2. Dave #2
Mattie carefully balanced her donut holes on the dashboard as she fastened her seatbelt. “It takes guts to leave a steady paycheque to try something new,” she said unexpectedly. “Performing of any sort can’t be easy, but the smiles you get must make it worthwhile.”
Dave shoulder-checked and then pulled into traffic. “It does. I never planned to be Dave the Magnificent full-time, but it looks like life is forcing my hand. All I know is that if I don’t try to make a go of it now, I never will.” He liked that Mattie thought it was a dream worth chasing.
“What’s the schedule for today since we’re leaving at sunrise?” she asked.
“I figure it’ll take an hour to get to Hunniwell Farms and get your trailer hooked up. Then it’ll be another three hours to Drumheller. Are you okay to drive for that long, or should we schedule a break?”
She laughed. “I can do three hours on my head. Try driving from Edmonton to Waterton National Park with only a stop to fill the tank when you weren’t allowed to leave the car. My family rocked long road trips when I was a kid.”
He scoffed in return. “That’s only, what, five and a half hours? Try Timmins to Toronto. Over seven hours in the back seat with two teenaged brothers eating nothing but barbecued peanuts.”
Mattie looked impressed. “Okay, so we’re both good with a tiny little drive to Drumheller.”
“We should get there just before noon. That should give us time to have lunch before Dave the Magnificent wows and thrills the crowd this afternoon.”
“Where is Dave the Magnificent scheduled to appear?”
“At my buddy’s eight-year-old son’s birthday party.
” Dave shot her a grin. “Hopefully they’ll be an easy crowd.
” Children generally appreciated his performances, but there was always a chance of having that kid in the audience.
He didn’t understand people who tried to spoil a trick for everybody else.
John Hunniwell was waiting for them. Dave backed up perfectly on his first try, and the coupler dropped squarely onto his trailer hitch. “Nicely done,” the photographer said.
“I need to do one more thing before we leave,” Mattie said. She pulled a tube out of her carry-on bag and walked to the rear of the trailer.
“What are you doing?”
“Making sure Christmastown gets all the free advertising it can,” she replied as she unrolled a banner advertising the display’s destination and new home.
“You came prepared.”
“I forgot to mention that my boss wants tons of shots of us on the road. I contacted her last night to explain the situation. She agreed to cover all of your fuel costs if you’re willing to make some extra stops so we can get social media content.”
Dave was no fool. That offer would provide him an extra month of freedom. “As long as we stay on schedule, we can stop wherever you’d like.”
Mattie gave him a relieved grin. “Thank you. I have a list.”
Their last view of Hunniwell Ranch was John in the driveway waving as they pulled onto the highway. Once they settled on their final route south, Mattie relaxed into her seat. “How did you get into magic?” she asked as she popped a donut hole into her mouth.
Dave told her about keeping people entertained in the line for pictures with Santa.
He’d picked up his old hobby and expanded his repertoire of tricks when he took a job on the oil patch and had long periods of downtime with nothing else to do.
The previous winter, he’d put on a short bit at the company’s Christmas party.
The rave reviews he’d received convinced him to put together a professional show. “And here I am,” Dave finished.
“That would have been perfect for us at Christmastown. I look forward to seeing your performance,” Mattie said.
He shook his head when she offered him the last donut hole in the box. “How about you? I’m sure Robby told me that you studied business administration. How did you end up doing social media for a theme park?”
She popped the treat into her mouth. “I was headhunted. I used to work for a web design company. I did the social media content for some of their clients. Then I was contacted by my now-boss, Mei Chen. She liked what I did with a couple of clients and asked if I wanted to come to Christmastown to do their social media. The woman who set up all their accounts left six months after launch. I jumped at the opportunity and never looked back. I got Christmastown organized through its second summer, and I wanted something new to take us into our second Christmas season. I convinced her that we needed more hands-on guest experiences. My boss approved more of my elfie stations, so I was trying to come up with ideas for those when the Santa’s Village came up for sale. ”
“Wait a minute. Elfie stations?”
“You know, like selfie stations, only Christmas-themed.”
Dave took his eyes off the road long enough to look at Mattie in admiration. “The gingerbread house. The crystal ice heart arbour. You scored the mother lode!” Every single piece had been designed as a photographic prop.
“I hope so. When I saw it online, I knew we had to have it, but the village ate my whole winter budget. If the pieces don’t work out, it’s all on me.” Mattie’s hand trembled as she picked up her cup of cold coffee.
“They’re going to be a massive hit.”
“If they aren’t, I’ll get fired and vanish from sheer embarrassment. No magic needed.”
They travelled the next few kilometers in silence. They weren’t on Highway 2, the main route between Calgary and Edmonton. They were headed south, but a little farther east toward the massively busy tourist town of Drumheller.
It took three left turns before they pulled into the parking lot under Tyra, the World’s Largest Dinosaur.
Mattie had insisted that she needed shots of her snowmen waving under the towering concrete statue.
By Dave’s conservative count, she took a hundred photos and still fussed that she might not have a decent one to turn into a post. Eventually, she consented to take a lunch break.
“Do you think they serve raptor burgers?” Mattie asked, pointing at an independent burger restaurant across the main road.
“I think most of the restaurants in town probably offer raptor burgers, dino nuggets, and T-rex steaks,” Dave said. Dinosaurs were Drumheller’s claim to fame.
They ended up with plain old beef burgers and fries.
After they cleaned up, Dave texted his friend for directions while Mattie inspected every inch of the trailer to make sure nothing had shifted.
Once they arrived at the party, Dave changed into his white dress shirt, black slacks, and leather coat, then checked that his table with its draping cover and box of props were ready to go.
Mattie straightened his cowboy hat when he exited the van. “You look…really good. Go get ’em, Dave the Magnificent.”
“Are you going to watch the show?”
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
Apparently, that kid wasn’t invited to the party. Birthday boy Liam had been stunned to silence at the rope trick, and his little buddies all demanded a chance to study the interlocking rings that Dave separated and reattached in front of their very eyes.
Liam’s parents were very happy with the show. Once Dave put out the word that he was for hire, Gordon, who he had worked with in Grand Prairie, had immediately booked him for his son’s party. “That was terrific, Dave. The kids loved you.”
After he collected his fee, Dave climbed behind the wheel of the van and simply sat for a minute.
“I’m not surprised the kids were amazed. I’m an adult, and I have no clue how you did all those tricks,” Mattie told him, bouncing in her seat.
“Thanks, but—”
“No buts. Take the compliment,” she insisted. “You’re an excellent showman, Dave the Magnificent. And not just technically. You love what you do, and it shows in your energy.”
His residual nerves eased, and his tense shoulders dropped.
He’d finished his first show, and everybody involved was happy with it.
The hundreds of hours of practice he’d put into perfecting his tricks had been worth it.
The two times he’d stumbled during his act had gone unnoticed by his young audience, but Dave already knew what he’d do differently the next time.
It was an auspicious start. “We deserve dinner out,” he said. “To celebrate my first paid gig.”
“That sounds like fun. I’ll be sure to disappear when the check arrives,” Mattie teased.