By Peter B. and Art Intelli
Chapter Four: The Gift
The carnival rolled from one town to the next, and I was usually so tired by Showtime that I didn’t really notice the crowds were getting thinner in every town. I continued to wear my Collar as a mark of pride. Viktor’s training, once grueling and punishing, started to feel more like a challenge. We worked out together, side by side, pushing each other to the limit. It wasn’t about pain anymore. It was about strength. It was about earning something more than just muscle — it was about respect.
Viktor was no longer just my mentor; he had become a kind of partner in all of this. We’d work with the roustabouts in the mornings, hauling crates, setting up tents, lifting heavy carnival equipment. Viktor always made sure to encourage me, watching me carefully as I struggled with the same things the other men did. But he always pushed me to go further, to lift heavier, to show the others I could do it just as well as they could.
“Lift it!” he’d shout with a grin, watching me struggle with a large piece of equipment. “That’s how you show them. No weakness. You’ve got this.”
