This mobile circus is not well known, but it is very opportune and timely in its appearance.

On the third Tuesday of July is the martyrdom of St. John, the patron saint of the town, and all the townspeople will attend a large mass in his honor, receive communion, and a few children will complete their "conviction" during this mass, and then there will be a three-day and three-night celebration, of course, in this town characterized by strict and conservative characteristics, there will be no unbridled feasts or too presumptuous and forgetful, obscene performances and dances, The only thing that could be used as an extra entertainment was to watch some old-fashioned movies on the small projector installed in the school auditorium, as has always been the case.

So, the circus that has been talked about since a week ago, and the regular parade that the circus does when it enters the town on Monday — trumpets and accordions, snare drums and flutes, elephants, young girls in jeweled straitjackets riding on elephants (she wears black long-sleeved high-necked underwear in her topless tights for the eyes of the townspeople), ugly-looking tall camels, zebras with black and white stripes, grumpy lions and tigers in iron cages, clowns with balls, Little curly dogs, monkeys and whip-wielding dog trainers spin around the balls, and contortionist acrobats twisting their whole bodies around on floats...... It's not so surprising that they all received a huge, warm welcome.

The discussion of the circus was particularly lively among the children, and Mrs. Alain's youngest son came to talk to Sasha almost every day, until Mrs. Alain kept urging and shouting to go back to the school, where the Sunday school was a converted stone castle, and according to the rules it had since its founding, all students had to stay in it, even if their homes were only less than ten feet from the school.

Sasha breathed a sigh of relief, and you would never have imagined that a boy would have the nagging skills of an eighty-year-old woman, repeating back and forth twenty-one times how a camel's nose, thirty-four elephant's eyes, eight monkey's snot, and at least fifty times a lion's bloody maw and claws rattled at the iron fence.

The stairs creaked, the attic door was pushed open, and Catherine's somewhat unkempt golden head popped out of the doorway's treadboard.

Sasha cast an inquiring look, and Catherine looked a little uneasy, "Mrs. Alain needs me to look at the shop," she said hesitantly, "So, I don't think I can take you to the circus." The speed of his speech was fast, and his eyes as pure as the sky kept looking around.

Sasha stared at her for a moment, "It's okay," he shrugged, flipping through the book on his lap, "I'm not much of a circus in the first place." ”

Catherine didn't relax immediately, she bent her shoulders, held the door with both hands, and stared at Sasha for a while, and finally let out a long breath helplessly: "There will always be a chance in the future." She smiled reluctantly, climbed up and walked into the room, and pressed Sasha's little head and kissed it, her lips and fingers were cold and terrible—her mind was not hard to guess, Sasha thought, he believed that Ariawu's "docile" forest worms and crocodiles must have made a considerable impression on his aunt, and in that case it was reasonable for her not to allow herself to approach the beasts, lest any "emergency" arise; Especially since she had left Ariahou, she had never mentioned her father, or that she was leaving—she must have thought that she was constantly trying to figure out something to escape.

No, at least for now, he hasn't shifted his thinking to that direction.

Catherine didn't realize until now that the town was actually quite interesting.

***

Although the arrival and performance of the circus was expected by many people, it was the Mass that really took center stage and priority until then.

The procession of the Mass outnumbered the circus, and in Sasha's view, the solemn faces of men and women still dressed in the long skirts and hats of the last century, and about a dozen young men and women dressed in white to perform the confirmation, and the cross held high in the hands of the priest, and the verses sung by the priests along the way were far more interesting than elephants and monkeys.

The assistant priest finished reading the scriptures and began to repeat the great deeds of the patron saint St. John, who was in Latin, and although there were many errors, Sasha could barely understand it, well, a pretty ...... Meaningful stories.

He looked up at Catherine, who was holding his hand and walking forward, she was wearing a white lace hat, her hair was wrapped in it, she was covered with a black turban, a white turtle-collared shirt covered with a large dark brown skirt, and her feet were flat-heeled leather shoes of the same color as the turban, her face was not makeup, her fingers were not painted with nail polish, and there was no ornament on her body except for a black iron ring symbolizing widowhood, but both her face and expression were full of that kind of serenity and tranquility that made people smile bitterly.

She looked like she'd been living here for a hundred and eighty years.

Sasha didn't know if he should translate and repeat to Catherine what he had heard...... The great St. John, a mercenary chief, saved the town by God's will, threatened by bandits and enemies, and the townspeople were very grateful to him, but they searched the whole town and could not find any goods worthy of this merit, and it was suggested: "Let us kill him, and then make him the patron saint of the town." "All the townspeople discussed and voted on it, and they thought it was a good idea, so they did it.

But Catherine loved the town, as Sasha had long since confirmed, though all she could get here was a lot of work and a meager income, as well as the assessive eyes and whispers that made Sasha uncomfortable.

She seemed to see it as a clear and sweet spring to wash away the dirt of both body and soul, oh, and perhaps the past that she couldn't wait to leave behind.

Sasha looked at the puppet of the saint who was carried on the shoulders of the people, decorated like the angel Gabriel, dressed in fine clothes, and holding a sword, and he thought that the great St. John would not like this.

The people sang hymns and walked around the town with the cross and the statue of St. John in a joyful mood, until the children who had attended the confirmation, whose faces were tired and painful, staggered into the church, where everything was ready, the linen on the icon had been removed, the linen on the altar had been laid, the golden fire on the white candles shimmered, the incense in the incense boat had been lit, and the sweet fragrance filled the whole church.

The whole Mass could not be said to be as formal as that of the Basilica of the Angels in Rome, and it could be said to be second to none in the parish, with Sasha and Catherine in the last row of seats, with Mrs. Alain and Sheriff Aaron next to them.

"Behold," suddenly Mrs. Alain whispered, both nervously and proudly, "that's my Tom!" ”

Sure enough, one of the children, who were well-washed and neatly dressed, and who looked like little angels by candlelight, was wearing red hair like a special marking, and he was stepping forward to allow the priest to put his noble hand on the little head.

The priest reads: "Lord, bless this child of yours by your divine grace; Let him belong to you forever; Let the Holy Spirit communicate with Him and grow stronger until He ascends into your eternal kingdom. ”

The little assistant next to him quickly shook the incense boat, and the smoke coming out of the incense boat suddenly thickened, causing the children who were busy receiving the gift of confirmation, a copy of the Catechism, to sneeze suddenly.

"Look, look that." Mrs. Alain burst into tears with excitement, as if it were not a wisp of fragrance that had penetrated her child's nose, but a Holy Spirit as pure as snow and swift as lightning.

Catherine unconsciously grabbed Sasha's arm, her smile stiffened.

Sasha hung her head and smiled, he dared to guarantee his dinner today and breakfast tomorrow, she must have thought of another "priest" now.

(To be continued)