A Wanton Tale (9 page)

As they waited for their turn, Sophie found that she had caught the eye of an unusually dressed man. He was standing in the middle of the ride next to the showman.

‘Look at that man Bertie standing in the middle of the ride! He seems to know us.' Sophie pointed over to the man who was now waving at her. His wave became a beckoning gesture, inviting her towards him, making her feel even more drawn to the ride.

‘You mean the showman?' Asked Bertie, ‘Can't see anyone else, seeing things again are we?' He teased.

Sophie pulled down her straw hat, jamming it on her head more securely before mounting the ride. Her bouncy mane of red wiry curls would often retaliate against any headgear, it had a will of its own to break free. She did the same with Bertie's cap.

Her eyes were fixed on the peculiar man and, seeming in slow motion, she walked up the steps of the ride as though it was a grand staircase. She dragged Bertie behind her.

Sat in the caterpillar car, Sophie still couldn't take her eyes off the stranger. She could clearly see the hypnotic stare of his unusual mint green eyes, she was, strangely, drawn to him, mesmerised.

His clothes were from a bygone era, distinguished by a tall top hat, brightly coloured waistcoat and long cape. She could make out carroty coloured hair jutting out from under his hat which looked matted and unruly.

‘Look Bertie, you can see him now, the tall man with the top hat, he
is
still there!

‘There's no one there.' Argued Bertie, now with an edge to his voice, ‘Are you making things up? I'll tell Ma when we get home.'

Sophie ignored her brother and continued to stare towards the man. Her trance was broken by the ride's owner who held out his hand for the sixpence fare for the two of them. Sophie came to her senses noticing that the man in front of her was dressed in normal working attire, not at all like the man she had just seen.

‘He can't be a fairground worker, not dressed like that.' Thought Sophie.

‘Who is the man in the funny clothes with a peculiar stare wearing a top hat?' She asked the showman, looking to where the man was standing. The showman looked over his shoulder and then back at Sophie with a perplexed expression. He frowned and shook his head. He had no time to stop and talk, he had more fares to collect and had to get the show moving, time was money.

‘No one like that ‘ere love, now you and your brother hold on tight.' He said firmly, moving on to the next car as he spoke.

Sophie sat in silence, looking down at her feet then away from the ride. She was in a daydream, preoccupied with the man and what he was doing. From time to time she would look back at the centre and always the man was there. Other than waving he was standing perfectly still, just looking directly at her.

At about the same time, there was an impatient knock on the front door of number 6, Oakland Vale. May opened the door to Mrs. Bradshaw, she was clearly very upset. ‘I can't come in, ' she sobbed, ‘I just wanted to tell you that Millie was knocked down by a car last night. She'll be fine but she was hurt badly, she has broken her leg.'

‘Oh, oh dear, I am so sorry, are you sure you won't come in for a cup of tea, I've just brewed a pot.' Added May awkwardly, her mind racing back to the playground episode.

Mrs. Bradshaw clearly didn't want to stay and started to back away from her. May wished her daughter well and asked if there was anything she could do. The lady shook her head, May closed the front door quietly.

As she stood with her back to the closed door, May's perplexed face became ashen. Her husband came out of the drawing room, their eyes met, both said together ‘Sophie knew….!'

Sophie felt a shiver down her spine. She was suddenly brought back to reality. She heard the bellowing shout of the showman as the ride began to slowly move off.

‘Hold on tight, here we go!'

Sophie glanced across towards the centre of the ride once more. The man was still there waving and staring at her.

As the ride gathered speed, Sophie could feel goose bumps forming all over her body, an unusual sensation on a warm summer's day. The hairs on her neck were beginning to stand on end.

Sophie felt almost scared as the caterpillar came round for the first time. She saw ‘
him'
again and her eyes locked onto his, his smile was fixed, almost like a clown's. Everything else before her, in her range of vision was becoming blurred. The ride completed another circuit. She looked again towards the middle and shouted to Bertie. The man was still there. She could see him clearly, even though everything else was blurred.

‘There's no man there!' Cried Bertie, his voice was beginning to fade.

The sound of the tune playing on the organ and the shouts of people became a bellowing, whirling buzz of deafening noise. The man continued to look directly at Sophie.

She watched as he doffed his hat and cupped his hands to his mouth. Quite clearly she heard him shout.

‘SCREAM IF YOU WANT TO GO FASTER!'

Sophie didn't want to go faster but she still screamed, a loud terrifying scream.

She was being sucked into a whirlwind of coloured light, a vortex of spinning colour. She watched horrified as her precious black china cat prize flew out of her pocket. In slow motion it spun through the air until Bertie snatched it to safety.

Then she screamed again.

S
ophie’s throat was hoarse and her mouth was parched. She didn’t really want to go faster, but it was her fascination with the man wearing the top hat and her curiosity at the reaction of the ride to her screams. She had screamed until there was no power left in her lungs to project her voice.

The spinning vortex of colour and distortion of the noise of the music, the people and the machinery had become a kaleidoscope and Sophie was part of it.

There was nothing familiar to her in this strange tunnel of surrealism into which she was being transported. Her brother was no longer next to her, she was alone. She had no idea how long her journey had taken or where she was going. The colours began to disseminate, the nauseating spinning sensation, of which she was part, began to slow down. The racket of sounds seemed to diminish and separate one from the other.

Gradually, everything was coming into focus but seemed strangely unfamiliar. She could hear a funfair organ and the puff and hiss of machinery, it sounded like a steam engine. She was pleased to see people but as her eyes slowly focused, she realised that they were dressed in a curious and old-fashioned manner.

The ride had stopped and she was holding on to a golden, barley twist rope of a merry-go-round galloper. She was sitting astride a golden galloper. The caterpillar, the showman and her brother were gone.

Her mind cleared and she remembered the strange man. Looking towards the centre of the ride, she saw him standing in the same position as when she was in the caterpillar car. He was waving to her again but now he was more animated, his smile was dazzling. Still hypnotised by his mint green stare, she was relieved to see him walking towards her, he
was
real after all. The stilted composure of her body which had been frozen in fear began to relax as she let out a sigh of relief. Instinctively, she had a feeling that the man was friendly, she was sure that he would help her. She felt relief as he strode towards her.

He was standing alongside the galloper, holding out his hand he introduced himself. ‘How do you do Sophie? I am Larry the Hat, The Street Fire King!’

Alongside her were two girls being helped off the merry-go-round. ‘This has to be a dream.’ She thought. ‘Who are these girls?’ Sophie was totally confused, she was beginning to have a bad feeling. Was the man in the top hat really a friend or a foe? She was bewildered and scared but still curious.

She turned to Larry, ‘How do you know my name? Where’s my brother and what do you want? Why were you staring at me?
And
I am on the wrong ride.’ Her voice was quivering with anxiety.

He didn’t answer immediately and the booming voice of the showman began to bark, ‘Jump On, Jump On, boys and girls, a magical ride for only a penny, one penny for all classes!’ His booming voice drowned out any possibility of a conversation. ‘Jump aboard the golden gallopers!’

‘All in good time and let me help you from your fine stallion.’ Said Larry before Sophie could protest. Larry took her hand and helped her off the ride. Sophie began to take more interest in her surroundings. She noticed that the showman was wearing long outmoded Victorian clothes. Her eyes followed the girls who had just dismounted the ride, their elaborate bonnets and capes were from a bygone era, as were the clothes of all the other people around her.

‘God, where am I?’ Thought Sophie, her heart began to pound. She became even more scared when her eyes followed the sound of a steam engine. ‘Lancashire Lass’ was clearly it’s name, emblazoned in shiny brass letters. She was no longer in the fairground she loved. Instead she was in a cumbersome, noisy place choked with coal fumes and she could hear the old fashioned sounds of a barrel organ.

‘Sophie, I have known your name for a long time. You have been brought here because it is your destiny to help some girls, now and when you go back. I am just the ferry man to bring you here at this time. Only you can do this. All will be made clear in good time. All those experiences and premonitions you’ve been having have led me to you. You can count on me as a friend but you must do this on your own. When it is your time to go back, I will be the one to make sure you get home safely.’

‘Where’s my brother and what do you want? Why have you brought me here?’ Demanded Sophie as she boldly poked the carroty haired man, right in the middle of his chest.

He threw back his head and laughed heartily. At the same time he pulled out a rod from his pocket, the end became a blaze of fire. Sophie jumped back in amazement.

‘You have arrived in 1900, that is all you need to know. I will meet with you again, I wish you good luck, my dear.’

He took the fire to his mouth and swallowed the flames as though it was candy floss. He had drawn the attention of a group of excited children who whooped with delight at the spectacle before them. A ripple of applause broke out among the crowds, a few people threw coins into his hat. Then suddenly he was gone. He had disappeared with the children into the crowd.

Sophie stood still, she began to scrutinise her surroundings. She was clearly in a fairground which appeared to be New Brighton but it was strangely unfamiliar. However, it seemed to be in the very early 1900s. The flags above the rides were the same as the ones she had seen flying there before except they had the motif ‘VR’ at the centre. Sophie knew that the flag
should
have ‘GR’ on it for King George V.

Looking up she saw a steel tower, it stood tall above the fairground rides. ‘What’s that?’ Sophie asked of nobody in particular, although she hoped that someone would answer her.

Her thoughts were racing and she began to panic. She was thinking of Larry, he had promised to take her back to her own time. She was desperately trying to make him out among the crowds of people. ‘Where did he go?’ Sophie asked herself as her eyes darted in every direction. The cheering children were beginning to disperse and soon they were lost among the throng of people.

Feeling desperate, she pleaded, ‘Wait, wait, don’t go, please answer me?’ Her voice was trailing and her heart was pounding, she was being ignored.

She became aware that people were casting side long glances in her direction. She was sure that the fairgoers were passing remarks about the way she was dressed. Their clothes were far more cumbersome than her flimsy summer dress.

Sophie looked down at her pastel green dress and long cardigan. She realised that she was out of place, she looked odd and at variance with everyone else.

As she tentatively made her way through the crowds and the heavy atmosphere of the coal driven engines, her eyes were drawn back to the metal tower. The handsome steel structure contrasted with the clear blue of the summer sky.

The noise of the rides sounded like grating metal, grinding and banging through her ears like an out of tune symphony. A man wearing a mucky flat cap with a dirty overcoat almost collided with her. The fragrant young Sophie immediately noticed that he smelled of body odour. Others looked equally unkempt and dirty whilst some were finely turned out. There were ladies and gentlemen in bonnets and smart bowler hats. The sweet smell of brandy snaps was the only pleasant aroma that could be savoured. Soon it was lost and blended with the nauseating smell of coal fumes and unwashed people.

Although, everything was unfamiliar, she was determined to get a closer look of the ‘Tower.’

‘You’re looking at one thousand tons of steel there girlie and it’s five hundred and sixty seven foot high!’ Sophie spun round to confront the speaker. He was a ruddy faced man with piercing blue eyes, dressed in a suit and a bowler hat. ‘It’s the highest building in the country, are you not impressed my dear?’ Then he boomed, ‘The eighth wonder of the world!’

The man nudged himself closer to Sophie, making her feel uncomfortable. ‘Pert breasted little thing?’ He thought as he was ogling at her chest.

‘Here, stand on this crate, you will have a better view.’ He said, as he wrapped his arm round her waist. He then helped her to stand on the wooden crate.

She now had a better view of the Tower. The man’s hand then slipped to the back of her knees, it made her flinch and she thought he looked vaguely familiar.

Her mother’s warning flashed through her mind. After an incident with an uncle at a wedding, her Ma had said, ‘Sophie, it’s your body and you decide who touches it. No means no.’

She felt his hand begin to slide up the back of her legs. She squealed with shock and jumped down.

‘Why are you just wearing that flimsy petticoat, I can see straight through it? I will find you later at the parade.’ He called after her. ‘I
will
find you.’ He added lecherously.