Joko (54 page)

Johnny realized that Jack was still sitting in the wagon watching them.

“Jack!” called Johnny, beckoning to the sasquatch. “Let’s go.”

When Ned saw Jack and the dog, his face fell. “Oh, you brought your pets.” He laughed derisively.

Johnny gave Ned a dirty look but didn’t push it. He was too concerned with Jack. He reached in his pocket and handed Ned some change. “Do me a favor, Ned,” he said.

“Get another ticket. Jack’s never been to a fair, so go easy on him. Where he comes from they don’t have county fairs.”

Johnny noticed that Jack was missing his cap but his hair masked the telltale ridge that crowned his head. “Geee,” said Johnny under his breath. He’d been looking forward to having fun. Now it seemed like they were back in Port Townsend where he’d had to watch Jack’s every move.

Walking back to the wagon he decided it might be a good idea to link with Jack, but he saw fear in Jack’s eyes. He gently took Jack’s wrist. “It’s okay, Jack, this is a carnival; a place where people have a good time. There’s good things to eat and lots of fun stuff to do.”

Johnny showed Jack the blue paper ticket. “This is for you. This is your ticket. Ned is getting me another.”

Johnny looked back at his friends. Ned was petting Rocky and Polly was pointing to the carousel whose sparking mirrored ball stood out as it twirled invitingly in the distance.

Behind it a Ferris wheel, new that year, beckoned to them above the gaiety of the fair.

Jack hadn’t linked with Johnny for some time and right now he wasn’t receptive to it. He found himself too distracted by the fair to concentrate on Johnny’s communication. He had to rely on Johnny’s words to understand what the boy was saying.

He had gone through Port Townsend stores, the opera, worked at Gert’s shop, but still his experience with crowds of humans was limited and his tolerance for them even more so.

Particularly difficult for Jack was overriding the signals his nose were giving him; a million strange smells to be identified, sorted out, and categorized while he navigated among the humans. All this while trying to behave as Johnny instructed.

Johnny finally managed to get Jack out of the wagon. He saw Jack’s cap under the seat. “Great! I thought you lost this on the trail.”

Jack put on his cap and jumped down from the wagon.

Johnny thought it fortunate that his friends didn’t see Jack without his cap. Jack always had on a hat when he was in public.

“Jack-o,” said Ned when the sasquatch arrived with

Johnny at the gate. “How’re you, my boy?” Ned was in a good mood. He hugged Pretty Polly with a jerk that made her giggle. “Let’s do it, gang,” he shouted.

The walkways between the booths were covered with sawdust. To Jack its piney aroma added a strange background of familiarity to the otherwise bizarre sights that surrounded him. People milled slowly past rows of tented games and attractions. An unsettling crackle of low calibre rifle fire grew louder as they all walked past the stalls where people were betting against brightly colored wheels that razzed as they turned.

Jack noticed children walking by sucking the juice from lemons pierced with candy sticks, while others ate ice cream or blue fluffy stuff that he couldn’t identify.

“Cotton candy!” Johnny shouted. “Let’s get some!”

A few minutes later Jack was holding a small mat of blue material that looked and felt like gritty hair. It stuck curiously to his fingers like spider’s web. He looked at Johnny in wonder as the boy stuffed a huge mass of it into his mouth.

“Yummmmm,” said Johnny. “Try it, Jack.”

Ginny smiled demurely and watched Jack as she nibbled a little piece that she’d twisted into a manageable size and giggled with delight as she saw his expression change as the fibers melted in his mouth.

Jack was truly astounded by the cotton candy. He pushed his way to the side of the salesman and watched the machine spin the gossamer material. The man poured blue sugar into the center of the spinning metal cylinder and out of its sides came clouds of blue candy fibers.

Suddenly Jack saw what Johnny had been trying to tell him. He noticed that everyone, all the humans he could see at least, were smiling and relaxed. He took another bite of the candyfloss and savored its magical properties. Being human was a wonderful and magical experience
.

Ned noticed that everyone was watching Jack enjoy the candy. “You’ve never had that before have you, Jack-o. Is it goooooood?”

Jack nodded to Ned and displayed blue stained teeth.

“Whoooa,” groaned Ned. “Close up the barn doors, Jacko. You’re scarin’ the ladies.”

Polly giggled at Ned but Johnny ignored him. Jack was having a good time and he didn’t want that to stop. They weren’t far from the carousel so he suggested they all take a ride. “Jack’s never been on a carousel.”

“Whooo-peee!” said Ned sarcastically. “The excitement will probably kill him.”

Johnny gave Ned a push. “Ease up, Ned. Let Jack get used to things.”

As simple as the ride was, Johnny was sure that the carousel would disorient Jack. As they all climbed on the horses he wondered what Jack would do when they got going and the horses started moving up and down.

Soon he had his answer. The sasquatch adapted to the motion instantly and seemed completely relaxed, sitting sidesaddle atop a gaily-painted Palomino, like everyone else on the ride.

Jack had no problem getting used to the up and down motion of the mechanical horse, but he found the brightly colored decorations and the mirrored lights that whirled around him mesmerizing. They blended hypnotically with the sound of the steam calliope, transporting Jack to a surreal world that seemed like a garish dream. But the motion of the horse kept bringing Jack back to reality
.

Johnny was standing on the whirling platform next to the horse in front of Jack’s, holding Ginny’s hand while she rode happily up and down. Suddenly she reached out and grabbed a golden ring from a passing pole.

“Gold,” she shrieked. “A free ride!”

“You try it, Jack,” called Johnny. “Grab a gold ring.”

The task proved simple for the agile sasquatch. With each pass of the ring post he’d pull off no less than two rings at a time. When the ride ended Jack had over a dozen rings, two of them gold.

Everyone watched the sasquatch with amazement, and so did the grey mustachioed man who ran the ride. “Only one free ride!” he said, taking the rings from Jack. “No sense hoggin’ all the rings, son.” He gave Ned, Polly, Ginny and Jack each a ticket for their gold rings.

Since Ned had his eyes on the Ferris wheel, they decided to redeem their free rides later. When they got to the towering wheel Ned was delighted to find out that the ticket they’d won entitled them to a free ride on any attraction. He hooted loudly and jumped into the line waiting to board the wheel.

Johnny wasn’t thrilled that he had to buy another ticket, and only four could fit in a single cubicle. He decided to sit with Jack since it was his first time, and Ginny came along too. Ned wanted everyone to sit together, but he accepted it despite some remarks about Johnny being a nursemaid.

Soon they were aloft, rising higher and higher while other fairgoers boarded the great wheel. Finally all the seats were filled and the operator put the machinery into high gear.

Their cubicle had gotten nearly to the top when the ride started, so the first sensation Jack felt made him sure he was falling. He gripped the bar in front with both hands and prepared for impact as they fell, but instead of impacting Jack found himself moving backward, then up into the sky again.

He relaxed his gritting teeth and looked around. After the second pass he understood the motion and relaxed enough to take in the view
.

Ned noticed Jack grabbing the bar and called to him: “Hold on, Jack!”

Jack heard his name and looked up at Ned.

Seeing he’d gotten Jack’s attention, Ned called out jokingly: “Come here, Jack. I’ve got something for you.”

“Leave him alone, Ned,” yelled Johnny, but before Johnny could stop him, Jack had climbed out of the seat and was making his way across the superstructure toward Ned and Polly.

Johnny and Ginny watched in horror as Jack quickly reached Ned and Polly’s seats and climbed in next to them.

Polly screamed, and so did several bystanders on the ground.

Jack sat calmly in their car, looking at Ned and wondering what he wanted.

Johnny grew furious with Ned. “Dammit, Ned, that was just great!”

Ned clutched Polly and drew away from Jack.

“Jack …” he said nervously. “You didn’t have to … I didn’t mean …”

The operator brought their car to a stop when it reached ground level. “Out you go!” he demanded. Confused, Jack looked up at Johnny in the cubicle above him. He and Ginny were twisted in their seats, watching helplessly. “Wait. I have to get out too,” yelled Johnny.

The operator shook his head. “Just your friend. You can stay.” He told Ned and Polly they could stay too, but Polly jumped out of the seat and pushed angrily through the small crowd that had formed. Ned followed quickly on her heels.

Jack looked at the operator and got out of the cubicle.

Confused and disoriented, he walked away from the ride and disappeared into the crowd.

Johnny yelled in protest to the operator, “Hey, I have to get off.”

“Next time around,” the man said, starting up the ride again..

It seemed to take forever for the ride to end. Johnny didn’t wait for the man to remove the safety bar when the wheel stopped. He squeezed under it and sprang from the seat, leaving Ginny still seated, looking at him wide-eyed. He dove into the crowd looking around frantically, but didn’t see Jack anywhere.

He spotted Polly and Ned standing next to a concession stand nearby. “Where’s Jack? Which way did he go?”

Ned shrugged. “Don’t know. He was with you a minute ago.”

“Why did you tell him to do that?” Johnny asked angrily, still surveying the crowd on tiptoes.

“Heck, I didn’t think he’d be fool enough to
do
it!”

Polly was trembling, still clearly shaken by Jack’s acrobatics.

“Glad you brought your friend along, Johnny,” said Ned, hugging Polly. “Great idea. First class.”

Johnny walked away, searching the crowd, but after a few minutes he returned. Jack was nowhere to be seen.

Ned put a hand on Johnny’s back but Johnny shrugged it off.

“Look, Johnny,” said Ned. “If I’d known … ” he began, but then he broke into a laugh. “I can’t help it Johnny. That was pretty amazing.”

Polly had regained her composure. She said she felt foolish for being so upset. “I thought your friend would be killed. If he doesn’t know any better, then why did you bring him?”

Johnny didn’t answer. He ignored her and scanned the grounds. “I have to find him,” he said and walked away again.

Ginny joined her friends just in time to see Johnny leave.

Johnny circled the grounds looking for Jack, but the sasquatch had disappeared utterly. He tried to imagine where Jack might go but reminded himself of Jack’s ability to vanish if he didn’t want to be seen. He noticed a wooded area at the edge of the fairgrounds and walked toward it, searching the shadows.

Finally Johnny gave up and went back to Ginny, who was still waiting with Ned and Polly near the Ferris wheel. He apologized to Ginny for leaving her but she didn’t seem angry. “I understand, Johnny.”

“Well, I don’t,” whined Polly. “Leave him home next time.”

“That’s not a nice thing to say, Polly,” said Ginny. Polly was outspoken but reasonable by nature, and Ginny later admitted to Johnny that if she’d been in Polly’s place on the ride she would have been just as upset.

Johnny decided that searching for Jack was futile, especially if the sasquatch didn’t want to be found. Jack had run off before but he always came back. So Johnny tried to appease his friends’ bruised nerves, promising that it wouldn’t happen again. He even made a joke that Jack had probably been the best coconut picker on the island where he came from. “He may be up in one of these trees for all I know.”

Johnny bought everyone a lemon phosphate as a goodwill gesture. He found himself short of money but Ginny chipped in a dime to help him pay. For the next hour they walked the grounds, half looking for Jack while enjoying some of the sideshow attractions. Then they walked through the Fun House and the House of Mirrors.

Johnny tried to have a good time, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Jack. Finally they were out of money, tired, and ready to leave.

Standing at the entrance to the fairgrounds, Johnny surveyed the park one last time. “I really am sorry. I didn’t want to ruin everything.”

“
You
didn’t,” said Polly.

Johnny had heard enough. “I’m sorry you got upset, Polly, but Jack didn’t mean to do anything wrong. Try to understand, Polly. Jack’s never been to one of these things before.”

Some friends from school saw them and came over to chat. After a bit of discussion Ned and Polly decided to go in their wagon back to Yale.

Johnny said goodbye but had difficulty looking Ned in the eye.

Ned slapped Johnny’s shoulder. “Worry not, John. No harm done. Jack’ll show up.” He put his arm around Polly to lead her away.

“Sorry, Johnny. Hope you find your friend,” added Polly.

They found Jack asleep in the back of the wagon. As Johnny unhitched Tilly from the fence he noticed that a pile of green hay had been placed there for her to eat.

“Looks like Jack fed Tilly,” he said with a smile.

As Johnny and Ginny climbed into the wagon, Jack woke up and stared at them blankly.

Ginny looked in the picnic basket and took out three sandwiches. “He fed Tilly but he didn’t eat anything more than an orange,” she said with admiration.

“And that’s only because you told him he could help himself.”

Jack sat rubbing his eyes as Johnny urged the horse back toward the road to Yale. They passed Ned and Polly and waved. The pair waved back and called out that they were glad to see Jack safe and sound.

“Sorry, Jack,” called Ned. Jack returned their wave and smiled.