"Ouch! I'm fine!" Race screamed as Chrys bandaged all of the cuts and bruises he received from Snyder. "If you were fine, you wouldn't be screaming in pain every five seconds now will you?" Chrys snapped at him. Race sighed as he leaned back onto his pillow. He knew well enough not to mess with Chrys if she was in a bad mood. Suddenly Chrys cleared her throat and as if on cue, the room emptied except for Spot, Jack, David, Les, Michael, and Tenderfoot. "What?" Race asked, dreading the answer. "Listen Race," began Chrys. "Snyder talked to our boss Harold. He bribed him to make sure you were in that tent so they could kidnap you." "What?!" Race screamed. "I can't believe that jerk! I'm glad you quit that circus." He saw everyone in the room glance uncertainly at each other. "You did quit didn't you?" "We want to, we really do," started Tenderfoot. "But us three are in a bit of a money problem and it is a buck a day plus more on performances. So we're gonna stay in the circus." "Who's we?!" Chrys said. Everyone except Michael stared at her in confusion. Chrys smiled. "While you were untying Race, my hands kinda wandered around and plopped in Snyder's pockets. He had over a hundred bucks in his pocket. So, we paid off our debts and decided to quit the circus. Harold was mad at us but he said we could go if we took our animals since he didn't want to take care of them for us." "Alright!" Race said laughing happily. They heard a faint neighing outside. Race walked to the window with help and looked out. Tied to the stairs were two horses, a panther and its cub, and a monkey. "So you're really staying?" Race said hopefully. If they were, then it would be like old times. "Course we are Racey!" Chrys said hugging him tightly and making him wince. "And we can go to the racetracks." Michael said and Tenderfoot nodded fervently next to him. Race smiled. He knew this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.



~THE END~