by Art Burton
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LADY AND I SAVE THE WORLD
"He’s gone. He’s gone."
The words rang out across the Playland Park in Lucusville. I was mounted on my big, pink steed, Lady, driving around and around and up and down on the Nostalgic Carousel. The cry came from the direction of the Wax Museum.
I dug my heels into Lady’s flanks and pulled back on the reins.
"Sorry girl," I said, "we’ve got to investigate this."
Lady took off in the direction of the museum. One of the pink and white shirted, young girls was standing outside, wringing her hands in anguish. She looked up at me when Lady reared to a halt.
"Emily, Emily, thank goodness, it’s you."
I swung down off of Lady’s back, holding on to the reins. Lady had never been off of the carousel before and I was afraid she might bolt to freedom.
"Who’s gone?" I asked.
By now we were surrounded by people wearing the pink and white shirts; all the staff wore them. They appeared from all over the park and listened intently for the answer to my question. We all wanted to know the same thing.
"The prime minister," she said. "He’s gone."
"Which prime minister?" someone asked. It was a good question. They were all in the wax museum, from John A. Mcdonald up to and including Steven Harper.
"The old guy from the ’70s," the girl answered.
Kids these days. She didn’t even know his name. "Mr. Trudeau," I said.
"Yes, he’s the one."
"Oh no," another said. "If he is free, he’ll probably try to take over the world. If he succeeds, they will blame it on us."
All eyes turned to me.
"Emily, you’ve got to find him."
They were right, of course. He could take over the world. I looked around and spotted the Ferris Wheel, not the baby sized one but the big, big one. I jumped back up on Lady and we thundered down the path to the big wheel.
"Take me to the top," I said to the man running it.
"That will be three tickets," he said.
I waved my arm in his face.
"I’ve got an all day bracelet."
He studied my arm. "Sorry, jump right on."
Lady hesitated and then refused to go on. She had never been on a Ferris Wheel before. She only went in horizontal circles not vertical circles. I swung off her back and tied her to the railing.
"OK, girl, you wait for me here."
Lady bobbed her head up and down. In horse language, that meant "good idea."
The Ferris Wheel chair climbed to the top of its arc and stopped. From here I could see all over the park. Where would a dead prime minister go, I wondered. I tried to think like he would.
"Fuddle duddle," he was no where to be seen. That expression was new to me but seemed to leap into my head. Then I spotted movement over by the little, yellow roller coaster.
"Bring me down," I called out to the man below. We completed the cycle. I jumped on Lady’s back and together we charged off towards the roller coaster. There was a tall, acne-faced boy with the famous pink and white, park staff shirt running the ride.
"Let me on," I ordered. "I’m looking for the prime minister."
"You must stand in line, first," he said.
I gave him an impatient look. There was no one else there. I stood in line, alone. Anything to get the ride moving. He opened the gate and allowed me to board. We went around three times while I searched the surrounding bushes for Mr. Trudeau. No luck. The roller coaster came to an abrupt halt.
"Again," I said. "I am still looking."
"You have to get out, walk to that exit, come back to the entrance and get on again," the boy said.
"Are you some kind of idiot?" I asked.
"Those are the rules. You must disembark."
Arguing would be senseless. I was wasting time. I got out of the car, walked to the exit, ran back to the entrance.
"No running," he said.
I looked around to see who I might be cutting off in my haste. I was still the only one at the ride. He checked my arm again to see if I had an all day bracelet. It was still there from two minutes ago. He started up the ride again.
On the first pass, I saw movement in the bushes. Mr. Trudeau had picked a fresh rose for his lapel and now was heading towards the big water slide.
"Stop. Let me off," I said.
"The ride must go around three times," he answered.
I sat there grinding my teeth for two more trips around the oval circuit. The prime minister was getting farther and farther away. Finally, the train jerked to a stop. I jumped out of the car and started towards Lady who was still waiting for me at the entrance.
"You must exit in the other direction," the boy said.
I gave him a scathing look and continued towards the entrance. I jumped on Lady’s back and tried to make up for lost time. We bounded across the park to the big water slide. Once again, the prime minister was no where to be seen. I started up the slide.
"Wait, Emily," the attendant called out. "How tall are you?"
Who were all these fools? I had to find Mr. Trudeau before he took over the world.
"Forty-seven inches and a bit," I said.
"Sorry," she said. "You must be 48 inches to ride alone. You need a paying adult to accompany you."
"I’m trying to save the world," I yelled. "Doesn’t anyone understand what is at stake here?"
She only looked at me with her mousy eyes. "Until you grow another inch, you need an adult to accompany you." At this rate, I might actually gain that additional inch before finding the wayward politician.
I looked around for Grandma. She was overwhelmed by all the excitement. The waterslide would be too much for her. "Grandma, what are we to do?" I asked.
"Don’t worry, Emily," Grandma said. "This nice lady here will help you save the world. The lady gave me a big smile. I could tell she wanted to meet Mr. Trudeau. I would make that happen.
Together, we ran up the path to the slide. At the top, we sat in the rushing water and then slid all the way down. Mr. Trudeau wasn’t there.
"He must be on the other path," I said. There were two slides going in different directions.
"Right," the nice lady said. "Let’s go again."
Water dripped from our hair. We had gone right under at the bottom of the slide. Then, I had swum underwater to get to the edge of the pool. That’s how I swim: underwater. We raced to the top again.
This time we found the prime minister lurking halfway down the slide. We grabbed him and took him all the way to the bottom with us. I hung on to his collar.
"Good work, Emily," the lady said. "You’ve caught him."
Everyone around the pool cheered. The world was safe again.
"I’ll take him back to the wax museum," the lady said with a glint in her eye. I could tell she enjoyed being a hero as well. It was old hat to me.
"You take him back," I said. "I’ve got to get Lady back to the carousel."
I mounted Lady again and set out for her spot on the ride. She jumped up into her place. All the other horses looked over at her with envy. None of them had ever been free before. We started going round and round, up and down again.
"Emily, hang on," Granddad called out. "You're going to slide off. It’s time to go to another ride. You’ve been on the carousel for six turns and I think it’s making you sleepy. Let’s head over to the water slide."
Poor Granddad. He was reading and didn’t see me capture the prime minister. I’d have to tell him about it later. For now, it was time to try another ride. All this galloping around on Lady was making me tired.
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Art Burton lives and writes in Latties Brook, Nova Scotia with his wife Flame.
He has two murder-mystery print book
For Hire, Messenger of God and
Caught in the Line of Fire
which are available at most online boo
kstores and can also be ordered at most brick and mortar stores. To learn more about these book go to
https://users.eastlink.ca/~artburton/
Enjoy these other books available from Smashbooks
Hobos I Have Known
For Hire, Messenger of God —a murder mystery
