Roger looked around curiously, “Waiting for me? But, I’m new in town.”
“I know, my Dad and your Dad will be working at the same bank,” the boy explained. “So, my Mom told me you would be here today. Just thought I’d say hi. My best friend Jack used to live here. They moved last Spring.”
So, Roger thought, that explains the glum look. “Okay. So, what’s your name?”
“Joey Bishop,” Joey pushed himself into the wheelchair with surprising ease and rolled down the walk to shake Roger’s hand.
James Pine did not believe in wasting time. He was already carrying a box up the walk, “You must be the Bishop boy. Your dad and I went to school together.”
“Why don’t you boys find something fun to do? We have plenty of help coming,” Jeanie Pine smiled at Joey.
Roger’s mother was carrying a suitcase that Roger knew contained her ‘moving clothes’, she had refused to travel in them.
“I don’t want my neighbor’s very first impression to be me in a holey sweatshirt,” she said, when his father teased her about it.
“Come on.” Joey said, “I’ll show you around. I know this house almost as good as my own. I hope you took the attic room. Jack always wanted it, but his Dad had his telescope up there.”
Roger followed Joey around to the garage. It was a modern structure built up to the level of the kitchen and Joey rolled right in. For the next twenty minutes Roger followed Joey around, amazed at how he zipped up the stairs on his hands, backwards, and never seemed to let anything slow him down. Joey explained that he was a wheelchair Olympian and, looking at the bulging muscles in his arm, Roger believed it.
The house already felt familiar. Roger had been studying the photos for months. After cruising through the three bedrooms on the second floor, Roger checked out the bathroom that would be his, right at the foot of his stairs.
“Race you to the top!” Joey said.
Roger didn’t know what to do, but Joey was already three steps ahead, so he took the challenge, coming in a close second. The attic room at the top of the stairs was huge! Roger was starting to think maybe Wishful wouldn’t be so bad. The double window looked out over the whole downtown and the branches of an ancient elm brushed up against one corner of it.
Joey grabbed a skateboard beside the door and rolled over to the window seat under the double window. He lifted himself up and Roger joined him.
“We’ll be in the same class in school,” Joey said.
“Yeah, I heard there was only one eighth grade home room. At my old school, there were three,” Roger said.
“So, what do you do for fun?” Roger asked.
“What do you mean? We’re having fun right now, right?” Joey said.
“Yeah, but no internet?” Roger said.
Joey laughed, “Well, that’s not the coolest part of Wishful, but hey, I have every pre Xbox one console and nearly every game ever made, so there’s that. But, I get out a lot, riding bikes, baseball, I like to read.”
They’d been talking about half an hour when five men pulled up in a black SUV wearing Tshirts and jeans. They all worked for Wishful Savings bank where Roger’s father would be chief loan officer.
Roger’s mother appeared at the door. “Hey, you guys might as well get out of here. Joe’s mom says he’s been dying to show you around, and we’ve got plenty of help with the furniture and boxes.”
“Cool, thanks mom,” Roger said. “Race you down?”
Joey was already sliding around the stairs.
They headed down Coin street toward downtown, with Joey explaining things as they went.
“So, what do you want to see first?” Joey asked.
“I don’t know, why don’t you show me your favorite place in town?” Roger suggested.
That turned out to be the library, which was just as creepy and filled with opportunities to explore as Roger had hoped.
“What are you boys up to?” the librarian asked.
Roger Joey exited the building laughing.
Their next stop was the baseball diamond. Joey played for the Wishful tornadoes. Their season had ended the week before but he promised to play with Roger any time he liked.
“I’m hungry? How about some lunch?” Joey said.
“Uh, yeah, but I didn’t bring my wallet,” Roger said.
“On me,” Joey said.
The two boys stopped at the Top of the Morning café for sandwiches and Joey introduced Roger to the owner. George Popodopolis was a large round man with a broad smile. He welcomed the boys and would not accept Joey’s money. He insisted that anyone new to Wishful should be his guest. After lunch, Joey took Roger to several of the spots he’d seen in the pictorial history.
“Well, that’s about it,” Joey said. “Anything else you want to know?”
Roger finally got up the courage to ask his new friend about the fountain. Joey looked nervously around and steered him to an isolated bench behind the library.
“You know you have to be careful who you ask about that, right?” Joey said, nervously.
Roger laughed, “Yeah, my Dad kind of freaked when I asked him about it. So, what’s the big deal anyway?”
Joey looked around to make certain they were alone, “Okay, you know about the legend, right?”
Roger shrugged, “Sort of, my Dad didn’t really go into details, and I read a short version of it in the history book I showed you.”
“Well, in 1868 a man named Jeremiah Wish came here. He was traveling west, but for some reason he decided to stay. They say he found a natural spring that allowed him to have fresh water. After he’d been here for a while he ran out of food, and winter was coming, he got really desperate,” Joey was warming to his story.
“He hadn’t seen anybody for a long time. One day he took his last gold coin and made a wish. He dropped it in the spring, ate the very last of his food, rolled up in his bedroll and went to sleep. When he woke up in the morning the town of Wishful had magically appeared pretty much like it looks today.” Joey told the story with a seriousness that didn’t fit.
Roger laughed again, “Come on, you expect me to believe that?”
Joey looked confused, “Believe it? It’s a historical fact. The last people that saw Jeremiah were the ones that left him here. When they came back, here was Jeremiah sitting alone in this town, so, they stayed.”
“You’re serious,” now it was Roger’s turn to look confused. “I thought it was just a legend.”
“All I know is what I’ve heard my whole life. One day nothing but grass, the next day, Wishful,” Joey answered.
Roger decided to accept it for now. “Okay, but what about the fountain? Where does that come in?”
Joey looked around again.
“Who are you looking for?” Roger asked.
Joey shook his head. “Not a question you should ask. Nobody talks about it.”
“Yeah, but I’m new here, so spill,” Roger said.
“The mayor’s goons,” Joey said. “I call them the Wish Police.”
“What?” Roger said.
“Yeah, look, they keep tabs on us, almost everywhere,” he said.
“How?” Roger asked.
“Nobody knows, magic, psychics, hidden surveillance. All I know is, people who talk about this too much, have a tendency to disappear and come back, different.” Joey said. “Almost as bad as the ones that make wishes.”
Joey was nearly terrified now.
“What? You’re kidding.”
“If only. Last year, two kids disappeared,” Joey said. “When they came back, they didn’t talk for two weeks.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“So, can we talk about something else?” Joey asked.
“Sure, but just tell me one more thing,” Roger said.
“Okay, what?”
“The fountain,” Roger said. “What’s the deal with it.”
A dark car slowed on the street across the park and two men got out in black suits and dark glasses. Joey froze.
“Shit, we’re in trouble now,” he said.