I cowered on the ground, feeling broken.  When everyone was taken back to their cages, the Ringmaster had walked steadily to my performance platform and gazed at me for a long, terrible minute.  Then, without speaking, he nodded to the clowns tailing him.  One picked up the slumped boy, the other reached for me and pulled me roughly behind the Ringmaster.  They took me from the bigtop to a dark tent.  The tent that we all knew about but never mentioned.  The one that we went to in most of our nightmares.<br/><br/>He stood over me and screamed, spit flying and landing on me like rain.  For what seemed like hours his harsh voice screeched about how much it would cost the circus to keep the boys friends quiet, to stop people from asking questions, and how I could have scared people away.  When he began to talk about my punishment, his voice quieted.  It had become silky and smooth, even though he had strained it so intensely.  "What you have done is inexcusable.  You will be punished severally and for a long time, my dear." He smiled wickedly.  Even now, a tear fell down my cheek as I thought of what could possibly be in that old mans twisted mind.  He had beaten me with his long cane, topped with a cackling jester, which I had learned was very hard.