Calamity at the Carnival

by London Lovett

  Jackson gave a half shrug. "That's what people were saying. I heard Junior is very superstitious and goes through an entire ritual every morning before he heads out on a job."

  "No kidding. I guess it is a dangerous business, so it's probably better not to tempt fate."

  Carson cleared his throat, and the microphone picked up the sound and carried it across the audience. "We'll get started with the ceremony, so please take your seats." The audience quieted down, but the general noise of the carnival continued on around us. A woman near the stage had set up a camera on a tripod. She waved excitedly to the girl waiting for her crown.

  "I guess the Queen Mom is going to get the whole coronation on tape," I said.

  A few corny speeches followed, then the big moment arrived, and Melinda Bates was crowned Spring Fair Queen. Melinda was thrilled and screaming with joy as if it was the first she'd learned of her win. A red velvet cloak was tied around her shoulders, and a crown of rhinestones was clipped, after some effort by her friends and eventually her mother, to her head. Carson handed her a nice bouquet of pink roses, which she held in her right hand, but it seemed she was more interested that everyone see her left hand, where, even from the distance Jackson and I stood, I spotted a sizeable diamond sparkling on her ring finger.

  Carson picked up a bucket filled with metallic confetti and tossed it high into the air above Melinda's head. It stuck to her hair and crown and cape. She looked less than happy about it all. Her mom popped onto stage to help her get some of the pieces free from her hair. After a few minutes of confetti clean-up, Melinda stepped up to the microphone.

  "Thank you, everyone," she said a few times into the microphone, which she made sure to grasp with her left hand and its impressive gemstone. "I want to thank the Stocktons and the Spring Fair committee for choosing me for this honor. I'm looking forward to all the events. I'd also like to say thanks to my mom for recording this exciting moment in my life."

  She paused and scanned the crowd. Her gaze stopped on the neon pink shirt. "Sutton, please come up here to share this moment with me." The guy in the pink Wright Electric shirt skirted his way around the chairs to the stage.

  "Everyone," Queen Melinda continued, with a wide smile plastered across her face. "I have one more announcement that will make this day even more special."

  "Gee, I wonder if it has to do with that diamond engagement ring on her finger," I muttered to Jackson.

  "What ring?" he asked.

  I rolled my eyes. "You're such a man."

  "Guilty as charged," he muttered back.

  Sutton Wright reached the stage with hands shoved shyly in his pockets. His face was nearly as pink as his shirt as he sidled up next to Melinda.

  "Friends, family, subjects," she said with a giggle. "I'd like to announce that Sutton Wright and I are engaged to be married."

  The audience cheered and clapped.

  "I think I've seen enough of the ceremony," Jackson said. "What do you say we take a ride on the Ferris wheel?"

  I gazed up at the dangling buckets. They stuttered along with slow, jerky movements, occasionally getting stuck before moving forward. "I think I'd like to keep my feet on the ground."

  "Guess I won't kiss you then," he quipped.

  "Ah, there's nothing like a man who is full of humility." I took his hand and we walked along. "Although, I will admit, your kisses do sometimes make me feel as if I'm walking on the moon."

  Chapter 5

  I'd boasted enough about my pitching skills that by the time the young guy running the game booth handed me the baseball, I had lost all confidence. My pitching arm was a good deal older and more out of shape than it had been in high school.

  Jackson crossed his arms, waiting for me to throw the greasy, small ball at the tower of very heavy looking milk bottles on the back wall of the booth.

  "Now, remember, the last time I played ball, I was still wearing a retainer and the occasional splash of zit cream. Not to mention, we girls throw the ball underhand, something that is not possible at this angle," I said in an effort to lower his expectations.

  His gaze drifted to the top of the pyramid of unicorns. "I've already picked the one I want. It has a rainbow horn and blue bow, and I'm naming him Rocco. And, as I recall, you have a dog named Newman who keeps you in good practice."

  "Right. Stupid Newman, you blew my cover," I muttered. I positioned my feet and shuffled them back a few times like I used to do for luck on the pitcher's mound. I peered up at the unicorn with the blue bow. "This one's for you, Rocco." I pulled my arm back and fired the ball at the set of bottles. They splattered in every direction. The last one on the bottom corner rocked side to side for a brief second and then fell over like a reluctant tree being cut in the forest.

  "Woo hoo!" I cheered. "I've still got it." I threw my arms up and quickly rubbed my right shoulder. "Ouch. I don't remember that pain when I was eighteen."

  Jackson pointed Rocco out to the kid, who looked rather stunned at my throw. "Wow, she's pretty good for her age," he said as he handed Jackson the toy.

  Jackson took my hand and spun me away from the game booth before I could respond to the kid's comment.

  "My age," I grumbled. "I'd like to see that kid knock those bottles down with one throw."

  "I have to say, that was pretty darn impressive, Bluebird." Jackson handed me the unicorn. "Now, hold Rocco. I see one of the uniformed officers who was assigned carnival security detail. I'm going to get an update on any problems and see if he needs anything."

  "Don't you want to take your new friend along for an introduction?" I held up the unicorn to let him know I was talking about Rocco and not myself.

  "Not sure if I could live it down at the precinct. I'll be right back."

  I strolled down the middle aisle of game booths, with no particular purpose or destination. I stopped near the fortune teller's tent. Seeing it reminded me of Raine, which reminded me that Lana was going to need my help tonight. The carnival was getting more crowded and somewhat overrun with teenagers. I had a farm and a sister to look after, so it was probably best to cut the day short.

  I pulled out my phone to text Lana when two women swooshed past me so fast, I nearly dropped it. The women, one who was possibly in her early twenties and another in her mid to late forties, were wearing matching neon pink t-shirts, the same Wright Electric shirts as Queen Melinda's fiancé, Sutton Wright. The younger woman's hair and skin tone was similar to Sutton's, and it was easy to deduce they were brother and sister, or, at the very least, related. They were so deep in a tense conversation, they hadn't noticed that they nearly smacked into me. They wore serious expressions as they went into Madame Cherise's tent. It seemed they were in urgent need of a fortune telling.

  I sent a text to Lana. "I'm at the carnival with Jackson, but we'll be leaving soon. I'll bring you some dinner after I check on the farm."

  She rang me back. "Had to call," she said. "Too hard to text with one hand."

  "Oh wow, I hadn't thought of that. How are you feeling?"

  "My whole arm hurts but I'll live. I called to let you know that Raine is bringing me a submarine sandwich, so I won't need dinner. But if you want to come help fill party favor bags, I wouldn't say no."

  "Sure, I can do that." Jackson's tall, dark head towered over most everyone else as he lumbered back toward me. "I've got to stop by the farm first."

  There was a ruckus behind me. I looked back over my shoulder. The queen and her apparent entourage were making their rounds, handing out stickers and free balloons to kids. I stepped out of their way. Melinda stopped to show a few women her ring, and the oohs and ahhs followed.

  "Jeez, I'm sorry about that, Sunni. I should be helping you with the farm," Lana said.

  "Not a big deal, although Emi stuck King Harold in with the hens and . . . well . . . there was a short, fierce battle with an empty feed bucket. I lost, by the way."

  Lana snickered. "Oops, sorry, I shouldn't laugh. It's the pain killer. I've faced down t
hat beast a few times, and he is scary. Take a broom in next time. The bucket allows him to get too close. And as Nick once told me, King Harold can smell fear a mile away, so act casual as if you couldn't care less about him."

  Jackson reached me and waited while I finished my call.

  "All brave words from a woman sitting on her couch, loopy on pain pills and waiting for her dinner to be delivered. But thanks, I will try the broom trick. Hey, I've got to go. I'll see you in a few hours."

  "I'll be here," she sighed.

  Jackson took hold of Rocco and pushed him under one arm while dropping his free arm around my shoulder. "Was that Lana?" he asked.

  "Yes. She advised me to take a broom into the chicken yard, so I have a fighting chance against King Harold."

  He nodded. "Sounds like solid advice. How is she feeling?"

  "She sounded a little depressed, but Raine is bringing her a sandwich. I'm going over there later to help with some party favors. Did the officer have any problems to report?" I asked as we headed through the maze of people.

  "No problems. Looks like it's going to be a trouble-free week at the carnival."

  Chapter 6

  Jackson was kind enough to help with dinner hour at the farm. The chickens were in for the night, and it really only required a double check on Emily's horse, Butterscotch, and my two favorite barn critters, the goats, Cuddlebug and Tinkerbell.

  After a nice, long kiss goodbye, Jackson headed home, and I climbed into my jeep for the short drive to Lana's house. Raine's car was sitting out front as I pulled up.An unfamiliar red bicycle, complete with basket and colorful handlebar tassels, was leaned against the side of the house. Raine's voice rolled toward me as I opened the front door. It was accompanied by another voice I didn't recognize.

  Lana was sitting at her kitchen table, looking less than excited about entertaining guests. She had regained most of the color in her face, but the lines on her forehead showed she was still in pain.

  Raine noticed me first. She pushed her glasses higher on her nose and smiled. "There you are, Sunni. I thought I might have to fill all those bags myself." She motioned toward Lana's long maple table where girlie goodies like shiny tubs of lip gloss, beaded bracelets and hairclips were heaped in piles.

  "I had to check the farm," I reminded her.

  I smiled politely at the other woman. She was wearing a gold leather jacket. Leopard print short boots peered out from her black bellbottoms. A bright blue headband crossed her forehead and disappeared under a curly mound of blonde hair.

  "Oh," Raine chirped, "I forgot to introduce you two. Sunni, this is Cherise Duvay. She works for the Stockton Carnival. Cherise, this is Lana's sister and my best friend, Sunni Taylor. She owns the big brick mansion you rode past on your way to Lana's."

  Cherise's headband perked up at the mention of my mansion, a term that couldn't be farther from the truth in its current state. "You live in the Cider Ridge Inn? I've heard that place is literally bursting with ghosts." She turned back to Raine. "Why on earth didn't you tell me your best friend owned the place?" She picked up her cup of soda and drew a long noisy sip. "Have you connected with any of the lost souls yet?" To my relief, she directed her question to Raine.

  Raine shrugged nonchalantly. "Haven't had much time to focus on it." Apparently, she was going avoid the mention of her failed séance. "Sunni is having the entire house restored so it can be used as a bed and breakfast." Raine emptied the last few potato chips from the bag onto her plate.

  Cherise's gold coat reflected the light from the overhead pendants as she sat forward with interest. "Oh boy, you know that's never a good idea—" She continued even though none of us prodded her to elaborate. She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial lull as she spoke across the table to Raine. "You know how freaked out regular people get when unhappy spirits are lingering about."

  Raine was drawn right into the conversation, almost as if Lana and I, (regular people, I presumed) weren't standing right in the room with her. "Yes, I think it could be a bonus for marketing though. Don't you think? There are plenty of people who would find it exciting to stay in a haunted inn. You know, people without a finely honed sixth sense," she said demurely, almost like a rich woman taking pity on people who don't have a live-in chef. It was one of those many moments when I badly wanted to blurt that just this morning my unhappy spirit was lecturing me about staying out too late.

  I glanced discretely toward Lana, who looked as if she badly wanted to go to bed. She'd hardly touched the sandwich on her plate. I pulled up a chair at the table.

  "Would you like half of my sandwich?" Lana asked. "I don't have much appetite."

  Raine looked at me with the same expression my mom used to wear when she was telling me that I was making bad decisions. "I told her she needs to fill her stomach if she's taking pain medicine, otherwise that stuff will go straight to her head."

  "Isn't that the point of them?" Lana asked wryly.

  "It's true about eating first," Cherise added with the same motherly confidence as Raine. "Those chemicals will burn right through the lining of the stomach if it's not coated with food." Apparently, a finely honed sixth sense also gave you vast medical expertise.

  Lana was anxious to get off the topic of her pain. "How was the carnival, Sunni?"

  "Oh, were you at the carnival?" Cherise asked before I had a chance to respond. I was tempted to look disappointed and ask her why she didn't already sense that I'd been there, but I didn't want Raine to be upset with me. She was acting a little oddly in the presence of another psychic, and I found it kind of cute. (I would never tell her that, of course.)

  "Yes, I was there with my boyfriend." If Cherise hadn't been sitting at the table, I would have leapt into a diatribe about how shabby and out of date the carnival was and how badly it needed to be refurbished. Instead, I listed our activities. "We ate some cotton candy, or, I should say, I ate some cotton candy. Jackson was going to try a deep fried cupcake but then he saw Raine swinging hers around like a heavy piece of dough and decided his stomach was against the whole thing. I made up for it by winning him a fuzzy, stuffed unicorn with a blue bow and rainbow colored horn." I circled my shoulder around once. "I've still got a golden arm." I grinned smugly at Lana. Lana had been the busy overachiever in high school, head of every club and editor for the yearbook. She considered sports a waste of time. "We also watched the crowning of the Spring Fair Queen. And the highlight of that moment came when Queen Melinda announced to the crowd that she is engaged to Sutton Wright. His family owns an—"

  "An electric company," Lana finished. "They're the biggest in the area."

  Cherise was picking at the crust on her roll as she clucked her tongue, hoping to get our attention.

  Raine looked at her. "What's up? Do you know something about the engagement?"

  Cherise shrugged her gold covered shoulders. "Let's just say, I don't think that engagement will last." We waited for a few more details, but she was sticking to her 'let's just say' plan.

  "Do you know the Wrights?" I asked, recalling the two women in the pink t-shirts nearly plowing into me in their hurry to get to Madame Cherise's tent.

  "Me?" she said, with some surprise. "I don't know them. It's just something I heard." She waved her long blue nails to end the conversation. "Well, it's been wonderful talking to all of you, but I need to ride back to the carnival. It's getting late. Thank you for having me," she said to Lana. "And coat that stomach lining." She turned to me. "Maybe you have time this week to give me a quick tour of your old house. I'd love to make a few contacts with the Cider Ridge spirits."

  "Spirit," Raine said sharply. It seemed Cherise had finally stepped on a nerve. Raine considered the Cider Ridge ghost her own personal haunting. "It's one spirit, a male, Edward Beckett, who died in a duel over his true love."

  I snickered once, but stifled it quickly. I'd learned long ago that the romanticized version of the duel for Bonnie had been embellished through the years. After hearing Edward's versio
n of the story, it was more of a pride thing. In those days, when one was challenged to a duel, a man had no choice but to accept. Otherwise, he'd be branded a coward. Edward had been a scoundrel, of that I was certain, but, apparently, he was no coward.

  Raine walked Cherise to the front door.

  "Lana, go to bed. Raine and I will get these party favor bags filled. Then you'll have one less thing to worry about."

  Lana agreed reluctantly with a weak head nod. "I think I will go to bed, if you two can handle it."

  I quirked a brow at her. "One item of each in a bag? I think we can manage not to screw it up."

  "You're right. Sorry, not myself. As you can tell." Lana picked up her plate with her left hand. "I guess I'll wrap this sandwich for tomorrow."

  I got up and took the plate from her. "Believe it or not, my college degree actually qualifies me for sandwich wrapping, as well. Now, off with you. Do you need help getting dressed or brushing teeth?"

  "I can manage." She shuffled toward the stairs. I'd never, ever seen my sister Lana shuffle. She was definitely out of it.

  "Maybe I should stay the night," I called to her.

  "Nope, I'll be fine. Just lock up when you leave."

  Raine returned to the kitchen. "Did Lana go to bed?" We sat down at the work table, behind the mounds of teenage treats.

  "Yes, I insisted, and she put up no argument. Do you think she'll be all right here alone tonight?" I asked.

  "I think she'll probably just sleep through the night. Besides, you're not far away if she needs you. I could stay, but I've got an eight o-clock Tarot card reading."

  "No, you're right. I'm close by if she needs me." I sighed at the monotonous task in front of us. "How about you fill the bag up to the henna tattoo stickers, and I'll take it from the Hello Kitty key chains."

  "Sounds like a plan." Raine picked up the first cellophane bag. 'Carli's Sweet Sixteen' was printed in lavender across the plastic. "That Cherise is such a character. And whatever you do, don't give her a tour of the inn. She'll probably just make up some story about talking to a ghost just for publicity."