The House of Storms

By: Geron Kees
(© 2017 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

GKees@tickiestories.us

Chapter 4

Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the dark cloud cover had brought on an early nightfall. The world was not dark just yet, but it was well on its way. The pavilion was packed, and the show had begun.

Jack Dark had come onstage. He was tall and dark-haired, with flashing eyes and a tiny pencil mustache above his smile. He wore a black cape at the back of his black suit, and a top hat that would have made Fred Astaire proud. He had presence, in spades.
 
The boys were immediately infatuated with him, and watched in wonder as the man went about the stage, waving his hand and growing flowers and small trees right from the floorboards as he talked. He would walk past his pretty assistant and swish out his cape, and it was apparent as he moved on that she was now nowhere to be seen. A moment later, on the return leg of his walkabout, he would again flare out his cape, and as he once again moved on, there would be the assistant again, seemingly back out of thin air.
 
After a time, the magician came to the front of the stage and smiled at the audience. "Magic," he said, in a voice deep and resonant. "What is it? How is it done?" He waved his arms apart. "Is it even real?"
 
 And then, briefly, it was snowing in the pavilion. The crowd looked up in wonder as snowflakes wafted down from the very ceiling, it seemed, and people held out their hands to catch the flakes, and pronounced them real.
 
 The audience clapped, and laughed, and called out to the magician, who grinned at them.
 
 "Or is it make-believe?" he continued. The snow stopped, vanishing as mysteriously as it had started.
 
 "It's a mystery," the magician, went on, laughing. "One of the greatest ever. As full of wonder and awe as the mystery of flight was before the Wright Brothers showed us how it was done."
 
 He waved his hand again, and a man in the front row suddenly rose out of his seat. The man squawked in alarm and waved his arms; but that only seemed to make him take off, and in a moment he was circling twenty feet above the audience, waving his arms and legs, and hollering, "Put me down!"
 
 The crowd loved it.
 
 The man circled a few more times, and then slowly lowered back into his seat. A man seated directly behind him jumped to his feet and waved his arms above the recently reseated man, and then turned to look at the crowd, dumbfounded. "No wires!"
 
 "Wires?" Jack Dark repeated, shaking his head in amusement. "Why use wires, when we have magic?"
 
 He waved his arms again, and a long, narrow box on a tall wheeled frame descended to the stage from somewhere above. The pretty assistant came forward at the magician's bidding, and opened the front of the box, to show that it was empty. She closed it again, threw the latches that held it, and then she opened the lid of the box. There was a sudden flurry of wings, and a hundred doves erupted upwards from the interior and quickly dispersed into the dark outside the pavilion, causing the audience to jump, and then laugh.
 
 The magician looked into the box, shook his head, and reached down inside. When he withdrew his hand, there was an egg clutched between his fingers. "Well," the man said, shaking his head, "I guess it's been a while since we've used this." He held the egg up, and it seemed to vanish from his hand. He grinned, and turned to the pretty assistant. "Will you?"
 
 She nodded, and climbed up into the box, and laid down within it. The magician nodded, and closed the lid. He produced a large saw seemingly from out of thin air, and held it up to the audience. "Didn't want her to see this," he said, in a loud stage whisper. "She just goes to pieces so easily!"
 
 The crowd laughed.
 
 The magician walked around behind the long box, and proceeded to saw it into three sections. He pulled the sections apart, opened the front of each, and showed a writhing length of body within. Then he put the sections back together, whipped out a large basting bulb, and proclaimed that it was full of celestial glue, and proceeded to glue the sections of the box back together.
 
 "Strange stuff, celestial glue," he said when he had finished. "You never know quite what it will do."
 
 He turned the box, now seemingly whole again, to the audience, and opened the lid. Out popped his pretty assistant, obviously in one piece. She stood up and waved, and the audience clapped.
 
 But a second later, another pretty assistant stood, identical to the first! And then a second later, a third pretty assistant stood up, identical to the other two! All three girls waved, and smiled at the audience.
 
 The crowd roared its appreciation as the girls climbed from the box to stand next to the magician.
 
 "How about that!" Joe called, grinning. "There's barely room in that box for one person, let alone three!"
 
 "It's a great trick," Tony had to admit. "I wonder how it's done?"
 
 "Magic," Frank returned, laughing. "Didn't you know?"
 
 Jack Dark walked around the long box now, as if examining it for flaws. Finally, he stopped, and shook his head, and tsk, tsk, tsked. "No, this will not do at all. Ladies?"
 
 The girls came back to the long box and arrayed themselves behind it. The magician made patting motions with his hands, and the girls began to clap their own hands up and down on the top of the box. The front of it immediately fell open, again showing that it was empty. The magician stepped forward and slammed the front closed, and latched it, even as the girls continued to pound on the top.
 
 "Knead before baking," the magician said, smiling at the audience.
 
 The magician then held his head as if listening, while the girls continued to bang their palms gently upon the box, and then he slowly nodded, and waved a hand. "That's enough. It sounds like it's done." He turned to the audience and smiled. "Allow to rise."
 
 The girls stepped back away from the box, and Jack Dark waved a hand at it. With a small creak, the box rose, coming off the wheeled stand. The audience gasped, rapt. The box rose above the heads of the girls, and then slowly started to spin about its axis, quickly gaining speed, until it was such a blur of motion that it more resembled a cylinder than it did a box.
 
 Jack Dark nodded. "And then bake at four hundred and fifty-one degrees until brown."
 
 The box suddenly burst into flames and became a spinning mass of fire, causing those in the front two rows of the audience to lean back suddenly in their seats.
 
 "No danger, folks!" the magician called. "This is a safe kitchen!"
 
 The box continued to spin in flames for another thirty seconds as the magician looked at his watch; and then the man waved his hand again and the flames died out so suddenly it was startling. The box continued to whirl a moment, then slowed, and finally came to a stop. It was brown now, and emitted little clouds of smoke from the ends. Jack Dark waved a hand, and the box settled slowly back to land upon the wheeled undercarriage.
 
 The magician smiled. "Well, now for the test!" He stepped to the box, gave it a cautious sniff. "It smells done!" He stepped back, and waved a hand at the three girls. "Ladies? Would you be so kind?"
 
 A girl went to each end of the box and grasped the lid, while the third reached over the center and took hold of it with one hand.
 
 "Now!" the center one called, and all three girls pulled.
 
 The lid snapped upwards. For a moment nothing happened; but then something rose into sight, and waved lazily in the air above the box. The boys gasped. It looked like an octopus tentacle!
 
 "Oh, no," the magician said, stepping forward. He grabbed the tentacle and forced it back inside the box, gave the audience a nervous smile, then took the lid, and closed it. He gave a soft sigh of relief, and shrugged at the audience. "A mix up in the kitchen, no doubt. I did not order seafood."
 
 The crowd laughed as Jack Dark stepped back, and tapped lightly on the lid. "Ladies?"
 
 Again the three girls grasped the lid and opened it. This time there was an immediate reaction. There was a snuffling sound, and two small pigs poked up their faces and looked at the audience over the side of the box. The audience laughed, and Jack Dark again stepped forward, looking alarmed. He pushed the piglets down and gently closed the lid. "A little underdone," he said, apologetically. "Pork needs to be cooked thoroughly, remember!" He shook his head and looked at the audience. "Maybe cooking is not my forte. We'll try one more time." He patted the top of the box again, and then asked the girls to open it.
 
 This time nothing happened. Jack Dark waited a moment, then stepped up and looked into the box. "Well! That's more like it!"
 
 He reached in and lifted out...an apple pie! He held it up to the audience and received a loud cheer, and then brought the pie up under his nose, closed his eyes, and inhaled. "Mmm! Just like mother used to make!"
 
 He handed the pie to one the girls, reached back into the box, and produced another pie. "One for each of you," he said, cheerfully. "Only fair." He reached back into the box, emerged with yet a third pie, and handed it to the third girl. "Enjoy!"
 
 The girls carried their pies off stage, to a round of clapping. Jack Dark looked into the long box again, and shook his head. "Oh, my! There seems to be some leftover ingredients!" And with that he hit the latches that held the front of the box closed. It fell open, and hundreds of shiny red apples cascaded to the stage floor and rolled in every direction, even into the first row of the audience. People stood and clapped, and many bent to retrieve apples from the floor at their feet. The magician smiled, slammed the front of the now empty box closed, lowered the top lid and patted it affectionately. "Good job."
 
 The box moved, and pressed at him, swaying lightly back and forth on its wheeled stand, like a faithful dog seeking another pat. The audience laughed, and Jack Dark looked at the box sternly. "Not now! I'm in the middle of a performance!"
 
 The box suddenly butted him, as if angry.
 
 "Go to your room!" The magician said then, pointing off stage.
 
 The box creaked and rattled, and shifted back and forth. Jack Dark sighed, rolled his eyes dramatically at it, then gave a little nod. "Okay. I'm not mad. You can go." The box shifted, and then slowly rolled after the girls, all on its own.
 
 The audience laughed, excited and amused. The boys put their heads together, trying to imagine how it was all done.
 
 "Oh, look!" Chip said then, leaning forward. "Here we go again!"
 
 A large elephant was led out onto the stage by a handler, and walked in a circle so that the audience could see that both sides of the animal were barren - obviously an elephant, and no more. Then the animal was halted, side-on to the audience, beside Jack Dark, who smiled at it, and turned to the crowd.
 
 "A visitor, it seems, from the distant Kingdom of Nepal." He leaned towards the elephant, which looked at him and bounced its head up and down a few times.
 
 "What's that you say?" Jack Dark asked, looking surprised. "You say you had riders?"
 
 As if in answer, something crawled up from behind the elephant, appearing slowly atop the beast's back, and soon revealed itself to be a howdah - a seat with a small canopy above it. There were little walls around its sides, and tassels hanging from the edge of the canopy! The crowd laughed, while Jack Dark looked perplexed. He leaned closer to the elephant. "I see the seat, but no riders. What could have become of them?"
 
 The elephant nodded again, and suddenly a head popped up within the howdah, and a man in a turban sat up and stared in surprise about the pavilion. And then another, and then yet another man popped up. All were wearing turbans, and all started talking away in a foreign tongue, looking as if they had no idea at all as to how they had come to be where they were. The audience clapped and laughed, and Jack Dark bowed and smiled. "When you book a tour with us, you could wind up anyplace on earth, it seems!" he said.
 
 The boys were impressed, and immediately went to discussing how the trick was done.  Only as the elephant and its riders were led away did they settle down and grow quiet.
 
 Again, thunder boomed in the distance, and a few flashes could be seen outside the pavilion.
 
 Jack Dark came to the front of the stage, waved a hand behind him. The curtain at the back of the stage drew apart, and then the big wooden doors rolled aside, revealing the ocean beyond. Again lightning flashed, and it was already apparent that the surf was up in response to the coming storm. In the distance, whitecaps could just be seen upon the waters in the near dark.
 
 "We live in a vast world," the magician said, his eyes upon the audience. "One full of mysteries. Yet a world also made smaller by our recent great conflict. Where once vast distances separated continents and peoples, the miracle of modern air travel has linked them together. We know more about our neighbors today than we ever did before. Commerce between continents is the rule now, with the oceans of the world traveled daily by the great freighters - the merchantmen that carry the labors of all peoples to the corners of the earth."
 
 Behind the man, out to sea, something appeared - something moving.
 
 "A ship," Frank breathed, leaning forward.
 
 "These great ships never tire," the magician went on, apparently oblivious to everything behind him. "Coming and going at all hours of the day and night, offloading their cargoes, taking aboard new ones, and then moving on once again, to some other part of the world."
 
 Behind the magician, the distant ship grew, as if it was coming right for the pavilion. Jack Dark seemed unaware of it.
 
 "These behemoths of the trade lanes weather the great convolutions of the world's oceans, passing through seas and storms simply frightening in their fury. These towering titans do not flinch, do not quail, do not pause in their duties, pressing always onward toward their destinations."
 
 The ship was large now, her bow aimed dead-on for the pavilion, her stack belching black smoke into the darkening sky as though she was under a full head of steam.
 
 In the pavilion, a low murmuring began, as the audience became focused on the onrushing vessel. It was nearing shore at a frightening pace. Frank watched it, and kept expecting it to suddenly sheer off in one direction or another - but the ship continued onward, seemingly intent on making the beach. It was a large freighter, he could see now, perhaps ten thousand tons in displacement, resembling pictures he had seen of the Liberty Ships of just a few years past.
 
 Jack Dark raised his voice now. "But sometimes, something terrible happens at sea. Plagues get carried aboard ship - deadly maladies born of the word's dark places, beyond the knowledge of the ship's doctor to combat - and rapidly spread, decimating the crew. Sometimes this happens so quickly that even a radio message of warning cannot be sent, and the ship sails onward, crewed by the dead, with no hand at her helm, until --"
 
 People were standing up now as the bow of the great ship loomed close. Frank felt his heart racing, and his muscles involuntarily tensing to run. In the ground beneath his feet he became aware of a thrumming sensation, almost as if he could feel the racing turns of the oncoming ship's screws.
 
 A woman screamed, and several people jumped up and ran to the back of the pavilion. The ship was surely about to beach herself, she was so close now; but Frank just stared at it, somehow kept in his seat by the magician's calm gaze, his lack of reaction to the events behind him.
 
 "-- until sometimes, these great titans of the sea come ashore!" the magician suddenly yelled.
 
 Behind him, the bow of the ship towered above the pavilion now, racing towards them. Frank gasped, sure now that, even if he ran, the great hulk would plow through the pavilion and cut off his escape.
 
 Jack Dark whirled and threw up his arms. There was a furious, blinding flash of light, and a sudden wall of white smoke. Something catapulted  through the smoke at them - but it was not the ship.
 
 It was a man. He landed on his feet running, and ground to halt next to the magician.
 
 The audience, still in shock, was silent a moment - and then suddenly erupted into laughter.
 
 The man was dressed in a sailor's uniform, but the pants only went down to mid-calf. The sleeves of his shirt were also too short, and the sailor's cap that rested upon his head was too small. It looked like had gotten wet, and everything had shrunk.
 
 But he saluted the magician, grinning. "Jack Dark?"
 
 "I am he," the magician said brightly, smiling.
 
 "Have an arrival for you, sir. Congratulations. It's a boy."
 
 The magician clapped his hands, and something else came through the dispersing white smoke and landed on the stage with a loud thud. it was a large wooden crate. On the front, stenciled in tall black letters, it said: " S.S. Utopia. Deliver to Jack Dark, Magic Town, U.S.A."
 
 There was a small cracking sound, and the front of the crate separated, and then swung slowly forward, to crash down on the stage with another thud. A boy, perhaps, ten or twelve, jumped out, and came to stand next to the magician, a huge grin on his face. "Daddy!"
 
 The audience suddenly howled with laughter and released tension. Behind the magician, the wall of white smoke blew away with the rising wind, revealing the sea beyond - and not a ship in sight.
 
 "Oh, my," the magician said, patting the boy on top of the head. "We were expecting a girl!"
 
 He pulled out his cape, briefly obscuring the lad, and then dropped it - and now the child was a girl!
 
 The audience stood and pounded their hands together, whistling and yelling. The sailor and the girl grinned at the audience, gave little bows, and hastened off stage. Jack Dark beamed at the audience, nodding, and then raised his hands, and slowly waved them until the audience quieted down.
 
 "Ladies and gentleman, that is our show for this evening. We hope you were entertained. In parting, I just want to remind you of one thing."
 
 The crowd quieted, and Jack Dark grinned at them. "Always remember that magic...is exactly what you believe it to be! Good night!"
 
 The magician turned his back on the audience, raised his cape outwards with his arms - and then his clothing collapsed to the stage, empty!
 
 There was a five minute ovation after that, and calls for an encore. Mr. Dane and the boys stood right along with the others, clapping and cheering. But the pile of empty clothing just lay there, without a response, and no one appeared again from backstage. The ovation finally slowed, and the audience seemed about to give up, when the pile of clothing onstage suddenly stirred, puffed up, and flew away into the wings. A moment later the magician reappeared, patting his clothing onto place, smiled, bowed and waved, threw a large kiss to the crowd, and danced backwards off stage.
 
 "Was that ever a show!" Joe said, clapping again along with the others. "Wow!"
 
 Even Mr. Dane looked impressed. "I have to say, I cannot figure out how some of that was done," he admitted, as they joined the crowd walking back towards the hotel. Above them, the sky rumbled, and flashes of lightning lit the horizon. The wind had come up, and people were hurrying now to beat the coming storm.
 
 Frank gazed about at the carnival, which was lit by strings of lights strung between poles, and was surprised to see the tents and stands closed up tight. Apparently the show folk had heeded the threatening skies that heralded the storm's approach, and had battened down the hatches in reparation. The rides were all empty, shut down, and the great Ferris wheel in the background - lit by golden lights around its periphery - stood immobile against the lowering sky.
 
 Lightning flashed again, followed by the roll of thunder overhead, and the crowd hurried onward. The lights of the hotel drew closer just as the first drops of rain started to fall, and the Danes and their friends made the safety of the long covered sidewalk before the hotel's beach entry just as the skies opened and poured down the rain.
 
 "Great timing!" Mr. Dane said, grinning at the boys. "Let's stand here a moment and let this crowd get inside. The desk will be mobbed."
 
 They backed up to the wall of the building and watched the rain come down in great sheets, driven by winds off the ocean, which, fortunately, were not violent enough to drive the drops to where they stood beneath the overhang. The crowd slowly made its way inside, and soon they were alone on the walkway.
 
 Lightning flashed again, great fingers of light clutching at the clouds above. The sound of the storm was such that conversation was difficult, and so the five just stood there, taking in the power of nature on the move.
 
 Joe leaned over to the glass door and looked inside, then nodded at the other. "Crowd's getting smaller," he called, cupping his hand at his mouth to be heard.
 
 "We'll wait a couple of more minutes," Mr. Dane called back.
 
 They resumed their watch of the storm, and so were front row, center, when a long lance of blue-white fire reached down from the sky and crawled along the braces of the distant Ferris wheel. There were flashes of light all about the carnival area as light bulbs burst, and then the carnival, the pavilions, and the hotel building at their back went dark.
 
 The five standing with their backs to the wall blinked their eyes as the night settled back around them, this time an almost complete darkness. Faint flashes of light still crawled among the clouds, and thunder still boomed across the sky, but the night was otherwise complete in every direction, as far as they could see.
 
 "Must have blown some big breakers somewhere!" Mr. Dane called. He put out his arms and herded the boys toward the door now, and they felt their way inside. There were lights at the front desk as the clerks and bellmen moved about with battery-powered flash lights, and now one of the lights made its way towards them.
 
 "Hello," said a voice, as the light touched them. "See you made it okay. Frightful night, isn't it?" It was the concierge who had sold them the seats for the magic show.
 
 "Lightning struck the Ferris wheel at the carnival," Mr. Dane said. "We were standing outside the door when it happened."
 
 "Oh, that's it. Must have been quite a jolt. The phones are out as well. Would you like me to guide you to your rooms?"
 
 "Is that what you've been doing?" Mr. Dane asked.
 
 "Yes. We don't want people wandering about in the dark. Someone is bound to be injured. As it's night now anyway, it's safer if people just go to bed and wait for the power to come back. You were on the fourth floor, right?"
 
 Mr. Dane smiled at the man's evident competency. "Yes."
 
 The flashlight turned to illuminate the floor before them. "The elevators are out, of course," the concierge said. "We'll have to take the stairs."
 
 They were guided to the staircase, and slowly made their way to the fourth floor. The concierge stood in each doorway and pointed his light about each room as the boys and Mr. Dane entered, so that they could reinforce in their minds where everything was located.
 
 "Please be careful," the concierge told them. "Move slowly, hold your hands out before you. Best thing to do is get to bed and stay there until the power is restored. Goodnight, all."
 
 Frank closed the door of his room and locked it, and took Chip by the arm. They moved carefully to the middle of the room before Frank stopped.
 
 "What are you doing?" Chip whispered. "The bed is over here."
 
 Frank smiled in the darkness and pulled the other boy closer, wrapping his arms lightly about him. "We're alone in the dark," he said softly. "Doesn't that suggest anything to you?"
 
 Chip returned the embrace, pressing his face close to Frank's. "Oh, I've waited all day to be close to you."
 
 Frank nodded. "It's rough, but we have to be careful. We don't want anyone to know about us."
 
 Chip sighed, pressed his cheek against Frank's. "I don't know how this happened to us, Frank. But I'm so glad it did." He turned his head and pressed his lips against Frank's, and they stood still, holding each other gently, and exchanged the longest of kisses. It took Frank's breath away, and after it was over he laid his cheek against Chip's and closed his eyes. "I love you."
 
 "I love you, too," the other boy breathed. "I always have and I always will. No one will ever take that away from us."
 
 Frank nodded, remembering the first hint he had had that Chip was interested in him - two years ago it was, now. He remembered all the careful, delicate steps they had taken together, before finally admitting to themselves that they were on their way to a love that must remain hidden from the world in order to thrive. It was hard, hiding this part of himself, especially from his family and friends. But the world did not allow for this kind of love, and so it must remain forever a secret thing.
 
 There was a brief flash of light against Frank's closed eyelids, and then another, and then the lights came on.
 
 Frank sighed softly, and opened his eyes. "Well, that was too short --" He began - and then broke off, staring.
 
 They were before the door between their room and the one occupied by Joe and Tony. It was standing open - Frank had forgotten to close it earlier. In the other room, plainly visible, stood Joe and Tony, wrapped in each other's arms just as Frank and Chip still were. Joe's eyes were open, and he was staring at his brother with a look of shock and fright upon his features.
 
 Chip felt Frank tense, and pulled his head back. He saw where Frank was looking and turned, even as Tony turned his head and looked at them. The four boys stood, frozen in place, and stared at each other.
 
 Joe blinked his eyes, and the look of fright on his face slowly transformed into a weak smile. "Fellas."
 
 Frank nodded. "Hey."
 
 Chip shook his head, and looked at Frank. "I don't believe it."
 
 Joe licked his lips and started towards Frank and Chip, pulling Tony along with him. Frank and Chip started forward, too. They met at the doorway, and stood in silence, watching each other.
 
 Joe put an arm around Tony's waist and drew him closer. Tony looked scared, but allowed it to happen. Joe nodded, leaned over and kissed the other boy's cheek, "It's okay. Relax."
 
 Tony nodded, but didn't say anything, his eyes still on Frank and Chip.
 
 "So," Frank said, finally smiling. "Fancy meeting you guys here. Feel like a chat?"
 
 Joe grinned, and nodded. "I was thinking just the same thing."
 
 Frank stepped back, drawing Chip with him. "Come right in, gents, and find a seat."
 
 Joe and Tony came into the room. Frank looked beyond them, saw that the door to their father's room was, fortunately, closed, and then closed and locked their own door.
 
 Joe and Tony went to the small sofa and sat together, and Frank and Chip went to the bed and sat on the edge of it across from them.
 
 Joe put an arm around Tony and snuggled close to him.
 
 Frank put an arm around Chip, and drew him closer.
 
 "So," Joe said, smiling now, his earlier fright at being discovered now obviously gone. "Where do we start?"
 
 Frank and Chip looked at each other and laughed, before Frank turned back to his brother and gave him a fond smile. "Why, at the beginning, of course."

To be continued...

Posted: 03/08/19