 Ben
wakes up. He hears footsteps. A
woman wearing a nightgown walks
toward him. It's the "catatonic"
Apollonia. She extends her hand
and he takes it. She gasps: "You're
the one." Meanwhile, Sofie
returns to her trailer and sees
that her mother is not in her bed.
She runs outside, screaming. Apollonia
faints in Ben's arms. Ben shouts
and waves for Sofie's attention.
Sofie angrily pushes Ben away. The
carnies all leave their tents and
trailers and rush over to see what
the commotion is all about.
JONESY:
"Spill it, Hawkins! What
the hell happened here?"
BEN: "I was sleepin'. I woke
up. She walked over to me--"
SOFIE: "She can't walk. She
can't even move. Everbody knows
that."
BEN: "I didn't do nothin'
to her, Sofie. You gotta believe
me, I didn't--"
Two men hold
Ben still as Gabriel starts to slug
the boy in the stomach. Ruthie screams
for Gabriel to stop as Samson intervenes,
insisting Ben didn't do anything
wrong and to let him go. Sofie asks
Samson why her mother isn't talking
to her, but Samson doesn't have
any answers. He orders some men
to carry Apollonia back to her trailer,
and then notices that Lodz is watching
from a distance. Things haven't
changed since St. Louis. Samson
informs the carnies that there's
been a change of plans and the next
day they're heading south. Ben follows
Ruthie to her trailer and lets her
examine his injuries. She gives
him something to take the swelling
down. Ben uses the opportunity to
ask Ruthie what she knows about
the photograph he's been carrying
around. She tells him it's a photo
of Hack Scudder's sweetheart, Flora.
Ruthie hands him a photo of Scudder:
"The Gentlemen Geek."
In the photo, Scudder is wearing
a tuxedo and top hat. He's one of
the men from Ben's dreams -- the
soldier from the bunker. Ben asks
if Scudder was in the war. Ruthie
can't say for sure. Ben tells her
that the Flora in the photo is his
mother whom they buried back in
Milfay and Ruthie agrees: "that
is downright queer."
 Chinatown
in Mintern is eerily quiet with
no Chin's to stir up business. Justin
walks up to the building and unlocks
the door. He steps onto the stage
and addresses an audience of empty
tables and chairs, In his "sermon,"
he welcomes his brothers and sisters
to their new temple, where they
will begin their a mission to save
the multitudes who are lost to God
and "would otherwise perish
forever when His sword is loosed
upon the world." As he preaches,
Carroll Templeton drives to a remote
hillside location, stops the car
and pulls out a revolver. He places
the gun against his head. And fires.
Justin returns
home and finds Iris asleep in the
living room. She wakes and he tells
her they've acquired a new church:
Chin's.
IRIS:
"That gambling hall down
in Chinatown?"
JUSTIN: "Brother Templeton
donated it to our new ministry...
for the migrants."
IRIS: "The migrants?"
JUSTIN: "The flock I've been
chosen to lead. Chosen by the
Lord God. He spoke to me, Iris.
And I shall carry out His will."
IRIS: "... Praise the Lord."
Justin is
then overcome by emotions and breaks
into tears. Iris walks over to him
and massages his shoulders. She
tells him that God has chosen a
good man Later, Justin enters his
bedroom. He kneels on the floor
and slides, from underneath his
bed, a box. Inside the box is a
leather whip. Justin stares at a
cross on his wall and begins to
whip himself in the back. Downstairs,
Iris is sewing and humming along
with the radio. She stops, listens
to the flagellation occurring upstairs,
and continues to hum. On the radio,
the song "After the Ball"
plays...
At the carnival
grounds the following morning, men
are dismantling the Ferris wheel
and carrousel. They're wheeling
away the popcorn cart, collapsing
tents, and carrying assorted trunks.
Ben walks past the conjoined twins
Alexandria and Caladonia, who are
playing cat's cradle and singing:
"After the Ball." Then,
Ben abruptly stops walking. He looks
up at a trailer. Attached to it
is the red cap belonging to the
bear from his dream. He stares at
it, while the singing continues.
"After the ball is over, after
the break of morn, after the dancer's
leaving, after the stars are gone,
many a heart is aching. If you could
read them all... many the hopes
that have vanished, after the ball...."
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