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What caused the disaster and what was the fate of the Flying Avalons?
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The disaster was caused by a sudden and unexpected gale resulting from a collision of cold and hot weather conditions. While performing, the Flying Avalons were struck by lightning that hit the circus tent's main pole. Anna Avalon managed to grab a cable and survive, while Harry Avalon fell to his death. Anna, who was seven months pregnant, lost her unborn child but survived with burns and a broken arm. She later started a new life, finding love and learning during her recovery.
The disaster was a natural one. At first, there were no indications of severe weather. It was mild and slightly overcast, and nothing was disturbing about the temperature or the air. But suddenly there were drastic changes in the climate. A sudden collision of cold and hot conditions brought "a deadly gale that passed over the big top."
The Flying Avalons were in midair with their hands almost touching when the lightning hit the main pole of the circus tent, raced down this pole, then sizzled down the guy wires. After throwing off her blindfold, Anna Avalon turned her body and grabbed one of the sizzling cables, saving herself while Harry Avalon fell tragically to the ground and died. Although Anna's hands were severely burned, she was not injured anywhere else until a zealous rescuer broke her arm in the process of freeing her. Anna survived, but her unborn child...
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did not. (She was seven months pregnant.) With this tragic end to the Flying Avalons, Anna began a new life. While she recovered in the hospital, she grew to love the physician who taught her to read and write in exchange for her teaching him about the cities of the world where she had performed.