Chapter 14 truth or dare

(Annotation: Truth or Dare, a group game, the person being asked must choose one of the two, answer any question honestly, or do whatever the questioner instructs.) Concord, Massachusetts, September 1897 They sat on the oak tree in the afternoon sun, five of them.Caroline sat on the highest branch because she always climbed the highest.Her buddy Milly perched beneath her.Brother Mackenzie, the two who were throwing acorns at the squirrels, sat lower than she, but not the lowest.He always sat on the lowest branch, not because he was afraid of heights, but because he represented his status among the group of people, and he was actually accepted with great difficulty.As Caroline's youngest brother, I can be said to be both lucky and helpless.Bailey had been allowed to join them for some time, but his status was always the same.

Truth or Dare?Caroline shouted from the top branch.Finding no answer, she threw an acorn at her brother's head.Truth, or, Dare?she asked again. Bailey rubbed his capped head.Perhaps the acorn determined his answer.Truth is a submissive answer, succumbing to Caroline's nut-throwing, humiliating game.Big Adventure is a little more provocative.Even though he is accommodating her, at least he is not a coward. It seemed correct to say so, and seeing Caroline unable to answer for a while, he felt rather proud.She sat on a branch about fifteen feet above his head, dangling her legs, looking out over the prairie, thinking about the big adventure.The McKenzies are still bullying the squirrels.Caroline smiled and cleared her throat to issue her order.

Bailey's big adventure, she began, emphasizing that it was his adventure and nobody's business, tied him up.She hasn't even said what his big adventure is, and he's already starting to feel uneasy.She paused deliberately, and then said: Bailey's big adventure is breaking into the nighttime circus. Milly gasped.Brother Mackenzie stopped throwing acorns and looked up at her, oblivious to the squirrels.Caroline looked down at Bailey with a smug smile on her face.And bring something back as evidence.She added, unable to hide the triumph in her voice. This great adventure is impossible, everyone knows it.

Bailey looked at the other side of the grassland, which looked like a circus tent scattered in the middle of the valley with peaks.It looks so quiet during the day, no lights, no music, no crowds.There were only striped tents, which looked more grayish-yellow than black-and-white in the afternoon sun.It feels a little quirky, maybe a little mysterious, but nothing out of the ordinary.I can't feel it in broad daylight.And it's not too scary, Bailey thought. no problem.He said.He jumped from the lower branches and started across the prairie, not wanting to hear what they had to say, much less for Caroline to withdraw from this great adventure.She must have thought he was afraid to accept it.An acorn whizzed past his ear, and nothing else.

For reasons that Bailey himself could not explain clearly, he walked to the circus with great determination. The circus looked just as it did when he first saw it, when he was less than six years old. It also appeared in the same place at the time.Now it feels like it's always been there.It was as if it had only been temporarily invisible for the past five years, leaving the prairie empty there. At the age of less than six, he was not allowed to enter the circus.His parents thought he was too young, so he could only stare fascinatedly at the tents and lights from afar. How much he wished it would stay longer until he was of the right age, but it disappeared without warning two weeks later, leaving a heartbroken baby Bailey.

But it finally came back. It arrived just a few days ago and is still very new.If it had been around for a long time, Caroline would probably have chosen another adventure.But the circus is the talk of the town at the moment, and Caroline likes big adventures in style. Bailey had his first real experience with the circus the night before. He was such an eye-opener.Lighting, clothing, are full of freshness.It was as if he had suddenly lost his routine and wandered into another world. He thought it was supposed to be a show, sitting in a chair and watching or something. But he soon discovered that this was not the case at all.

That's something to explore. He probed as far as he could, but found to his chagrin that he couldn't.He didn't know which of the dozens of tents to start with.Each tent bore a tantalizing sign that hinted at its contents, and every turn he took in these twisting dappled paths led to more tents, more signs, more secrets. He found a tent full of acrobats, and stayed inside watching them flip and flip until his neck ached from staring too long.He wandered into a tent covered in mirrors and saw hundreds of Baileys staring back at him wide-eyed, each wearing the same gray baseball cap.

Even the food is amazingly delicious.The caramelized apples, the icing so dark it was almost black, were light, crisp and sweet.And chocolate bats with incredibly detailed wings.And the best apple juice Bailey has ever had in his life. Everything is magical, and it seems to never end.All trails have no end, either turn into other trails or circle back to the square. He couldn't describe it exactly afterwards.When his mother asked him if he had a good time, he could only nod. They didn't stay as long as he'd hoped.If his parents allowed, Bailey would really like to play here all night, there are too many tents he hasn't had a chance to explore.But after only a few hours, his parents urged him to go home and sleep, and promised him that he could go again next week, but he anxiously remembered the last time it disappeared all of a sudden.He longed to go back almost as soon as he left.

He was thinking that maybe he accepted this big adventure challenge so that he could return to the circus sooner. It took him nearly ten minutes to walk across the prairie.As he got closer, the tents grew bigger and more terrifying, and his confidence faded away. By the time he reached the entrance gate, he was already considering not going in and just finding something to use as evidence. The gate was three times as tall as his body, and the words Dream Circus at the top were a little blurry in daylight, and each word was about the size of a big pumpkin.The wrought-iron scrolls around the lettering did remind him of pumpkin vines, too.There was an intricately shaped lock on the gate, and a small sign reading in swirling letters:

This entrance opens at dusk & closes at dawn There is a line of fine print at the bottom: Trespassers will be bloodletted Bailey didn't know what bloodletting was, but the word sounded a little scary.The circus during the day feels a bit eerie, too quiet.No music, no vocals.Only the chirping of birds nearby and the rustling of leaves in the forest.Not even half a person was visible in the arena, as if the whole place had been abandoned.It smelled more or less like the evening, a mix of caramel, popcorn, and campfire smoke. Bailey looked back across the prairie.The others were still in the trees, though very small from this distance, and they were obviously watching him, so he decided to go around to the other side of the fence.He wasn't sure he really wanted to do it anymore, and if he did, he'd rather not be seen.

The fence beyond the gate was almost all around the edge of the tent, so that there was no gap at all to enter.Bailey kept going. A few minutes after the oak tree had disappeared from his sight, he noticed that part of the fence did not abut the tent, but went around a short passage.The passage was like an alley between tents, going around the edge of a tent and disappearing around a corner.If you want to sneak in, this is the perfect place. Bailey found himself really wanting to go inside.Not just for the adventure games, but because he's curious, and the curiosity is unbearable.In addition to proving himself to Caroline and her group of companions, besides curiosity, there was also a longing to go back that was affecting him. The iron bars of the fence were so thick and smooth that Bailey knew without trying that he couldn't climb over them.Except for the bottom few feet where there is no point of support for the foot to step on, the top of the fence rolls outward in a swirl like spikes.It doesn't look too scary, but it doesn't look like much either. However, the fence was obviously not built to prevent ten-year-old boys from crossing, for the iron railings, though strong, had gaps almost a foot wide between them.Bailey, who is a bit small, can easily get through. He hesitated, just for a while, but he knew that if he didn't give it a try, he would definitely regret it, no matter what happened next. He thought that compared with the night, the feeling would be different.But when he got through the fence and stood on the passage between the two tents, he felt as if he were outside.If its magic was still there during the day, he couldn't feel it. And it felt empty, with no staff or performers in sight. It's quieter inside, you can't even hear the birds chirping.The leaves that had been rustling at his feet hadn't followed him over the fence, though there was enough room between the railings for the breeze to carry them in. Bailey considered where to go, and what to take as evidence of a great adventure.There didn't seem to be much to pick up here, just bare dirt and smooth striped tent cloth.The tents looked surprisingly old in the daylight, and he wondered how long this circus had been on tour.Where did it go when it left?He guessed there should be a special circus train, but there was no railway station in this area, and as far as he knew, no one had ever seen such a train. Bailey turned right at the end of the path and found a row of tents ahead, each with a sign explaining what the show was about.Beautiful flight, one of them is written; the mystery of Taixu, this is another one.Bailey breathlessly passed a tent labeled Horrible Beasts & Strange Creatures, but heard no movement inside.He couldn't find anything to take with him because he didn't want to steal the sign, and all he could see were scraps of paper and the occasional crushed popcorn. The afternoon sun cast long, narrow shadows across the dry ground between the tents.On the ground here, some areas are painted white with paint or powder, and some are painted black.Bailey saw places where so much trampling had exposed the brown soil beneath.He turned the corner again, wondering if they'd have to repaint it every night.He almost bumped into the girl because he kept his eyes on the ground. She was standing on the path between the tents, standing there as if waiting for him.She appeared to be about his age, and was wearing what could only be called a costume, because it was certainly not ordinary clothes.White boots with lots of buttons, white socks, and a white dress made from scraps of various fabrics.Fragments of lace, silk, and cotton, all put together, plus a white military jacket, and white gloves.The area below her neck was white, which set off her red hair very beautifully. You shouldn't have come in.The red-haired girl said softly, without annoyance or even surprise in her tone.Bailey blinked at her fiercely, unable to answer for a moment. I uh, I know.He said it felt like he couldn't have answered more stupidly than this, but the girl just looked at him.sorry.He added, sounding even more stupid. You'd better leave quickly before anyone finds out.The girl spoke and glanced behind her, but Bailey couldn't see what she was looking for.Where are you from? From that, uh Bailey turned, but couldn't figure out exactly which way he was coming from.The path circled in and out, and he couldn't recognize which signs he had just passed.I don't know either.He said. It's okay, come with me.The girl took him by the white-gloved hand and led him down a passage.She said nothing as they passed from tent to tent.It wasn't until they came to a corner that she asked him to stop, and they remained motionless for a minute.When he asked what they were waiting for, she just put a finger to her lips to silence him, and then walked on again. Can you squeeze through those railings?the girl asked, and Bailey nodded.Then the girl suddenly turned behind a tent and walked up a passage that Bailey hadn't noticed, where she finally saw the fence and the grass outside again. Get out from here, the girl said: You will be fine.She helped Bailey through the railing, which had a slightly smaller gap.He got to the other end and turned to face the girl. Thank you.He said.He couldn't think of anything else to say. You're welcome, the girl said: but you should be careful.It is not allowed to enter during the day, this is illegal entry. I know, sorry.Bailey said.What is bloodletting? The girl smiled. Meaning to bleed all the blood off you, she said: But they don't really do that, I don't think so. She turned and walked back down the passage. Wait a moment.It's just that he doesn't know what he wants her to wait for, Bailey said.The girl went back to the fence.She didn't speak, just waiting to hear what he had to say.I have to take one thing back with me.He regretted it immediately, he said.The girl frowned and looked at him through the railing. Bring something back?she asked. yes.Bailey stared down at her scuffed brown shoes and her white boots inside the railing.It's a big adventure game.He added that he expected her to understand. The girl smiles.She bit her lower lip, thinking, then took off one of her white gloves and handed it to him through the gap in the railing.Bailey hesitated. It doesn't matter, take it, she said: I have a big box of this thing. Bailey took the white gloves from her and put them in his pocket. Thank you.he said again. You're welcome, Bailey.the girl said.This time when she turned to walk away, he didn't say anything, just saw her turn the corner of a tent and disappear. Bailey stood there for a long time before walking back across the prairie.When he approached the oak tree, there was no one on it, only the acorns on the ground.The sun is gradually setting. On the way home, he remembered that he hadn't told the girl his name.