The circus train comes through Rockport twice a season, but when it stops at the station, it just takes on coal and water.
Kids are kept in school that day, the sheriff’s orders.
Still, some manage to sneak out, and they see roughnecks wave through the windows, lions pace in their cages, and elephants trunks reaching through the bars.
The sheriff fires his shotgun in the sky, and the kids scatter.
A letter falls from a window, DEAR FATHER, I MISS YOU.
The sheriff doesn’t look, just crumbles it up.
The whistle blows, and the train starts back up again.