Water for Elephants — Chapters 22-25, The Conclusion ::cries::

SPOILER ALERT!!! If you are not reading or planning to read Water for Elephantsbook or script, then do not read this post or the comments. We are reading Water for Elephants together and I want everyone to feel free to discuss openly. You should join us if you haven’t already!

Start at the beginning!!

Chapters 1-3, where the waterworks begin!

Chapters 4-6, lots of new characters!

Chapters 7-9, penises, dead horses and an elephant!

Chapters 10-12, Jacob is falling in love, with a girl and an animal

Chapters 13-15, Rosie the Troublemaker and Taking Care of Camel

Chapters 16-18, Rosie Speaks Polish and August Loses It

Chaps. 19-21, Old People Crying, Jacob & Marlena Together & Uncle Al Scares Me

Jacob wakes up back in his room with Walter and Camel. He’d been knocked out and drug back to the room. Of course, he is freaking out about Marlena (since she is in a family way and all) but Walter tells him he can’t go. They have 3 days till Providence and they need to stay to ensure Camel gets to his family. Walter tells Jacob to trust that Marlena can handle August.

Once Camel and Walter are both asleep, Jacob sneaks out, climbing along the stock cars of the moving train with a knife in his teeth. (Side note: Rob doing this is gonna be HOT!) He moves along all the cars till he gets to the performer’s car, then moves to August’s room, with the intent to kill him. But he loses the courage, so he sets the knife down on what would be Marlena’s pillow and leaves, once again moving across all the cars back to his with Walter and Camel.

But once he gets to the car, he starts to notice things. An open vent, one of the horses is riled up, the open exterior door

and then open interior door. Walter and Camel are gone, and poor little Queenie is hiding in the corner. It’s clear what happened. They were red-lighted.

Jacob thinks there is a chance they are still alive. He takes off to find Earl, the one good security guy, and confronts him. Earl had no idea, but agrees to find out who all got redlighted. He tells Jacob that he knows they were going for him and needs to get off the show as quickly as he can. Of course, Jacob can’t go without Marlena, so Earl tells him he’ll be safe during the day, but if he gets on the train again, he cannot let his guard down.

Jacob finds Marlena and tells them they have to get out of here. Of course, August sees this and sends Earl in to get Jacob out of there. Luckily, Earl and Jacob do a bit of acting so Jacob can talk to Marlena, who is insisting on getting money out of August’s room for them. Jacob tells her he will do it, and begs her not to go anywhere near the train.

Of course, the entire day Jacob couldn’t get near the room to get the money. The show is getting ready to start, and he has no idea where Marlena is. Grady grabs him and takes him to the midway for a bite to eat and to talk. Some of the other guys that got red lighted caught back up to the train. Walter and Camel did not make it.

And the guys that survived and caught up are pissed, rightly so. Basically, Grady tells him that they are planning to take Uncle Al down. Grady is warning Jacob so he can get out of there, and take Marlena with him.

But then, as soon as the show starts, the band starts, stops with a crash, then starts playing the Disaster March aka Stars and Stripes Forever. All of the animals have been set lose from the menagerie, all of them. It’s a stampede. Jacob is frantically searching for Marlena, and finally finds her with August and Rosie. The only one that sees Jacob is Rosie.

Rosie then reaches down, pulls her stake out of the ground and looks over at Jacob before looking back to August and plunging the stake into the back of his head. When he falls, she places it back into the ground to make it look like nothing happened. And just as soon as it all happens, a group of zebras trample August’s body, leaving Jacob as the only one that knows what Rosie did. Marlena sees the remains of August and drops to the ground, where Rosie steps over her, protecting  her from the remaining animals.

Jacob helps to gather the animals. Many of them are easy to retrieve, but the ones that matter are all still missing. Uncle Al is gone, August’s body is taken away and police are everywhere. Another circus pulls up, Necsi Brothers, and begins moving animals into their cars. Jacob is not what sure to do, so he calls the dean at his school and sets up a meeting to take his exams.

When Jacob sees Nesci Brothers trying to take Rosie, he tells them she is his. Other men vouch for him, but the sheriff who sold her is reluctant. Then Jacob tells the Nesci Brothers bull man she is stupid and can’t do anything, and of course when they speak to her in English, she does nothing. And know, in addition to Marlena and a child on the way, Jacob has an elephant.

Just when Jacob is getting ready to go and tell Marlena about Rosie, she tears off and manages to get all 11 of her horses returned back to her, effectively making them the owners of a dog (Queenie), an elephant and 11 horses, along with a baby on the way. And at once they realize they have to get on another show. It’s the only way. Marlena suggests Ringling, but that they will have to be married. And of course, Jacob is more then ready to do it.

Later that day, Uncle Al’s body is found. It’s very clear he was murdered, which is not terribly surprising. Oh, and then Jacob and Marlena steal Bobo. Yep, one more animal for their family.

Back to old man Jacob, who is still pissed about his family forgetting him. But then, he remembers the day his oldest was born, and how he was so relieved to see the red hair that let him know he was his.

And in his frustration with missing the circus, Jacob decides to make a run for it. Well, as fast as he can go, which is not too fast. All is going well, till he is stopped by the ticket taker. Of course he doesn’t have any money. A manager hears the confrontation, sees Jacob and offers to take him in for free.

Then the manager finds out that Jacob was on a show. And that he was there for the stampede, which is now a piece of circus history. Charlie, the manager, asks Jacob if he could take him home after the show, as he wants to hear all about it first hand. And of course, Jacob ends up with a front row seat to the remainder of the show.

After the show, Charlie takes Jacob out to his RV so that Jacob can tell him all about his time on the Benzini Brothers show. He tells him everything, even about Rosie killing August, which he never told any one before. Jacob goes on and tells him about his years with Ringling, till he and Marlena had 3 children and retired off. Jacob became the vet at a zoo, and of course brought Rosie with him. The others all went to live on a rural property with Marlena and the kids, 5 at the end of it all.

And Jacob talks about how it all flew by, how now he is in his nineties and alone. And then someone knocks on the door. It’s the police, and Jacob just knows they are looking for him. The police are looking for Jacob, but then Charlie did something amazing.

He lied. He lied about who Jacob is, and the police leave.

Charlie asks Jacob is he is sure, if he needs meds and about his family. Jacob insists that he needs nothing, and can for the most part, still take care of himself. Jacob is officially back on a show… officially back home.

::cue the water works::

Gah, what a fantastic ending! The book is amazing, Rob is perfect for this and I truly cannot wait to see it all played out on the big screen. What did you think? Did you cry like a baby? Was it too happily every after for you, to which I say shut it cause we all had the gut wrench already on Remember Me.