The Harvesting (30 page)

“
What’s on the news?” Mama
Rosie asked.

“
Lord, help us! This flu
is something else. They have quarantined almost every city on the
west coast: LA, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco . . . you name it.
They got the national guard on the highways keeping people out,”
Mrs. Chapman said.

She was quiet then, and we listened:
“And inside Portland Central Hospital, military personnel have
opened fire on seemingly rabid patients,” a female reporter was
saying. “Reports from the scene indicate that a riot broke out at
the hospital when patients, suffering from side-effects of what now
seems to be a pandemic flu, began to attack other hospital patients
and employees. CDC officials have confirmed that increased violence
appears to be associated with the afflicted and continue to advise
everyone to avoid direct physical contact with those with the
illness. Martial law has been instituted in all major west coast
cities and cities across the south. Cities across the north-east
and central US have issued curfew and encouraged businesses to
close their doors until the illness is contained. As a result,
there have been reports of runs on banks, grocery stores, and
fueling stations.”

“
What are they sayin’ on
T.V.?” I asked.

Red shook his head. “We can’t get a
signal in. No one’s dishes are working.”

“
President was on. Told
everyone to be calm,” Cici said.

“
Easy for him to say. They
probably got him stashed in a bunker somewhere,” Mr. Chapman
replied.

“
Highways are gonna be
backed up. And nobody’s gonna be interested in a fair, not in
Bowling Green and not in Cincinnati. But I bet if we don’t jump,
Marx is gonna stiff us,” I told the others.

They nodded.

“
Well, if ya’ll give me a
hand I’ll pay back the favor,” I told Red and Neil.

“
No problem, Cricket. You
see Beau around?”

I shook my head. “I just came lookin’
for him.”

“
He’s sick,” Vella said.
She rarely spoke, so when she did, we all turned to her. “Leave him
be,” she added.

I had noticed Vella had been shuffling
her cards the whole time we’d been listening to the radio.
Apparently I wasn’t the only one who noticed.

“
What do the cards say
about this flu, Vella? Should we hit the road? Stay put?” Mama
Rosie asked.

“
Devil’s work,” Mrs.
Chapman whispered under her breath.

“
They say the same thing
over and over again—the Tower,” she said and laid out a card for us
to see.

When Mr. Iago leaned in to look, I
moved away. My skin crept having him so close to me. I took a step
toward the other end of the table and put my hand on Mrs. Chapman’s
shoulder. She patted my fingers. On the card Vella had laid out was
the image of a tower on fire, two naked people falling from it to
the ground.

“
What does it mean?” Mama
Rosie asked.

“
The end of a way of life.
Chaos will pave the way in a new world for those who can survive
the destruction.”

“
That’s cheerful,” Red
said.

Vella picked the card back up. She
looked up at me. “Can you let me know when you’re going to head
out? I’d like to caravan,” she said.

I smiled and nodded. I wasn’t really
interested in her gloom and doom, but I sure didn’t want to be on
the road alone in a time like this.

Red, Neil, and I headed back to the
rides and started the break-down process. It wasn’t easy with just
the three us, but Neil was good with the lift, and I had the
break-down down-pat. We had the tilt loaded onto the flatbed in no
time.

“
I’ve never seen a girl as
good with a wrench as you are, Cricket,” Red told me as we headed
over to the swings.

“
Don’t hurt none that my
daddy put one in my hands about a minute after I was born,” I
replied with a laugh.

“
You know I met your daddy
back in the 80’s. We worked for Fairway Fun together for about a
year.”

“
For real? I didn’t know
that.”

“
Boy, your daddy. There
wasn’t a mark he couldn’t clean out or a townie whose eye he
couldn’t catch. I think your daddy was born for the carnie
life.”

“
He loved it. That’s the
truth,” I replied. I loved talking about my daddy. Since he’d died
three years ago, I often felt lonely for him. Anytime someone had a
story to share about him I was all ears. Daddy had just finally
saved and borrowed enough to buy a used tilt-a-whirl when he
started looking a little red in the cheeks from time to time. My
daddy had always been a ride jockey, but now he would be a ride
owner, and a “tilt man,” a title that made him proud. He liked the
idea of tweaking the ride, playing with the gears and brakes. It
was a dream for him. Not a month after getting the ride, however, I
found him lying dead of a heart attack. He’d been working on one of
the cars. Doctor said a life full of eating nothing but carnival
food will do that to you. I’d thought about leaving the carnival,
but after my daddy had worked so hard, I couldn’t. I became a tilt
girl. The ride was like his living memorial. Every time a child
smiled or laughed on that ride, I knew my daddy was smiling in
heaven.

“
I never did meet your
mama. You ever see her, Neil?”

Neil shook his head. “Someone said you
look like her, Crick.”

“
Yeah, I suppose so. I
probably wouldn’t know her anymore. Last time I talked to her she
said she’d dyed her hair red,” I replied. My mom and dad had split
when I was young. She had married and started a new life. We rarely
talked.

We worked on the swings. They were an
easy break down, and we were done and packed in less than two
hours. The Big Eli, as we called the Ferris Wheel, was another
story altogether, and it was already after one in the
morning.

“
Let’s get it first thing
tomorrow,” Red said. “I’m feeling my bones.”

I nodded. Puck had started whining for
his dinner an hour before so I wasn’t planning to argue. “Just
knock in the mornin’,” I called to Red. “I’m over by the creek at
the edge of the parking lot. Wasn’t room left in the back when I
got here,” I added.

“
Well, that will teach you
not to play around in town next jump,” Red replied with a laugh,
and we went our separate ways, Neil and Red chatting as they went
the other direction.

Back in the parking lot, I crawled
into the cab of my truck, my home away from home. When I was a game
agent, I used to drive a small RV, but the ride needed a semi-truck
to haul it so I gave up my RV, managed to get a CDL license, and
now lived in the cab of my truck. It wasn’t too bad, and if it
started to feel real tight, I would stay in a bunk
house.

I dug around until I found a can of
food for Puck. I placed a small bowl on the ground and sat beside
him, petting him while he ate, looking out at the view. My spot by
the creek wasn’t bad. I could hear the sound of the rushing water.
Besides, the parking lot was dead. There would be no
noise.

After Puck had gobbled down his meal,
he jumped in the cab, and we snuggled together on the small cot
behind the seat. I pulled the curtain closed, and we called it a
night.

I thought Red was going to wake me the
next morning so I was surprised to see the sun was up when I pulled
back the curtain. Puck was whimpering to get out. I opened the
door, and he bolted to the nearest tree. Mist was rising up from
the creek. It had covered the parking lot and fairgrounds with a
thick fog. I pulled myself together, grabbed my tools, and Puck and
I headed over to the Big Eli. Sometimes the boys tried to pamper me
a bit, acting like substitute fathers. They had probably decided to
let me sleep and do the tear down alone. I wasn’t havin’ none of
that.

Still sleepy, I wandered back down the
midway toward the back end where the rides sat. The fog was so
thick you could barely see your hand in front of your face. It
helped a little that the lights were still on which was really
weird. Maybe the electrician had gotten sick too. God knows Marx
would never let the electricity run like that. Maybe he’d already
headed out. The colorful lights created a strange looking glow
amongst the fog. It felt eerie.

As I turned down one of the aisles
toward the rides, I thought I saw Beau’s hulking figure standing in
the row headed the other direction. He looked like he was just
standing there between the lemonade stand and the sugar shack. I
could not see him clearly in the fog. It looked like he had his
back toward me; I only saw his outline. I was about to call out to
him when Puck let out a very low and very serious growl. It was a
sound I’d never heard him make before. I looked down to see Puck’s
ears were flat and his hackles up. Since I spook easily, I was
scared.

Beau moved then and walked off in the
other direction.

I firmed up my grip on my pipe wrench,
and we headed toward the rides. When I got to the Big Eli, I was
surprised to see no one was around. The ride was untouched. I stood
there trying to decide what to do when I heard someone walking
toward me. I could tell by the jingling sound that it was Vella.
She always wore anklets with small bells.

“
Hey Cricket,” she said. I
could tell she was trying to sound cheerful, but she wasn’t hiding
her worry very well. She looked ready to go. While she still had
her long, curly black hair covered in a scarf, she’d given up her
colorful skirt for a pair of jeans and a red embroidered blouse.
Kathy at the incense joint had started selling all kinds of
imported embroidered shirts and dresses. Vella must have gotten the
top there. Any time you saw Vella in jeans and out of “reader”
gear, it was time to go.

“
Guess no one else is up
yet,” I said, looking around. “Well, maybe Beau, but I’m not
sure--”

“
I’m all packed. When are
you heading out?” she asked me.

“
I was gonna go hook the
truck up now since Red is still snoozin’. He’ll probably be up by
the time I’m done. I need to help with the tear down then we’ll
head out.”

Vella looked worried.

“
What’s wrong?”

“
I think we better head
out. This flu . . . well, I’m just worried,” she said.

I realized then she was right. If
everyone at the bunk was sick, no doubt we’d catch it too if we
stayed around much longer. Puck trotted over to her and licked her
hand.

“
You agree too?” I asked
the dog who wagged his tail at me.

“
Alright, then. Let’s go
check on Mama Rosie, and then we can head out.”

Vella nodded, and we walked back up
the aisles to the snake show. Mama was outside. She had just rolled
up the awning on the truck which was already running. I could see
she was sweating profusely.

“
You okay, Mama?” I
asked.

She jumped. “Good lord, Cricket. You
two scared me. This mist is thick as pea soup. It’s something,
ain’t it?”

“
It sure is. Mama Rosie,
you don’t look like you’re feelin’ good.”

“
Ahh, Crick, you know I
ate some shrimp yesterday that had a wang to it. I knew I was gonna
be in for a long ride, but I’ll be alright. You two headed
out?”

I nodded.

“
Alright then, I’ll meet
you at the grounds exit.”

“
I’m already in the west
parking lot too. I’ll walk down with you to your truck,” Vella told
me.

Mama Rosie then jumped into her van.
With a wave, she pulled the travelling snake show onto the midway
grounds and, driving slowly, headed toward the gate.

As Vella and I passed, I noticed that
Mr. Iago had also already left. I was glad. The further away he was
from me the better.

“
I don’t like him either,”
Vella said but then stopped and grabbed my arm.

Coming out of the fog, there were
about four people moving slowly down the aisle toward us. Just by
the way they were walking, you could tell they were up to no good.
Again, Puck growled that low, dangerous growl.

I felt like my skin was about to crawl
off me. “Thieves?” I whispered to Vella.

“
I don’t know, but let’s
go,” she whispered and pulled me between the duck pond and the
t-shirt joint. We got between the two buildings, and we headed down
an aisle when I looked behind us. The figures were now moving
faster and coming in our direction.

“
Stop a sec,” I whispered
to Vella.

“
What? No way! Come on,”
she replied.

“
Vella, your bells,” I
whispered to her, pointing to her ankles. The tinkling sound of her
bells had echoed through the fog as we fled.

“
Dammit,” she swore and
quickly kicked the anklets off.

We could see the figures coming closer
toward us. For a minute, I thought I saw someone wearing a hat just
like Red’s.

Vella pulled me by the arm.

“
Wait, is that Red?” I
whispered, looking back.

“
Wouldn’t Red call out?”
Vella replied. “Come on,” she said pulling me again.