The Kingdom Land (24 page)

“
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

F
or 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.