The Japanese Devil Fish Girl and Other Unnatural Attractions Part 6

A chuckle came from a table nearby and Laloo turned smiles upon them.

'We overhear you, Cagliostro,' said the well-clad fellow.

'It is ever the showman's lot to suffer hardship and privation,' said Professor Coffin. 'Whilst great folk such as you accrue kingly pensions, we showmen must fork out countless expenses, bear the heavy weight of responsibility and deposit but a few meagre pennies into our patched pockets.'

Laloo let out another chuckle. 'And see that,' he said to George. 'He says all that without ever breaking a smile.'

'And believe me, it is not easy,' said Professor Coffin, breaking one now, and a large one too. 'Years of practice, it takes, and I am getting no younger.'

'In truth,' said Laloo, 'the days of the live show, with a prodigy of nature on display, may well be numbered. Mechanical marvels fill the public's imagination and gaffs are everywhere.'

'Gaffs?' asked George, who was a stranger to the term.

'Fakes,' said Laloo. 'As the professor observed, although obliquely, a live performer needs food, accommodation and payment. A bouncer, by contrast, needs none of these things.'

'Bouncer?' queried George.

'Or "pickled punk". A two-headed baby, or unborn Siamese twins, created from wax and hair and mounted in a display bottle. On a recent tour of America, I visited a company in New York by the name of Merz and Hansen "Manufacturers of Petrified Mummies, Two-Headed Giants, Sea Serpents, Double Babies, etc." They boast that they can create anything your imagination runs to and they only require twenty-one days to create it the time it takes for the papier mache to thoroughly dry.'

'Incredible,' said George.

'And a death knell to the travelling show,' said the professor. 'Perhaps we have become an anachronism. Our time is past. Soon it will be electrical whirligigs and b.u.mping motor carriages.'

'You sing a dismal song,' said Laloo, 'but one that lacks for candour on your part. Yes, perhaps we cannot do battle with the new, but why would we try? To do so would be foolhardy. We must adapt, as all must, as Man moves forwards into the future. And who knows this better than you, who has presented so many varied attractions, each in its way tailored to the current fashions?'

''Tis true,' said Professor Coffin, raising his porter pot to Laloo and calling out for further ales. 'But it is every showman's dream to find the the attraction. That most wonderful attraction that ever there was. Something that all of the world would pay to see. And also the other worlds too.' attraction. That most wonderful attraction that ever there was. Something that all of the world would pay to see. And also the other worlds too.'

'There are wonderful beings about,' said Laloo.

'There is Joseph,' said the dwarf with the tattooed face. 'Some say he's the greatest of our age.'

'Joseph?' asked George.

'Joseph Carey Merrick2,' said Professor Coffin, 'advertised as "the Elephant Man". An extraordinary fellow by all accounts. But he has long retired from the travelling life and lives now at the London Hospital, on a special pension.'

'Your Martian came from there, did it not?' asked George.

'Through the kind donation of Sir Frederick Treves, Mr Merrick's sponsor and friend. I have obliged him with a few specimens over the years. He was quite eager to lend me the Martian.'

'Glad to be rid of the smell,' said George.

'I now believe this to be the case, yes. And he told me a strange thing, too, as it happens.'

'Go on,' said George, as he, Laloo and the tattooed dwarf drew in close to hear the professor's words.

'In eighteen eighty-eight there were seven murders in Whitechapel.'

'Jack the Ripper,' said George.

'Precisely. And several displaying wounds thought to have been inflicted by surgical instruments. And every murder within a stone's throw of the London Hospital.'

'A surgeon?' said George.

Professor Coffin shook his head. 'Not according to Mr Treves. Mr Treves says Joseph Merrick did them. He says that Mr Merrick confessed to him whilst drunken with champagne.'

'A sensational tale,' said Laloo.

'And one that will never find its way before the public,' said Professor Coffin, in a whisper. 'Mr Merrick is the darling of the gentry and in failing health. He will die loved and that will be how history will record him.'

'But-' went George.

'I did not say it was "just",' said Professor Coffin, 'only that that is how it will be.'

There was a certain silence then, each man alone with his thoughts.

'Of course,' said the tattooed dwarf, 'we all know what the greatest attraction in the world would be would be, if anyone could attain it.'

'Ah,' said Laloo.

And Professor Coffin nodded.

'What is it, then?' asked George. 'What might this be?'

'A legend,' said Professor Coffin. 'A tall tale told in pot-rooms.'

'I know of a man who claims that he saw Her,' said Laloo. 'Or claims that he knows of a man who did, or suchlike.'

'What is it?' George asked once again.

'I heard,' said the dwarf, 'that Barnum3 is even now in negotiations. That he hopes to present Her in London before the Queen's Jubilee.' is even now in negotiations. That he hopes to present Her in London before the Queen's Jubilee.'

'What is it?' asked George. Once more. Again.

'I have heard that you cannot gaze upon Her without the use of special goggles,' said Jo Jo, the Russian Dog-Faced Boy. 'That Her glance can turn you to stone just like the Medusa's.'

'If someone does not tell me at once,' said George, 'I will be forced to start a fight.'

'Then out of the window you will go,' said the armless Mr Untham.

'Someone tell me, please.'

'She is known by many names,' said Laloo, 'and there are many tales regarding Her origins. Some say that She is an unnatural prodigy, a genuine chimera of woman and of fish.'

'A mermaid?' said George. 'A genuine mermaid?'

'Not a mermaid,' said the dwarf. 'Although there is the involvement of fish. She is the last survivor of Atlantis. She breathes through gills but walks upon two legs.'

'Atlantis,' went Mr Untham. 'Plah. She was born from an alchemist's vat. Created by the last of all the Magi. Grown in a girl-shaped vase and brought to life by words drawn from the Grimoire of Moses.'

George glanced to Professor Coffin.

Professor Coffin shrugged. 'There are many, many theories,' he said, 'but all agree that She does does exist somewhere. And that She is the most wonderful creature in all of the universe. They call Her the j.a.panese Devil Fish Girl.' exist somewhere. And that She is the most wonderful creature in all of the universe. They call Her the j.a.panese Devil Fish Girl.'

'They call Her Sayito,' said the dwarf.

10.

Eventually they returned to Hounslow Heath, somewhat mellow from drink. As the air within the showman's wagon was once more ill-favoured by Martian taint, the professor pulled out blankets and suggested to George that as the night was warm, they should bivouac on the roof.

A deal of alcohol-induced comedy climbing up there concluded with the two of them side by side and flat upon their backs, gazing up at the stars.

'You knew,' said George. 'And do not deny that you did.'

'I a.s.sume you refer to the j.a.panese Devil Fish Girl,' Professor Coffin said.

'You knew that She is known as Sayito. And because Macmoyster Farl said that I would one day open The The Book of Sayito Book of Sayito and meet and meet Her Her, you took me to that very alehouse and steered the conversation around to that very subject.'

'You give me credit for subtlety and subversiveness that I would be proud to possess.'

'So it is all just a coincidence?' George gave a drunken hiccup.

'On this occasion, yes. Although some might discern the finger of Fate pointing, pointing, pointing.' Professor Coffin pointed a finger at George. 'Pointing at you, young George.'

'I am no one special,' said George. 'Although I know I would like to be.'

'Then perhaps this is your moment. This very day the turning point in your life.'

'Really?' said George. 'Do you really think so?'

'I believe that everyone has such a moment. But few are they who recognise it as such and follow where Fate leads them.'

'Well,' said George. 'I do not know what to say.'

A shooting star pa.s.sed across the sky and George Fox wished upon it.

The dawn brought with it spots of rain, and the rooftop lost its charm.

'Where to now?' asked George, as he took to blearily raking out the firebox of the traction engine. 'Onward with the wagons to another fair, or what?'

Professor Coffin brought forth a hip flask, poured a tot of 'Mother's Ruin' into its cap and offered this to George.

'An early-morning enlivener,' he said. 'But surely you recall our late-night conversation?'

'That my moment has come and I must follow where Fate will lead?'

'The very same. What are your thoughts upon this matter this morning?'

George gazed off all around and about. The show folk were stirring from their tents and caravans. Loading up their gaily painted wagons. Priming their steam engines, stoking coal. Romany women washed their clothes in oversized zinc baths. Ragged children played amongst the show boards and rolled canvas.

George took a deep and steadying breath. 'I love this life,' he said.

Professor Coffin eyed him thoughtfully. 'You are a natural to it,' he said. 'But it will not suit for ever. There is more to you, young George. More that is still to be discovered.'

'And the j.a.panese Devil Fish Girl?' George asked.

'Whom some call Sayito?'

George made a face that had no expression. 'What do you make of it all?'

'It is what you you make of it all that matters, George. You are the one who has been offered prophecy. If make of it all that matters, George. You are the one who has been offered prophecy. If you you were to ask were to ask me me to join you in a search for the most wonderful being in all of the universe, the greatest sideshow attraction that ever ever existed, what do to join you in a search for the most wonderful being in all of the universe, the greatest sideshow attraction that ever ever existed, what do you you think think my my answer might be?' answer might be?'

'I can smell Martian from here,' said George. 'I think your answer would be "yes".'

'So, do we seek Her? What do you think?'

'I think we do do,' said George.

Professor Coffin did a little dance. He spat into the palm of his right hand and smacked it into George's. 'When you find this wonder,' he said merrily, 'and I do mean when and not if. When When you find this wonder, you must promise me that we will go fifty-fifty on all of the takings.' you find this wonder, you must promise me that we will go fifty-fifty on all of the takings.'

'Fifty-fifty?' said George.

'If that suits you, my boy.'

'It does indeed.'

'Then that is the deal shaken on.'

This deal shaken on, the two of them stood with their hands in their pockets gazing around and about.

'So,' said George.

'So indeed,' said the professor.

'Right,' said George.

'As right as a nine-penny portion,' said the professor.

'Cheese,' said George.

And, 'Cheese?' said the professor.

'I have run out of things to say,' said George.