With their coin purses full of tokens, the group entered the line at the large, circular tent in the center of the midway that was surrounded by people. This was the token redemption tent. Inside, a wide variety of items were displayed, each with a tag pinned to it, listing the number of tokens needed to get it. The smaller items were in cases that created a ring of counter inside around the center of the tent, where the large token items were on display Most of these items were donations from the festival participants. The majority of items were one token candy pieces and two token small wooden games, but there was a vast variety of items available. There were blankets and quilts in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. There were fancy bits of tatted lace, and salted meat, tiny fruit pastries and huge loaves of bread. A small boy, not much older than 6, was in line in front of them. He was hopping back and forth between his feet, either in excitement or a need to find a bathroom, it was unclear as to which. Ivy was fascinated by him, by his energy and excitement. When they finally got to the counter, Ivy was more interested in watching this boy look at everything intently than spending her own few tokens. The child purchased the first piece of candy he saw, an ounce or so of candied ginger. He sucked loudly on his ginger as he studied intently, of all things, the quilts. Meredith and Elliot both noticed Ivy’s observation of the child, around the same time the child did.
“Hawo.” His mouth was too full of candy to talk. Ivy found it endearing.
“Hello. Those are a lot of tokens. You win those all yourself?” The child nodded his head enthusiastically, eyes full of pride. “What game did you win them in?”
“Cups. And darts, but mostly cups.”
Ivy’s eyebrows raised in surprise. She knew the cups game was a wagering game, which was usually rigged, so the boy had to be quite good, or very, very lucky. She didn’t see Elliot’s face match her own, because he was thinking the same thing about darts. Meredith didn’t miss any of it, her eyes unfocused as she watched the moment unfurl.
“Well, I see you have a lot of tokens there, and you seem to want a quilt, is that right?” The boy nodded, a little less excitedly this time. “Can you see them ok over the counter?”
“Yeah. I want the one that looks like pinwheels.” He looked down at the pile of tokens in his hand, then back at Ivy. “I’m not sure if I have enough. Can you help me count?” Ivy beamed as she knelt down, and helped the boy count out his tokens. Though he had a lot, he didn’t have enough for the quilt. Meredith stepped forward, placing her hand on Ivy’s shoulder. Ivy jumped as though shocked, turned and looked at her friend. They shared a long look, Meredith took her hand away, and Ivy turned her attention back to the boy. Elliot glanced back and forth between them, unsure what had just happened, though knowing that it was important. When the child wasn’t looking, Ivy added her own tokens to his collection, giving him just enough. She then helped the child get the worker’s attention. The boy proudly requested the blanket, turned in his tokens, thanked Ivy profusely, and ran off into the crowd, carrying the large folded quilt on his head. Elliot watched Meredith and Ivy as the child disappeared. The women brushed hands together, absentmindedly, shared another look, then went back to looking at the displays.
“What was that all about?”
“Huh?”
“The thing, with you and Meredith and the boy. Something happened, what was that all about?”
“Oh, that. Well, children are so easy, they wear their emotions out for the world to see. The boy was in so much pain and worry, wasn’t he?” Elliot looked totally confused. “Right here.” Ivy rubbed her thumb nail between her eyebrows. “The boy had a white crease between his eyebrows, like a worry wrinkle on someone too young to, well, wrinkle. He was upset, worried, probably thought he had wasted a token on the candy and it would keep him from getting the quilt, which was very, very important to him, but he didn’t have enough money to win any more tokens. He wasn’t afraid, just concerned. I hate seeing such adult emotions plastered on the faces of children.”
“It’s his grandmother.” Meredith piped in. She wasn’t looking at them, engrossed in some fine spun lambs wool. “He’s raised by his grandparents, and his grandmother is arthritic. Complains of the cold all the time. He saved his money to try and buy her a quilt, and when he couldn’t buy one, decided to win her one.” She gestured to the attendant, counting out the tokens in her hand.
“How did you know?”
“Huh?”
Elliot looked confused, but not angry. Ivy smiled at him. “How did you know?”
“Oh.” Meredith looked a little surprised, and embarrassed. “I knew her. Him. I knew them.”
Before Elliot could question further, Devon demanded Elliot’s attention. He had to show off the new pack of cards he had received, since his other deck had “peach juice all over it”.
~~~~~~
That evening’s post dinner game was Primero. Devon had chosen the game of the evening, since he had won the game the night before, and because he wanted to break in his new deck. The betting portion of the game proved to be difficult, partially due to the amount of alcohol that had already been consumed with dinner. No one was willing to admit an excess of money, and a token for exchange could not be agreed upon. Meredith, in exasperation, left the cabin entirely. The men of the group were concerned, till she returned a moment later, a bowl of wildflowers in her hand. So it was agreed they would play for blossoms. However, as Meredith handed out flowers and Devon dealt cards, Adina bowed out of the game.
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