Please note: Grooming, as I use the term here, does not refer to keeping oneself clean, but to someone picking up young folks, telling them that they can have a good life if they come along with them, then the kids end up being coerced into becoming either thieves or prostitutes.

I'm not sure why, but I was pretty wiped out after the fair had shut down on Sunday evening, and soon wandered off to my bed.

Allison mumbled something about wanting to stay up late, but Tina told Allison to move, and Allison being wise beyond her years, did so. I actually overheard that little bit of conversation just before I went back to the RV to sleep, and it had me giggling for a moment.

I'm glad that Allison is with us, even though she lost her whole family in the process. I hope she remains happy here with us.

I slept like a proverbial log, dead to the world, until early the next morning. My little clock radio in my bed area showed it was 7:15 AM.

Dad was already up, sitting at the kitchen table staring at his laptop, with a cup of almost steaming coffee sitting on the table in front of him. I asked him what was going on that he needed to use a computer to do it, and he said something about getting more courses for Allison.

That had me grumbling and whining that I already did quite enough schoolwork, especially as I almost had enough credits on hand to satisfy the state board back home regarding my being able to get my high school diploma. Heck, I may not be super smart or anything, but when you have a teacher like mom drilling you on a wide variety of subjects for a few hours almost every day, you'd better be learning something, hmm?

Dad laughed and repeated himself, making sure to speak clearly this time when he said he was looking into courses for Allison.

It's actually been a bit more fun lately, as Allison is now studying with me, although she's largely covering stuff I did last year or two years ago? She's about a year younger than I am, so not quite fifteen, but she didn't do very well in her old school due to having several bullies there.

I guess she's glad that she can actually stay out of the school system and learn for once. That must make a rather big difference to her.

I just realized that Allison didn't mention anything about that when she told dad and I about how she ended up on the streets.

Well, I guess it's her business as to what and when she decides to tell us about anything in her past, and to whom she might choose to tell it.

I had a quick breakfast of a bowl of Special K™ cereal with milk and a bit of sugar, plus a blueberry muffin mom had been hiding in the fridge. Mom can be slightly sneaky when it comes to some foods, she'll tuck an item in behind something else so it isn't immediately visible.

Well, I had half finished that blueberry muffin when mom came into the kitchen area and saw me eating it. Oops! I'm in trouble!

She growled at me for a moment for taking her last muffin, then grumbled under her breath that at least I was eating something sensible.

I giggled as I finished eating, then stopped in the bathroom just long enough to brush my teeth before heading out of the RV.

One of the rigs was pulling out of our area, turning to head for the exit and the long trip to our next stop.

I didn't manage to see who was in the cab of the truck, or get much of a look at it, so I have no idea if it's the one Lane or Billy handle.

I wandered around the area, helping guys to gather parts together and to load bits and pieces when it didn't require the forklifts.

The last of the rides was stripped and loaded just before noon, and the truck with the 53' trailer headed off for the eastbound highways.

We only stayed around long enough to have a light meal, then we were also leaving, making our own way to Brockton, Massachusetts.

It took us a short while to figure out how best to reach the I70 to go eastbound.

Once we were on the interstate, we soon left Indiana behind, entered Ohio and continued eastbound on I70.

We kept going until we reached Wheeling, where we stopped for a meal at a Chinese food restaurant before we hit the road again. The food wasn't the best Chinese I've ever had, but it was decent enough, plus they served enough that we would have leftovers for a while.

We returned to the eastbound I70, which we followed as we crossed into Pennsylvania, then switched to the I76 at New Stanton.

I'm not sure why we stayed on the road as long as we did, but we finally pulled into a motel 6 on the outskirts of Harrisburg just before midnight. Allison had spent the evening with us, as mom had decided that it was the perfect time to have us doing lessons yet again.

I'm pretty sure I heard Allison swearing about having to study, but she wisely kept that language to herself once we were around mom.

Allison and I ended up sharing a room with Tina and Ricki, mom and dad had decided to stay in the RV overnight.

I'm not sure who else was in the motel with us, I just remember seeing several vehicles pulling in behind ours when we stopped for the night.

A quick raid of the limited supplies available in the motel office ensued, and soon afterward, Allison and I were nose deep in chip bags.

We munched and chatted for about half an hour with Tina and Ricki, I suppose we were all winding down after a day on the road.

All four of us were in bed by 12:30 AM, and soon asleep. I woke up once, needing the bathroom but otherwise slept just fine.

We were all awake and ready to go around 8:30 AM, and a group decision had us stopping at Bob Evans for breakfast.

That proved to be a good way to start the day, each of us enjoyed a nice meal. For me, it was the Everything. For dad, it was the Double Meat Farmer's Choice, Mom, Tina and Ricki all chose the Fruitful Farmer breakfast, and Allison finally settled for the Buckeye Farmer's Choice.

After breakfast, we resumed our journey, still following I76 for the moment.

That changed when we reached King of Prussia, where it became the I276 and we bypassed Philadelphia, eventually reaching Highway 1, which we used to reach I95. Most of the rest of our journey would be on I95, as it heads east, then northeast before it reaches the Boston area.

Brockton is just a short distance south of Boston itself, so I don't doubt we'll see a fair amount of people from the city at the fair.

We also bypassed New York, although we could see some of it off in the distance as we rolled along the interstate just across the Hudson. Correct that, we actually got to see various parts of the Bronx borough as we turned east on I95 to head into Connecticut.

Well, we saw glimpses of a lot of buildings as we went through there; I think I spotted the Botanical Garden and the Zoo, but I'm not sure.

About half an hour after we left the Bronx, we rolled into western Connecticut. It sure is a lot more open there, some darn beautiful country.

We stopped in New Haven for lunch at Anastasio's Boathouse Cafe. The food was good, well worth the price and the stop.

Then it was back to the I95 as we continued to travel across Connecticut, then cut through Rhode Island before we entered Massachusetts.

We reached Brockton, Massachusetts, just after 4:30 PM, and met with security at the fairgrounds just after 5 PM.

We were led back to our location, where we found two of the rigs already there, unloading and preparing to put everything together.

I've never shirked a bit of honest work, so I headed over to the trucks, at which point I nearly ran headlong into Lane.

Let's just say I was mighty embarrassed, I backstopped rather fast, then lifted my arms up hoping I could cover up my red face.

Nope, my luck was good enough, he noticed, and after a good chuckle which I eventually joined him in, we got down to business.

When we finally stopped just after 9 PM on that Tuesday evening, I was pretty bushed, but not enough to resist the smell of a freshly fired grill!

Hot darn, those two guys have crossed paths with us again! What can I say, I ate well, as I always seem to do when they're around!

Even better, I finally learned their names! The younger guy, I think he's late 20's, maybe? That's Jeremy, the older guy is his brother Barrett.

Once I had finished eating, Allison not far from me throughout the wonderful meal, I sat around for about two hours before going to bed.

When I woke up the next morning, dad said Allison and I wouldn't be needed for the setting up and that mom wanted to go shopping.

I giggled, I'll bet dad is going to be wanting to scream once he finds out how much we can spend while out having fun shopping.

Anyway, after a breakfast of Special K™ and toast, I joined mom, Allison, Tina, Ricki, Kerry, Lisa, Albany and a few others as we piled into three or four vehicles and headed into Boston to look at some good quality boutique shops shops initially, then hit a couple malls later.

We spent most of the morning wandering from one boutique shop to another along Newbury Street in Boston.

I didn't see anything that said "buy me!", but I think I saw mom putting a couple of items into a carry bin that seemed oriented to teen girls at one store. I didn't actually see if she bought the items or not, as Tina distracted me at one point by having me look at some lovely halter tops.

Oh, man, they looked really nice, but it hit me like a ton of bricks at that point that I was just starting to develop, I wasn't done growing yet. Well, according to the tests done by various doctors this year starting back with Dr. Brandt, they all stated I might be lucky to add a few inches to my height over the next year or two, and that most of my growth will be in the usual ways of female development, primarily breasts and hips.

I didn't realize just how fast time can pass when you're busy like that. Before I knew it, it was after 1 PM and my stomach started growling!

Mom suggested we go over to this place called James Hook & Co. for lunch, she said the lobster there was quite good but not too expensive. That sounded pretty good to me, even though we spend our winters not too far away from several decent lobster fishing sites.

Well, just because we live not far away from them doesn't mean we could afford to eat it often, but it did make for a nice occasional treat!

Anyway, we spent an enjoyable hour or so in the restaurant, then headed back to the shops, this time at the Corner Mall.

We had a good time there, roaming through Bath & Body Works, Discovery Imports, E. B. Horn, Rainbow, The Jewelry Store and Wet Seal.

I picked up a nice little sundress in Rainbow for under $10, plus a pair of three inch pumps that not only looked good but were comfortable.

I was mostly just browsing as we wandered through the other stores, except when mom had me pick out some bath supplies for myself while we were in Bath & Body Works. I noticed Tina and Ricki nudging Allison over my way, so the two of us had fun deciding what we wanted.

We eventually made up our minds, after changing them half a dozen times or so while looking at the choices available.

I settled on some rather pleasant smelling strawberry scented items, while Allison opted for a similar set in vanilla scents.

We arrived back at the Brockton fairgrounds just before 7 PM after spending the day wandering around downtown Boston.

Most of the rides and other pieces already seemed to be in place, with just a bit of work still to be done before everything was ready.

Allison and I spent the next few hours being grilled by mom on a variety of subjects. She's a tough but fair schoolmistress.

Well, the next thing on the agenda was me going into Boston again on Thursday afternoon for yet another medical assessment.

I'd been sitting in the waiting area of the doctor for nearly an hour already, after having arrived here just before 1:30 PM.

I hadn't known it until the night before when mom told me, but I wouldn't be eating in the morning as they want fasting bloodwork this time.

I sat there griping and grumbling while my stomach complained at being treated so unfairly, and almost missed my name being called.

Mom got up and led me into the office, where we took seats on the front side of the small desk and waited for Dr. Hillman to appear.

He came in perhaps a few minutes later, we talked for a short while, then he had a nurse take me out to get several vials of blood.

Once I had been drained nearly dry, or so it seemed, the nurse led me back to the office where the doctor was still talking to mom.

He had me get up on an exam table for a few minutes, where he took my blood pressure, temperature, then checked my ears, eyes, and throat. I wasn't expecting all of that, honestly, but he stated as he was doing the tests that it was a good idea to cover all the bases regularly.

He also spent a moment examining me for physical changes, after waiting to have a nurse present while doing that at mom's behest.

When he had finished, I returned and sat beside mom, waiting to see what he had to say.

What surprised both mom and myself was that my blood tests came back a lot faster than we expected. "Lab on site," Dr. Hillman stated.

He spent a few minutes looking over all of the info on the sheets he'd been handed a few minutes earlier, then smiled.

"Well, Mrs. Banfield, Lara, as far as I can see, seems to be doing quite well, no major changes from the last doctor's visit. Lara, you do seem to be slightly more developed in the bust and hips, but that isn't too significant a change, so I'm going to leave things as they are.

"The blood work is fine. Unless you have something major happen, you shouldn't need to have an MRI or ultrasound for a few months.

"For now, it might be a good idea to keep doing these assessments on a fairly regular basis. I hope you have a good day."

With that, he buried himself in a file and mom and I exited the office, then paid for the appointment and headed back to the fairgrounds.

The fair wouldn't be opening until late afternoon on Friday. What made this one odd was the staggered opening times. Weekends were open from 2 PM until midnight, most weekdays from 5 PM until midnight, except for the Tuesday and Wednesday, which were 2 PM until midnight.

The fair would end on Sunday, July 8th at 10 PM. That was the only time that the fairgrounds would close before midnight.

Allison and I split most of Friday between lessons in the RV with mom and doing training to keep ourselves in tip top shape for our act. No matter what some folks might say about our act being "for little girls", it takes a lot of very precise and careful movements to do it all well.

I muttered at one point on that Friday afternoon about not enjoying having to deal with itchy breasts. Both mom and Allison heard me say it.

I turned quite red at that point, but they only giggled for a moment, then mom went into the bathroom and returned a moment later carrying a tube of cream. "Use this when you get that itchy feeling, hon," mom stated. "That's your breasts telling you that they're growing, it's not bad."

I looked up at mom. Even though she's only a couple of years short of 40 now, she still looks really good and quite beautiful.

"Mom, am I going to end up with breasts like yours?" I asked. "It does seem to be fairly common among the women in your family."

That last remark was muttered with me trying to hide my face in my shirt, even with my one hand pointing toward her chest.

Mom shrugged, then grinned at me, saying, "Maybe, but there are a few women in the family that aren't as well developed breast wise."

I blushed again, then walked into the washroom where I spent the next few minutes applying that cream all around my breasts.

Since the fairgrounds would be kept closed until opening each day, Jack decided not to bother with day shows except for on the weekends, and on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, when they open at 2 PM. Mom said we could spend the extra time doing school work.

Dad laughed and agreed with mom, adding in that it was better for us to be doing that than wandering around alone somewhere.

Allison and I had no idea, after that little discussion, just how close we would come to losing everything we had.

When the fair opened on Friday evening, we were all ready, and we kicked it off with a blast!

Mom and Terrance opened up in the one big tent we have with the three lions, while Allison and I started things off in the second big tent.

We had a great performance, one of our best since Allison started performing with me, and the applause was definitely worth the effort!

On the days where the fair would open at 5 PM, the lions and elephants would do three shows each, those of us in the second tent two each.

We would speed things up a bit on the days when they opened at 2 PM. Mom and Terrence would do four shows, as would Brant with the elephants. Allison and I, the acrobats, and Jackson would all squeeze in three shows each in the second big tent.

When we weren't busy doing our act or being grilled by Sgt. Mom over our school work, Allison and I would wander around the fairgrounds, checking out some of the animal shows and the various exhibits. We were able to catch the magic show on July 1st, which was quite amazing.

In the evenings, as we wandered around, we could hear music coming from either the grandstand or the pavilion. The bands for both locations changed each night, but we often found ourselves happily standing somewhere listening, clapping and singing along to the music.

It was while were listening to one of those bands, this one being a high energy R&B group from New England called KG Express, that we had a rather big scare. We were both swaying to the music when a big man, who appeared to be around 30 or so, started talking to the two of us.

At first, we weren't actually listening to the guy, but he kept close to us, talking whenever he thought he might be heard. "Hey, girls, you two should come with me, I can show how people really live around here, lots of good times..." and more of that same sort of thing.

Now, as I said, we were more focused on the music than the guy, which was a mistake. After several minutes of us only occasionally glancing his way, the guy went so far as to grab each of us by an arm and started to drag us away from there. He stopped after about fifty feet, though, and Allison and I stumbled to a halt on either side of him just in time to see my mom standing there, holding a cocked .45 Colt in her hands.

We were just far enough away from the music to hear her, "Mister, if you have even a lick of sense, you'll let my two girls go NOW!"

That last word came out in a semi-shout, which drew the attention of a fair number of folks around us, including three nearby policemen.

The guy soon found himself surrounded by a rapidly gathering crowd as my mother explained to the officers what she had seen him doing.

He then found himself roughly frisked and his name transmitted over a handheld radio, with a response coming back just a moment later: "Hold Mr. Dawtrim on two counts of attempted kidnapping, he's wanted regarding several cases of teens being groomed for a theft ring."

That resulted in Mr. Dawtrim trying to break free, which failed quite spectacularly, with him being dropped to the ground hard by an officer.

Several minutes later, a police vehicle slowly made its way through the lanes of the fairgrounds, then he was stuffed into the back seat. One of the officers that had arrived in the car could be heard as she leaned through one of the open car doors to Mirandize Mr. Antoine Dawtrim.

Another fifteen minutes passed before mom was cleared to go, although she was warned to get up to date on a concealed carry permit.

From what we could learn, this guy was in a lot of trouble; several kids were missing after meeting him, two of whom were known to be dead.

How did we learn all of this? Well, we were standing about ten feet from the open window of the police car and could just barely hear the radio.

Actually, it was Allison that could hear it. I have to say, she has really good hearing because that radio wasn't on loud at all.

A quick discussion with the police told us we likely wouldn't be needed in court, other than the statement that mom had given them.

When we were finally free to leave, both Allison and I held onto one of mom's hands as we returned to our area of the fairgrounds.

Dad was not happy that we had that happen, but he didn't give us a lot of grief over it; instead, he wrapped us both in a fierce hug.

Things went back to as close to normal as they can after something like that. I do know we were being constantly watched by a lot of our folks.

I'm just glad we were able to work off the stress through doing our daily exercises and the actual times up on the rope itself during our acts.

You can't afford to lose yourself in your feelings up there, focus is a very necessary part of the act and it felt damn good to get back to it.

We finished to a standing ovation after our final appearance at this fair on the second Sunday evening.

Dad said we could just chill for the rest of the evening, as we'd be heading out in the morning to the Lycoming County Fair in Pennsylvania.