JAYSON

RUNS AWAY TO

THE CIRCUS

Stephen Pollard

Wynnefield Heights / Philadelphia, PA Summer, 1864

The inquisitive young boy was once again peaking around the wooden slat fence. He was curious about what he was viewing, circus carnival performers going about, practicing & readying themselves for another performance.

All of a sudden a tall, dark & sinister figure wearing dark pants, coat & top hat was standing over him, realizing that the ring master was lurching over him, his skin felt like it was crawling. The ring master said in his deep voice, “ah, here again, huh sunny. Just what interest you, yah want to be a performer”. Shaking all over, the young man could hardly utter, “I, I, just want to see what the people were doing.”

“Heh, you’re here quite often, like you’re checking things out or scouting around”. Then the ring master said “if you interested I could use young’un like you and train you”.

By this time the boy was frightened, backing off, he could only utter “ah don’t know” quickly turned around, walked away very fast heading toward home scared out of his wits.

Finally reaching home after a rather long walk Jayson Gannon was still white as a sheet. Opening up the door to his grandmother’s house Jayson tried to walk in quiet as a mouse, but grandmother Isabel Dunning knew he was in the house, walking out of the kitchen into the hallway, the tall older matriarch of what was left of the family in her olde country accent spoke out and said “well, there you are, I can only imagine where you’ve been. Uh hmm, no doubt, checking out the circus carnival once again. What have I told you about that.

“I keep hearing that you’re always over there sneaking around. You’re going be accused of snooping. Howe many times heave I told yah there’s evil at that place. Landis Hawkins, he’s evil, maybe the devil himself, probably related to that Jersey Devil”.

“I keep pleading with yah, why can’t you play with the boys your own age, yah ought to be playing baseball with them”.

“My, my, I just wish your grandfather George was still with us, he’d keep you away from there, he’d set you in the right direction. Yes, I should realize that yah ah way too young to understand how serious associating with Mr. Landis Hawkins can be. This man & his father are both the seventh son of the seventh sons, that it has been said that if they do not like someone that they will cast spells on them. I just hope you can understand that”.

“Now I want you to get ready for dinner. I’ve prepared one of your favorite meals”.

Sitting at the dining room table with Grandma Isabel, Jayson was being treated to a dinner of fried chicken, rice with gravy and garden grown string beans. When Grandma Isabel knew that Jayson needed some prodding she would spend the day preparing his favorite dinner.

Trying not to lecture her grandson, Isabel asked Jayson how much did he remember his parents, saying that he wasn’t sure, he was told, “well they weren’t ever home too much, both of them being archaeology professors, digging up old ancient civilizations. That’s how your mom & dad contracted those strange diseases that they both succumbed from. Your grandpa was in charge of them. One day he just became ill, dropped & later passed away too. The whispers were that they all died from some ancient curse or spell. This is what scares me about you hanging around Mr. Landis Hawkins. I have told you over & over how strange things happen to people who cross him up. I don’t want to lose all of my family because of curses, hexes, spells & other magic being practiced by those who are evil”.

Continuing her conversation with Jayson, Isabel said, “you are way too young to understand just what is going around you. Our country is divided over a war that is between states, families, brothers, son’s, is taking the lives of those who are taking sides. You are very lucky that the authorities have not come looking for you, to conscript and induct you into the cause and the fight, You are lucky young’un that you live above the Mason – Dixon line, down there in the south where boys your age are being thrown in to the fray and quickly becoming men way before their time”.

If Isabel’s aim was to scare Jayson to thinking that he was the luckiest 10 year old on the face of the earth, well it did not quite work that way. Deep in his mind Jayson was turning over thoughts around in the young mind in his head, to the point of entertaining thoughts about just outright running away, even hiding out somewhere so that no one could possibly find him.

Sensing just that. Isabel interjected, “I’ve told you before and I will tell you again if you are going to anything, you can learn how to play the game of baseball, why don’t you hang out with the baseball players and learn the game of baseball, they would like to have a young’un like you around. There are several of those teams in the area. One day they may have associations, conferences or league’s so that they can compete competitively.

At this point Jayson was confused trying to absorb in his young mind all that his Grandma Isabel had been trying to tell him during the evening’s dinner. Isabel said to him “just take your time thinking about what I was saying to you, after all you are just 10 years old and have your whole life ahead of you.

For a few days while his Grandma was not looking around, Jayson would put items of clothing in a small leather travel bag that he was hiding while considering, plotting and wondering in which direction he was going to head off to. He could almost hear Mr. Landis Hawkins calling his name. Once he ran off there was not anything that his Grandma could do.

Grandma Isabel was busy with her household chores and cleaning around the way too spacious house. Jayson with his pack of clothes in a leather bag sneaked out of the house without being seen. Heading toward the section of town he was warned to stay away from, Jayson was walking past the field of the local baseball team the Philadelphia Diamonds, thinking about what his grandma told him, he stopped for awhile to observe the team in their practice session before the game with the visiting New York team. After awhile he then resumed his walk toward his intended destination, “The Gypsy Circus and Carnival.

Upon his reaching his destination Jayson purposely seeked out the ring master Mr. Landis Hawkins. Upon seeing the 10 year old walking toward him the tall darkish man said in his thick accent, “well, running away to join the circus I see. We’ll if you are that insistent I guess that I really do not have any choice but to find something for you to do. You are going to need to be able to fit in, so i’ll ease you in so that it will not be a shock to you at first.”

Landis Hawkins finished off by saying “for now I am going to have to find you some living quarters for you to bunk in and then I will have to introduce you to the rest of the staff and performers.

(C) 2016