'Screeeeeech!'

Kevin was jolted awake by a high pitched screech that grated against his ears painfully. As his eyes flew open it took him a moment to realise where he was. Yesterday's escapades came flooding back and he looked around to find that he was still in Arnold's caravan. The clown himself remained in his bed, facing away from Kevin. However, Kevin could tell he was still asleep by the snores emitting from the man. In the daylight creeping through the curtains of the caravan's only window, Kevin could now see the interior of the caravan in more detail. It was much messier than he first thought - clothes were strewn across the floor and kitchen counter, and the walls were grubby. The curtains half covering the window were tattered and a faded shade of red. Kevin looked around to try identify where the screeching had come from. His eyes came to rest on the cloaked object in the corner.

'Screeeeech...'

Kevin jumped slightly as another noise sounded through the caravan. It was definitely coming from whatever was under the blanket. Kevin glanced at Arnold, but the clown didn't seem to be roused by the screeching. Slowly, Kevin pushed back the covers and swung his legs out of bed. He crept across the small space between his bed and the clothed object. He raised an arm and pulled the cover off. Underneath was a large bird cage. Inside the cage was an equally large bird, with bright green plumage, who was staring at Kevin with black, beady eyes. Kevin gaped at the bird for half a moment before the bird in question squawked loudly.

'Hungry, Yoda is!'

Kevin yelped in alarm and dropped the cover back over the cage. He heard a groan come from Arnold's bed and whipped round to see the other man stirring.

'Just five more minutes, Yoda...' Arnold mumbled, pulling the sheets over his head.

'HUNGRY! Yoda is,' insisted the bird, from under the cover.

'It talks!' Kevin cried, aghast. 'The bird talks!'

Arnold peered out from under the covers and eyed Kevin skeptically. 'Have you never heard of a parrot?' he asked, somewhat sleepily.

'...parrot?' Kevin repeated, blinking.

'Yeah, they're a kind of bird who mimic human speech,' explained Arnold, as he reluctantly rolled out of bed. He stumbled to the kitchen counter and started riffling through one of the cupboards. Kevin continued to stare at the parrot.

'That's incredible!' he breathed, and moved closer to the cage, bringing his face down so he was eye level with the parrot. 'How do you do it?'

The parrot cocked its head and squawked at Kevin. Kevin frowned slightly. 'Does it not understand the question?'

'He doesn't really do conversation,' Arnold explained, emerging from the cupboard clutching a wooden box labelled "Yoda". 'He only mimics what he hears, or what I wanna teach him!'

Arnold picked his way back to the cage and opened the box, revealing that it was full of some sort of seed. He opened the cage door and dropped a handful of the seed onto the floor of the cage. After the cage door was shut, Yoda hopped down from the little bar he had been perched on and began to peck at the seed.

'He can't say much, and usually he gets it all in the wrong order, but I'm trying to teach him how to speak properly so that I can use him for performance!' Arnold beamed. Kevin nodded, watching as Yoda gobbled up the seeds.

'Wanna know how he got his name?' asked Arnold, tentatively.

'Uh, sure!' Kevin nodded, sensing that Arnold was dying to tell him.

Arnold grinned. 'I named him after a character from this thing I'm writing,' The clown reached under his pillow and withdrew a notebook that appeared to be full to the brim with drawings and writings. Arnold proudly thrust it in Kevin's face, and Kevin took the book and carefully opened it, so as not to dislodge the papers wedged between the pages.

'It's this story about an empire of people who live far far away in the stars,' said Arnold, enthusiastically.

Kevin nodded as Arnold explained. The drawings in the book were like nothing Kevin had ever seen - sketches of strange beings, sometimes humanoid and sometimes with not recognisable basis at all. There were also passages of text, and from Kevin read, they were fragments of a story relating to the pictures surrounding them. Arnold slipped one of the drawings out of the book and showed it to Kevin.

'This is Yoda,' said Arnold, pointing to a depiction of a small green goblin like creature on the paper. 'He's really wise and knows lots about power and using your mind in cool ways!'

'And what's that?' Kevin asked, pointing to a sketch of a dark cloaked figure.

'Oh, that's the villain - he's super scary and tall and talks with a raspy voice and can kill people with his MIND! But - spoilers! - he's not really the villain in the end and he's actually a pretty nice guy!' Arnold practically shouted. Kevin got the feeling that Arnold didn't get to talk about his writings very much. Kevin just nodded, pretending to understand what Arnold was going on about. Kevin flipped over to the next page of the book and noticed a drawing that looked a little like Arnold himself, but with more muscle and charisma. Next to him, was an African woman with her dark brown hair curled into two buns on either side of her head. She and the Arnold look alike were embracing, gazing into each other's eyes. Kevin jumped when Arnold quickly snatched the book from Kevin's hands.

'It isn't finished yet,' he said, closing the book and tucking back under his pillow. Kevin was slightly puzzled by Arnold's sudden reluctance for Kevin to see the contents of the book, and was just about to ask before a loud bong echoed through the camp. This caused Kevin to jump, Yoda to squawk crossly and Arnold to push pass Kevin to the door of the caravan.

'What was that?' Kevin asked, as Arnold pushed open the door and peered outside.

'It's breakfast!' Arnold said, delighted. 'Every morning, Kalimba makes us breakfast and it's always DELICIOUS...'

Arnold turned and grabbed a weathered dressing gown from the floor and threw it on. He then opened one of the cupboards and withdrew a small metal bowl. He paused, glanced at Kevin and then retrieved another bowl. Arnold tossed it at the other boy who just managed to catch it.

'You'll need this - she does it all in her cauldron so you gotta bring your own bowl,' Arnold explained. 'Quick, let's go or everyone will have eaten it!'

Arnold practically dashed from the caravan, and Kevin quickly followed him. As he stepped out into the light, he noticed the paintwork of the caravans around him was much brighter and more colourful than it had been in the dark. There also appeared to be less caravans that he has first thought. Everything had seemed more intimidating in the dark. Kevin followed Arnold through the cluster of mobile houses and they emerged next to the campfire from the previous day. However, instead of a spit, there was now a big black cauldron, fire present underneath it. A woman stood over it, using both hands to stir its contents. Kevin recognised her as the sewing woman from the day before. Next to her stood a younger woman, with wild curly hair. Around the cauldron stood a small group of people. Almost instinctively, Kevin looked for a head of red hair but no such hair could be seen. He did, however, recognize the knife-throwers who had captured him the previous night. They were sat on one of the logs situated close to the fire and were chatting animatedly with the skinny boy and the boy with the unicycle, who were both standing, clutching their own metal bowls. Kevin seemed to recall that unicycle boy's name was James. On the other log was Gotswana, thankfully without his box of writhing maggots and another man who looked much older than the rest of the troupe - Kevin recognised him as the sleeping man outside the lion cage.

As Arnold and Kevin approached, the faces turned, at first to greet Arnold but then to stare at Kevin. Kevin felt very exposed, especially on noticing the glare he was getting from Eric. Eric was the only one who was outright glaring - the rest of the crowd seemed more curious, a few wary. Kevin glanced nervously at Arnold, who seemed more concerned with making his way to the food. Kevin kept close behind him, and watched as Arnold presented his bowl to the plump woman. She took it and dumped a ladle full of what appeared to be some sort of stew into the bowl. She nodded at Arnold and smiled.

'Do not eat it too fast, child,' she warned, her accent similar to that of Gotswana's. 'I know how you are with food!'

'Thanks, Kalimba!' Arnold said, cheerfully. Kalimba looked expectantly at Kevin then back at Arnold.

'Are you going to introduce your friend?' she asked.

Arnold had already began to slurp at his stew (Kevin noticed how cutlery seemed to be absent from the camp) but looked up as

Kalimba spoke.

'Oh, yeah,' he said through a mouthful of stew. 'This is Kevin, everyone!'

There was a small chorus of 'hello Kevin' from the camp. Arnold walked over to the other people and began to introduce them one by one. He pulled forward unicycle boy first.

'This is James, he rides a unicycle, which is like a bicycle but with one wheel - how cool is that?!'

James laughed. 'I think he knows what a unicycle is, Arnold,' he said, slightly witheringly, but his tone seemed to go unnoticed by Arnold.

'That's Noah and Eric,' Arnold pointed to the duo sat on the log. 'They throw knives!'

'I know,' Kevin interrupted, eyeing Noah and Eric suspiciously. 'We've met.'

'Awesome!' Arnold said, as if there was no tense atmosphere at all. 'This is Chris,' Arnold gestured to the skinny blonde.

'I play music,' Chris supplied, grinning sheepishly.

'He also makes the pies for my clown act!' Arnold enthused. Before Arnold could say anything more, the man whose name Kevin did not know arose from the log and walked over to Kevin, a hand extended. Kevin shook his hand.

'I am Mafala Hatimbi,' the man said in a deep, booming voice. 'I look after the animals and insure the caravans run smoothly,' he explained. Gotswana also jumped up from the log.

'We have already met!' Gotswana grinned, walking over to also shake Kevin's hand. 'But in case you have forgotten, I am Gotswana, owner of Gotswana's Magnificent Maggot Circus!'

Kevin nodded slowly, and out of the corner of his eye, thought he saw Noah and Eric stifled laughs.

'He is also the troupe's doctor,' Mafala added. 'If you have any ailments, see Gotswana.'

Arnold stepped forward again, annoyed that Mafala had seemingly taken over his introductions. He took Kevin by the arm and turned him to face to two women at the cauldron.

'That's Kalimba - she cooks and makes most of our costumes.'

Kalimba nodded at Kevin but did not speak.

'And that's Nab... Nabu... Nabuloogo?' Arnold trailed off, apparently unsure of how to pronounce the girl's name.

'Nabulungi,' she said, giggling.

'That's it! Nabulungi...'

Kevin looked expectantly between the two of them, expecting Arnold to go on to explain what Nabulungi's role in the troupe was. As he looked closer at Nabulungi, he realised that she bore a striking resemblance to the woman depicted in Arnold's book. Turning his head to look at Arnold confirmed this suspicion as Arnold's expression was a blissful one as he gazed fondly at Nabulungi.

'What do you do, Nabulungi?' Kevin prompted.

'I tame the lion!' she said, matter-of-factly. Kevin was a little surprised, having expected her to be a dancer or acrobat. He suddenly realised that everyone was staring at him expectantly.

'Oh, um, I'm Kevin and I... don't really perform, sorry,' he said, rather lamely.

'Don't worry,' said Mafala. 'Performing is not the only thing you can do here! Myself and Kalimba do not perform,'

'And Mr Blade,' Gotswana added, helpfully.

'Him too,' said Mafala, a very faint tone of disdain in his voice.

'Who...?' Kevin asked. Just as Mafala was about to give him an explanation, there was the sound of a caravan door slamming followed by the blonde man from the previous night appearing around the corner. The group fell silent as the man stormed to the cauldron and thrust a bowl at Kalimba, who took it and began to fill it.

'Hurry up, woman, I haven't got all day,' the man snapped. Kalimba raised her eyebrows at him as she handed him back his now full bowl. He then turned on his heels and headed back the way he had come. Before he vanished again he paused and turned to face the group.

'What are you all standing around staring for?' he snarled. Immediately everyone looked away from the blonde man, except Mafala who stood his ground.

'They haven't done anything to offend you, Steve,'

The man, Steve, narrowed his eyes at Mafala. He seemed to have nothing else to say as he soon turned and disappeared around the corner again.

'Who was that?' Kevin asked.

'That's Steve Blade - he's a fortune teller!' Arnold explained.

'He's not a real fortune teller,' Eric chipped in from his place on the log. 'He's a phony...'

'If he's such a fake then how did he know Connor was gonna have that accident last week, hmm?' Arnold folded his arms triumphantly, as if daring Eric to question Steve's fortune telling skills now.

Instead of answering Arnold's question, Eric and Noah exchanged a meaningful look.

'We're not so sure that was an accident, Arnold,' said Noah, in a lowered voice.

'What do you mean?' asked Arnold, frowning. 'Of course it was accident! He fell and hit his head, Connor said so!'

Noah shrugged, evidently not wanting to say anymore.

'Where is Connor anyway?' asked Kevin, breaking the slightly uncomfortable silence that had fallen over the group.

'He will be joining us soon, I imagine,' said Nabulungi, smiling. 'Though I admit it is a little unlike him to be late for breakfast...'

Kevin couldn't help but notice Noah and Eric exchange another look. There was definitely something funny going on that Kevin, or Arnold apparently, didn't understand.

'Good morning, performers!'

Everyone turned round to see Connor himself appear in the clearing. His outfit was less flamboyant than the previous night - he wore simple brown trousers, that were slightly cropped and a white shirt that was just a bit too big, but still managed to suit him. To complete the look was a light blue necktie, tied loosely around the redhead's neck. Kevin reflected that he looked a bit like a pirate.

The camp greeted the ringleader with a chorus of 'hellos' and 'good mornings' as Connor approached the cauldron and handed Kalimba his own bowl, which was considerably better polished than anyone else's.

'How are we all this morning?' Connor asked cheerfully, nodding in thanks to Kalimba who handed him back his bowl now full of stew.

'We are well,' answered Nabulungi. 'Though we were a little puzzled as to why you were not here when Kalimba and I rang the gong for breakfast?'

'I had some things to sort out,' Connor said, off-handedly. 'Nothing you need to worry about - but I'm touched that you cared!'

Nabulungi smiled, but as soon as Connor looked away she glanced at Eric who was grimacing.

Connor was just about to start eating his meal when he noticed Kevin.

'Hello, Kevin!' Connor, walked over to him, smiling. This seemed to be the cue for the rest of the group to begin their own little conversations amongst themselves.

'Did you sleep well?' the redhead asked, daintily picking a bit of meat out of the stew and popping it into his mouth.

'Uh, yeah! Yeah, no, it was great!' Kevin lied. Truth be told, his sleep had been difficult to achieve with Arnold's snores drilling into his brain and the drafty nature of the caravan being contributing factors. Not to mention that once he had managed to fall unconscious, his dreams were haunted with the same pair of eyes that looked piercingly at him now.

'You don't need to lie, Kevin,' Connor chuckled. 'Everyone knows Arnold is the worst caravan companion a person could have, bless his heart!' McKinley laughed again, and Kevin noted that the man had a very musical laugh. 'Lying's a bad habit which I should hope you do not fall prey to,' the redhead added, his expression momentarily serious. 'Anyway, I hope that the quota of sleep you did manage to get it enough to see you through today,' Connor said, his tone now businesslike. He turned away from

Kevin and rapped his knuckles against his bowl. 'Attention everyone!'

The rest of the group ceased their conversations and faced Connor.

'You all know that today we are packing up and moving onto the next village,' he stated. 'After you have all finished your meals, I want you all to go and begin preparing your caravans for the move,'

The group nodded in unison, evidently used to this routine.

'Also insure that you are dressed and ready to perform as we enter the village,' Connor grinned. 'Same routine as usual,' he turned to Chris. 'But Chris, could you play that other piece you do? You know, the upbeat parade type one?'

Chris nodded. 'Sure!'

'I loved the jazzy one but felt it didn't give the overall feel of the troupe enough oomph,' Connor explained as Chris continued to nod. Connor turned back to the troupe at large. 'We plan to leave in one hour! Thank you, everyone!'

Having been apparently dismissed, the group began to disperse. Eric and Noah disappeared into the nearest caravan, which Kevin assumed must be theirs and Chris and James also disappeared around the corner, presumably to their quarters.

'Gosh, Kevin! You haven't had any food!' Connor suddenly exclaimed, concerned.

Kevin stared at the bowl in his hands and realised that he had indeed not had any of the stew. 'It's alright, I'm not that-'

'No, you must eat!' Connor insisted, dragging Kevin over to the cauldron. Connor took the ladle from Kalimba who had been just about to start packing up the equipment and scooped a spoonful of the stew into Kevin's bowl. Kalimba made an irritated noise, and pointedly took back her ladle from Connor, evidently annoyed that Connor and this new person had messed up her packing routine.

'Thank you,' said Kevin, directed both at Connor and Kalimba. Connor smiled and Kalimba said nothing but continued to pack up. Connor gestured that Kevin should take a seat on the log recently vacated by the knife-throwers. Kevin did so and Connor joined him. Both observed as Mafala, Gotswana and Kalimba gathered their various belongings and vanished off to their caravans. Nabulungi approached Arnold.

'I need to feed the lion, would you like to help?' she asked. Arnold immediately turned a bright shade of red.

'Uh yeah, sure, that'd be really swell! BOY, I SURE DO FEEDING LIONS! I mean, uh...' he spluttered.

Nabulungi merely laughed softly and took his hand. 'Come on,' she said, leading Arnold away from the clearing. As they left, Arnold made an excited face at Connor and Connor gave him a thumbs up. When the pair had vanished Connor turned to Kevin and said, 'They're so adorable, aren't they?'

'Oh, so they're...?' Kevin gestured after Arnold and Nabulungi.

'Not officially,' Connor chuckled. 'But the way Arnold acts around her makes it completely obvious that he'd infatuated!'

'What about her?' asked Kevin.

'She's never spoken to me about it but she's certainly never denied it,' Connor confided. 'To tell you the truth, Kevin, I'm rather hoping they do get together - I'd love to have some kids running around here!'

'Didn't have you down as a kids kind of person...' Kevin said, slightly playfully.

'Gosh, no! I love kids! I'd say I'd love to have some of my own one day, but sometimes it feels like I'm looking after a whole troupe of them already...' Connor rolled his eyes at Kevin as if to say you know how it is. A silence fell between them but it wasn't uncomfortable. Kevin realised they were the only remaining people in the clearing. He could faintly hear the sounds of voices and also the whinnies of horses - he hadn't seen any horses around the camp but supposed they must have them to pull the caravans. On reflection, it was a very small troupe. Kevin had counted eleven people in total - including the mysterious and rather frightening Steve - and three of the members didn't perform. This was certainly no big top extravaganza. Yet it had a sort of scruffy charm that Kevin couldn't help but be drawn in by.

'Are you going to move on with us, Kevin?' Connor said after a few moments, interrupting Kevin's train of thought. 'We'd love you to join our troupe officially...'

Kevin looked at Connor, more specifically into his unusually blue eyes. He wanted to speak, but something was stopping him. He broke from his trance when he felt Connor's hand on his own and he looked down at both their hands, startled.

'I'd love you to join us,' Connor said, his voice much quieter. When Kevin looked back at him he was surprised to see that Connor's eyes appeared to be pleading with him. In that split second, Kevin realised that behind all the smiles and sequins, this man was perhaps not as happy as he pretended to be. Kevin was just about to open his mouth to reply when a menacing voice rang out from the opposite end of the clearing.

'Connor.'

Both Kevin and Connor's heads snapped round to the source of the noise. Steve Blade was stood across the clearing, a hardened expression on his face. Connor removed his hand from Kevin's so fast it was like he had been scolded by boiling water.

'Steve!' Connor's face broke into a smile, but Kevin had an inkling it wasn't entirely sincere. 'Where have you been all morning?'

'Looking for you,' Steve stated. His gaze, which had been fixed on Connor the whole time so far, suddenly snapped to Kevin. Kevin felt like he'd just had a spotlight shone right into his face.

'Who's this?' Steve asked, scrutinizing Kevin.

'Steve, this is Kevin - he's a new member of our troupe!' Connor beamed, gesturing to Kevin as if showing off a new pet.

'Hello,' Kevin said, waving rather pointlessly and attempting to smile.

Steve did not return the sentiments. 'Connor, you can't just invite new people in - what do you think this is, some sort of party? Some sort of game, where you can just add new people whenever you want?'

Connor's expression faltered. 'I didn't realise you felt that way, Steve,' he mumbled, glancing down at the ground. When he looked up again he said, 'But now that he's here surely we can't turn him out?'

Steve continued to stare daggers at Kevin. 'What does he do? Is he useful?'

Kevin gulped, feeling like a lamb being weighed up for slaughter.

'Uh, well you see, he doesn't exactly perform but I'm sure there's plenty of things for him to help out with!' Connor said quickly. Kevin briefly wondered why Connor was fighting his corner so insistently.

There was a silence.

'Have a little pity, Steve,' Connor pleaded. 'He's a runaway just like us,' Connor stood and walked over to the blonde man. He took both his hands comfortingly. 'Remember how hard it was for us? How much we could have done with a group of people to support us?' Connor said, so quietly that Kevin could barely hear him anymore. 'Have some empathy…'

Steve's face remained stoney but he seemed to back down a little. 'Alright. He can stay,'

Connor did what could only be described as a little skip on the spot and he let go of Steve's hands and clapped his own together. 'Thank you!'

'On one condition,' Steve warned. 'He has to be part of the performance routine in two weeks or he's out.'

Connor froze for a second, but a smile soon returned to his face. 'I'm sure that won't be a problem, right Kevin?'

'I'm not sure I-' Kevin started but once again was cut off.

'He'll be fine!' said Connor cheerfully. 'Now don't you have some preparations to make?'

'No, I made them all last night,' said Steve, bluntly.

'Oh, ok, well, um, Kevin?' Connor turned around to face the new boy. 'You should probably start helping out and learning the ropes.'

'He can help get the horses ready,' said Steve, eyeing Kevin.

'Yes! Could you show him where the horses are, Steve? And also ensure that he knows what he's doing,' Connor said, nodding at Steve. 'Now I must go and oversee the setting up of the rig - see you both later!' With that, Connor practically skipped away back in the direction of his own caravan, leaving Steve and Kevin alone in the clearing. There was an awkward pause.

'I'd better show you these horses then,' Steve grunted, turning and begin to stride away. Kevin quickly leapt up off the log and had to jog to keep up with the blonde man. Kevin felt like he should say something but was quite intimidated by Steve. They were roughly the same height, yet Kevin felt quite small in comparison. They walked in silence through the caravans and emerged on the other side of the camp. There was a small make-shift wooden pen just at the edge of the forest, inside of which were six horses, all in a line, snorting and whining softly. Three were varying shades brown, one grey, one black and one white. Kevin was used to horses - he'd ridden as a child and had helped look after his family's horse.

'We need to couple the horses up to the caravans,' said Steve, walking over to the gate of the pen and retrieving two coils of rope from the ground. He threw one of them to Kevin, who only just managed to catch it. Steve unhooked the latch on the gate and swung it open, which was met by a chorus of whinnies from the horses. Steve approached the nearest brown horse and in one swift movement, looped the rope around its neck. The horse immediately started to stomp its hoofs and protest. Steve stood his ground and tugged at the rope around the horse's neck, coaxing him out of the pen. Eventually the horse and Steve were clear of the pen and Steve shouted to Kevin; 'Shut the gate!'

Kevin did so, and observed as Steve produced what looked like a sugar lump from his pocket and fed it to the horse. The horse immediately appeared to calm down and Steve patted its nose.

'Good boy,' he muttered to the horse. Steve took hold of the rope again and started to lead the horse to the nearest caravan. Attached to the front of the caravan was a harness, which Kevin gathered must be for the horses. Steve slowly walked the horse around so that the animal was facing away from the caravan.

'Take this,' said Steve, thrusting the rope in Kevin's direction. Kevin scuttled over and took the rope in his hands. As Steve lifted the harness and hoisted it onto the horse's back, Kevin asked, 'Does he have a name?'

''Course he does,' Steve replied, having managed to fit the harness in place, he was now beginning to secure all the various buckles. Kevin waited for an answer but Steve didn't seem to be giving him one.

'So... what's his name?' Kevin asked, carefully.

Steve gave Kevin a look. 'It's Scratch, if you've gotta know,' he said, with a dismissive sniff. 'Connor named him - Scratch was the name of an old dog he had when he was a kid or something...' Steve shrugged and shook his head, indicating that he didn't really care. Kevin nodded, looking back to Scratch the horse.

'Hello, Scratch,' he said, petting the horse's nose. Scratch snorted at him.

'This one's done,' Steve announced, taking a step back from the horse now attached to the caravan. He glanced at Kevin still stroking Scratch's muzzle. 'You know what, kid?'

Kevin looked at Steve, apprehensive of what he was going to say next.

'Since you seem to care so much about these horses, how's about I leave the rest of the job to you?' Before Kevin could protest Steve spoke again. 'Ok, that's great - get all these horses attached to the caravans,' he instructed, turning to leave. 'But make sure the white one's attached to Con's caravan,' he added. 'The white one is Connor's personal favourite. Oh and be careful of Starbuck, the black coat... he's got a mean temper.'

With that, Steve swiftly exited the clearing and disappeared once again amongst the caravans.

'But I don't know how to...!' Kevin called after him, but realised it was useless. He peered around Scratch to examine the harness. 'It can't be that difficult,' Kevin said to himself, turning back to the pen of horses. As he began to approach the pen, the horses began to whinny and stomp the ground, evidently disconcerted by the unknown human.

'Hey! Hey, it's ok!' Kevin said, adopting a friendly tone. Carefully, he unlatched the gate and slowly entered the pen. The horses slowly moves away from Kevin, and huddled on the other side of the pen. All except the black horse, who stood his ground, snorting threateningly at Kevin. This was presumably Starbuck, the horse Steve had warned him about.

'Easy, Starbuck,' Kevin said, holding his hands out in front of him to try and indicate to the horse that he came in peace. As Kevin approached, Starbuck suddenly reared up on his hind legs, whinnying loudly. Kevin jumped back about a foot, so as not to be trampled. Once the horse had calmed down a little, Kevin attempted to approach him again, this time wielding a rope that he'd tied into a loose lasso.

'Come on, Starbuck!' he said, holding the rope in one hand and holding out the other to try and calm the horse. Starbuck snorted again, but did not rear. Kevin continued to edge closer, murmuring reassuring words to the horse. After a few painstaking minutes, Kevin was close enough to gently place a hand on Starbuck's jet black nose. The horse snorted again but did not seem to be too opposed to Kevin anymore.

'Good boy, Starbuck!' Kevin whispered to the horse, smiling at his achievement. His next task was to loop the rope over Starbuck's head and escort him to one of the harnesses. Slowly, Kevin began to lift the hand holding the rope, still stroking the horse's nose with the other.

'I'm gonna have to put this rope on you now,' Kevin told Starbuck, looking the horse right in the eye. Starbuck stared back, and blinked, not looking too impressed. 'It won't be that bad!' Kevin said, laughing. He continued to lift the rope and was just about to pull it down over Starbuck's head when-

'KEVIN! What are you doing?!'

Kevin whipped around to see Connor running towards the pen. As he did, Starbuck whinnied loudly and began to try and shake his head free from the rope, evidently spooked by the sudden shout from McKinley. Kevin tried to control Starbuck, by pulling on the rope that was only just clinging to the horse's neck. Starbuck reared once again, and this time Kevin was not so lucky. One of Starbuck's front hoofs made painful contact with his chest and he was knocked, with great force, backwards. He heard a scream from Connor as he lost his balance and fell to the ground. As he collided with the ground he felt his head meet something hard and the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was the ringleader, rushing to his side, his blue eyes wide with fear. The darkness then claimed him and Kevin was aware of nothing else.