Twenty-One:
On their way, Brian, Spot, and Mimbleshaw encountered Oscar, who would not have remained dry had Brian's parents not surrendered, and who had then decided to leave the clown gang. Oscar told Brian they should retrieve from Clownie the keys to the cage that held Brian's parents and, most importantly, Clownie's crown and magic bag. Oscar agreed to exchange clothes with Brian and give him his clown face.
"Magic bag?" said Brian. "What do you mean magic?"
"Why, magic is anything you trust but can't explain," said Oscar. "Son, if we had to only think our way through life, we'd still be waiting for someone to claim to have seen a sunrise. Our lives are built on magic. Just don't forget the bag. The bag is how Clownie never failed to remove Spot from our performances. You'll see."
"Oscar," said Brian. "Why haven't you left before now?"
"I suppose that's from the flip-side of only thinking our way through life," said Oscar. "From relying only on the magic. Old Clownie doing things we won't speak of to our little four-legged friend here. Me holding out with this nonsense too long. But otherwise our prince-rescuing-our-princess act was sweet. And the crowds never seemed to get tired of it. Shortly after old Spot disappeared, the whole circus fell apart under one of Clownie's rages. Everyone took off on their own. Haven't been able to bring myself to leave before now. The older you get, the more practice you have with your old set of habits, the harder starting over becomes." After they exchanged appearances, Oscar left.