As they got outside, a strong wind gusted through pushing leaves and rattling the bushes. The clouds were turning gray, poised to break out into a violent storm.

"Shawn..." Ralph said, gripping a hold of Shawn's leg. "Gonna rain. I like to gotta find a hiding spot." he pointed towards the backyard bushes. "Or over there." he pointed towards the abandon house across the street. "Or over there." he pointed down the road to an unknown destination.

Shawn looked down the street where Ralph was pointing. He knew about the abandoned house, but where else could Ralph be hiding?

"Come on." Ralph said. "Let's go." He tugged on Shawn's shoulder, towards that unknown destination down the street.

"Have you ever met...the propriet...priopp..proptiet..." he stammered, the question and word stuck in his mouth.

Above, storm clouds continued to gather.

Shawn shook his head, shivering a bit. "No...but almost once." He told himself the incoming storm was making things a little chilly, and that was why he was trembling. Right?

"I never saw him." Ralph said as the two walked down the street. A few heavy drops hit Shawn on the shoulder, a sign that soon heavier rain was coming.

"He's in an old well." Ralph said, not seeming to care about the rain and entirely focused on holding on to Shawn's arm as he guided him down the street, sock flopping all the way. He seemed to enjoy Shawn's company, the idea of the rain not bothering him at all.

"And he want..want..want...souls. They all want...want..want..souls. I had a dream. And that means its true. Usually when I dream about...about...about...stuff, it come to have true. I dream about a contest in the Circus."

"What kind of contest?" Shawn wasn't foolish enough to look a gift horse in the mouth;; he had to learn all he could, or he'd be dead.

"Oh look." Ralph said, distracted. "The storms got...got..got..got...that lighting. It makes it lightning without it having line and cracks. It got lighting to make it lightning when it makes...makes...makes...makes it bright up but without lines in the air." Ralph explained, giddy with excitement and completely distracted. It wasn't that he didn't want to answer Shawn. It was more than as a young kid, he was easily, well, distracted.

Shawn looked at the lightning for a moment, enjoying it alongside Ralph. Then, after the moment had passed, he turned back to him. "What were you saying about a contest?"

"Gotta get souls. The proprietor....he...he...he...he...he don't care how he gets them or who gonna get...get...get to run the show. He only care about the end of the month. The show is gonna..gonna..gonna open soon, you know? So first to get the most souls is how it start to find out who is the show for, and what the Circus will be called. That's what I learned at Master Maker tent." he explained, eyes fixed on the sky that was pulsing bright. There were still virtually no drops falling.

Ralph cozied up to Shawn and their pace slowed slightly.

Shawn gave Ralph a reassuring squeeze as they continued down the street at their slow pace. "Thanks for telling me, Ralph. If you have any more dreams or remember anything from the tent, let me know, okay?"

"Yeah, mmmm-k." Ralph agreed moving towards the spot. "Here it is."

Ralph pointed to a trail in the bushes. It led to what looked like a forest trail, deep within the woods bordering the neighborhood.

Shawn regarded the direction of the trail and how often it seemed other people had used it. "Where does it go?

Ralph tugged on Shawn's arm, the sound of thunder booming from overhead. "You just come. You like it." He said, pulling on Shawn's arm, trying to lead him into the dark forest. "Because I help...help...help..explain the race."

Shawn follows Ralph's tugs, a little unsure, but trusting the kid enough to overcome it.
 "Okay, sure."

The thick canopy of the forest created a looming shadow that increasingly blocked out any bit of sunshine that had poked through the cloudy gray sky. Shawn could hear the pitter-patter of light rainfall on broad-leafed, summer leaves, but once inside the forest, he didn't find himself getting wet at all. Ralph moved slowly, plodding down the trail, dirty sock on one foot still flopping, collecting grime and bits of forest debris along the way.

"Gonna show you a spot I found that's a good...good...good...good..good...hiding place for that we can make play. I learn-ed the hiding for make play is good to make for play, but also...also..also..also...for running when you need...need...need to be safe. I also spot the entrance of the 'thing' from the Circus. He come out through here near...near...near...hiding spot. You wanna talk 'bout stuff until we get there?" Ralph asked, plodding Shawn to bring up a conversation that might be worth their while until they got to Ralph's secret hiding spot.

"What 'thing' from the Circus, Ralph?" Shawn looked around, trying to keep track of the details of his surroundings in case he had to come back later.

"ummmm..." Ralph pondered, As Shawn took in his surroundings. It was a pretty small trail, but it was direct. It wouldn't take long to remember how to get back if he needed to, the trail might have been small, but there were no turns or curves.

"Pig thing?" Ralph wagered. "We wait behind the rock, and I'll show you." he explained.

"Okay." Shawn followed Ralph behind the rock. "How do you know it'll be here?"

As Shawn sat down and rested his back against the rock, loud thunder struck the air, brief lighting flashes illuminated all the sky like a light switch turning on and off. Then he felt the gentle drops of rain once again.

The rock was large. Probably the biggest rock that Shawn had ever seen in the forest, or bird sanctuary as the teachers at school liked to call it. It bordered the school's property and Shawn's development.

"We're just...just...just...gonna be, for wait." Ralph explained, sitting next to Shawn. "When he comes, you'll see him." Ralph shoved one finger up his nose briefly, digging something out and putting it into his mouth before turning back to Shawn.

"We just...just..just...gotta wait. And talk. Want you want talk about?"

Shawn tried to get comfortable, but not so comfortable that he couldn't grab Ralph and run at a moment's notice. "Are you doing okay, Ralph?" He sounded a little concerned because, well, they were hiding behind a rock waiting for a pig monster.

"Ummmm...yeah. I mean...I mean..I mean yes and no." Ralph answered. "I don't think I'll get them back, my parents." He said, resigned. "And that's sad."

"But then what  you did...did...did..did was good. You saved me from the bad place. I don't have to work for...for...for Master Maker's tent no more. And you got me back the rubba sucky."

"How about you? Are you OK? I mean, after you did what you....you....you had to do to Bobby?"

Shawn looked over at Ralph, expression unreadable. Though honestly, even he wasn't sure how he felt right now. "You know about that?" Shawn's tone didn't sound particularly shocked or angry - it was just a dull, almost exhausted curiosity.

The exhaustion weighed on Shawn like a vest filled with stones, particularly heave around the shoulders. It was where he carried all of the responsibility and knowledge that had been building.

"Not all of it." Ralph said, matter of fact like. "You and Bob...Bob..Bob..Bobby are more like the same than me an you. You both like to have for play the same way. And you bo...bo...both like to do the same thing for not tell things for to have the way it was with the adults." He reasoned.

"I just say what...what..what...what...it was that had I done for real." he finshed.

Then he started up again.

"But you and me more like for the same that..eh-em...than Bobby, because...because...because...because..because we do it and done for things that was bad. Things we didn't want for do but then we...we...we...we...did them and for do it when we did it, we got used to it."

"Bobby never get used to it. Maybe Bobby can do...can do..can do...can do the bad things here." He spread his arms out. "But not there." He pointed downward. "Because Bobby not for getting used Circus. Bobby can't handle that kind of bad. That kind of bad, real bad."

Shawn didn't quite follow Ralph's roundabout way of talking, but it sounded like he understood. "No, I don't think he could. I just wanted to keep him safe..."

"Only you and I can know what to..to..to..to be like in Circus. Bobby just like you. He's a big kid just like you. And he likes to say fibs and stuff like you. I say stuff too much for true. But, I also think I can handle for it to be true. Bobby can't like that. He's too much for that." Ralph said, in a continuous stream of consciousness.

"Like Bobby probably wouldn't have helped Mr. Cherrywinks hunt for April. Mr. Cherrywinks was always after April. He wanted me to go get April, but I had to take care of Master Maker's tent."