Chapter 5 - Revenge of the Autumn People - The Dark Carnival

                                            Chapter 5 – The Dark Carnival

It was a large, sturdy truck that might have hauled lumber at one point in its lifetime but now was full of weathervanes and other large outdoor accessories for homeowners. Many of these devices were made of iron. Many also looked used.  The driver of the beat-up green truck got slowly down from the cab and stretched.

I squinted at the lettering of the side of the driver’s door. The sign read “Tom Fury and Son: Lawn and Outdoor Antiques and Oddities. All Items Made from the Highest Quality Iron. Good Luck Charms and Wards Against Dark Magic”. Billy stopped playing with Annie and they both approached the driver.

“Hi Tim. Is it that time again?” Billy held his hand out and Tim politely shook it. Annie sat like a good girl and offered the driver an opportunity to shake. She extended her paw. Tim chuckled and bent down to shake her paw and pet her head. Then she rose and nosed him asking for an “ear scratch”.

“Who is he talking to?” Petey asked curiously.

Knuckle Butt snickered “Talkin’ to Billy. Be patient. You’ll meet him sooner or later.”

Petey looked at me as if to ask whether Knuckle Butt was teasing or had momentarily lost his wits.”

“Regarding things you can’t see…just remember what I said about keeping an open mind.” I reminded him as I slowly rose and buttoned up my shirt once again. Dorthy and I descended the porch steps together.

“Well hello Billy.” Tim said. “It’s been a long time. You haven’t changed a bit.

Billy drew closer. Although his feet moved, he still seemed to glide towards Tim. “Wow, you sure have. Um, you have a beard now.” Billy added to avoid being rude. He noticed the crow’s feet at the corner of the ironmonger’s eyes and the gray in his hair.

“Yes sir. When I first met you, I was too young to grow a beard and was learning my trade from my father.   I see you have made friends with the neighbors. I want you to know Billy that my dad showed me where your parents are buried. I put flowers on their graves last year because I knew I would probably see you this year.”

“Thank you, Tim. How is your dad doing?” Billy looked at the ground and tried to scuffle his tennis shoes on the soil. Although his feet never touched the dirt, pebbles moved, and leaves arose and blew away in the autumn wind.

Timothy Fury was a long and lean man. His shirt was tattered, and his waistcoat was worn and frayed. His boots reminded those who met him that he worked hard for a living. Even though his face still looked young, indeed, his long hair was starting to go gray. It whipped around in the autumn wind that now had turned suddenly chilly.

“Dad took ill two years ago and turned the business over to me. He is retired now back home in Illinois.” Tim looked up at members of the porch crowd walking towards him. He nodded at them and then looked back at Billy.

“Why don’t you climb up on top of that load back there and poke around. See if you can find anything that you or your friends might need.” Tim suggested.

“Gee, thanks!” Billy floated up to the top of the pile of iron artifacts and lawn ornaments.

“Dorthy, you haven’t changed a bit since I was a boy. It’s good to lay eyes on you again! Is Deke still down at the garage? Lord, have mercy. Grant! Is that you under that mustache?” Tim Fury laughed. It was a long and heartfelt laugh. The sort of laugh that radiated from his eyes as much as his lips and cleansed your soul.

“Most folks call me Knuckle Butt these days.” Grant replied.

“Of course they do!” Tim laughed all over again.   

As we drew closer to the truck, Alice brushed up against me and whispered. “Why can’t Petey see it too?”

“It, really? He has a name. He is an eight-year-old child Alice.”

“No, I mean, I don’t want to be insensitive. It’s just that I’ve never seen a ghost before.” She looked confused.

“Petey can’t see him because he doesn’t want to see Billy.” I offered. It isn’t simply the fact that he doesn’t believe in ghosts.” I continued.

“I don’t believe in ghosts either Doc. Why can I see him?”

“Good question. I think Billy has some role in whether you can see him or not.  You say that you don’t believe in ghosts, but on some level you do. According to Dorthy, you’re not only a witch but also a Seer. You can see magic Alice. You’ve been able to do that for as long as I’ve known you.

It was true. Alice could see magic which is invisible to most people. Not only could she see it, but she could sometimes hear, smell, taste and feel it. Alice knew the difference between Dark magic and White magic or other sorts of enchantments, spells or sorcery. She could tell simply at a glance, although she was only now becoming comfortable with that ability.

I whispered, “I believe Billy has opened a channel allowing you to see him if you are receptive to the idea that ghosts might exist...even a tiny bit. Like a child inviting another child to play.

“Even if he can’t see Billy, how can Petey account for the fact that objects are moving around, seemingly by themselves?” Alice pointed at the pile of iron objects on the back of Tim’s truck that were moving and clinking and shifting around as Billy poked through piles of doorknobs, trellises, and garden gates.

“We have had this conversation before. Remember when I said that as long as I don’t rub people’s noses in my enhanced genetics and transform right  in front of them, people invent reasons to account for my enhanced abilities. My hearing or sense of smell. My extraordinary strength. Do you remember when I single-handedly picked up the back of a truck and pulled it over to the garage by myself? The neighbors didn’t think it was a big deal. If someone had thought it was an unusual sight, I would have just lied. I would have said that I had already pulled the motor out of the truck or something of the sort.  The point is that people believe what they want to believe.

Naydene joined the conversation. “You couldn’t have fooled me that day.” She smirked.

“That is because it was your truck. You had more familiarity with reality of it. Also, your father was the strongest man in the county. Could he lift it?” I challenged her.

“Not until after he turned into a zombie and Calvin started him on Honkey Kong.”

“So, you had a very firm grip the realities of that particular situation,” Your beliefs were rock solid,” I said.

“When Petey watched Billy play ball with Annie, doubtless he thought the wind was moving the ball. This is what he chose to believe.” I suggested. “Mostly, people believe what they’ve been told to believe. They strive for consensus. In cultures where everyone believes in ghosts it isn’t uncommon for people to see them everywhere. Even when they aren’t present. I’m with Knuckle Butt, though. Given enough time, I think Petey will become a believer and start to see Billy. Billy will also meet him halfway and permit himself to be seen.”

I noticed Petey, Knuckle Butt and Dorthy pointing to a weathervane that now had mysteriously moved to the top of the iron pile in the back of Tim’s truck.

“So, I assume your presence in Dusk Thorne means that other visitors aren’t far behind?” Dorthy fixed Tim with a stern look.  “At least that is what it always meant when your father Tom passed through town.”

“Yes Mame. There are already posters up on the other side of town. I ripped this one down of a telephone pole in front of a phone booth downtown.” Tim pulled a large piece of cardboard from the cab of his truck and handed it to her.

A star-spangled poster read Josiah Pandemonium’s Dark Carnival. The was a picture of a sinister clown grinning wide and showing a row of pointed teeth. The lower caption read “You will be captivated”.

“Not too subtle, is it?” I muttered.

“Jumping Jack Rabbits on Pogo Sticks! That is mondo creepy.” Alice shouted.

“Can I have that, for my room?” Naydene whooped.

Alice shuttered and handed the poster to Naydene. She hopped up and down with it.

“I remember the last time they came through town was seventeen years ago back in ’62.” Knuckle-Butt closed his eyes as if trying to visualize the memory. “That was a weird autumn.

“Who?” Alice, Petey, and Naydene said in unison.

“The Autumn People.” Dorthy said ominously. “So, he is calling himself Josiah Pandemonium now, is he? I remember him when he was just a boy.”

Petey yelled from the back of the truck. “Hey Doc, look at this! We need this for our house!”

I smiled not only because Petey called the old Victorian structure “our house” but also because Billy had dragged the iron pole over towards Petey. He had practically put the weathervane in the young werewolf’s hands. Doubtless Petey thought the iron load had just shifted causing him to notice the object.

It was a beautiful weathervane with a silhouette of a wolf on top. I shook my head in agreement. “Wrap it up Tim. This belongs here with us.”

Tim rubbed his hands together. “No dickerin’ huh. I like doin’ business with you folks. Tell you what…I’ll throw in a lightening rod since you are new customers.

“Who or what are the Autumn People?” Alice asked Dorothy anxiously.

“They are grifters and scallywags. You’re a Seer. Soon you will behold them for yourself. Some of them aren’t completely human. He and his kin are Abominations. They come every seventeen years like the cicada. At this time of the year, the Great Mist parts and the divide between the worlds weakens.” Dorthy stamped her cane and from far off we heard the skies peel with thunder. Then, the sound of a locomotive whistle in the distance answered.

“They will be here soon,” She said grimly.