If you do all the things you promise
In fact, my heart would break
should you not take me to the fair." - Guenevere, Camelot
Eliza: Thee go, Jess. The fair's come to have so many sideshows, freaks, dancing...
Mattie: Dancing? What does thee know about dancing?
Jess: She knows a thing or two.
Mattie: Did Mama ever dance? - Friendly Persuasion
I was vulnerable and took the risk of letting Tim know where we'd go after the bouncing room. Head down, putting Chris's shoes on him, I looked up to find Tim gone.
Had he returned to the racing pigs pen? Had he gone deeper into the fair? Or, had he gone ahead to the next ride?
I chided Kenny for not keeping tabs on his little brother and we set out to look.
Kenny started to lead us towards the next ride, as much for his own sake as anything. But I was afraid to leave the "area last seen" in the event that Tim came back for us. It didn't take me long to invest the services of the county police.
"He's wearing a light blue shirt, Osh Kosh; seersucker, plaid blue shorts and police car, light-up sneakers from Stride Rite," I described. Would I have been able to give as detailed a description of his brothers? Did I subconsciously know I'd never have to?
Immediately, the vicinity was swarming with uniformed county police. The one who escorted me asked whether Tim had an unlimited ride wristband and whether he would go on a ride by himself. "Absolutely!" I assured him.
Within minutes, they had located him in one of those "fun houses." They said it was the light-up sneakers that tipped them off. I had him thank the policemen for reuniting us and encouraged him to stick with us. He had already been on one other ride without us.
Tim isn't the sort of kid to collapse in a heap and cry when he goes missing, that's for sure. Too bad, too, because that's the kind of behavior that attracts attention!
So, the upside, for those like me pressed to determine one, is that we got this wandering tendency behind us early in the evening, before it got dark and crowded. Tim held my hand for the rest of the night, more or less.
Hours later, Kenny's wristband broke off and we went to Guest Services for some tape. One of the policemen was in the back, regaling the ladies with his version of the search:
"The mother was absolutely frantic ... and the kid was riding rides as if nothing was wrong!"Well, if that's how he remembers it, alright. There was one other occasion when I observed police swarming the kiddie rides area, one was escorting a searching father ... and I just knew.
Jeff said, "Yup, I know what's going through his mind - 'My wife is going to kill me.'"
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