A Place so Foreign Read online

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  A Place So Foreign==================

  My Pa disappeared somewhere in the wilds of 1975, when I was just fourteen yearsold. He was the Ambassador to 1975, but back home in 1898, in New Jerusalem,Utah, they all thought he was Ambassador to France. When he disappeared, Mamaand I came back through the triple-bolted door that led from our apt in 1975 toour horsebarn in 1898. We returned to the dusty streets of New Jerusalem, and Ihad to keep on reminding myself that I was supposed to have been in France, and"polly-voo" for my chums, and tell whoppers about the Eiffel Tower and the fancybread and the snails and frogs we'd eaten.

  I was born in New Jerusalem, and raised there till I was ten. Then, one summer'sday, my Pa sat me on his knee and told me we'd be going away for a while, thathe had a new job.

  "But what about the store?" I said, scandalised. My Pa's wonderful store, theonly General Store in town not run by the Saints, was my second home. I'd spentmy whole life crawling and then walking on the dusty wooden floors, checkingstock and unpacking crates with waybills from exotic places like Salt Lake Cityand even San Francisco.

  Pa looked uncomfortable. "Mr Johnstone is buying it."

  My mouth dropped. James H Johnstone was as dandified a city-slicker as you'dever hope to meet. He'd blown into town on the weekly Zephyr Speedball, and skinnyTommy Benson had hauled his three huge steamer trunks to the cowboy hotel. He'dtipped Tommy two dollars, in Wells-Fargo notes, and later, in the empty lotbehind the smithy, all the kids in New Jerusalem had gathered 'round Tommy togoggle at the small fortune in queer, never-seen bills.

  "Pa, no!" I said, without thinking. I knew that if my chums ordered theirfathers around like that, they'd get a whipping, but my Pa almost never whippedme.

  He smiled, and stretched his thick moustache across his face. "James, I know youlove the store, but it's already been decided. Once you've been to France,you'll see that it has wonders that beat anything that store can deliver."

  "Nothing's better than the store," I said.

  He laughed and rumpled my hair. "Don't be so sure, son. There are more things inheaven and earth then are dreamed of in your philosophy." It was one of hissayings, from Shakespeare, who he'd studied back east, before I was born. Itmeant that the discussion was closed.

  I decided to withhold judgement until I saw France, but still couldn't shake thefeeling that my Pa was going soft in the head. Mr Johnstone wasn't fit to run anapple-cart. He was short and skinny and soft, not like my Pa, who, as far as Iwas concerned, was the biggest, strongest man in the whole world
. I loved my Pa.

  #

  Well, when we packed our bags and Pa went into the horsebarn to hitch up ourteam, I figured we'd be taking a short trip out to the train station. All mychums were waiting there to see us off, and I'd promised my best pal OlySweynsdatter that I'd give him my coonskin cap to wear until we came back. Butinstead, Pa rode us to the edge of town, where the road went to rutted trail andsalt flats, and there was Mr James H Johnstone, in his own fancy-pants trap. Paand me moved our luggage into Johnstone's trap and got inside with Mama andhunkered down so, you couldn't see us from outside. Mama said, "You just hush upnow, James. There's parts of this trip that we couldn't tell you about before weleft, but you're going to have to stay quiet and hold onto your questions untilwe get to where we're