The next morning Erik was dragged out of bed even earlier than usual, to go into town and collect the elephant.

He wasn't entirely sure why he was going. It seemed that his promise to occasionally help out with the animals was being taken full advantage of. Charles was back to his chipper self once again, but in a considerably more genuine way than the previous night. He fidgeted, a motion that Erik was beginning to think was a habit, but not as outwardly noticeably as at dinner. During the short ride into town he stated out the window as Shaw talked, worrying his lower lip between his teeth.

They stepped onto the overgrown lawn of a small barn just outside the downtown area. It was more of a warehouse really, with buildings close on either side, a hardware store and a textiles factory. There was a tall black man standing by the door smoking, but he stomped out the cigarette when they approached.

"Mr Clendenon I take it!" Shaw said with an oily smile, "The man to show us the key to out future."

The man shook Shaw's proffered hand, but didn't seem impressed with what he saw. His eyes drifted over Erik and Charles where they strode behind Shaw and his lips flicked into a slight sneer. Erik bristled and Charles, seeming to notice, caught his gaze and rolled his eyes good-naturedly. Erik bit back a smile and tried to calm down.

"Come on in then, I suppose, and take this damned beast off my hands." the man growled in a rough smokers' voice. He turned and unlocked the padlocked door with a rusty old key that he fished out of the pocket of his overalls. Erik drew in a sharp breath and likewise, he heard a gasp from beside him. In the shadows of the small barn was the largest animal Erik had ever seen.

"Come Charles, come here and say hello!" Shaw all but crowed. The man was humming with energy, and he eagerly sidled up to the massive creature. Charles trailed after more slowly, cautiously regarding the animal. Impatient, Shaw grabbed his arm and dragged him forward. "Say hello Charles, don't be shy! This here girl and you are going to be working together very often from now on. Come on, give her a pet, she's safe to pet isn't she?"

Mr Clendenon spat out of the corner of his mouth and scoffed, "Safe? Sure. This beast won't hurt a fly, unless she mistook ya for a plant and tried ta eatcha. Wouldn't put it past her either, this is one stupid animal."

"Stupid?" Charles asked hesitantly, "but she knows the basic tricks right?"

"Tricks? If eating a ton and shitting even more count as tricks than she's the trickiest damn elephant around. But as far as anything circus-y than you sods have your work cut out for ya! She don't know shit! That's why you got her so cheap, the old Kraut who owned her before was a loony, and he died and just left her here."

Charles looks at Shaw, eyes wide with dismay, but the man looked unconcern. "No matter boys," he said reassuringly and he turned to look over his shoulder with a toothy smile, "these untrained beasts are all the same, just show them who's in charge and they'll listen."

Shaw had to go finalize the paperwork concerning the new trapezest, so he left it to Erik to organize the transport of the elephant. Mr Clendenon handed him a metal rod with a wicked looking curve at the end, "A bull hook" he called it, "you'll need it."

Erik ended up paying a team of black workers under the man's employ to help them walk the elephant through the streets to the circus grounds, they cleared a path through the town, citizens stopping to gawk at them as they passed. He walked behind with Charles, the two of them wincing together each time one of the men slammed the bull hook into the poor animal's side.

"I don't think I'll be able to hit her like that." Charles admitted dismally, "I'll never be able to make her listen."

Erik had no reply, so he just shook his head helplessly. Shaw was a fool. This purchase was bound to drag the entire circus down into the dust. The money that feeding and housing the animal would be a huge drain on their funds if she couldn't bring the crowds that were expected of her..

"She's magnificent though." He mused, "It was always the dream, the thing to aim for my whole life. You know you're a real show when there's an elephant, you know? No great circus is complete without."

Erik agreed. He'd never seen an animal this massive before without bars between them. He can't picture Charles perched on its back, the man looked so tiny beside it.

They settled the elephant into the carriage that used to belong to Emma the horse, Charles paid the men with a wad of bills he brought out from his pocket, and then they lingered for a while, watching the animal munch straw. They took turns holding out crab apples that they picked up from under a tree they passed on the way back. The elephant- Maggie- plucked each one patiently from their hands and transferred them to her undulating mouth. At first Charles was hesitant, understandably nervous, but as it became clear that the animal was as gentle as can be, he grew more confident, laughing happily when her whiskered trunk tickled his palm.

"I'm sure you can get her to walk in a straight line for the parade." Erik said to him, thinking of the big old Clydesdales that his father had used to plow the fields back home, "Any animal can walk forward, all you've got to do is stay on her back. Shaw can't make you do anything you don't want to."

Charles just laughed some more.

In the background somebody was playing the harmonica. After a while a woman's voice joins in, then multiple voices. One soars above the rest, loud and strong, that Erik recognized as Sean's. The camp rings with their harmony and Charles was smiling softly at him. Leaning back in the hay beside Charles, watching as he lifted a shy hand to rub Maggie's trunk, Erik felt content for the first time in weeks.

His good mood stuck after they left the elephant car to go their separate ways and even running into Alex Summers on the way to find Logan didn't dampen his spirits. As usual the boy spared him a sneer as he approached the place where he stood over Beast. The dog was squatting beside a bush taking a very loose shit.

"That doesn't look healthy." Erik remarked as he drew even to them.

"Thanks for the input Ivy League." Alex's tone was confrontational, but Erik's new found cheer seemed to have dampened his desire to fight back.

"Try honey." he suggested pleasantly, moving to continue his path to the half-raised bigtop.

"Honey?"

"Yup, my sheepdog back home was getting on in years and so were his bowels. Feed him a little honey it'll plug him right up."

And with that lovely note Erik strode on. Alex huffed disgruntledly but nevertheless departed in the opposite direction in search of the cook.