The Odd Visitor Chapter Eight

The next stop was one of the few grocery stores in town where I stocked up on a few of the things I couldn't make for myself, such as sugar, coffee and bacon. Well, perhaps I could come up with bacon but I've never really been too keen on pigs. Walking up and down the aisles wasn't very entertaining for Jojo, (what grocery store is all that interesting after all?) but once we started going past the corner where various pieces of tack was displayed he stopped. One piece seemed to have caught his eye and I could see him imagining how it would look on Taw. It was a handsome headstall, to be sure, loaded with chrome trim and even a bit of tassel on each cheekband where it buckled onto the noseband. Great parade stuff but not very practical for regular use. But why mention that?

"Pretty piece, isn't it?" I said to him.

"Sure is. I didn't know they could be so fancy. So they're not just plain leather."

"Well, no but there are times when you do want to dress up your horse a bit. You should come around on Frontier Days, you'll see so many dressed up horses, mules and even donkeys you'd swear the planet's inhabited by cross-dressing equines!"

Jojo grinned even though I suspected he didn't get most of the joke. "Taw would look good in that but I can't see it lasting very long out on the trails." he admitted. "Kind of silly, all that shiny metal and he wouldn't see how nice he'd look."

"Horses don't bother with mirrors much." I agreed. "But it's fun once in a while. Care for some Chocolate Soldier?"

"Chocolate what?"

"It's a chocolate drink I used to like when I was a kid. I was crazy about the stuff back then but now it doesn't seem to hold the same flavor. Dunno if they changed the recipe or I grew up to have more sophisticated taste. But it's ok once in a while."

"Sure. I'll try it. Are you about finished shopping?"

Typical. Take a kid in a store and in five minutes they're bored. "Yep, I think we've got enough for now. Let's get to the checkout."

Like Sarah the girl at the register thought Jojo was cute and tried to get him to say more than 'Hi'. He didn't seem to know just how to react to a giggling female (or maybe with 96 sisters he knew too well and just wanted to avoid them?) and after a few moments of being pleasant he edged towards the door. I paid for the stuff and handed a loaded bag to the Who to carry. At the last minute I thought it would be a bit much for him and was about to exchange it for the other when he simply took it and started out the door. Whos, for all their skinny arms, are stronger than they look!

There were around a half dozen of cafes in town and I decided on the Circle K since at this time of day it wouldn't be all that crowded. The noon crowd would have left by then. Hopefully. Occasionally someone would meet up with someone else and get to talking and forget there's other things that need to be done that day but even so they wouldn't pay too much attention to a small alien in their midst. At least that was what I was counting on.

We sat in one of the booths at the back and I could see Jojo was intrigued by all the large framed photos of various local cowboys (and cowgirls!) doing various cowfolk stuff such as roping, bronc riding and barrel racing. I hoped he wasn't getting any ideas about trying any of that stuff with Taw!

"Hey Breck! How's things goin' so far?" The waitress, Barbara, was a familiar part of the café. She had worked there ever since they laid the first cornerstone of the building many years before, it seemed. She looked over at Jojo and gave him a warm, matronly smile. "Well hello, sweetie! Don't recollect ever seein' you afore!"

Jojo ducked his head and flushed a bit at being called 'sweetie' and mumbled a low 'hello'. I saved him from further embarrassement by introducing.

"Barb, this is Jojo, my nephew. He's from Missouri and staying with me for the summer."

"Well, welcome, sugah! I hope you'll have fun down heah! Now what can I get y'all to drink?"

I ordered some iced tea and Jojo asked for the same, probably because he wasn't sure what else to ask for. Oh well, sodas had too much sugar anyway and they could be bad for him. When Barbara left I looked over and saw him puzzling over the menu. "See anything you like?"

"I'm not sure what any of this is," he replied. "They look good in the pictures though. Can you give me some hints?"

"You could get a plain hamburger and fries, or try the stew. The chicken's pretty good here. I'd steer clear of those listed in the corner though. They're the hot stuff."

"Hot? The other foods are cold?"

"No, hot as in very spicy. Hot that seems like it's taking the skin off your tongue and throat."

His eyes grew big. "And..people like that?"

I laughed. "It doesn't really, just seems like it sometimes. I prefer the chili, a nice hot bite to grab you by the throat but not enough to choke. Makes ya sweat. It's good for you."

Describing the stuff made me want some, so I set my menu aside. After telling him a bit about each dish he chose the hamburger and fries. Barbara came over with the drinks by then.

"Ok, so are we all set then?" she asked as she brought out her pad and pencil.

"I'll have a big bowl of your tongue-skinnin' chili." I told her. "Along with some of the cole slaw to keep it company. Oh, and tell Skip it was a bit mild last time, kick it up a notch or two!"

Barb laughed. "I wouldn't do that, he might take it personal and cook the whole bottle of Tobasco with it to make a point! "

"That wouldn't hurt it none, might even make it edible." I pointed out.

"You can say that, but I don't want to have to go out and replace the pans after the stuff's eaten holes in 'em. " Barb noted my selection down and turned to Jojo. "And how 'bout you, hon. What'll you have?"

He glanced down again, embarrassed. I guess he wasn't used to the 'sweeties', 'sugahs' and 'hons' so easily dropped around here. "Um…a hamburger? And fries please."

"Why, sure thing. You want any cheese on it? "

"Uh…yeah. Sure."

"Ok, it'll be just a few minutes." Barb smiled at him and went off to the other booth that had just become occupied.

I looked around the bottles on the table, shoved the ketchup aside and singled out the bottle of Texas Pete hot sauce. "Ah, here we go. Just in case Skip decides to leave off the soul of my chili again."

"Hot sauce.." Jojo took the bottle and rolled it slowly as he read the label. "Cayenne peppers."

"Yeah boy!" I exclaimed as I poured sugar into my tea and stirred it with my knife. Yeah, bad manners, I know but I got the habit from my dad. He always stirred his tea that way. Blame him. "Heart and soul of good chili! Ah, I wouldn't do that…."

Jojo had screwed off the top and had taken a small whiff of the contents. He winced and held the bottle out. "Gahh! That hurts the nose!"

"Does wonders for the sinuses though." I reclaimed the bottle of chili essence. "Clears 'em right out!"

"You eat that then?" The small Who eyed the bottle as if it were the deadliest poison in the known universe.

"Not straight, it's just a flavoring. Don't tell me you Whos (there's that yodel again) don't have pepper in your world? No spicy food stuff?"

"Mom sometimes uses pepper in cooking, along with salt but I don't think she has anything stronger in the kitchen. The only spicy meal I think she's ever fixed was a stew she made with leftover roast beast. I think she used a bit too much pepper in it. Dad liked it but most my sisters didn't. So Mom had to make some potato soup for them."

"Did you like it?"

Jojo screwed up his face a bit. "It made me sneeze." I could only chuckle at that.

"Here we are!" Barbara came back with our orders. She set down the hamburger platter in front of Jojo and a lovely big bowl of chili down for me. It smelled heavenly! "Skip said to tell you he's not going to be responsible for any hospital visits because of this chili now! "

"I'll take the blame,: I reassured her. "So he made me a special then?"

"Oh he did that all right! Now the whole kitchen smells like jalapenos! I guess I won't have to call Mike to get rid of the mice now, they've all been suffocated in the walls!"

"Chili does double duty, see that?"

"That it does! That it does! Y'all enjoy now!"

She turned away and I eagerly stirred my meal in the bowl. Skip had this way of creating the most delectable chili using not ground stuff but chunks of meat, peppers, onions, tomatoes and who knows what else he could get his hands on to put in the pot. Perhaps it's best not to know but man! He sure made some great honkin' chili!

"So that's chili," Jojo said. He was looking at it curiously so I scooped out a small bit and held it out.

"Care to try it? Just a tad?"

He hesitated for a moment but he was curious after what I had been bragging about, so he took the spoon and ate the offering.

Almost immediately he grabbed his iced tea and swallowed a good portion of it. When he could speak again he gasped 'Gah! How can you eat that!? It's burning my mouth up!"

I had retrieved the spoon and sampled the food. Rolling my eyes up at the ceiling, I made like a wine connoisseur as I pretended to rate it. I swallowed, then shook my head and reached for the Texas Pete. "Dang, he cut it again. Skip, when will ya ever learn it's Breck you're feedin' here?" As I sprinkled the hot sauce in, Jojo stared at me as if I had suddenly sprouted another head. I stirred the chili, took another bite, then nodded. "Ah! That's the stuff!"

I looked up to see Jojo still staring at me and offered him the spoon again. "Want to try it now?"

He shrunk back and picked up his hamburger instead. "You humans are crazy! That hurts!"

"Ah yes, but it's a -good- hurt!" I pointed out. "Makes ya tingle right down to the bottom of your stomach."

"I could live without that tingle," he snorted. "But I don't think I could live without my stomach lining!"

"Tsk." I shook my head in mock sympathy. "What a shame, living on dull drab foods."

"They may be dull but at least they're safe to eat!"

I let that slip as I concentrated on enjoying my chili and cole slaw. Jojo did enjoy his lunch as it didn't take long for it to disappear either.

"Well, I see everything seems to have been ok here. Care for any dessert?" Barbara offered when she came up. I shook my head.

"After that chili it's going to take some work out in the field to work all those calories off," I complained. "It gets harder all the time."

Barbara made a sympathetic noise as she gathered up the plates. "Too bad, I just took out some nice blackberry cobbler out of the over. Might be even better with some ice cream."

"You play dirty pool!" I groaned. "Ok ok, I'll force some down. Hopefully I won't choke on it. How's about you, Jojo?"

He nodded. I figured he would. Whos seem to be bottomless pits. The cobbler was every bit as good as Barbara described and we both left the café feeling well stuffed. Well, I did anyway and from the way Jojo's eyes were drooping on the way home he was too. Funny how a full stomach makes you long for a long snooze under a tree somewhere.

Of course, it's a bit hard to snooze in a truck when the road is a rough dirt plain. The first bounce woke him quickly.

"Just when I was relaxing." he complained. "I almost hit the front here!"

"That's why we have seatbelts, so you don't get the dashboard in your teeth." I answered. He was too small to use the safety device so I had been extra careful in the drive to town. "Sort of like riding Taw, keep on your toes!"

The mention of riding perked him right up. "Is there any chance we could go out today?"

"Hmmm, oh heck, why not? This time I'll get Crow instead of Stonewall and you could try a faster pace this time."

It was by that time in the middle of the afternoon but a ride sounded like a pretty good idea. After I had checked and re-bandaged his hands (thankfully they seemed to be doing well.) and Jojo had chucked the annoying shirt, keeping the hat and boots however, we went out to the pasture to see if the equines were up for an afternoon event. Turns out both of them were agreeable to the pastime. Jojo was up on Taw and riding in circles in the pasture before I could get Crow saddled. He even had the buckskin going in a canter! It seems he was a natural in riding, or perhaps he just had very good balance. It was too good a scene to pass up so I tied Crow to the post (much to his disgust) and quickly went inside for my camera. It was an old Polaroid so I didn't have to worry about any developer wondering what this strange little being was doing riding my horse. Getting back to the field I waved to Jojo and pointed to the camera. He grinned, then had Taw canter straight up for a shot.

I used up the entire pack in less than a half hour. The shots came out great, Jojo and Taw in a run, a still picture of Jojo just sitting on the gelding, head shots of the small Who sitting on the gate rubbing Taw's forehead, even one of him hugging the horse's head. My favorite one was of Taw playfully grabbing Jojo's new black hat and him reaching out to recover it while Jojo thought the headshot one was the best. I placed all the photos carefully on the kitchen table before going back to get Crow out of his bad mood. He hated to be ignored.

I was going to instruct the alien in just how to ride a horse but it turned out he really didn't need much improvement. True, his legs were too short to use as guiding aids but since Taw was very sensitive to neck-reining it didn't matter much. And Jojo had a gentle touch on the bit as well. I've seen too many people just haul off and saw at the reins to the point of hurting the horse's mouth but there was nothing of that sort here. Taw responded to his wishes as if he could read his mind. Well, maybe he could. That Who –is- an alien, after all!

Of course I wouldn't be able to expect that when I got back to riding Taw. He'd be back to his old tricks in no time! Ungrateful beast!

Instead of going past the river again we chose the other end of the pastures. This trail led around to the more rocky areas and beginning of the winding way up the mountain. Well, ok. Hill actually. But it's a pretty big hill! It was a lovely ride, wild flowers all blooming the last bit before fall returned and we even saw a few deer at the edge of a meadow. Jojo asked if we could try going just a bit faster which meant after a few minutes of a canter he whooped and sent Taw into a headlong gallop! Of course Crow had to go along too.

We finally pulled up at the end of the meadow, allowing the horses to catch their breath and Jojo was grinning ear to ear. "That was fun!" he shouted.

I hadn't had that much fun myself in years so I had to let out a big loud yell, redneck-style "YYYEEEEEOOOOOOWWW!"

Jojo added one of his own and we stayed there yelling and whooping like a couple of drunken rednecks for a minute or two until Jojo realized he had lost his hat in the rush and we had to backtrack to find it. There was no way he was going to go back to the house without that hat.

And so this sort of thing went on for about two weeks. He learned about shoeing the horses and cleaning the tack, how important it was to keep track of whose steer was whose by branding, (I opted for the cheap way, plain paint!) and even to keep the chickens at bay while gathering the eggs. He also realized just what the animals were for when I decided to cull the hen house for a likely candidate for chicken and dumplings. They're not pets, after all, I told him as I quickly dispatched the unfortunate hen as quickly as possible and gutted it. He looked a bit ill at it all but willingly helped out by plucking and I noted he didn't allow all that to disturb his appetite one whit. His hands healed up nicely too, the bandages being removed at only a week. The evenings were spent on the porch swing, just jawing about general this-and-that

Still, as the days went on, I noticed he started to get a bit withdrawn. Not that I blamed him. After all, this wasn't his home and he needed to be back with his family. I was just a friend, no substitute for his mom or dad and Taw certainly couldn't take the place of his many siblings. Pretending this was a vacation was one thing, but now it was beginning to dawn on him that this might turn out to be something a bit longer and more serious. He needed to get back. I would miss him but I knew he had to. He wasn't my nephew going back to Missouri, after all.

But how? I'm no rocket scientist!

It finally came to a head one night a little after midnight. I was awakened by his mumblings, low at first but then reaching a barrage of desperate cries of "Mom! Dad! MOM! DAD!"

I sprang out of bed, grabbed my housecoat and rushed into the living room. I switched on the lights to find Jojo sitting up, clutching his blanket with a wild-eyed look. When he saw me he realized he had only been dreaming and he took a deep breath.

"What's the matter?" I asked him as I knelt down besides the chair. "Bad dream?"

"I….it was…" he was still breathing heavily as he tried to get his thoughts in order, then suddenly he twisted about and threw his arms around my neck, burying his face in my shoulder. He was trembling as hard as he had in that first night in the chicken house and I held him close, trying to soothe him. An alien yes, but still a child.

"I..I was riding in…the pasture….on Taw." he said brokenly. "Then I saw Mom. And Dad. They were both at the end of the pasture, waving to me. I turned Taw towards them and he started running, running but real slow. Mom and Dad then turned away and were leaving through this big swirling hole. I could see Whoville in the distance in the middle of that hole. Mom and Dad went inside but I….I couldn't get there in time! The hole was getting smaller and they…they just kept….kept on…walking….like…they didn't care that…I…couldn't get there…in time. They didn't even….look…back…."

He broke down in sobs then. I got up off the floor and sat on the couch with him, rocking him gently and rubbing his shoulders. "It was just a dream. It's over now. Just a dream. It wasn't real. Just a bad dream."

He didn't reply, but the crying slowly subsided into silence. A few hiccups later I could tell from his breathing he had fallen asleep again. Ok, now what? I didn't want to wake him so I sat there on the couch, for the rest of the night with a small miserable alien and a soggy shoulder.

I didn't know what to do. I knew he had to get back but all we could do was wait on the people on the other side of his world to figure out a way to help. What was taking them so long? Even though I knew it was ridiculous and totally unfair I began to get a bit mad at Jojo's dad. Where was he and why wasn't he trying to find his son?

'He's your kid!' I fumed mentally. "Why aren't you coming to get him, Mayor Jojo's Dad!? He needs you!'

But what if he couldn't? Was Jojo doomed to spend his entire life on these few acres in Oklahoma? That would be like a prison sentence! A pleasant prison but still a prison. And what if he were found out? He'd be taken away, locked up with hundreds of scientists all gawking at him and studying him like he was a new breed of bacteria or something.

No, I would not let that happen to Jojo, not if I could help it. But what then could I do? I felt so helpless.

"Oh Jojo," I whispered into his hair. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

The next morning he didn't talk much, or even ate much. This unplanned exile was beginning to get to him, I could see. My problem was, I had no encouragement to offer, no hope. And any cheerfulness I tried would have come off as false and forced. I knew he was far too smart not to see through such. Best to be honest and take hold of the situation by the horns.

I took a deep breath. "Jojo, I know you want and need to find your way back home, but frankly I can't see how. There's no way I could duplicate what you did in your observatory and don't have the equipment to do it even if I did. We can hope they find a solution on their end but until then, all we can do is let that pony ride."

His frown took on a slight puzzled look until I explained the saying then he returned to his former state with a low grunt.

This was worse than his brooding about his dad lecturing him on being mayor.

"I know this doesn't sound like much but..you know you're totally welcome to stay here as…as long as…well…as you need to." My voice trailed off as I couldn't think of anything further to add.

"You mean for the rest of my life.." he said in his low voice. It was thick with misery. "I like it here, Breck….and you've been great…don't get me wrong…but it…it isn't…home." His eyes filled up and he looked away. My own eyes were tearing as well. "I want to go home." He went silent for a moment then he added almost in a whisper "I miss them so much."

I looked down in my coffee cup and turned it slowly. "I know, hon. I know."

The awkward silence grew until I could barely stand it. And apparently neither could he as we both suddenly stood up at the same time and started talking.

"Well I'd best be.."

"Breck, could I..?"

"Hmm, could you what, Jojo?" I asked. He looked at the floor and stuck his hands in his pockets. (Yes, he did have pockets! I don't know how but he did!)

"Would you mind if…I took Taw and just..rode around for a bit. Alone?"

That could be a recipe for disaster but it could also be the best medicine for the moment. It was a temporary fix, I knew, but it was certainly better than him brooding hopelessly about. Who knows? Perhaps he could think of something.

I smiled at him. "Sure, go ahead. Be careful now, mind."

"I will, of course." He went out with his hat but stuck his head back in a second later. "Breck?"

"Hm?"

"Uh..thanks. Y'know. Thanks."

No need to reply, I knew what he meant and smilingly waved him off.

It was late afternoon when I heard them returning. Jojo looked to be in a slightly better mood but not by much. Looks like he didn't find any solution to his problem after all. He gave me a wave and a slight smile as he got down onto the gate to lead Taw back into the pasture. I was walking up to them to ask if he had thought of anything (I knew from his expression he didn't but thought it polite to inquire anyway) when….

Taw threw up his head and blew loudly through his widened nostrils. He only did that when he was very alarmed so I quickly looked about to see just what the heck was coming our way. A coyote? Cougar? Bear?

No, there seemed to be some sort of spiral cloudy…..thing at the other side of the yard, something like a very dirty window. The dogs took one look at it and high-tailed it off with tails between their legs. Bossy just turned and ambled away, quickly though, for her.

"What th…." I murmured as I eyed the thing. It was just the sort of anomaly I'd expect with the Doctor but suppose…..

Jojo had also come up and was studying it, with slight hope growing in his eyes. Could it be that…

Whatever it was, it was strange and I wasn't going to approach it without knowing a bit more about it first. I bent down and felt around for a small chunk of rock, then carefully tossed it in the swirly center.

It went through and must have hit someone because we both heard a sharp exclamation from inside. Then the rock was returned with a thump. We both stared at it rather stupidly.

"This could be it, Mishter Mayor," I heard a woman's voice, muffled but it came from inside that whatever-it-was. "Try it again."

"Jojo?" came a call from the same place. It sounded resigned and tired as if it didn't hold much hope out for a reply.

Jojo's eyes went wide and he took a step forward. "Dad?"

"Jojo? JOJO!" the answer was more of a yell this time.

The center of the swirl cleared slightly and we could both see two beings looking out at us. One was thin with white and purple-pinkish fur and the other was brown and blue. The blue and brown being held out his arms joyfully. "Jojo! We found you! At last! Come on! Come back home!"

"Dad!" Jojo's face was also one of complete surprise and joy and he rushed forward. This was it then, I thought, smiling even though a lump was growing in my throat. This is goodbye, he's going home. Home, where he belongs.

Before the small Who reached the anomaly he stopped dead, and looked back. I made a small wave. "Go on, Jojo! They're waiting for you!"

Jojo turned back to his dad. "How long?" he asked. "Do I have a couple of minutes?"

"I'm not sure how long thish will lascht," the other Who answered. "Make it quick!"

Jojo ran back up to me and I knelt down so we could share a goodbye hug. "I won't forget you, Breck." He sniffled. "Thanks for everything!"

"I won't forget you either. Y'all take care." I took his hat off for a moment to ruffle the black mop under it. "Oh wait!"

I rushed into the house and shuffled madly around the kitchen table until I found the item I wanted, then back out again to see Jojo saying goodbye to Taw, hugging the large head. The buckskin seemed to know something was up as he nuzzled him gently. Jojo's muzzle once again held those dark tear tracks. "B..be good now, ." he gulped. "Don't b-be causing Breck any trouble!"

"Here, take this." I held out the photo I had dashed into the house for, the headshot one of him and Taw. He took it gratefully and dragged his forearm across his eyes.

"Jojo! Come one! We can't make it last much longer!" his father shouted through the swirl.

I ran back with him. "You got a great boy there!" I shouted. "Take care of him!"

"We know and we will! Thanks!"

Jojo hopped through the smoky circle and fell into his dad's arms. They hugged and the last I saw him was when he turned around to wave. I raised my hand but as soon as I started my own return, the swirl had winked out. And I was alone once more.

I stood there for a moment, trying to gather my thoughts when I looked down and saw that Jojo's hat didn't make the trip. I guess it just couldn't fit through. At least the photo did. I picked up the hat and went back inside, sad and happy at the same time. Emotions are so weird sometimes.

Well, that's my story. It's been about five months since Jojo returned to his world and I'm getting things back to normal here. Taw had stopped looking back over my shoulder as if searching for the Who and the dogs have stopped circling the house trying to trail wherever he could have gone. Yeah, I know, guys. I miss him too.

His hat and boots occupy the top shelf in my closet. I suppose I could take them back to the store for a refund but I just can't bring myself to do that. Who knows? Perhaps he'll return again. For another vacation.

I had that one photo enlarged and framed, the one with Taw stealing his hat. It sits on my bedside table now. I don't want to display it out in the living room where it might start too many questions I don't wish to answer. Just a nice reminder.

The porch swing outside is lonely to sit on in the evenings now, lonely and quiet. I didn't realize how much company he was. Perhaps I could find a way to visit him, in his world.

Now there's a thought! Let's see now…he said his world was small and he needed to get bigger to leave it, that's why he used a telescope.

That means I need to get smaller.

Hmmmm.

I do believe I have a microscope somewhere in the attic……..

~~~ end ~~~