Water for Elephants 301-331

The day after Walter and Camel are thrown off the train, Jacob hears that Camel died right away and Walter’s legs were crushed, so he died too. That day at their performance, the animals in the menagerie all escape their cages. They’re all running crazy, and some of them go into the performance tent. Jacob is looking frantically for Marlena, and he finally sees her. As he spots her, he also sees Rosie pull up her stake that’s holding her to the ground, pick it up with her trunk, and stab August in the head, killing him. Jacob never told anyone about that in his whole life. Quite predictably, the ‘Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth’ went out of business. Another circus came to town and absorbed all of their things. Jacob and Marlena ended up with the eleven horses and Rosie. They got married and had kids. Rosie went to a zoo, and Jacob and Marlena worked for Ringling circus. Back in the present, Jacob sneaks out of the nursing home and goes to the circus. He gets a ringside seat, and he talks to the general manager about getting a job. He runs away to the circus for the second time in his life, because it’s the only place he feels at home.