Brother Clary had been busy, and travelling, these past few years.  He'd heard that Marianne had done well with her books, and presumed that the rascally pirates had been of help to her.  His own path lay in the Word, and the powerful Lupino Cross that was now in his keeping.  It drew him to places where he was needed, to stand in the path of Evil, and it had drawn him now to the Windy City.

He was not surprised to find himself standing at the gateway of the World's Fair, looking at the huge fairgrounds and feeling there was a need for him to go and find what was wrong, and make it right.

This bold mission wasn't of any concern to the elephant that chose to snuffle his hat off his head, snatch the headgear and wave it around happily.  She was a big one too, wearing a heavily tasselled and fringed blanket in paisley purple and gold.

Feeling the breeze gently blow through his tousled sandy hair, the lanky Texas preacher looked up mirthlessly at the elephant playing 'keep away' with his hat.  He squinted at the animal.

"Well, ain't you a big hoss?  And all dressed up fer the folks to appreciate."  He wasn't angry, only slightly amused, even if he didn't always show it.

When the hat came near, he reached up and gently seized the trunk with one hand, and sought to retrieve the hat with the other.  Once his old-fashioned parsons-style hat was safely back in its place, he patted the trunk affectionately.

Looking around he wondered to himself what was it about this place of merriment that drew him?  He traveled north from his circuit in Texas to the gates of the fair, which for all appearances seemed to be devoid of the darkness which usually accompanies the stirrings he was always compelled to follow.

Brother Clary's new friend seemed tickled pink to play with him, snuffling him gently with her trunk.  The big brown eyes glittered, and she looped her trunk to sound a short trumpet, then reached out to him with her trunk again.   When he looked around, she nudged him slightly - and got down on her front knees, as if begging him to climb aboard.  Passerby were noticing this, and watching with interest.

There was a very small voice, in the vicinity of her fancy feathered headdress, "You might want to get on her shoulders, there's something you want to see."

Brother Clary looked around, checking to see if there was someone playing with him.  Seeing no one, he looked down at the proferred leg.  Looking once again for someone to laughingly come out of hiding and let him off the hook, he stepped up and swung his lanky frame into a sitting position across the elephant's broad shoulders.

The elephant rose up gracefully and began to saunter along the main thoroughfare, to the amusement of the tourists.  The voice spoke again, apparently coming from her elaborate headdress, hidden among the tassels.  "You need to speak to Chang," the voice said. "He has a lot of answers.  But first - look at this."

They stopped, the elephant swinging her head towards a painted poster, advertising "Jousting Knight and Mechanical Dragon Show, tonight at Dusk !"  The picture was luridly coloured with bold yellows and reds, the dragon a menacing monster next to a knight on a white horse.   Then the elephant strolled onwards.

Not knowing just how to ride the back of the elephant, Brother Clary did what he could.  The shoulders were much wider than the horses he was more accustomed to riding, but somehow he managed to hanging on.



Chang?  Brother Clary's brow furrowed deep, as he plumbed the depths of his memory.  That was a name he had heard in years.  'Billy?  Here?' he muttered to himself.  Then he sighed.  'First I hear voices, then I'm supposed to chase mem'ries....'  But his mind still churned up images of the youthful Texas-born Chinese shopkeeper from Perfection.



'Mechanical dragon, huh?  Wonder if its ever broke down in the middle of a show.  Wouldn't that be a hoot!'  The lanky Texas preacher chuckled to himself at the thought of some embarrassed "knight" trying to lance a hapless "dragon" that just didn't have any fight in him.



It was while his thoughts were centered on the poster that the elephant decided to lurch forward, almost dislodging Brother Clary from his perch, and certainly jostling him back from his reverie of knights and engines and smoke and dragons.

The elephant strode confidently through the crowds, finally stopping in front of a large, brightly-coloured tent, emblazoned with "Chang's Animal Emporium, Rare and Unusual Animals Our Speciality".  A calm-looking fellow in denim coveralls was sweeping up near the front - a full-blooded Indian, if Brother Clary could venture a guess.   The elephant crooked her trunk at him in greeting.

"Hey, Pretty Lady," the Indian said, with a smile.  "Who you got there ?"

In reply to Drake (msg #7):

"Name's Brother Clary." The lean, black-clad Texan nodded his greeting to the man in overalls.  He half-expected that this was the elephant's destination, but with the way things have gone to this point, he wasn't sure.

"I'm lookin' fer Chang," he added with another nod to the poster.  "He wouldn't by any chance be Billy, now would he?"  It was a shot in the dark, but something seemed awfully familiar about the situation.

The Indian nodded, serenely taking this in.  "Billy Chang, down in Texas - is his nephew.   I am sure Chang will see you if you know Billy.  Let him down, Queenie, please."  The last was directed to the elephant, who obligingly knelt for Brother Clary to dismount.

A young kangaroo hopped over towards the preacher, and nibbled idly at the man's shoes, then paused to scratch an itch behind one ear.  The Indian shook his head at this.  "He's young.  My name is Joe; I work for Chang.   Please come inside."  He led the way into the large tent, and rang a small bell, three sharp strikes, making a snoozing zebra wake up and shake its head.