tired and went home for food. We were very hungry and needed to eat. We all agreed to meet tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. in front of my house to get things ready for another big road sale and try to make more money. This was a great day. When Wacky and I got home, Mom told us a circus was coming to town this summer.

I said, I thought it was a carnival.

She said, A circus is also coming, two weeks after the carnival.

Boy, this is great! Two fun days this summer—this will be the best summer ever.

Do we get to go? Wacky asked.

If you boys save your money, Dad and I will take you.

Can we go with our friends? I asked.

Maybe.

What a great day.

Week Two, Day Seven

The Finger (Doggone It)

Off with His Head

The Race of the Year

Nine Fingers and One Old Knife

A Clubhouse Meeting

The Tree House Campout

I was up before the sun, like every morning. I was outside on the front porch putting on my shoes and looking up at the sky, and I noticed the stars were out and very bright. You could hear the quietness of the morning and smell the fresh air. One of the things I remember most is how the birds would start singing as soon as the sun started coming up. It was as if the sun shook every bird and told them it was time to get out of bed and start flying. I had a lot of things to do today and needed to get the boys together to help me. What are friends for if you can’t get help from them when you need it? It was almost 7:00 a.m., and the boys were to be here by 9:00 a.m. This gave me time to clean up the clubhouse and have it ready for a meeting that should be sometime this week (maybe tonight). As I was cleaning the clubhouse, I could smell something that was dead, like a mouse. I must have looked around everything in the clubhouse before I found it. In the safe box, stuck back in the corner, there it was. The odor was so bad, you had to hold your nose. When I took the lid off the box, I looked down, and in