*Mirette is back on the wire in Emily Arnold McCully's second book in her trilogy, Starring Mirette & Bellini (1997) At the end of the first book, Mirette convinces Bellini she's serious about traveling with him to perform on the high wire. At the beginning of this, the second story, she masters feats on a low wire and then practices high above the ground. "She was free, surrounded by air!" Bellini declares they are ready to go public. They perform in Milan, Budapest, Vienna, and Paris. One day, he teaches Mirette the "Death Walk". Of course, this is foreshadowing. When the pair perform in St. Petersburg, Mirette learns about the "poor people of Russia". McCully captures this moment by having Mirette make eye contact with a young woman who is walking with "a ragged band of people". At the end of their walk over the frozen Neva River, Bellini says to the audience, "'One day, you too will be free! Do not lose hope!'" He's immediately arrested and put in jail. Mirette must save him. The wire is his secret to freedom.
