In a great big pink-and-white striped tent, Addie the Acrobat walked tippy-toes along a tight wire. She carried a long pole to help keep her balance.

Down below she could see lots of people sitting happily around three circus rings. In the ring to the left stood a tall skinny stage, and on top, a dozen trained mice danced a jig while a chimpanzee tooted a tune on a flute.

In the ring to the right ran a dozen dandy dancing ponies wearing pink plumes on their halters. Ballerinas in pink tutus balanced on the ponies' backs.

In the ring right below Addie stood the Snake Lady with a long, slow, slithery python winding around her arms and shoulders. The two of them danced a slow swaying dance.

Addie took another careful step. It was a long way to the other side, but she knew she could do it.

A flap in the tent opened just long enough for Laugh-a-Lot Liam to drive in. He poked his head out the tiny car's window and waved. He had a fluffy blue wig and green suspenders and a red clown nose. "Who wants cotton candy?" he yelled as he drove past all the watchers.

"I do, please!" a child called.

The audience couldn't hear him, but Addie knew what he was singing inside the clown car. "Magic Box, you're so handy. Please give me some cotton candy!"

Out the car window came Liam's clown arm and a cone of bright pink cotton candy.

"Thank you!" the child called.

Addie kept walking along the highwire. Down below she saw lots of blobs of pink. Lots of people liked cotton candy.

The flap in the tent waved again. Addie glanced over to see a butterfly flitting through the gap. A violet butterfly. It flitted from cotton candy to cotton candy, taking nibbles from every pink puff when no one was looking.

Addie almost shook her head, but remembered that might make her slip. There was nothing she could do about a sneaky butterfly, not while she was so high up here.

Ballerinas danced a ballet on the ponies' backs. Mice danced the cha-cha on their little stage. The Snake Lady danced a slow and graceful waltz with the python.

People clapped.

Liam drove around and around, handing out cotton candy.

The violet butterfly flew up to the highwire and sniffed at Addie's pink leotard. "Behave yourself, Violet," Addie said, and kept tiptoeing.

"Mmmm!" said Violet, flitting down to the pony ring. "Look at all that cotton candy!" The butterfly tried to nibble one of the pretty pink pony plumes.

But it wasn't candy. It was a feather. It made her sneeze!

The sneeze blew her backwards, and she fell down on the pony's nose.

The pony was so surprised it reared up on its hind legs.

The ballerina riding the pony fell off, but the clever girl turned the fall into a somersault. She somersaulted right into the Snake Lady's ring.

The Snake Lady was so surprised she dropped the snake.

The snake was so surprised it wriggled into the next ring and climbed up the tall narrow stage.

The mice jumped down, squeaking in fright, "Snake! Snake!"

Some of the mice ran toward the back of the tent, right when three elephants were coming through the flap.

"Mouse! Mouse!" the elephants trumpeted. They were so scared they ran this way and that, trampling everything in their way.

"Elephant! Elephant!" people screamed. They ran out of the tent.

Acrobat Addie had finally reached the other end of the highwire. She climbed down her ladder.

All the circus people were trapped in the rings with the elephants running around and around. They couldn't get out!

Beep! Beep!

Laugh-a-Lot Liam came driving the clown car. He opened the back door. "Climb in!" he shouted. "I'll drive us all to safety!"

The Snake Lady said, "There's isn't room for all of us!"

"Yes, there is," Liam said. "This is a clown car. Squeeze in!"

A dozen ponies jumped in the back seat, followed by a dozen ballerinas. The Snake Lady and her python wiggled in. Eleven mice hopped in. No one knew where the last one had gone. Addie and the chimpanzee climbed on top of the car and hung on tight.

"Here we go!" Liam shouted. He drove the clown car toward a gap between elephants.

"Oh no!" screamed Addie and the chimpanzee. "Here comes the biggest elephant of all!"

They almost made it through, but the big elephant's knobby knees knocked the clown car over like a bowling pin. It tumbled out of the tent and down the hill, spilling ponies and mice and one very dizzy python.

"What did I crash into this time?" Daddy asked as he scooped Liam out of the debris.

"A whole circus," Addie said. "I was the acrobat on the highwire."

"That explains the footprints on the back of the couch," Daddy said.

"I didn't fall off," Addie said proudly.

"An elephant stepped on my toe," Liam said, hopping around.

"That might have been me," Daddy said. "Sorry! Hey, who wants to help me make a Welcome-Home-Mommy cake?"

"I do!" Addie and Liam yelled. But first, they scooted Addie's Magic Box to Box Corner, and into Mommy's big Magic Box they put away a rubber snake, a fuzzy wig, and a pretty pink plastic pony.

"Don't close it yet!" Addie told Liam. She held up a toy mouse. "I think this is the one that didn't make it to the clown car! He must have got out on his own. Good job, Mouse! In you go."