Chapter 23: Carnival Time
Popcorn, peanuts, and cotton candy . . .
Pink lemonade that’s dan-dan-dandy . . .
Be a big shot for a dollar.
It’s carnival time.
--“It’s Carnival Time”
****
I went to work the next day. My intense sun exposure the day before had done wonders for me. I wasn’t at full Superman capacity, but I was strong enough to make a rescue if needed.
I tried to track down a few leads on the men who had come to my apartment, but I didn’t have any luck with it, not really knowing where to start, so I began working on a minor piece. Before long, Lois came over to my desk.
“Kent! You feeling better?”
“Clark,” I reminded her absently. “Yes, I am.”
“Have a cold?” she inquired.
I looked up, fighting to hide a grin. “Why? Were you worried about me?”
“No,” she backpedaled. “I just wanted to make sure you were at peak capacity in case Perry puts us on a story together.”
“Uh huh. Well, I’m fine now.”
“Great,” she muttered, returning to her desk.
I couldn’t help but smirk to myself. I had done a pretty good job of deflection. I had known she would have questions and had figured out what route to take ahead of time, so that had certainly helped.
When lunchtime rolled around, a young woman with brown hair approached Lois’s desk. I stood to go pick something up from the printer when Lois waved me over.
“Clark, this is my sister Lucy. Lucy, this is my . . . occasional partner, Clark Kent.”
I smiled and shook Lucy’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Lucy didn’t act the way I had suspected she would based on the few times Lois talked about her—but then again, considering most of Lois’s mentions of her involved Lucy “borrowing” Lois’s clothes, that probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise.
“No, it’s a pleasure for me to meet anyone who can put up with my sister,” the young woman returned.
“Lucy!” Lois exclaimed.
“In case you haven’t noticed, she tends to scare away men,” Lucy continued, ignoring her sister. “It’s amazing you’ve stuck around for this long.”
I smiled. “Well, she makes a great investigative reporter, and I’m proud to have her as my partner . . . occasionally.”
As Lucy laughed, I gave her a nod of farewell. “Again, it was nice meeting you.” I returned to my trip to the printer, amused.
I could hear Lucy and Lois talking.
“Lois, why didn’t you tell me Clark was hot?” Lucy exclaimed, causing my ears to redden. “If I’d known you had such an attractive partner, I would have come to lunch with you a long time ago.”
“Oh, Lucy, give it up,” Lois told her, sounding annoyed. “Just because you fall for every man who’s . . . okay looking—”
“Lois, he is more than okay looking. You can’t tell me you haven’t admired his . . . assets a few times.”
Fighting to keep a blank expression, I took in a deep breath and walked back to my desk, and they cut off their argument. But then Lucy whispered furiously, “We have to invite him to lunch with us.”
“Lucy—” Lois hissed. But her sister was already approaching me.
I looked up at her, trying to appear unconcerned.
“Clark, why don’t you come to lunch with me and Lois?” Lucy suggested.
I looked over at Lois, who was shaking her head and mouthing, “No.” Then I looked up at Lucy and grinned. “I would love to.”
****
Lois was sullen through lunch, but Lucy made up for it by being cheerful.
“I dropped out of college,” Lucy explained, “but now I’m taking some night classes at Met U and working as a waitress.”
“Do you enjoy it?” I asked her, my gaze flicking only briefly to Lois, who hadn’t spoken for the last five minutes.
“It’s not the best job in the world, but it gets the bills paid,” Lucy said with a shrug.
My eyes brimming with mischief, I asked her, “So, do you have any embarrassing stories about your sister?”
“Lucy,” Lois growled in warning.
But Lucy appeared to be having just as much fun as I was. “Well, I do have a picture back home of Lois in a tutu.”
Lois’s face was flushed. “That was only because Daddy made me take that dance class! You know I didn’t want to do it.”
“Yeah, and Lois walked off the stage in the middle of the performance. That’s why Daddy let her quit.”
“We were doing ‘The Good Ship Lollipop,’ and I hated candy at the time!” Lois defended.
Grinning, I took a bite of my sandwich, which I’d only eaten part of. Then I froze, my super hearing picking up the noise of a fire truck. Tuning my ears to the emergency services’ radio communications, I learned quickly that it was a big fire with several people trapped. This was something I would need to help with.
Lois must have seen the look on my face, as she said, “Clark—”
“I’m sorry. I have to go. I’m . . . expecting my mineral of the month to come in,” I told them lamely, recalling something my dad had once been subscribed to.
As I dashed off, not even waiting for a response, I heard Lucy ask, “Does he do that often?”
Lois’s reply made me wince: “Constantly.”
I stopped quickly by my apartment to pick up my canine partner. He barked happily when he saw me in my Superman outfit, for he knew what that meant. I was especially in need of his help because I wasn’t at full Superman capacity yet. We zipped away to the burning building, and I gave Krypto some quick instructions. This was a situation my mother had trained him for, so he went off obediently to do his duty.
We both helped pull several people from the burning building, and I put out the fire with my breath. I wasn’t as quick about it as normal, but at least the presence of Krypto helped ensure there weren’t any casualties.
Finally, I went with the dirty Krypto over to the firemen.
“That was amazing, Superman,” one man commented. He knelt and scratched my canine companion behind the ears. “It must be great to have Krypto as a partner. He certainly helped save some lives today.”
“Yes, he did,” I said absently, an idea occurring to me. I looked around for the fire chief and saw him talking to a woman. After nodding a goodbye to the man who had scratched Krypto’s ears, I approached the fire chief with the dog at my heels. When he saw me, he stopped talking and turned to me. “Superman, thanks for helping us out here!”
I smiled. “I couldn’t have done it without Krypto.”
The fire chief nodded. “That’s a great dog you have there, Superman.”
“I know. In fact, I was just thinking that I would like to offer his services to you several hours a week.”
His face lit up. “Really?”
“I can’t help with every fire, but maybe Krypto could work with your men some. We could work out a schedule, and I can give you a list of important commands that would help you communicate with him.”
The fire chief began speaking quickly in excitement. “That would be great, Superman! He could help us find victims, lead firefighters out of the flames, protect firefighters in high crime areas, help out with presentations at schools . . . . You don’t mind if he wears a fire hat at the schools, do you?”
I blinked. “Uh, I guess not.”
“Stop, drop, and roll—ah, man, the kids will love it!”
I smiled to myself as the fire chief continued speaking excitedly. Krypto would be a great mascot. I just hoped he would be okay with it. But as I looked at him happily licking a pair of children that had been rescued from the burning building, I didn’t think he would mind.
****
When I returned to the Planet, I said hello to Lois. But clearly she was still annoyed about my running off at lunch and was actively ignoring me.
But I had prepared for that possibility ahead of time by buying a bag of miniature chocolate bars. I stood in front of her desk holding the bag. “Forgive me?” I asked her with an innocent grin.
Lois stared at the chocolate in my hands, bit her lip, and then turned her eyes back to her screen. “For what?” she bit out.
I crossed my arms. “First, you were mad at me for going to lunch with you. Then, you were mad at me for leaving. You don’t mean you actually wanted me there?”
She looked at me, her eyes flicking briefly down to my hands. “Don’t be ridiculous. I wanted you there like I want a leech on the back of my hand.”
“Well, if you didn’t want me there, then I guess I don’t have anything to apologize for.” I started to move away but paused as she said something.
“You had no business inviting yourself to lunch with me and my sister!”
“She invited me,” I pointed out.
“Well . . . ” She was obviously running out of steam, and I had the feeling the bag I was holding wasn’t helping. “Just give me the chocolate, Kent.”
I grinned and plopped the bag on her desk. “Clark,” I prompted.
Lois pointed a finger at me. “Don’t you think for a moment that you can buy me off with chocolate, Clark.” But as I returned to my desk, I saw her tear into the plastic and snatch a couple pieces, which she then proceeded to unwrap.
I laughed to myself. I knew she hadn’t been truly mad at me.
A little while later, I remembered something important, and I turned to my “occasional partner.”
“Hey, Lois?”
She looked up. “Yes?”
“Are you going to the Planet fundraiser tomorrow?”
“Of course. It’s for a good cause.” She considered me for a few seconds. “I’ll be there at two. And if you happen to be there at the same time as me, well, maybe we can walk around together.”
As she went back to her work, I shook my head. She was really something.
****
The next day, the street outside the Daily Planet building was closed to vehicular traffic for the street fair.
I met Lois at the designated time, and we began to walk around together. I stopped at a food booth and asked her, “Cotton candy? Candy apple? Hot dog? Lemonade?”
She laughed. “One candy apple please.”
“Two candy apples, please,” I requested of the vendor as I pulled out some money. I recognized him as one of the members of the Planet’s board of directors. It felt strange to have him serving me, if only for a day.
He smiled amiably and got us our candy apples. We left the booth with our prizes, only to soon be laughing at each other as our faces became sticky messes. I pulled out from my pocket one of the napkins I had grabbed and gave it to her before pulling out a napkin for myself.
“Thanks,” she said with a chuckle as she began wiping her face.
We stopped by the bandstand to eat our candy apples more carefully. They were playing the “Imperial March” from Star Wars, and Lois raised an eyebrow at me. “Bet you’re loving this.”
“You have no idea,” I returned. The song always did bring a grin to my face, even if it was the theme of one of the bigscreen’s greatest villains.
We had mostly finished our apples when Jimmy’s voice came to our ears: “Step right up here, folks. Just one dollar, one measly dollar, and you’ll learn your future. Madame Blavatsky knows all, sees all, tells all . . . . ”
I raised an eyebrow. “Shall we chunk these and go check out our futures?”
She chuckled. “Sounds good to me.”
We threw away the remainder of our sticky fruits and went to Madame Blavatsky’s booth. I didn’t know who was more shocked, Lois or me, when it became obvious that Perry White was playing the part of a female fortune teller. He had a lot of scarves swirled around his person, over-the-top makeup, and garish fingernails. Lois was ushered into the booth, and I waited outside with Jimmy, who was really enjoying his own role.
I couldn’t help but lower my glasses and watch and listen to Perry and Lois.
“Oh, the spirits are speaking to me,” the Chief Editor said in an intense whisper.
“Really?” Lois asked in amusement. She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. “Go on.”
“They are telling me . . . yes, they are saying there is great love in your future . . . . There is a man . . . your soul mate . . . . You must not let this great love slip from your fingers, or something terrible will happen.”
Lois rolled her eyes. “Uh huh. What about fame and fortune? You know, the juicy stuff.”
“Hmm . . . The crystal ball is cloudy. Perhaps you should try again later.”
She laughed. “You just want to get another dollar from me.”
“The spirits will not respond to that,” Perry told her with a grin.
Lois came out from the tent and told me, “Good luck in there. He’s laying it on pretty thick.”
I laughed. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
I went inside and sat in front of Perry and his crystal globe. He waved his fingers over the globe and spoke in a low voice. “The spirits say you have a great destiny . . . . True love is in front of you, and you must grab at it. Even with the burden of the world on your shoulders . . . you must not underestimate the importance of counting on others.”
Though his voice had an air of mystery to it, there was a seriousness in the Chief Editor’s eyes. He finished with, “This spirits support you in your endeavors . . . . But you must not forget to think about yourself. Do not let love pass you by.”
I gave him a half smile and a nod and then went outside with a heavy heart. He just didn’t know what was at stake.
Lois patted my shoulder. “He talk to you about true love, too?”
I gave an attempt at a laugh. “Something like that. Let’s go visit the other booths.”
We hadn’t walked very far before Lois stopped in front of a booth where people were trying to knock down milk jugs. “All right. Here’s your chance to prove your masculinity.” She held out some money to the barker. “Go for it, Clark.”
I could have easily knocked all the milk jugs over, but I missed on purpose. Lois handed over more money, however, so after doing it a few times, I allowed myself to let the ball land in the right spot with the right force.
“And you win!” the barker exclaimed. “Choose your prize from this row.”
I gestured for Lois to pick out something. She considered the options for a few seconds. There were three stuffed toys on the row the barker had motioned to: Superman, Krypto, and a black and white bear. I was sure she was going to pick Superman, so I was utterly surprised when she grabbed at the bear. I raised my eyebrows, and she defended, “It’s cute!”
I laughed, feeling strangely pleased. “All right. Now, it’s your turn to play a game. What’ll it be?”
She looked around and then headed for the kiddie pool filled with plastic ducks.
“Lois, this is for kids . . . . ”
“Well, right now, I feel like a kid, so there.” She stuck her tongue out at me for emphasis. Then she gave the amused female barker her money and surveyed the ducks. There were yellow ducks, pink ducks, and green ducks of three different sizes. “Hmm . . . ”
“What about that one?” I suggested, pointing to a large green duck.
“Too big,” she told me. She knelt and picked up a small pink duck. “I like this one!” She turned it over to look at the number.
“Looks like you won a whistle!” the barker announced, handing Lois her prize.
Lois looked pleased, and I was surprised when she suddenly handed the red whistle to me. “You can use this for Jericho.”
I smiled down at the toy in my hand. Then a flash of inspiration hit me. It wasn’t a bad idea, using a whistle of sorts with Jericho. I would just need to talk to Dr. Klein about making a special device for Krypto’s collar . . . .
I was bringing the whistle to my mouth to blow in it when Perry came over, still in his fortune teller getup. “There’s a bank robbery happening at the First Bank of Metropolis. Lois, I want you to cover it. Superman might be there, and you might be able to get a few quotes from him.”
It looked like he gave me a meaningful glance, but I couldn’t be sure, as he was soon gone.
Lois shoved the bear at me. “Think you can hold onto this for me? Thanks, Clark!” And then she was gone.
I looked around for a suitable place to take off as Superman. I would also need to stash the bear somewhere.
****
I helped bring the bank robbers into custody, handing them over to the police. One of the robbers was quite vocal and explicit in cursing me, but I ignored him and went outside.
Lois was stepping out of a cab as I talked briefly to a police officer. “Superman!” she cried out.
I turned away from the police officer and nodded at her, my arms crossed.
“Superman, what happened?”
I gave her a brief summary of what had developed. I tried to be distant, knowing I had been far too familiar with her in the past as Superman, but I just couldn’t bring myself to snub her. As I moved to go, I saw a small smile on her face. I wasn’t doing a very good job of subduing her Superman crush at all.
