A/N: The only characters I own are Amity, Connor, and any of their relatives. All else are copyrighted to Disney. I wrote this for entertainment reasons only, and in no ways to make money. Please enjoy the story!
If there was one thing that everyone in the entire city of cheerful little Basil Brook Hills knew, is that the circus only comes once a year. This was a big deal for everyone there, as Basil Brook Hills was one of the smallest cities you could find in the United States. It was completely farms and country, and had no city whatsoever. It has been said by some that everyone knew each other there. Since it was such a big deal when the circus came to town, there was a huge ruckus when it was there, and almost everyone had been there at least once. Well, all but one person…
"Mom, can we go to the circus?" A young girl with red hair in two braids, freckles, and overalls asked her mom, who was in their farmhouse kitchen. Her name was Amity, and her only dream was to go to the circus, especially now that there was Dumbo, the flying elephant. All the kids in her school talked about him. It was all about him, and his manager, Timothy Q. Mouse. She stayed out of the conversations, and no one would talk to her. She had only one friend, and he lived on the farm with her. He was her pet dog, Connor. Now, no one knew what kind of dog Connor was. Was he a Lab? A Retriever? Maybe a German Shepard? Everyone had their own words to call him: Mutt. Mongrel. Cur. Aside from all the names, Connor was also Amity's best friend. She talked to him, and he talked back. Everyone, even the other farm animals found it crazy to see a girl and a dog holding a conversation, but they did. The dogs in the park wouldn't walk near him. The cats even felt degraded if they got chased by him. Socially, they were both washed up. If Amity's mom would just answer the one question with a 'yes', Amity's life would be complete. No more lunches alone. No more rejections to play dates. No more friendless days. Just one 'yes'!
"I'm sorry, Amity. I just don't have the time." Her mother said, as Amity hung her head sadly. "Ask your dad."
As soon as she said this, Amity was out the back door, and into the fields. After untying Connor from his stake by his dog house, the two of them were bounding out to the vegetable patch, where her dad was working.
"So, what's the word?" Connor asked, curious of if they could go.
"Mom says no, but maybe Dad will say yes!" Amity said, running to her dad, who noticed them.
"Hey there, Amity! Can I help you with anything?" Her dad asked, mopping his brow with a handkerchief.
"Dad, can we go to the circus?" Amity asked, with her voice full of hope, and Connor staring with puppy-dog eyes.
"I'm sorry, Amity." Her dad said. "I have too much work to do."
"But it's leaving tomorrow!" Amity said, hoping that this could change his ideas.
"Sorry, Amity. The answer's still no." Her dad said, in a tone that made it show that it was final. "Try asking your brother."
"Fine." Amity said, obviously losing patience, as she trudged back to the house, and Connor half-heartedly followed.
As soon as they got to the house, and went in the back, Amity knocked on one of the doors on the first floor. Her brother soon unlocked the door, and opened it.
"Well, how can I help you, Squirt?" her brother said, calling her by the nickname he gave her.
"Can we go to the circus?" Amity asked, with a voice that sounded like she already knew the answer, while Connor stared at the ground, already upset about the news.
"Well…no." Her brother said. "I'm busy. Well, there's always next year!"
With that, he closed the door, and the two heard the lock click from the inside.
"Another year." Amity said.
"Another year without the circus." Connor said, flopping down onto the ground.
"Next year might as well be the same." Amity said, flopping down next to her dog, shedding a tear on his dirt-streaked brown fur.
During dinner, Amity barely ate a thing, and wouldn't talk to anyone. The same went for Connor, whose dog food remained untouched, in the corner of the dining room. Neither of them said a word to anyone until bed, where Amity simply said good night to everyone, and she and Connor slunk towards Amity's room.
"You're brother could be right." Connor said, trying to make her happier. "We could always go next year."
"Yeah, a promise to be broken." Amity said, pulling the rest of her nightgown on her, and strangely stuffing her bed with some of her toys, and slipping a jacket on over her pajamas. She then ever so quietly broke her piggy bank open, and stuffed all the money, along with a flashlight, and a discarded schedule to where the circus would be going next into her old green backpack. She then took Connor's leash, and clipped it to his collar.
"What do you think you're doing?" Connor asked, not sure of what was going on.
"Simple." Amity said, opening the window in her bedroom, which was on the first floor. "We're going to follow the circus personally."
"What?" Connor didn't get it.
"We'll walk all the way to the next stop, which apparently is in Peach Curry Creek." Amity said, checking the schedule.
"But that's not even in the state!" Connor said.
"So?" Amity asked, climbing out the window, and urging Connor to do the same. "We've gone through worse."
"No we haven't." Connor said, hesitantly climbing out the window after his owner.
"I'm sure we can do this." Amity said, not giving up hope. "We're a team, and we'll do this!"
"Okay…" Connor said, following Amity to the front, as they crept along the road.
"Well, goodbye Basil Brook Hills," Amity said, looking at the road, as soon as they reached the end of it. "And hello Peach Curry Creek!"
It was the beginning of what would be one of Amity and Connor's greatest adventures, and the way that they end up meeting seven special friends…