Mysterious Changes - Part 5

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I noticed all of them were planning to attend the fair in groups.  With one exception.  I mentioned earlier that Dan Wheeler's father ran Wheeler Foods. Dan was a decent enough guy for a rich kid, but he could be rather full of himself at times. He was built like an athlete probably in part because of an athletic father (his dad had played football for Nebraska in college) and in part because of the fully equipped gym in his parents' palatial (for a small town) house.

Tall, blond, and good-looking, he pretty much had his choice of girls around town. His current favorite was Misty Dunn, one of the cheerleaders. We were just getting organized for our quest when Dan and Misty walked up.  "Gonna join us, Dannie?" Ron called out. Everyone knew Ron and Dan didn't particularly like each other. Dan had made a play for Ron's older sister the previous year.

Ron's sister was a real looker, and even though she was a year older than us, Dan made a play for her until Ron stepped in and explained to Dan what would happen to him if he didn't back off.  It was well known that Dan dated only girls who spread their legs for him, and Dan was never hurting for dates. Maybe money really did talk.

His current girl, Misty, had a reputation for putting out like an ATM. "I did it with Dunn" had been a locker-room joke since our junior year. Hell, I had even done it with Dunn. "Naw," Dan drawled, giving Misty a theatrical squeeze. "We've got other plans. I think you guys have been watching too much Buffy."  "What? You won't believe what's going on?" Lisa challenged him.  "Oh, I believe it," Dan said with a patronizing smile. "I just think the best way to avoid it is to stay away from Indian fortunetellers." He looked at Misty with a leer. "I already know what our future is going to be.

Besides, Lisa, I've got to say, what she did to you was an improvement. You, too, Marsha."  Lisa flushed. I think if she had still been Lucas, she would have jumped him even though he was a lot bigger than Lucas had been. Marsha just looked stricken.  "Dan honey," Misty interrupted in her best breathless voice, "if we're gonna go to the fair, I need to get ready." Apparently, the jeans she had painted on her buxom body that morning weren't appropriate for the fair. "Let's go."  "Sorry I can't stay and chat," Dan said, the leer bigger than ever. "Gotta go."  "Prick," Ron mumbled as the pair strolled away.  "I'd like to introduce him to a certain Indian woman," Marsha added.  Be careful what you wish for, I thought to myself. This Indian woman was dangerous.

We had taken every possible precaution, but I was still worried that we really didn't know what we were dealing with or why she was changing our friends.  "We'll all go into the fairgrounds together," I told our group. "We'll meet at the entrance at six. That will give everyone a chance to eat and get settled. Remember, no matter what, no guy should touch her.

Whatever it is that she does seems to be transmitted by touch. Let the girl in your team do any touching that's required. All we want to do is find her and try to reason with her. If she won't listen to reason, a girl should try to restrain her until help arrives."  Every team had at least one cell phone. Once we found the Indian woman, all teams would be notified. I felt good. We were organized and fired up. I felt the same rush I always felt before a football game.

We were going to find that Indian bitch and show her she could screw around with us.  Lisa and I tried to be a few minutes early in the parking lot, but we were actually the last ones there. When we were still out of earshot, I asked her, "Did I see you holding Dave Payne's hand when we met earlier?"  I watched her as her skin flushed and her eyes got a little wide. "I don't know why we did that. It just sort of happened."

"You know you may end up being a girl from here on," I pointed out. "Don't start something you don't want to finish."  "Oh? Is my big brother going to protect me?"  "Well, that's what big brothers are for, little sister."  "Rat."  I chuckled, but deep down, I was worried. Lucas had been Lisa for slightly less than a day, but every time I saw her, she seemed to be acting more and more as if she had been a girl her entire life. It was a little uncanny.

How long would it be before she was more Lisa than Lucas? I was afraid that in some ways, she already was.  Everybody was on time to start our search. Most people were still home eating dinner before attending the fair. That would mean we would have a fair amount of time to search before the crowds got too big.  We split up into our prearranged teams. Kevin, Andy, and Marsha would go check out the exhibits while Lisa, Dave, and their friend Randy checked out the booths on the midway. Judy, Ron, and I would check out the area around the rides.

We'd meet back at the entrance to the fair every hour and switch beats.  For the most part, it was as if everything was normal. If our fellow students, aware of the transformations suffered by Lisa and Marsha, were nervous about their own safety, they didn't seem to be showing it. True, they were mostly in groups, but that was pretty natural.

The usual lighthearted fun enjoyed by fairgoers as far back as I could remember was happening all around us. In the twilight, the bright swirling lights on the carnival rides danced and twinkled in the unusually warm evening air.  Like most of the people we saw we were wearing shorts. It lifted our spirits to be wearing them, for it meant that the chill of fall was still far away. It felt even better than a midsummer evening, for in spite of the warm weather, the humidity that plagues Midwestern summers had abated. What a perfect night to be ruined by our Indian friend, I thought. But if we could stop her from further mischief, it would be worth it.

Besides, if we got Marsha and Lisa changed back that night, there was still plenty of time left to enjoy the fair.  We strolled up and down among the rides for an hour, but no one matching the description of the Indian woman could be found. Oh, there were Indians at the fair. There were a couple of Indian reservations less than an hour away, but none of the Indians fit the description of our mysterious foe.  "Maybe we should give up," Ron suggested, looking longingly at some of the rides. "I don't think she's going to turn up."

What is it about life that the minute you say something isn't going to happen, it does? Well, I suppose technically speaking, she didn't turn up, but then again...  We spotted Misty Dunn running through the crowd. Unlike the people around her, there was no smile on her face. She was crying, and the look in her eyes was one of pure terror.  "Houston, we have a problem," Ron muttered.  "Misty!" Judy called out, running to the distraught girl's side. Judy barely got to Misty's side before the girl collapsed in her arms. "What's wrong? What happened?"  "It's Dan!" she cried. "The Indian! You said he was a girl!"  "Whoa, slow down," I told her. "You're not making any sense.

Dan saw the Indian girl?"  She shook her head, and I could almost see the tears spraying from her eyes, like water off a shaking dog's back. "No! Hurry!"  She forced herself out of Judy's arms and stumbled back toward the attractions. While Judy and I ran after her, Ron called the other groups and alerted them. Cell phones are wonderful things, I thought as I ran after Misty. It was a shame she had been so rattled she had never thought to use hers or

Dan's. It might have saved a lot of time.  Misty led us to a row of attractions just off the midway. The show hadn't been able to string the amusements all in a row, and a few of the less popular ones were off the main path. We were headed right for one called Test Your Strength, and I realized why that attraction is often not in a heavily traveled area.  The attraction consists of a bell atop a high pole. A ringer on a slide will ring the bell if the contestant can lever it high enough by striking the end of a plank with a padded mallet. It's harder than it looks because the springs beneath the plank absorb most of the impact of the mallet.

I don't think I've ever gotten it all the way to the top, although Ron did once.  The reason it isn't in a high-traffic area is that no guy wants everyone to be watching while he gets the ringer no higher than a spot marked "Weakling" along the pole. It's an attraction that usually does better when there isn't a crowd around to watch.  Sitting on the ground next to the attraction was a very attractive girl. She wasn't sitting very ladylike, her beautiful legs spread in a revealing manner. She was blond and well-built, wearing a tight-fitting pink minidress and pink strappy sandals.

Her legs were bare but well-tanned, as were her bare shoulders or what I could see of them past the long blond hair. She looked up at me with haunted blue eyes, eyes that looked somehow vaguely familiar even on her unfamiliar face.  I took a chance, but I was pretty sure I was right. "Dan?"  "Probably Danielle now," she replied, barely above a breathy whisper. She nodded at a small pink purse beside her. "I haven't had the guts to look in it yet."  "God, I'm sorry, Dan," I said as Judy, Ron, and Misty grouped around. "Which way did she run off?"

The new girl laughed nervously. "She? It wasn't a she; it was a he."  "What?"  We helped her to her feet and listened to her story as the others in our group met up with us.  "We were just minding our own business," our former male friend began. "You know we rode a few rides and had a few laughs. Then we decided to get a couple of Cokes."  She stopped for a moment to adjust her bra. Apparently, the weight of her new breasts was uncomfortable.

I had to admit, she had a very nice set inside that bra. I tried not to make it obvious that I was looking.  "Let me help," Judy suggested. I think she was afraid Dan was going to accidentally pop one of her new breasts out of the cup and over the top of the low-cut dress. I have to admit a small part of me was hoping that might happen.  When Judy worked on the bra, Dan let out a small sigh of relief. "Thanks. How do girls put up with...these?"  No one answered her question, so she continued, "So anyway, Misty spotted this Test Your Strength thing. She wanted one of the teddy bears they have for a prize. I figured I didn't have much of a shot at winning, but what the hell. I'm  or I was in pretty good shape."

I saw more than one of our numbers biting his or her tongue. It could be argued that Dan was still in pretty good shape.  "There was this Indian guy running the thing," she went on. Then she looked right at me. "I thought you said it was an Indian girl some sort of fortuneteller. This guy was tall with one of those wrinkled faces that look like parchment. And he had a gray ponytail."  "Maybe there's more than one of them," Lisa suggested.

That seemed to satisfy Dan, so she went back to her story.  "Anyhow, he handed me the mallet. But it's funny; he took my arm when he did. I felt kind of funny. He said something about walking that I didn't understand. Then he let go. Misty was yelling something at me. I guess she saw what was happening before I did. I was just concentrating on using the mallet.

But it's funny... the mallet started feeling heavier while I held it. I swung it toward the plank and kept thinking how weak I felt.  "The ringer didn't go very far. Just up to the second sign."  I looked up at the second sign and suppressed a grim smile. The sign said "Girly Girl".  "Yeah, so go ahead and laugh," Dan sighed. "It is sort of funny, I guess.  "So then the Indian guy says something I can't figure out. It was something about telling my father to let him go. I thought maybe he worked for my father or something.

Then I looked down and saw everything changing..."  She uttered a little sob as she looked down at herself.  "Dan which way did he go?" I pressed.  She lifted a slender hand and pointed with a long pink nail. "Toward the midway."  There were plenty of people to take care of Misty and our feminized friend. There was no time to waste. We had no luck finding the Indian woman, and I wasn't going to tarry while this Indian man got away. I jumped to my feet and started running for the midway. I didn't have to turn around to know that Ron and Judy were right behind me.

I have replayed the events that took place after I left Dan a thousand times in my mind. I read somewhere that bravery is stupidity in a noble cause. I tend to believe that because that night I did some of the bravest and stupidest things I will probably ever do in my life something that would change my life forever.  Perhaps I can be forgiven for my stupidity and my bravery. At six two and in good physical shape, I had seldom experienced anything to be afraid of. Caution was not exactly my strong suit.

On the football field, I'd think nothing of tucking the football and plowing ahead for a few yards. Off the football field, I never exactly picked fights, but when they came my way I didn't shirk from them and I usually won. A good student, a good athlete, and a good-looking guy, I could usually expect things to go my way. So when I saw an Indian fitting Dan's description standing there on the midway watching me, I never for a moment considered that he wasn't really the prey I was.

Would I have spotted him if he hadn't been so obvious? I don't really know. There are a lot of Indians in Nebraska, so I might have overlooked him. Then again, maybe not. Most of the other Indians at the fair were there with friends and family enjoying an evening outing. Not the guy I was looking at. And just so I'd have no doubts about who he was, he gave me a toothy grin, almost challenging me to go after him.  "Steve, wait!" Judy called.

I knew why she was concerned. The Indian's touch might change me into a girl as it had my brother and my friends. But I had no intention of touching him. I had heard Ron on the phone, relaying our position to the rest of the group. All I had to do was keep the Indian in sight. Then, when our group ran him to the ground, circling him like a pack of wolves, we'd demand that he change our transformed friends back into themselves their real selves.  But of course, we had formulated that plan when we thought we were looking for an Indian girl. The big man I was following would probably be harder to convince. But I had faith in the plan.

I saw the Indian run past a ticket taker and into the House of Mystery. That attraction was a third-rate funhouse mounted on the inside of a truck trailer. It was the same one the show had brought the year before. It consisted of dark, winding corridors and slanted floors. There were a few mirrors and flashing lights along the way designed to disorient patrons, but that was about all.

I started to go after the Indian, but Ron yelled, "No, just wait, Steve, he's trapped now. We can get him when he comes out."  It made good sense, so I relaxed a little as more of our group gathered. In just a few minutes, he would have to exit. There was no place to hide inside for very long. But as the minutes went by, I began to worry.

Then I saw him or thought I did. A man was exiting who looked somewhat like our Indian. He was tall, weathered, and had a gray ponytail. But he wasn't an Indian not even close. The ponytail was blonde and his skin was as pale as could be.  The pale man we were watching appeared dazed, as if the shoddy little funhouse had completely disoriented him. But could it still be our man? Had he used his transformative powers to change himself so he was no longer an Indian?

Had he already done so to change into a man after pretending to be a female fortuneteller? I couldn't be sure.  "Stop right there!" Ron yelled at him as he climbed down the funhouse stairs. The man looked at Ron as if unsure of what to do. But although he was a fairly large man, Ron was larger. He decided it would be best to do what Ron told him.  "Who are you?" I demanded, catching up to Ron as he stood in the pale man's path.  "Me?" the man asked. "I'm Josh Wade.

I run the Test Your Strength attraction. Why?"  "Why aren't you there now?" Judy demanded.  The question seemed to puzzle him. "I don't know. I should be, I suppose. I'd better get back there. I thought it was earlier..." And still mumbling mostly to himself the man started to slowly walk away.  Ron started to stop him, but I told him, "Let him go."  "Why?"  "Call it a hunch. Let's wait here."  Yeah, I had a hunch all right.

Our magical friend wasn't a shape shifter; he was a body swapper. He had hopped into the carney's body just as he had hopped into the fortuneteller's body the night before. It was amazing how quickly my mind accepted the possibility of a being who could change bodies like most of us changed clothing, but I suppose when you've seen your friends and your brother transformed into the other sex, you become more accepting of things like body swapping. We had visited the right fortuneteller that morning, but the creature we sought was no longer in her.

Now he had hopped again to avoid capture. Whatever he was, he had leaped into someone else. But who?  I suspected whoever he became, he would take on the features of an Indian. That was his one weakness. Of course, there were many people of Indian descent around Leeds, but our quarry would be a loner. He or she would have no family or friends around, and that improved our odds.

Or so I thought.