by Bart Tuma
Erik moved as quickly as he had at the Mint Bar. But this time his mind moved even quicker.
“Laura, there you are,” Erik said loudly. “I was afraid you had already gone home to change. I know I said I’d pick you up at five, but I thought I’d see if we could go earlier.” He then looked at the man with no hesitation in his voice as he continued.
“Laura and I are going to go to the fair. We talked about it all week.” He then looked back to Laura. “I’m sorry I’m early, I can come back at five if you prefer.”
Laura’s looked changed from “what?” to “I understand.”
“No, actually right now is perfect. I just got done with my last break and I’m sure Ken will let me off early. We’ve been slow today. Marcus, I think you can find your way out of the store, and Highway 2 will take you to the Interstate back to Billings.”
Marcus realized he had no alternative but to give a last insult. “I can find the way just fine. Nothing I care about here, anyway.”
“You’re right. There’s nothing for you here, so I would expect never to see you here again.” Erik was as surprised to hear the conviction in his voice as he had been when he punched the farmer.
“Have it your way. I got mine,” Marcus shouted over his shoulder as he walked down the aisle. His own vanity made him look back so he could see the shocked look on their faces. Instead he saw Laura in a tight embrace with the other guy.
Laura had grabbed Erik to give a clear message to Marcus, but she held the hug longer and harder than planned. She finally slid away, but stayed much closer than normal. Neither spoke for a long minute.
“Well, I hope more strangers give you a hard time if I get a hug like that.”
Laura blushed. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?’
“For being in strange situations every time I see you, but thanks, Erik. Your timing couldn’t have been better.” Even after the long hug, Laura was visibly shaking,
“I guess you really are my knight in shining armor, but this time I hope I don’t get fired.” Laura looked around to see how many people had seen her push Marcus away. Only Barbara and the box boy seemed to have seen what happened. The box boy wouldn’t say a word except maybe to his friends with a much-expanded story. Laura presumed Barbara wouldn’t get her in trouble.
“Who was that guy? Some guy you seeing?”
“No, no way. I knew him for a short time and it’s a long story that I don’t want to go into. Ken called my old job in Billings for a reference and that guy found out I was working here. That guy is like a vulture. How dare he come close to me?” Laura’s shaking had ceased as it was replaced with anger towards all of Billings.
She couldn’t get too mad since Erik would want to know more, and Ken was just getting back from the bank. Barbara whispered something to Ken and he headed straight to Laura
“Laura what’s going on? Are you okay?”
“That man you talked to is no friend of mine. Ken, if that man ever comes into this store again, please let me know first so I can leave out the back door. He is not my friend, and I’ll call the police if he comes back here again.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. He seemed like a nice guy and he said the right things.” Ken was more occupied by being ashamed of his mistake than any thought of reprimanding Laura. “I won’t do it again.”
“It’s not your fault. He can seem like an awful nice guy. I fell for that myself. I just don’t want anything to do with him. I know we’re busy, but if I can I’d like to take a couple more minutes break. I need to sit down.”
“No, you can’t take a break, but you can go home.” At her devastated look, he quickly added, “No, you’re not fired. I should be the one fired. It’s company policy to ask you before I even let anyone know you work here. I can see you’re shaken up, and it’s probably better if you just go home. People are starting to go to the fair now, so we’ll be slow for the rest of the day. Go home and rest up or go to the fair and have a good time. Don’t worry, I’ll clock you out at five so you won’t lose any hours.”
“Thank you,” Laura reached over, touched Ken’s arm. In the last ten minutes she had shown more thankfulness to a man than she had in the last nine months. “I’d take you to the fair if I had any money.”
“You’re really trying to get me in trouble, aren’t you, Laura. The others girls are going to see me letting you go home early and then hear you wanted to take me to the fair. They won’t let me forget this one.” Ken once again turned to humor to change the subject. “Why don’t you take this guy to the fair? Even better, let him take you.”
Chapter Twenty
For four days every August, the dirt lots just east of Fairfield would be changed from a piece of useless land to a sea of sound and flashing lights of brilliantly colored rides. The caravan of trucks would pull into the fairgrounds on Wednesday after leaving Havre on their summer circuit.
There were a few other buildings on the grounds: a small grandstand in front of an oval track encircled by a faded white fence for horse-racing, three other buildings would be filled with 4-H and FFA projects, roosters, cows, sheep, goats, hogs, rabbits and other animals carrying the hopes of farm teenagers for ribbons, or crafts and pies with the wives hoping for the same, and slick vendors demonstrating food processors and always sharp knives.
For the majority of adults and all of the kids the focus of their attention would be the carnies as they hammered in the first stakes and raised the first ride. There was the “Zipper” and the “Whirling Saucers” and “Himalayan Express” with the calmer Ferris wheel and small kids’ rides of miniature locomotives and the carved horses of the Merry Go Round.
To get to the rides they would have to walk through a gauntlet of games with barkers telling the girls how pretty they were and challenging the boys to prove their manhood by knocking down the bowling pins or keeping the ball in the wicker basket. “It’s easy; let me show you how to do it. Your honey, there, doesn’t just need a teddy bear to carry home, she needs a giant bear. We have the biggest one on the midway.”
For those days, the talk of drought and failed crops was changed to laughter with the eyes of the children filled with awe. It was a medicine that the town needed and Laura and Erik were no exception.
They walked together down through the maze of games once Erik had convinced Laura she really needed to come. He could tell by her calm hands that he was right. This wasn’t the way he had planned things as he lay in the bunkhouse, but it seemed to be working out anyway. She was relaxing and he was walking with his dream girl.
“Do you need a big teddy bear for you new apartment?”
“Thanks for asking, but I really don’t need one. Besides, you’ll never win. The game’s rigged and you know it. Go buy one for your aunt at the store if you want a bear.”
“So you don’t think I can do it. I accept the challenge.” Erik pickup up three baseballs and handed the carnie three bucks. To no one’s surprise none of the balls stayed in the wicker basket, so Erik laid more money on the rail.
“Hey you’re leaning over the rail. Your hand can’t go past this line. I told you that, the throw doesn’t count,” the carnie pulled out the ball that finally lay at the bottom of the basket.
“Your hand was over the rail when you showed me how to do it.” Erik had just thrown nine balls that refused to stay in the leaning wooden basket, so the last one he leaned far over the ledge just to show he could win the game. He was joking with the carnie since he also knew he would never win, but part of the fun of the game was sparring with the carnie.
As Erik and Laura turned to leave, the carnie shouted, “Don’t go. You’re a nice guy and your girl is too pretty to go away without a bear. I’ll give you a free ball if you buy two, and I’ll show you how to win.”
“You should have done that ten balls ago. Now, I’m broke.”
The carnie knew Erik was done so he turned his attention to the next target. “Come on over. I need a winner so everyone
can see how easy it is,” was repeated time and time again.
“Let’s get something to eat and sit down for a while. You’ve been standing all day.”
Laura didn’t object when Erik paid for the roasted chicken platter. She hadn’t gotten a chance to finish her lunch and until payday she was broke.
“You’re doing okay?” Erik asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Do you think this Marcus guy will give you any more trouble?”
“No, don’t think so, or at least I hope not. Sounds like he’s found greener pasture for a week or two and then he’ll move on to the next.”
“How did you get involved with a guy like that?”
“It’s a long story. How’s your pronto pup? Is it as good as you remembered?” Laura ended any mention of her past.
“Better. My aunt got a mix once and tried to make them for me on the farm. It just wasn’t the same. It’s probably the day old grease they put them in and a layer of dust that gives them the midway flavor.”
“That’s disgusting! Your best idea was sitting down. This shade feels good, and it is nice to get off my feet. The WinRight has worn me down. I’m not used to standing at one place for so long.”
“Once you’re rested, where do want to go next? In the main pavilion they have a lot of barkers selling knives and mixers and all sorts of things.”
“Sounds good, but let’s just stay here a while longer. Don’t want to have too much fun too fast.”
“I envy you.” Erik commented
“Me? What’s there to envy in my life?”
“You’re strong and independent. You aren’t afraid to go to new places and do new things. So many people in Fairfield, including myself, seem to be stuck here. A lot of them will live in the same house their entire life. You aren’t like that.”
“I don’t know how strong I am. I move because I have had to move. It hasn’t always been by choice. I envy you. You have a place you can call home.”
“What’s made you move? Are your parents in Billings?” Her look told Erik he had once again brought up a forbidden subject.
“Yes, my patents are in Billings, but I haven’t talked to them in years. They didn’t like it when I found Christ. They thought I was rejecting them and I was way too fanatical. Little did they know how much that changed.” Laura’s voice tapered off as she talked about her parents.
“Sorry, I didn’t know.”
“Some things are better not known, so I haven’t tried to contact them and tell them they were right. Let’s drop my past. It isn’t that interesting.”
Silence visited them again as they pulled the last drops of fresh lemonade through their straws.
“There’s another reason I envy you.”
“Don’t keep me guessing.”
“You’ve been around Christ enough you can separate the good from the bad. I don’t even know what to avoid. A lot of what I thought I knew before I almost have to unlearn. I never knew how much He loved me, but I don’t always know what that means. There are things I wish would just go away, but they don’t,” Erik said.
“Don’t worry about questions, ‘cause sometimes there just aren’t answers. Hold on to what you have. Don’t envy me, and don’t make the same mistake I did.” Laura hadn’t meant to get on the subject of God, but the more she talked the less guarded she became.
“I’ve been trying hard all week to be normal again, and then my past walks in the door. It’s not as easy as it might seem. I’m like an old married wife. She loves her husband, but so many hurts have happened over the years that the husband becomes just the guy that takes out the garbage, not a love. Every time the wife tries to love again, she’s reminded of how he’s hurt her. Finally she sees the hurt as much as she sees the love.”
“But you’ve seen and done so much, and know how God works. I don’t know anything but this county and land that I’ve never liked.”
A slight breeze cooled the couple as the afternoon started to meet the evening. The picnic area had filled and people were waiting for Erik and Laura to leave.
Laura said, “You’re selling what you have too short. Just enjoy that life can be that simple.”
“Laura, I just see how much you have going for yourself. You said you don’t get along with your parents. I don’t even have parents. My dad died when I was eleven and my mom left a long time ago. I only found out Sunday that she’s also dead.
“You might not have talked to your folks in years, but you still can talk to them. You still can renew your walk with Christ. You might not have the ideal situation, but it’s a situation you can repair. I can’t repair what’s already gone. Right after I got saved I thought I would go to my mom’s and be a son to her. I can’t. She’s gone.” Now Erik had no problem talking. “You’re just so beautiful, and so nice. You’ve got everything I don’t. I just feel lucky to be sitting next to you.”
Laura didn’t say a word. She stood up, picked up her plate and plastic cup, walked over to a nearby garbage can, threw them away and walked back “Looks like there’s people who need the table. Where are the quilts you talked about earlier?” Laura’s message was obvious.
They talked cordially, much like talking to a co-worker at the office, for the rest of the afternoon turned evening, but little else. Erik tried joking to make things better, but he wasn’t good at small talk. The more the silence remained the harder it was for him to talk.
“One last thing before we go.” Erik offered. If he couldn’t talk he could take action.
“What do you want to do?”
“Let’s take one ride.”
“I told you, I don’t like rides. I don’t have the stomach for them.”
“I’m just talking about the Ferris wheel. It’s not even big, but tall enough to get a great view of the mountains, and if we hurry we’ll even see the sunset.”
“Okay, but only if you promise not to rock the carriage. I hate it when the carriage rocks.”
“Deal. I’ll get the tickets.”
The wheel did carry a beautiful view of the Rockies just as Erik promised. Laura seemed to once again relax. They reached the pinnacle of the cycle just as the sunset had broken into deep scarlet. It was a breathtaking sight as the mountains amplified the tones.Erik looked at Laura and saw a smile formed on her lips and the sunset reflected in her eyes. Her beauty stunned him.
“Laura, you’re so beautiful.” He repeated what had been rejected before, but Erik spontaneously said what he was thinking. He regretted the words as soon as they escaped.
At the same moment the ride stopped to let off the first passengers.A new operator for the evening wanted more action so he stopped the ride hard. Erik and Laura’s top carriage swung like a pendulum on a string. Laura stopped breathing and held tight to the safety bar. Her placid expression turned to one of fear.
“I don’t like this. I really don’t like this. Why did you make me do this?”
“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. We are getting off now as soon as we get to the bottom.” Erik tried to reassure her.
The wheel moved again, but only for a moment and once again the operator hit the brake hard and the carriage swung harder than when the last rider got off. The ride operator was enjoying himself. Laura was not.
“Get me off this thing.”
Erik saw sheer panic rather than the sunset that had filled Laura’s eyes.
Erik didn’t know what to do. He reached his arm around Laura shoulders in a hope to make her feel more secure. Instead her panic turned to anger.
“Get your arm off of me. I don’t want to be touched. I’ve already been touched too much today. Who do you think you are, Marcus? This is all your fault, and I don’t want to hear how beautiful I am. I don’t know if you think we’re a couple, but we aren’t. I just want to get off this thing and be left alone.”
Erik leaned as far away from Laura as he could. As soon as they reached the platform she pulled the pin and lifted the safety bar before the operator could
help. She was gone before Erik had a chance to get out or react to her outburst. He could have tried to catch her, but he didn’t.
“Well, so much for wishful thinking. Being told off three times in a week is enough. So much for Gods’ will.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Laura’s sleep was shallow and without comfort that evening. Finally she got up and paced for a time. She had never smoked, but she had a strange sensation that she wished she did. She thought of her rudeness to Erik every time she had been around him. She thought of her fear and anger when she faced Marcus alone. She remembered the conversation with John and how much sense he made.
She remembered that evening six years ago as she had laid out her lunch and instead of eating had heard the Lord’s invitation. She had come to the end of excuses six years ago, and she had nowhere to turn. The Lord turned to her and she responded.
She took inventory of the last few days; fired from her job, the memories of her stillborn child, the meeting with Marcus, and her constant pushing aside a guy who had done nothing but try to help. She was no longer able to control her anger and she knew it.
She was out of control. All the right sermons with all the right words from John or Gracie wouldn’t help. Six years ago she had turned to Christ in a park for answers and forgiveness. Last night she turned to anger which had become her answer. Now, once again, she needed to be back at that beginning picnic table, asking for belief and forgiveness.
“Who am I kidding, Lord? I can try to find every excuse about my life being stained, but I can’t avoid one fact… I’ve turned my back on You ever since that day my child was gone. I’ve prayed to the heavens, but I have not prayed to You. I felt distant from You because of my sin, but I have never tried to come to You.