Miss Fortune

by Brandi Dougherty

  “Okay, let’s go get this over with.” Mia said. “We can figure out the rest of the plan on the bus.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  Zoe’s dad gave them a confused look when he saw Mia.

  “Mia has to play the role of a boy in the scene we’re shooting at the carnival,” Zoe explained. “Do you think she passes for a boy?”

  “I guess so.” Zoe’s dad laughed. “You’re one dedicated actor, Mia.”

  “Tell me about it,” Mia mumbled.

  Zoe’s dad went over his safety speech one more time before Zoe and Mia jumped on Bus 106 to Vancouver.

  They settled into seats at the back of the bus and devised the rest of their plan. Zoe even had brought a notebook so they could sketch things out.

  It really was like they were planning a scene for a movie.

  “Once we get close to the fairgrounds, we’ll separate so no one even sees us together,” Zoe started. “Then whoever finds Serafina’s tent first will text the other one.”

  “Okay,” Mia responded. “So, once we know where her tent is, how am I going to distract her?”

  “What if you just keep walking back and forth outside her tent calling someone’s name?” Zoe suggested. “Like you can’t find your friend or something?”

  “And then what?”

  “Hopefully, she’ll come out of the tent and ask you what you’re doing. You could say that you can’t find your friend and don’t know how to get back to the ride where you were supposed to meet. Then say the name of the ride that’s farthest away from her tent. Maybe you can even get her to lead you to it.”

  “Hmmmm.” Mia considered the plan. “I guess that might work.”

  The girls looked out the window as they crossed the river.

  Zoe quickly turned back to Mia and focused on her face, trying to ignore the fact that their bus was over the water now.

  “But what if she won’t show me where to go?” Mia asked.

  Zoe was silent for a few minutes. This has to work, she thought frantically. Then suddenly it came to her.

  “Can you fake cry?” Zoe asked.

  Mia took a deep breath. “I can try.”

  “I think that might help. And maybe if you tell her you can’t find your mom instead of your friend that will make it more believable — especially since you look pretty young with that hat on.”

  “Okay, so I act upset and start crying outside the tent and hopefully she comes out,” Mia started to recap. “When she does, I tell her that I was supposed to meet my mom near whatever ride is farthest away, except that I got lost. And then I’ll just play up that my mom will be upset that I wandered off by myself. Maybe that will make her feel obligated to lead me to the ride.”

  “Perfect,” Zoe said just as the bus pulled into the terminal. Zoe took the printed Google map out of her tote bag and studied it as they left the bus. They set off in the direction of the fairgrounds — luckily, it was within walking distance.

  “Call your dad,” Mia instructed Zoe.

  “Oh yeah,” Zoe said. She was so focused on their plan and so nervous about sneaking into Serafina’s tent that she had already forgotten her dad’s instructions. She could feel her pulse accelerating, and they hadn’t even reached the carnival yet.

  Zoe and Mia held their breath as they neared the fairgrounds. All their planning wouldn’t matter if the carnival wasn’t even there. Mia grabbed Zoe’s arm and pointed at the sky. They could just see the top of the Kamikaze above the building in front of them. Zoe squealed and jumped around, totally relieved. Maybe her luck really was about to change!

  They decided to part ways a block before the carnival entrance. Mia went around toward the right-hand side to try to find a separate entrance while Zoe walked toward the main gate. She passed by the ticket window and entered the carnival. Luckily, she didn’t have to pay an entrance fee just to walk around. Zoe put on the baseball cap she had also brought in case Serafina happened to be out of her tent and recognized her. She kept her eyes shaded and didn’t make eye contact with anyone as she searched for the tent.

  Zoe walked the rows of the carnival for about five or ten minutes when her cell phone buzzed that she had a text message. It was Mia. Fnd it! Near rt side entrce.

  Zoe started walking toward the far right entrance to the grounds and then ducked behind a row of porta-potties to call Mia.

  “So, could you tell if she was inside?” Zoe asked when Mia answered.

  “Yes! I actually saw her walk in and she was alone. It looked like she was coming back from filling a jug of water or something. And I figured out which ride is farthest away from here, so I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” Mia said all in a nervous rush.

  “Great! I’ll head over there,” Zoe said. “As soon as I find the tent and somewhere to hide so I can see whether or not she goes with you, I’ll text you.”

  “Okay.”

  “Hey, Mia?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’re the best BFF ever.”

  “And don’t you forget it!”

  Zoe hurried toward the edge of the carnival and scanned quickly for the tent. They had to work fast to make it back in time for their bus. If they missed it, Zoe had a feeling her dad would not be so accommodating regarding the rest of her summer plans. Finally, she spotted the tent. Just seeing it brought the night of the carnival flooding back to her mind. She could smell the heavy perfume of the candles, and she could see the woman’s translucent eyes staring right through her as she delivered the curse. Zoe shivered with dread. She couldn’t wait until this was all over.

  Zoe scurried to the back side of the tent and looked around for somewhere to hide. There was a flat trailer parked about a hundred feet away from the tent with several cars from one of the rides resting on the back of it. Zoe made sure no one was looking and then ran over and climbed into one of the cars. She could easily see the front of the tent but stay hidden in the car at the same time. She crouched down and texted Mia. Ready.

  A minute later, Mia appeared in front of the tent. She paced back and forth a few times and made a loud sniffling sound. Then she blew her nose and made a little squeaking noise. Zoe was impressed by how real it seemed. Just then the flap of Serafina’s tent opened a few inches. Zoe felt sick. She swore she could feel the heat from the absent necklace on her chest.

  Serafina stepped out of the tent and walked slowly toward Mia with her arm out. Zoe smiled. It looked like she might actually buy Mia’s act. Zoe could see the woman’s dark eyebrows and catlike eyes as she talked to Mia. Mia kept her head down and stared at the ground whenever she answered Serafina’s questions. Zoe couldn’t hear what they were saying, but Serafina put her hand on Mia’s shoulder. It’s working! Zoe thought. Now she needed to be ready the minute they walked away.

  Mia pointed vaguely toward the other side of the carnival, and Serafina looked in that direction. Then she looked back toward her tent and it seemed like she was changing her mind. Mia sensed her hesitation and quickly put her head in her hands and acted like she was crying again. Zoe could swear she really was.

  Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Serafina made a move toward the other side of the grounds with Mia, but then she stopped.

  “No!” Zoe whispered.

  Serafina turned and walked back toward her tent. Mia looked around, trying to see if she could spot Zoe. Zoe ducked down. She didn’t want Mia to see her — Serafina might catch a glimpse of her wandering gaze and get suspicious.

  After a few moments, Zoe peeked out and saw that Serafina had just gone back to close the front of her tent. She really was going to walk with Mia toward the other side of the carnival! Zoe was so relieved she thought she might cry. She almost couldn’t believe that their plan might actually work. Zoe waited until they turned around the edge of a trailer parked farther down the row. Then she shot out of the car and across the open lot. She looked quickly in both directions and ducked into the tent. Her heart was pounding so hard the pressure pulsed against her eardrums.


  She looked frantically around the small space. “Okay, snake venom and Serafina’s hair,” Zoe reminded herself. “Find the snake head first.” She scanned the cot and the table next to it where the snake head had been. She didn’t see it anywhere. She dropped down on her knees and started to crawl across the floor of the tent, covering every inch. There was a worn leather bag shoved under the cot, and Zoe struggled to pull it out. There were mostly clothes inside, but Zoe dug crazily through the bag looking for anything else. She felt something hard against her hand and found an interior zipper pocket in the bag. There was a small toiletry bag inside. She opened the bag and found a hairbrush! She made an “ew” face and then grabbed the brush and pulled out all the hair she could see and put it in the plastic bag she had waiting in her tote bag.

  “One down,” she whispered quietly to herself. Her heart was beating so loudly Zoe could barely hear her own thoughts.

  Next, Zoe shuffled on her knees back toward the table in the center of the room. She could only see candles and tarot cards there. She inched around the edge of the table, desperately searching the ground. Just then she heard talking outside the tent. It sounded pretty far away, but it was getting closer.

  Zoe felt like she was going to pass out. If Serafina found her in the tent, what would she do? She was already cursed — could she make the curse even worse than it was? Zoe strained to hear the voices, but couldn’t make them out. She lunged toward the side of the tent and sifted through another small bag — it was just full of more candles. But then Zoe remembered the spell called for candle wax, too. She shoved one of the candles in her tote bag.

  She spun around in a panic. There weren’t many more places she could look in the small space. She was about to give up and run out of the tent when something caught her eye. In the far corner, behind a jug of water, was a small wooden box. She grabbed for the box and pried the lid off. The snake head was nestled gently inside on the same bed of red satin Zoe had seen before. A small vial of liquid was positioned perfectly between its outstretched jaws. This had to be the snake venom. If it wasn’t — well, Zoe didn’t want to think about the alternative. Zoe reached into the snake’s mouth with two fingers and made another “ew” face. She cautiously removed the vial as if the snake might clamp down on her fingers any second. She carefully put the vial in her shorts pocket and turned toward the entrance to the tent. Then she heard the voices again. They were right outside the tent!

  “… just a child who’d lost his mother.”

  It was Serafina!

  “I have a bad feeling about this place, Frank,” Serafina continued.

  “You said that about Portland, too,” a male voice responded.

  “Something isn’t right here,” Serafina spoke again. “The energy is bad. We need to head back east and get away from this area.”

  So Serafina really had been responsible for the carnival leaving Portland early! She must be trying to get away from the curse as quickly as she can, Zoe thought.

  “We can’t skip out on every town in the northwest just because you have a bad feeling, Sera,” the guy, Frank, spoke sternly. “Besides, the boss was angry enough about losing a night in Portland. He’s beginning to think your premonition was fake.”

  Zoe spun toward the back of the tent and looked desperately for somewhere to hide. There was no way she was going to let Serafina find her there. She was about to dive under the cot when a shadow of light on the ground caught her attention. She realized there was a small slit in the back of the canvas that had been opened farther. She moved closer and could see Mia’s hand poke through the opening. She was frantically motioning for Zoe to squeeze through.

  “It was not fake, Frank,” Serafina hissed. “There’s danger here!”

  “Well, I guess we’ll talk to the boss about it in the morning.” Frank sighed.

  “All right, fine,” Zoe heard Serafina say. “Good night, Frank.” The front of the tent rustled.

  Zoe held her breath and flew toward the back of the tent. She practically somersaulted through the space Mia had made. She heard the canvas rip a bit more around her. She was shaking so much she could hardly stand up, but Mia grabbed her arm and led her toward the side of another trailer that was parked behind the tent. The girls hid there for a minute and waited, trying to catch their breath.

  Zoe couldn’t believe she had actually done it. She’d found the ingredients they needed and got out without Serafina catching her. And yet she couldn’t escape the feeling that something horrible could still happen. They just needed to get back to her house and do the spell. She wouldn’t feel safe until they did.

  Mia peeked out from their hiding place and tried to listen or watch for any movement from Serafina’s tent or the area around it. After another torturous minute, she finally motioned for Zoe to follow her. Mia pointed silently in the direction she thought they should go — sticking to the back of a row of trailers until they could dart out of the side entrance of the fairgrounds. Zoe swallowed hard and nodded that she would follow Mia. Please, please, please, Zoe silently pleaded, don’t let anyone see us.

  Mia got to her feet, glanced one last time toward the tent, and then bolted down the row of trailers. Zoe didn’t even look in the direction of the tent — she just focused on Mia and ran as fast as she could toward the exit in front of them.

  The girls didn’t stop running until they reached the bus station. Still trying to catch her breath, Zoe scanned the bus departure screen to locate Bus 219 to Portland. Then she and Mia sprinted to the gate. They reached the bus just as the door was closing. Zoe pounded on the glass and the annoyed driver reluctantly opened the door for them to climb inside.

  Mia stumbled to the very back of the bus and collapsed into the window seat. Zoe followed behind and practically dissolved into the seat next to her. Zoe was so relieved to be away from Serafina and the carnival, but a new fear was creeping into her thoughts.

  “What if the spell doesn’t work?” she said. She couldn’t keep this new worry to herself.

  “It has to,” Mia croaked. Zoe could hear the exhaustion in her voice.

  Zoe exhaled and closed her eyes. It has to, she thought.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Zoe’s dad was waiting when the bus pulled up at 6:31. They had almost forty minutes before the spell needed to be performed. I hope we have enough time to get ready, Zoe thought. She didn’t think she could make it through another day under the curse, so they had to do the spell tonight.

  Zoe talked quickly and quietly as they walked to her dad’s truck. “So, we have the venom, the feathers, the hair, and the candle wax.”

  Mia looked confused.

  “I took one of Serafina’s candles, too. I thought it would help to have as many of her things as possible.”

  “Good thinking.”

  “We just need some dirt and some water.”

  “And one of your tears.”

  “What?”

  “That’s one of the ingredients on the list. A teardrop from the person who’s cursed,” Mia reminded her.

  “Oh yeah, right,” Zoe replied. “I guess we’ll have to figure that out.”

  “How did the scene shoot go?” Zoe’s dad asked when they climbed in the truck.

  “Good,” they both answered exhaustedly.

  “How was your part as the male lead, Mia?”

  “Um … fine, I guess,” Mia said, stealing a glance at Zoe.

  “She’s being modest, Dad,” Zoe added. “She was amazing! It was totally an Oscar-worthy performance.”

  “Glad to hear it,” Zoe’s dad said, stifling a laugh.

  When they reached her house, Zoe checked the time on her phone. 6:48. They only had twenty minutes before they had to perform the spell.

  “Thanks again, Dad!” Zoe called as she leaped from the truck and ran into the house.

  “Yeah, thanks!” Mia echoed.

  They flew up to Zoe’s room and laid out the ingredients on the rug. Then Zoe consulted Mack’s list.<
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  “Okay, you go out to the backyard and get the dirt and I’ll get the water from the kitchen,” Zoe instructed Mia.

  “But I thought the water had to be from ‘in nature’ or something weird like that. I don’t think we can use water from the tap,” Mia argued.

  Zoe sat back on her heels. “Good point. Hey, there’s that little fountain my dad made out of rocks in the backyard. That’s ‘in nature,’ right?”

  “True,” Mia nodded. “Let’s try it!”

  “Okay, so you get the dirt and water from the backyard and I’ll get the other stuff.”

  Mia jumped up and ran out. Zoe quickly followed. She needed to get a bowl, a book of matches, a cup to collect her tears, and a hammer from the garage. Then she had to figure out how to make herself cry.

  “What’s going on now?” Zoe’s dad looked up from the baseball game on TV.

  “We’re just working on some final things we need to film, Dad,” Zoe tried to use her innocent voice again. “No big deal.”

  Zoe’s dad sighed. “Well, try not to break anything. You seem to be a little accident-prone lately.”

  “Um, yeah, okay,” Zoe replied, but she noticed that her dad’s eyes were back on the baseball game. Perfect!

  Mia came in from the backyard holding a bag of dirt and a cup of water, and the girls ran back to Zoe’s room. Zoe took the key out from under her pillow and faced the desk. She prayed silently that the necklace was still there as she unlocked the drawer and took out the pencil case. With shaky hands she opened the case and stared down at the menacing pendant. She could see the red glow intensify as soon as she opened the case. She walked back to the rug where Mia was waiting and added the necklace to the rest of the ingredients. It was 6:59.

  “So, I think we have everything except your tears, right?” Mia asked.

  “Yeah. I haven’t exactly figured that part out yet,” Zoe said.

  “Just think about everything that has happened,” Mia suggested. “That should be enough to make you cry.”