CHAPTER X — The Cir­cus Boys Across the Con­ti­nent opens with ten­sion brew­ing in the dress­ing tent after Ted­dy Tucker’s mis­chie­vous antics with a mule dis­rupt the per­form­ers’ rou­tine. Tem­pers flare, but the mood soft­ens when Phil For­rest defus­es the irri­ta­tion with humor, shar­ing how Ted­dy avoid­ed pun­ish­ment by hid­ing inside a cos­tume trunk. While the chaos sub­sides, Phil is soon sent to deliv­er a mes­sage to a per­former known as Mrs. Robin­son. Expect­ing a stern old­er woman, he is star­tled to dis­cov­er that she is none oth­er than “Lit­tle Dim­ples,” the grace­ful rid­er he once helped dur­ing a dan­ger­ous moment in the ring. Their reunion is warm and filled with mutu­al respect. In their con­ver­sa­tion, she express­es grat­i­tude for the tight­ly knit fam­i­ly atmos­phere of the cir­cus and reflects on its mean­ing­ful dif­fer­ences com­pared to larg­er, more imper­son­al shows. Her sin­cer­i­ty strikes a chord with Phil, deep­en­ing his admi­ra­tion for her beyond the per­for­mance ring.

As they talk fur­ther, Lit­tle Dim­ples offers to teach Phil the essen­tials of bare­back rid­ing, rec­og­niz­ing his enthu­si­asm and poten­tial. Phil accepts with eager­ness, not out of van­i­ty, but because he dreams of mas­ter­ing every aspect of cir­cus life. He shares his long-term ambi­tion of some­day own­ing a cir­cus, a vision born from both pas­sion and resilience fol­low­ing the loss of his moth­er. Hear­ing that Dim­ples has a hus­band and child cur­rent­ly tour­ing with anoth­er troupe, Phil feels an unex­pect­ed con­nec­tion to her. Their dis­cus­sion, filled with open­ness and sin­cer­i­ty, reveals how deeply rela­tion­ships are formed with­in the cir­cus, where shared risks and dreams cre­ate endur­ing bonds. Rather than a lec­ture, Dimples’s offer feels like a rite of passage—one per­former extend­ing a hand to the next.

Their first les­son takes place in the prac­tice area, where the cir­cus ring’s saw­dust floor offers a for­giv­ing sur­face for mis­takes. Phil starts the ses­sion with unsteady foot­ing and an awk­ward mount, quick­ly learn­ing that grace on horse­back comes only through focus and rep­e­ti­tion. Dim­ples coach­es him patient­ly, giv­ing sim­ple, clear guid­ance while encour­ag­ing him to trust the rhythm of the horse beneath him. Though he strug­gles to main­tain bal­ance at first, his per­sis­tence begins to show results. As the horse cir­cles the ring, Phil slow­ly improves, adjust­ing his pos­ture and respond­ing more intu­itive­ly to its move­ment. Watch­ing from the side­lines, a few per­form­ers offer casu­al applause—not to mock, but to sup­port.

What stands out most dur­ing the train­ing is the shared belief that great­ness isn’t born overnight. Dim­ples empha­sizes that even the most cel­e­brat­ed rid­ers began with falls and bruis­es, and that tal­ent, though impor­tant, must be matched by dis­ci­pline. Phil lis­tens close­ly, know­ing that every cor­rec­tion and com­pli­ment comes from a place of earned wis­dom. He asks ques­tions, absorbs feed­back, and doesn’t let small fail­ures deter him. In time, he makes notice­able progress, enough to earn a gen­uine nod of approval from Dim­ples. Her pride in his growth feels more like that of a coach than a col­league.

As the les­son ends, Phil thanks her with sin­cer­i­ty and promis­es to keep prac­tic­ing. Dim­ples tells him that few things in cir­cus life are more reward­ing than help­ing oth­ers find their foot­ing. She men­tions how rare it is to see such com­mit­ment in some­one so young, and urges him not to lose that fire. Phil, encour­aged by the day’s progress, is more con­vinced than ever that his path lies not just in per­for­mance, but in becom­ing some­one oth­ers in the cir­cus can rely on. His goals are no longer just about applause—they’re about build­ing some­thing last­ing, inspired by the sup­port he’s received.

Return­ing to the tents with sore legs and a fresh sense of pur­pose, Phil finds Ted­dy engaged in anoth­er comedic exchange, pok­ing fun at his own ear­li­er mis­chief. The atmos­phere is light, filled with the casu­al ban­ter that defines cir­cus life between shows. Though Ted­dy jokes about Phil becom­ing a “pony prince,” he also shows qui­et admi­ra­tion for his friend’s deter­mi­na­tion. Togeth­er, the boys head off to fin­ish chores before din­ner, their bond strength­ened by a shared under­stand­ing of what it means to earn respect in a world where every act, fall, and tri­umph hap­pens in full view. As the chap­ter clos­es, their path for­ward feels both uncer­tain and full of promise—just like the cir­cus itself.