Sitting on her haunches letting her head clear completely she surveyed her surroundings.

The door to the boxcar was a set of bars, which she might be able to fit through with an effort but she knew better than to try it with the train in motion.

What really caught her attention was just beyond the door opening, it was a set of bars that ran completely across the boxcar from side to side. It was just one huge built in cage. In the cage were some creatures she had never encountered before, in smell or in sight.

There were five of them and they were all sitting up at the cage bars just looking at her. They were covered with fur, had long tails and very long arms. They were light in color with dark patches in places and great big yellow eyes.

She moved a little bit towards them and they all screeched and started jumping all over the cage in total hysteria and confusion.

Staying on the far side of the boxcar door she was out of reach of those long arms and could look out as the boxcar was pulled monotonously along on it's journey.

The clackety clack of the train riding the ribbon of iron lulled her to sleep as she lay by the door watching the scenery roll by.

She woke hungry and very thirsty. She could see a large water trough in the cage with the strange creatures but didn't want to risk another clout on the head trying to stick it through the cage bars to get a drink.

Shifting her position to get more comfortable, the creatures all took off screaming again and this gave her an idea.

Standing up, walking stiff and strut legged with her hackles raised and emitting a low growl she approached the corner of the cage where the water trough was. As the creatures somersaulted and careened around the cage, she quickly stuck her head through the bars and took a long drink just barely managing to yank her head back as the long arm of one of the creatures took a swipe at her from an overhead platform. Quickly she scrambled back out of range.

Darkness had fallen and the train kept on rolling. A couple of hours before dawn, the rhythm of the train changed and Moonbeam sensed it was slowing down.

When the train came to a stop, before she had time to squeeze through the bars and try to get back to Charlie, she heard footsteps and voices coming her way.

With no other alternative she hid back in among the bags of feed and bales of hay.

The door slid back with a crash and some people started taking the bags out of the boxcar. Another person came in with a large basket of fruit and threw it through the bars where the creatures all pounced on it and started eating.

"Whew, he said, these Lemurs really stink, make a note to get this car thoroughly cleaned while we play this town".

As the bags and bales were moved out, Moonbeam was forced to move deeper and deeper into the interior of the boxcar. Finally there was only one bag left for her to hide behind and as she was backed into a corner, nowhere else to retreat to.

When the man lifted up the last bag of meal, he was confronted with a snarling, teeth bared, hackles up scared little dog. He backed slowly towards the door keeping the bag of meal between him and Moonbeam. As he backed out the door, one of the Lemurs gave him a whup up side his head and he dropped the bag, cursed the Monkey and slammed the barred door to the boxcar shut.

"What's the matter?" someone said.

"Better get Sam," he replied, "we got us a stowaway in there, and I think it's a dog".

"Is it a big dog"?

"No, but it sure thinks it is".

Sam Everett was the head owner of "Sam's Traveling Carnival and Circus Maximus". He had won the ownership of it in a poker game a number of years ago holding three Kings to his opponents three Tens.

There wasn't much to it when he took it over. A dozen or so horse-drawn Wagons, a few pitiful animals for exhibits and a dozen employees, none of who had been paid in months.

All of the employees were true Carnys (Carnival Folks) having what they referred to as sawdust in their blood and none wanted to let the little traveling show die out. They figured with some proper management this could really be a fun and profitable business.

So Sam came up with a plan. He sat all of them down to see what they thought about it.

Sam's plan was very simple. He had a few dollars stashed away and would throw it into the general pot for all of them. He would then make all of them equal partners in the property and they would all share equally in the profits or loss. Bottom line was, if they all worked together and made a success of this run down old show, they would all make money, if not, they would all go under together.

Because there were 13 of them total, decisions for the general running of the venture would be voted on by the twelve new owners, Sam would vote only as a tiebreaker. Sam figured they knew a lot more about Carny life than he did so it was only right that they make business decisions unless they deadlocked on a decision and then they would all have to abide by his tie-breaking vote.

The first thing that had to be done was to take care of the animals. The old and sick were retired and put out to pasture. The two chimpanzees were given to a local zoo and the exotic birds (one parrot and two parakeets) were given to a local vet who would find them good homes.

The first couple of seasons the show barely broke even. They traveled the back roads of the Midwest hitting very small farming communities and staying for two or three days at each.

They didn't have much to offer in those first couple of years. There was a fortune teller, a guess your weight and age stand, some games on the small midway and a few food stands.

Sam was a pretty good magician, a little thing he had picked up in his pre carny travels so the main show each night was a magic show.

It was Sam's brilliant idea at the beginning of the third year that finally started bringing in the money and put them into the black and out of the red for good.

Every night after the magic show, the tent would be converted into a Bingo Tent where people could buy cards and play for cash prizes.

By the eighth year they were out of the wagons and into big rigs that they could load onto railroad cars.

As they grew is size, they grew in employees and a members fund was set with ten percent of each nights profit after overhead going into this fund. At the end of the year's season (which ran from April until sometime in November) this fund would be divided equally between the employees as a yearly bonus.

The tenth year they had 25 employees and the pot had $3200.00 in it, the eleventh year they had 34 employees and the pot had $7600.00 in it to divide up. So far this year, (the 21st) with the season only half over there were 59 employees and the pot held a whopping $94,000.00. It had been a great year and looked to get even better.

Their show made the same basic run every year. They would leave their winter home in Sarasota, Florida on the first of April and open up in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on the Grand Strand on April 4th.

Their entire season they had certain towns to be in at certain times to coincide with local celebrations because that's when the people would be out and in a festive mood.

They had just left their standard July 4th stop in Tennessee a few days ago, stopped in Topeka, Kansas to load up on feed and supplies and were due in Lincoln, Nebraska on July 10th.

Bob and Regina had just finished supper and were relaxing in the den when the doorbell rang. It was Sheriff Johnson and he actually took his hat off when he was invited in. He told them that all their work on Community Awareness about personal and animal security had finally paid off.

A couple of days ago old Mrs. Watley over on Fuller had heard her little poodle, Tango, yapping in the back yard. When she looked out the kitchen window she saw a man kneeling down handing treats to Tango with one hand and he had a big burlap bag in the other.

She hurriedly reached into the mantle drawer and pulled out her Great Grandfathers old Colts Dragoon .58 Caliber pistol and shot the mans left ear off. She called the Sheriff while the man lay on the ground thrashing, cursing, crying, groaning and yelling. Doing her part, Tango chewed on his leg when she could get a bite or two in and he was now down at the city jail under arrest.

The lock on her back gate had been pried off with a crowbar and the man's story would be of interest to them. He was a dog snatcher supplying puppy mills and he had been through here about three years ago. He remembered grabbing a Min Pin and selling her to a man in Arkansas.

Sheriff Johnson said he had all the details on the Arkansas connection and had called the State Police and asked them to check it out. The Arkansas Officer had just called back a few minutes ago and said the mans name was Harley Bubba Brown and his puppy mill outside of Jonesboro in the Northeast part of the state had been raided about two and a half years ago.

Apparently he had been tipped of because when the S.P.C.A. people and the county animal officials had arrived with the warrant, there was nothing there but the smoking ruins of an old barn with the charred remains of about one hundred dogs in the ashes. No dogs were found running loose so it was probable that all of his stock had perished.

He said he was sorry to bring them this news but thought that it might bring them some closure and he was sure they would have wanted to know.

They had talked about getting another permanent dog and this seemed like a sign that Moonbeam would not be coming home again. The Sheriff left and they talked long into the night finally deciding that the next rescue that came their way would find it's forever home right here with them.

Sam stood looking through the bars of the Boxcar. On the right side were the Lemurs jumping and screaming and in the back left corner was the little dog in a defensive position, growling and teeth bared. Sam had brought some roast beef from the diner with him and with this in hand he opened the barred door and went in very slowly. Staying far to the left, out of the reach of the mischievous monkeys, he approached the trembling little dog with his hand outstretched holding the roast beef. Stopping about 4 feet from the dog he gently threw the meat over to her, speaking very gently but firmly to her.

Moonbeam gobbled down the meat and settled down some. Something about this man kneeling in front of her told her that she had nothing to fear. She slowly approached his outstretched hand, ready all the time to bite and run should she sense any danger, but there was none.

After a couple of minutes of ear scratches and soft talk, she knew she would be safe with this man and she let him pick her up. Sam carried her around with him while the unpacking and setting up the Circus/Carnival got under way.

Lincoln, Nebraska was always a good stop for them and they always stayed for two weeks each year. Besides the Bingo tent they now had three other big tents for shows, a long midway full of games and food booths and a number of rides for the younger kids. On each end of the midway were two special booths where onions were fried all afternoon and evening. The smell of frying onions always seemed to produce hunger in people and as these were fried, the smell was blown up and down the midway by two enormous fans at each booth. Food sales always went up big time after the onion smell was started an hour or so after opening.

Sam called the County Shelter listed on the rabies tag on the little dogs collar and was told that this particular dog had been adopted by a woman trucker named Charlene Brady in January of this year, no permanent address. Sam gave them his winter residence number in Saratoga in case the lady thought to contact them about her lost dog. Until then, Gypsy as he called her became a part of his family.

Sam thought that maybe his new little friend would enjoy being in one of the big tent acts so in his spare time he started training her to steal the clown's wig and run around the ring with it while the clown chased her trying to get it back. Moonbeam always thought this was great fun. She would run around and around while the clown tripped and fell and the crowd laughed loudly. She would stop every once in a while and give the wig a thorough shaking and then take off running again as the clown got too close to her.

When Sam (who was the Ringmaster) would come back into the ring, she would run and leap into his arms with the wig in her mouth. This always brought a round of applause from the crowd and a treat for her from Sam.

Late nights would find her curled up at Sam's feet while he sat at his desk doing payroll, ordering supplies or equipment, scheduling events, paying bills or making bank deposits and just paperwork in general. She never climbed into the bed until Sam did, usually around 3AM and she would sleep where she could see the door in case she needed to turn any intruders or uninvited guests into beef jerky.

Moonbeam really loved the circus. Most times she would be found dancing along at Sam's heels as he went from place to place in his daily rounds to ensure that everything was ready for their normal noontime opening but sometimes she would wander around on her own with special greetings, licks and stub wags for all her new friends who worked with the show. Sometimes she would stop by the animal exhibit cages and snarl at the Lemurs just to see them go into orbit but she never made the mistake of getting within arms' reach of them.

Moonbeam especially liked to watch the dog act when it was rehearsing. She thought it was kind of funny the way the dogs walked on beams, pushed a baby carriage around and did flips and jumps. One even stood on a large beach ball and rolled it around the arena with his paws while he balanced on top.

Once when she was watching, Sam came in and stood beside her for a while. He noticed her intensive attention on the performing dogs and he looked at her and raised one eyebrow in his do you want to try that look. Moonbeam just lay down and rolled over on her back, kicking her feet in the air in her "Don't bother me. I'm busy routine."

Magic seems to surround a circus and a carnival. The glow of fun and joy it carries seems to rub off on people and spending a day at the show takes away the fatigue and worry of everyday life.

For Moonbeam, she was having the time of her life. The more accustomed she became with the daily show routine and the after show travel, the more she enjoyed it.

Moonbeam always rode the train in the seat next to Sam. When he went to the dining car, she was right there with him. While the roustabouts were setting up in each town, Sam would always make a short trip to the City Hall to get the years permits and pay the fees required for setting up and running the show. Moonbeam always went with him and Sam always made sure that she was tethered to a leash when out of the vehicle and on the city streets. It was not so much that he thought she would run away, it was more a mistrust of her curious nature and she might wander off and get lost again.

After Sam had the permits in hand, he would make stops at a number of wholesale warehouses buying the midway food supplies and anything else they were short of and make delivery arrangements. Then he would return to the setup area and help with getting ready to open. Moonbeam usually just wandered around while everything was being set up.

She never got in anyone's way and seemed to be everywhere like some Project Supervisor. Labor day always found them in Cheyenne, Wyoming to coincide with the annual Cowboy Days and Great State Rodeo. They stayed two weeks at this stop every year and it was one of their biggest moneymakers. Some of the crew even tried their hand at bucking broncos and roping calves. None were any good but they all had a lot of fun and the carnival people and the rodeo people always gave freebies to each other so everyone came out ahead.

On two separate occasions, customers had made offers to buy Moonbeam from Sam. The idea was out of the question of course. Moonbeam's act in the big ring still drew lots of applause each night and so many people would be asking where she was after the show, Sam decided maybe people would like to see more of her so he put her in his magic act. It was her job to bring him his magic wand at the start of the act. It took her a while to get used to this because of her other act with the clown.

The first night she worked with Sam, she trotted out with the wand in her mouth right on cue and when Sam reached to take it from her she backed up keeping it right out of his reach. It ended up with Sam chasing her around the ring trying to get the wand and Moonbeam keeping it away from him just like the clown act. During the course of the play, she accidentally hit the hidden button on the end of the wand and the artificial compressed flowers popped out one end and an American Flag out of the other. This was great stuff, Sam was laughing, the audience was clapping and Moonbeam was having a ball.

But sooner or later, even great fun has to come to an end, at least for a while. The season was coming to a close and it had been a very good one.

The employee bonus pot had $191,000.00 in it, which meant a bonus for each of the 59 employees of $3237.28. They played their last big stop in November at the fairgrounds in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

After the final show in Fort Wayne, the employee bonus pot was divided up and all the employees not going to Sarasota for winter camp left the troop and went their own way. Wintering in Florida was an optional thing and usually only the 13 owners and maybe a dozen of the employees went.

They did no unpacking in Sarasota, the train was placed on a siding and there it stayed until early March when the process began to get the show ready for the coming year so there was really no need for most of the employees who worked the midway or were with the set up and roustabout crews.

Everyone departing was given the day and time to show up the following year and as there were always new people wanting to sign on, it was advisable to be there on time and ready to go to work. If you missed startup day, your job was given to someone else and you missed out for the year. Bottom line was, if you were not there to claim your job as an old hand, it went to someone who was ready and willing to get to work. No exceptions. Each year there was always some 5 or 6 who did not return so each year there were 5 or 6 anxious rookies to fill their slots for the summer adventure.

After leaving Fort Wayne, there were no more show stops but there was one last supply stop. The train would pull into the supply stop depot about 9 in the morning and Sam would wire his supply inventory and arrival day and time to the yard manager in Sarasota to ensure their siding was clear. Sam always had to make a trip into town also.

Sam left for town about 10:30AM. He took Moonbeam with him as he always did. The train would pull out for Sarasota at 4 in the afternoon. It was

November 23, 2000. Driving from the terminal to town only took about 15 minutes. Moonbeam was very animated and vocal as they drove on their route, and when Sam turned onto Grayson Street she started whining and yipping. People were out in their yards and on their porches as in any normal town in the mid morning and Sam laughed at her figuring she was just loud mouthing them.

The last house on the left was a two story white with blue trim Colonial job with a wide front lawn and a porch completely across the front. As he turned into the driveway, Moonbeam suddenly bolted from the vehicle, hitting the ground, staggered and raced towards the house. Just then a group of people came out onto the wide porch and Moonbeam leaped the last five feet through the air right into the arms of one of the women.

Standing there beside the old beat up horse drawn surrey, in his chicken outfit and holding a bag of hard boiled eggs for his dinner, Sam "Tinker" Everett was totally confused and somewhat stunned.

There was no way he could have known that Moonbeam had come home.