by Peg Kehret
I’ll fool them, Corey thought. They think I’ll just sit here in this boat and wait for the ride to start again. They think I’m a scaredy-cat baby who’s afraid to do anything but wait. Well, I’m not! I’ll get out and walk back through the Tunnel of Terror and climb out of The River of Fear ride and run past the man, down the steps, and call the police and tell them everything. They’ll catch the thief and the ride operator and put them both in jail.
Corey put one hand over the side of the boat, easing his arm into the water. He leaned over, feeling for the bottom. It was concrete, and covered with algae but, as he had hoped, the water was only about eighteen inches deep. He could easily stand up in it.
Corey swung his legs over the side and stood up. The fake seaweed slapped at his cheeks. Water filled his shoes. Holding onto the side of the boat with one hand, he brushed at the seaweed with the other.
Since he wasn’t sure how long the Tunnel of Terror was, he decided to walk back the way he had come. Gingerly, he took a step, holding one hand in front of him to feel what might be there. Corey’s shoe slipped on the algae and as he tried to regain his balance, his foot splashed water, soaking his shirt. It was not going to be easy to walk.
He slid his feet forward, as if he were skiing, keeping one hand on the boat and one hand outstretched in front of his face. The tunnel was narrow, with barely enough room for him to move.
Slide, slide, slide. Three more steps. He passed the back of the boat and groped for the next boat in the line. Slide, slide. His left hand found a boat just as his right hand felt wet fur. Corey jerked his right hand back and then made himself reach out again. It must be the fake wolf. Corey inched closer, moving his hand across the wolf’s body.
The animal blocked his way. He would have to climb over it, in order to continue, or else get in the boat beside him, crawl past the wolf, and then get back in the water. Corey put both hands on the wolf’s huge back, and tried to pull himself up but his wet hands slipped on the fur and he couldn’t get a good grip.
As he started to climb into the boat, the ride started up again.
The dim lights came on. Shrieks and screams filled the air. The wolf growled and lunged.
The boat zoomed forward, knocking Corey off balance. The wolf thrust its open jaws toward Corey, and Corey grabbed for the beast, to steady himself. His feet slid out from under him on the slippery wet floor and he fell backward, knocking his head against the side of the boat.
The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was the wolf’s jaws snapping closer and closer. Corey instinctively put an arm up, to protect his face. Then he closed his eyes and slithered downward toward the cold, black water.
MR. AND Mrs. Streater returned to the fair office. The head of the security department told them an urgent message had been sent to all the security guards. One of them said he had talked to a small boy with a Batman bandage on his face when he responded to a report of a purse theft. According to his records, that had been at one P.M.
None of the guards had noticed Corey since then.
“It has been hectic all day,” the woman in the office said. “We’ve had more thefts reported at the fair today than in all of the previous years combined. Today has been terrible! The security guards have been so busy that we called in extra help from the volunteer fire fighters.”
“Something has happened to him,” Mrs. Streater said. “I just know it.”
“It’s time to call the police,” Mr. Streater said. “For all we know, Corey isn’t on the fairgrounds any longer. He may have been kidnapped.”
AS ELLEN and The Great Sybil hurried toward the first-aid office, Ellen kept pondering the latest message. The sign is untrue. It sounded as if there had been only one sign, but she had thought there were several signs from Grandpa. Why didn’t the message say, The signs are untrue.
Ellen stopped walking. “Sybil,” she said, “what if that message meant a real sign? What if it meant an ordinary sign, with lettering, instead of a signal?”
“That’s possible.” The Great Sybil waved a hand in an arc, pointing at the booths and displays. “There are signs all around us.”
“I wonder about the CLOSED sign,” Ellen said slowly, “on The River of Fear. I keep thinking of that ride because of the word tunnel in the message. I just feel it’s important.”
“You should trust your feelings,” The Great Sybil said.
“I’m going to go back there and talk to the man who operates the ride,” Ellen said. “Maybe he knows something about Corey.”
The Great Sybil nodded. “I’ll inquire at the first-aid office,” she said, “and then I’ll return and meet you at The River of Fear.”
Ellen turned and ran. The message mentioned a sign and a tunnel. The River of Fear ride had both. Maybe the ride had broken, as The Great Sybil thought, but instead of getting hurt, Corey was trapped inside. That would explain the part about darkness and not being able to see.
She knew that by now her parents were probably waiting for her at the merry-go-round, but it was important to talk to the man who ran The River of Fear ride as quickly as possible. He might not realize Corey was trapped. Probably all Ellen needed to do was tell the man her suspicions and he would help her find Corey. Mom and Dad would forgive her for taking so long when they learned that she had rescued her brother.
Ellen reached the CLOSED sign, stepped over the rope, and started up the wooden steps of The River of Fear. The lights on the ride blinked brightly and the spiel again boomed its message across the fairgrounds. The ride must be working again, although there were no other people on the steps. Ellen thought it was odd that the operator of the ride had forgotten to remove the CLOSED sign.
Above her on the platform, she saw the man who ran the ride. Hoping that he would be able to help her find Corey, Ellen climbed faster.
When she was almost to the top, the man saw her coming. “Go back down,” he yelled. “This ride is closed.”
Ellen continued to climb the steps.
The man met her at the top step. “Can’t you read?” he said. “The ride is closed.” He kept looking over his shoulder at the ride, as if expecting something to happen.
“I have to talk to you,” Ellen said, “about my brother. I think he was on your ride when it broke down. I think he might still be in one of the boats.”
The man’s expression changed. Instead of looking annoyed at Ellen for ignoring his sign, he now appeared angry.
“Get out of here!” he yelled. “There wasn’t any little kid on this ride.”
He seemed furious with her. Ellen turned and started back down the steps. She had gone only two steps when she realized what the man had said. How did he know that her brother was a little kid? Ellen’s brother might be a teenager or even an adult. Ellen had not mentioned Corey’s age, yet the man instantly claimed there was no little kid on the ride.
Corey is, or was, on that ride, Ellen thought. Something happened to him, and the man knows it.
She went back to the top of the platform.
“My brother was on the ride when it broke,” she said, “and I need to find him. Now.”
The man turned and pulled a large lever. The River of Fear ride stopped. The sudden silence seemed ominous after the noise and lights.
“I told you to get off this platform,” the man said. “If you don’t leave right now, I will have you arrested for trespassing on private property.”
“Where is Corey?”
“I already told you, I don’t know anything about any little kid. When the ride broke, there were no people on it. Nobody. I realized in advance that there was a mechanical problem and I got everyone off safely.”
“Corey’s small. Maybe you missed him.” Ellen peered around the man. The ride had stopped with one of the boats partially out of the opening through which they came at the end of the ride. “Maybe he’s still in one of the boats. Why don’t you start the ride again and let all of the boats come out?”
“No.”
Ellen glared at the man. “Why not?” she demanded.
“I don’t need to explain anything to you, girlie,” he said, “but if you must know, I’m fixing a switch that isn’t working right. It’s probably going to take me the rest of the night so if you want to look in any of these boats, I suggest you come back tomorrow.”
URGENT. The word flashed into Ellen’s mind again. Urgent meant right now, not tomorrow. She wasn’t sure what the man was trying to hide from her but she knew instinctively that he was not telling her the truth. She couldn’t leave; not until she found Corey.
She lunged past the man and pushed the lever back up, starting The River of Fear ride again. If he wouldn’t let the boats come out, she would do it herself.
The man grasped her shoulders, pulling her away from the control box. Ellen struggled briefly but quickly realized he was too strong for her. She quit fighting and said, “All right. I’ll go. But I’ll be back with my parents, and the police.”
A look of fear flashed across the man’s face and his fingers dug into her arms. “You should have left when I told you,” he said. “Now you’ll have to leave the hard way.”
He shoved Ellen toward the side of the platform.
“Help!”
Ellen shouted as loudly as she could but with the spiel booming, she knew her voice would not be heard by anyone in the midway far below.
CHAPTER
12
THE Great Sybil was nearly to the first-aid office when she heard the voice inside her mind. “Help,” it said. “Ellen needs help.”
The Great Sybil stopped, feeling the gooseflesh rise on her arms, just as it used to do when she received her messages.
It had been so long, so terribly long, since she’d had a genuine message, that she was almost afraid to believe it was true.
Yet, she recognized the feeling instantly—the intuitive certain knowledge that what she was experiencing was a message from the spirits. The sensation was never there when she pretended to communicate. For all the years that she had postured and faked and bluffed, she had never once had this feeling of truth.
A thrill of gratitude ran through The Great Sybil. Her talent was back. She turned around immediately and raced toward The River of Fear.
THE MAN pushed Ellen again, until her back was tight against the railing that surrounded the platform. Holding her arms against the railing, he kicked at her ankles, trying to knock her feet out from under her.
Ellen bent her head sideways and bit the man on the wrist, sinking her teeth in as far as she could. He gave a surprised cry of pain but did not let go of her.
As he kicked again at her ankles, Ellen raised her leg and aimed her knee at the man’s groin.
He was too fast for her. He swore and jumped back, so that her knee barely touched his thigh. In doing so, he let go of Ellen’s arms. She dodged his outstretched hand long enough to look at the line of boats which had now emerged at the end of the ride. They were empty.
The man’s eyes followed her gaze and then, instead of grabbing for Ellen again, he stood and stared at the empty boats. Looking surprised, he pushed the lever to Off. This time, Ellen didn’t try to stop him. She could see into all of the boats; Corey was not there.
“Are you satisfied now?” the man said. “I told you your brother was not on this ride. Now you can see for yourself. All the boats are here and there’s no kid in any of them.” He sounded relieved.
Ellen backed away from him, toward the steps. “You tried to kill me,” she whispered.
“What?” The man laughed, as if that was the most outrageous statement ever made. “All I did was try to keep you from pulling the lever that operates the ride when I was still working on the switch. You could have been electrocuted.”
Ellen watched him warily, fearful that he would grab her again but the man acted as if their struggle had never happened. “You tried to push me over the side,” she said.
“Your imagination is working overtime, girlie,” he replied. “First you claim your brother is trapped on my ride and then you think I’m trying to kill you. You’d better quit watching so much TV and get yourself a real life.”
Ellen glared at him. It was not, she knew, her imagination. The man had tried to push her over the edge of the platform, though she had no proof, no witnesses. The question was, why? Corey was not in one of the boats, as she had thought. The man apparently had nothing to hide, so it did not make sense for him to try to get rid of her.
Unless, she thought, he was just as surprised as Ellen when the boats were empty. Maybe he wanted Ellen gone because he didn’t want her to be there when Corey came riding out in one of the boats. When Corey didn’t come, the man no longer cared if Ellen saw the boats emerge.
The possibilities swished around in Ellen’s mind like clothes in a washing machine but it was hard to think logically when she stood within six feet of someone who had just tried to kill her.
The man’s change of attitude when he saw the empty boats could mean only one thing: he, too, had expected Corey to be in one of them. Since he wasn’t, it meant Corey was still inside the ride.
Go into the darkness, the message said. The smaller one sees not.
Ellen said, “I want to go in the Tunnel of Terror.”
“Sorry. The ride is closed until tomorrow.”
“I don’t want to go on the ride. I want to walk inside the tunnel. There must be a way to get in there, to fix anything that breaks.”
“You don’t give up easy, do you, girlie?”
Ellen backed away from him. She didn’t want to make him angry again. Despite his denials, Ellen knew he had tried to push her off the platform. It wouldn’t help Corey to have Ellen crumpled in a heap at the bottom of the platform while this creep pretended it was an accident.
“I’m going,” Ellen said. Without waiting for a response, she turned and began to run down the wooden steps. She had gone less than halfway down when she saw The Great Sybil step over the CLOSED sign and start up the steps toward Ellen.
“Are you all right?” Sybil called.
Two against one, thought Ellen. With Sybil to help me, I’ll get inside the tunnel.
“No! Corey’s somewhere in the tunnel and the man on the platform tried to push me off.”
Sybil stopped climbing as she listened.
“Hurry!” Ellen cried.
Ellen went back up the steps two at a time, with The Great Sybil on her heels. When they reached the top, they stopped. Ellen looked around, astonished.
The platform was empty.
“He must have gone in the tunnel himself,” Ellen said. “He’s gone after Corey.” Quickly, Ellen told her what had happened.
“I have not trusted Tucker Garrenger from the first day I met him,” The Great Sybil said. “When I look at Tucker, I see a black aura and I always sense feelings of guilt.”
“We need to go in the tunnel after him,” Ellen said. “He tried to push me off the platform; he might try to kill Corey, too.”
“We must get help,” The Great Sybil said. “This is not a task for us; we need the police. Hurry.” She rushed back down the steps.
Ellen hesitated, knowing it would be sensible to follow The Great Sybil and then return with police or guards. But how long would that take? Five minutes? Ten? Too long. She couldn’t leave Corey at the mercy of the evil Tucker all that time. She would go after Corey herself.
OPPOSITE the platform, on the far side of the boats, a maintenance door led to a set of stairs on the back side of the ride. The painted face of the door was part of the huge picture of monsters that served as a sign for the ride.
Tucker stood behind the maintenance door, with the door slightly ajar. The girl was talking to The Great Sybil. Tucker frowned. How was the fortune-teller involved in this? Was she the girl’s friend?
The idea of someone being able to see into the future or talk with spirits gave Tucker the creeps. Now, as he saw Sybil hurry away while the girl stayed on the platform, those psychic abil
ities alarmed him.
What if the girl had told The Great Sybil how Tucker tried to push her off the platform? For all he knew, Sybil could see into the past, as well as the future. She was probably on her way to get the cops; maybe she would tell them that Tucker was wanted in Oklahoma.
He knew the girl was going to go inside the ride to find her brother and by the time she came out with him, Sybil would be back here with the cops.
I can’t stay at the fair, Tucker realized. The girl will accuse me of trying to push her off the platform and the boy will say Mitch and I threw him in the boat and I’ll never be able to explain my way out of it. They’ll run an ID check and I’ll be slapped in jail. I’ll have to leave with Mitch and Joan. They can drive me to Portland and I’ll find another job there.
Tucker ran down the steps on the back side of The River of Fear and headed toward the parking lot. He hated to leave without collecting his pay from the fair but he’d have his share of the profits from Joan and Mitch. That would be enough to get him by for a few days.
Tucker ran up and down the rows of cars in the parking lot, his panic increasing until he spotted the Mercedes. The motor was running; Mitch was waiting for a chance to pull into the line of cars leaving the fairgrounds.
Tucker ran to the car and pounded on the door. “I’m going with you,” he said. “We have to get out of here, fast.”
“What happened?” Mitch said, as he reached behind him and unlocked the back door.
“The kid’s big sister showed up and now she’s gone off with a fortune-teller to tell the cops about us.”
“Big sister?” Mitch said. “Fortune-teller?”
Tucker got in next to Alan and told them what had happened.
