The year was 1999, and Dogwood was preparing for the annual Harvest Days. The Traveling Reds followed the circus from town to town on its tour of the northwestern states, a tour that lasted almost two months, and this nearly week-long stay in this small Washington town was the reason why they spent two months of every year in this world pretending to be traveling performers.
Torin es’ Brom Fuilrix had done this tour three times with a rotating assortment of relatives, and though most considered it a duty that had to be performed, an obligation they owed their house, Torin rather enjoyed his trips to this strange world. There were three troupe leaders, teachers at the citadel who made the trip every year, and a lottery to fill the remaining nine spots. No one volunteered to return, except
