Fast Slide

by Melanie Jackson

  The lynx face dropped away. I unlocked the window, pushed it wide and looked around.

  I saw a flash of green and beige around a twist of the tube. Our trickster was climbing to the top of the Boa.

  The figure was the right height and build to be Judd. I looked to top of the Boa. When on duty, Judd was supposed to be on his platform at all times.

  He wasn’t now.

  Back in the control room, Brad was waiting for me. He managed a smile, sort of. “Sorry you had to be part of that, Clay. This is just another practical joke. They have been happening since the park opened. One time someone left glue on my chair. I’ve had my lunch stolen from the office fridge. Whoever it was left stones in my lunch bag instead.”

  What Brad had just described was bullying. And bullies preyed on people who scared easily.

  “Judd’s your practical joker,” I said. I remembered how upset Aggie had looked when she was with Judd on the launch platform. “And Judd is Aggie’s lynx. Maybe he’s been bullying her too.”

  It was an effort to keep my voice calm, not to upset Brad. I didn’t feel calm. I felt like marching up to the top of the ride and shoving that mask down Judd’s throat.

  Mr. Costello relieved me for my half-hour lunch break. Usually the owner’s face brightened when saw me. This time he just looked worried. “What’s this I hear about you having a violent argument with Aggie Wentworth? I’m told you knocked her to the ground.”

  “I wasn’t violent, Mr. C.,” I said. “I pushed Aggie away because she was clinging to my arm. She wouldn’t let go.”

  “Well, now Aggie’s walked out. She didn’t even say anything. She just left.”

  I stared at him. I wondered if Aggie had bolted Safari Splash because of Judd. What had he said to her?

  Mr. Costello gave me a tired grin. “I take it Aggie has a crush on you, Clay. No surprise there.” He ruffled my hair. “My Janice thinks you’re something too.”

  Janice was his daughter, Brad’s twin sister. I hadn’t seen Janice for almost a year. I bet she wouldn’t be too pleased with her dad for telling me this. I grinned, embarrassed.

  Mr. Costello shrugged. “Well, if Aggie can’t take rejection, too bad. But go easy on the temper, Clay.”

  I shook my head. “It’s not my temper Aggie’s scared of. It’s the lynx, aka—”

  Judd, I was going to say, but Mr. Costello interrupted. “Aggie’s afraid of the Lynx waterslide?” he scoffed. “If anything, we should ramp it up. We’ve only got one scary ride, and that’s what people are coming for.”

  Through the Boa’s mouth echoed half-panicked, half-laughing yells. Mr. Costello beamed. “Those screams are my ka-chings!”

  Usually on my break I headed over to Safari Sizzle, the water park’s outdoor restaurant. Under one of the plastic palm trees, I’d guzzle an iced coffee. The stronger the caffeine hit, the better, since my job was so dull.

  Today I didn’t need the caffeine hit. I was already buzzed. I wanted to confront Judd. “Excuse me,” I said, edging past the crowd on the Boa stairs.

  Giggles from a bunch of girls. Preteen girls—the worst kind.

  They pretended to swoon. “Oooooo, hi. Bump against us anytime.”

  “Only if I’m armed with a can of Raid,” I retorted.

  At the top of the stairs, the next people in line for a raft waited behind a line painted like a—you guessed it— boa constrictor. On either side of the painted line were two metal posts. I stretched the chain from one post and fastened it to a hook on the other.

  Ignoring the protests that erupted, I shouted at Judd, “We need to talk. Now.”

  Till now, Judd and I had gotten along well enough. Now he was scowling. “Beat it, Gibson.”

  Grabbing his arm, I tried to pull Judd behind the bamboo screen into the storage area. “What’s the idea?”Judd asked as he wrenched his arm free.

  “I want a word,” I said. “In private.”

  Judd crossed his arms. He wasn’t going to budge.

  People in line were gaping at us. “If you want to make this public, fine,” I snapped. I placed a palm on Judd’s chest and shoved him against the wall. “Listen and learn. Only losers hide behind masks.”

  “Dunno what you’re talking about.”

  He was lying. I could tell by the way his small, dark eyes skittered from side to side.

  “What did you say to Aggie?” I demanded. “After you gave the poor kid the full force of your charm, she walked out.”

  “Oh, I get it. Our resident champion blunders in to save the day,” jeered Judd. “You should stick to blowing bubbles, Gibson.”

  All this time, his dark eyes kept skittering.

  I twisted his shirt and shoved him harder against the wall. “What’s with the lynx routine? What did you say to Aggie?”

  “Do we get our ride or not?” someone called.

  An older guy ducked under the chain. “C’mon, boys, break this up.”

  I had to let Judd go. Able to relax now, he smirked at me. In a low voice, he taunted, “Lemme tell you about lynxes. They’re in control at all times. And they toy with their prey before destroying it. Just like I’m toying with you.”

  In my opinion, Judd needed a sock to the jaw—but the Boa-goers wanted their ride. I stomped down the stairs. High-pitched giggles greeted me. “Hi, Clay,” cooed one of the girls. “Will you rescue me if I fall in the landing pool?”

  “Unlikely,” I snapped, brushing past. I was bracing myself to meet Mr. Costello. He had to have noticed the delay with the raft. He must have seen me arguing with Judd, right after he’d asked me to cool my temper.

  But when I reached the lower platform, Mr. Costello wasn’t there. In his place was a tall girl with long reddish brown hair and green eyes. “Hi, Clay.”

  It took me a moment to recognize her. “Janice?” I asked. The last time I’d seen Brad’s sister, she’d been knobby-kneed and skinny, her teeth a silver sheen of braces.

  “Dad was called to the souvenir shop. He asked me to stand in.”

  I realized I was staring. We were in a water park full of fake palms and fake grass roofs, and the most beautiful natural green was in this girl’s eyes.

  WHISH! The next raft spun out of Boa’s mouth, landing with a sideways splash that tossed a blanket of water right over me. Janice, who’d stepped back, laughed.

  “Smooth one, Clay.”

  “C’mon,” I objected, shaking my arms free of water. “I was distracted.”

  “Yeah? By what?”

  “By you,” I said and grinned at her.

  But Janice didn’t hear. Her smile had faded. She was looking past me in concern.

  Mr. Costello was running toward us. His face was gray, like he’d aged forty years.

  Charging up the platform steps, the water park owner panted, “Clay. When Aggie left, did she tell you where she was going? Or why?”

  I shook my head. Mr. Costello leaned against the landing-pool wall. He breathed raggedly, not like a trained swimmer at all.

  “With Aggie gone, I had to take over the cash register in the souvenir shop. The register was empty. Cleaned out.”

  Chapter Four

  Aggie had looked scared.

  Because she’d just lifted the contents of the cash register?

  I hadn’t thought Aggie was dishonest. Clingy, yes. A thief, no.

  Janice was having the same doubts. “You think Aggie Wentworth stole the money? I dunno, Dad. I’ve known Aggie since elementary school. I can’t see it.”

  “Who else could it be?” Mr. Costello asked. “Other cashiers can open the register. But this one has built-in storage under the drawer. You need a personal identification number to open it. And only Aggie and I know the pin.”

  I remembered how Aggie kept glancing around the park. I still didn’t think she was a thief—but maybe she knew something. Maybe she knew who the thief was.

  That would explain her nervousness. She knew too much for her own good.

  “Last time I saw Ag
gie, it seemed like she thought someone was after her,” I said.

  Mr. Costello’s mouth clamped in a grim line. “She’ll have people after her, all right: the Police Department. I’ve just called them. They’re sending a detective over.”

  The water park owner’s face crumpled. He was near tears. “How could this happen?”

  Janice put an arm around her dad’s shoulders. “It’s just a half-day’s take, Dad. It’s not like she made off with the contents of the office safe.”

  In response, Mr. Costello fixed haunted eyes on her. “Janny, you know I hate that safe. I can never remember the combination, and half the time the door sticks. Every night, I empty all the park’s money and receipts into the till drawer.

  “It had a week’s worth of cash. Almost forty thousand dollars.”

  Mr. Costello’s cell phone rang. He listened, then flipped it shut. “The police are waiting in the office. This is my fault. I should have put the money in the bank every day. I was so busy worrying about making money that I forgot about keeping it safe.”

  He clapped me on the shoulder. “You’re doing a great job, Clay. Just keep the Boa going, and don’t let this get to you.”

  But it had already gotten to me, big-time. I couldn’t get Aggie’s frightened face out of my mind.

  Mr. Costello waved at Judd to let the next raft go. Then he strode away, Janice hurrying after him.

  “Help! Help me, Clay!”

  I’d been staring toward the office, where the police were questioning Mr. Costello. I wrenched my gaze back to the landing pool. “Aggie?”

  But it was those moronic girls, giggling at me from a raft.

  “You need help, all right,” I growled. “Mental help.”

  This just set them off more. They headed straight back to the Boa lineup. Great. First Aggie, now them. Why did I attract the goofballs?

  Janice wasn’t a goofball though. With Janice around, working here was worthwhile. Someday, when this robbery stuff was cleared up, I’d like to explain to Janice how distracting I found her. I grinned at the thought—and an elderly couple walking by beamed at me.

  My good humor was short-lived though. I thought about Aggie again. If she was involved in the theft, someone had forced her into it. And I was pretty sure I knew who.

  Lemme tell you about lynxes, Judd had boasted. They’re in control at all times.

  Judd, I thought. Judd had masterminded the robbery.

  I wanted to march right up to the launch platform and have it out with him. Really have it out, this time. Pound it out of him—

  Calm down, Clay. This is exactly what gets you into trouble.

  In any case, I couldn’t stop the ride yet again for another confrontation.

  I heaved deep breaths. Mom thought this job, with meeting the public all day, would make me more tolerant. I could at least try. I managed to smile at the next rafters who splashed down—even though I’d heard their complaints loud and clear through the tube. Seems the chlorine level was too high for them.

  The sun rose higher and burned in the sky. More and more people lined up for the Boa. Forget the thrills. They just wanted a refreshing soak. Some show-offy college kids dove off the raft into the landing pool. I was too hot, too preoccupied with the robbery to tell them off.

  “Clay, Clay—!”

  The gigglers again.

  “Give it a break,” I snapped.

  Then I saw that one of them was in the water. She wasn’t giggling. She was choking. Her arms flailed—and she sank.

  Jeez, I hadn’t even been watching. I dove in, grabbing her under the chin. Using my free arm, I plowed to the pool steps. I dragged her onto the platform.

  She wasn’t breathing.

  I pressed my hands on her chest to force the water out of her lungs.

  Come on, I thought. Come on…

  One of her eyes opened. Her braces glinted. A sly smile flashed over her face.

  She was faking.

  Furious, I jumped up. I let loose my bottled-up rage about Judd. I yelled, “You think drowning is funny, moron? What’s next, you set yourself on fire for laughs? Harness your braces to a moving train? You are such a LOSER.”

  The girl’s face was crumpling, but I was too mad to care, too out of control. I blasted on.

  “Next time you set one fat foot in this water park, I’ll have you thrown out. No, better. I’ll throw you out myself, down the rocky hill.”

  The day ticked along. I noticed fewer people laughing. Some stared at me. Maybe they’d heard my outburst at the giggler. Or maybe it wasn’t that at all. Maybe people sensed the unease that had crept like a fog into the water park. There was a feeling of something gone very, very wrong.

  Finally I couldn’t stand it anymore. I grabbed the phone linking the landing pool with the top of the ride.

  “Yeah?” Judd barked.

  “Aggie’s getting blamed for the robbery,” I said.

  “What robbery?”

  In theory, Judd wouldn’t have heard about the robbery. But his tone just now, his pretend ignorance, was as phony as the plastic Boa mouth.

  “You were in on it, Judd. I think you planned it,” I said. “The police are in Mr. Costello’s office. If you’re smart, you’ll go talk to them before they come after you.”

  “I dunno anything about a robbery. Oh, wait, yeah, I do know something.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “I know that it’s fun watching you squirm, champ.”

  Judd pushed off another raft. A fresh round of yells echoed through the Boa’s mouth.

  Judd was messing with me. Again, my impulse was to throttle the guy.

  I had to calm down. My coach always said not to panic in a crisis. Stop, rest and think. Cool your brain off so it can work again.

  Think.

  Okay, I told myself. There’s been a robbery. Aggie’s the suspect. Judd’s involved up to his skittering eyeballs.

  Confronting Judd was useless. He’d just jeer at me with cryptic remarks about a lynx. That wasn’t proof. I couldn’t take that to the police.

  All I could do was tell them about Aggie being scared of someone called the Lynx.

  Wait a minute. Lynx. The lynx mask. In my mind, I saw the leering plastic fangs as Judd spied on Brad and me through the control-room window.

  The mask would have Judd’s fingerprints—heck, his face prints— on it.

  The mask would be proof that Judd was Aggie’s Lynx.

  I needed to get the mask—but how?

  Judd had been wearing it when he scrambled up Grouse to the top of the Boa. When I’d tried to drag Judd behind the bamboo screen later, he’d resisted.

  He didn’t want me to see behind the screen—because that’s where he’d stashed the mask.

  Chapter Five

  I punched in the office number.

  “Safari Splash.” Janice sounded anxious.

  “It’s Clay. How’s it going with the police? Have they found Aggie?”

  Janice faded her voice to a whisper. “No. They’ve been to Aggie’s house, but she’s not there. Her parents don’t know anything. But this detective who’s here now, Detective Mulligan—”

  “Mulligan? Like the stew?” I said.

  “It’s not funny, Clay. Detective Mulligan is horrible. He says Dad could have stolen the money himself. Brad’s near tears, which only puts Dad more on edge. My poor bro isn’t very good at coping.”

  “How could your dad be a suspect? It’s his money! ”

  “Detective Mulligan says owners sometimes steal from their companies, then file an insurance claim. It’s a way of doubling profits.”

  “Like your dad would do that,” I said in disgust.

  I thought of Brad, worried and upset, annoying his dad without meaning to.

  I said, “Hey, Janice? Let’s get Brad out of wrath range. Send him over here. I’ve got something for him to do.”

  At the end of every day, I stopped water flowing through the pipes into the launch pool. I drained b
oth launch and landing pools. Once they were empty, I turned the water-control wheel on full blast. At the top of the ride, Judd poured in cleanser.

  It was the shock-and-awe approach to sanitation. The sudsy blast flushed out every flip-flop that had come loose on the wild ride, every food wrapper, every wad of gum that some jerk had spat into the foam. The Boa belched it all into the landing pool. Then I had to drain the pool and scoop up all the garbage.

  While the Boa was being cleaned, Judd walked down the sandy path underneath to check for cracks or dents in the tube.

  It took Judd about twenty minutes to descend the length of the tube and then climb back up.

  In those twenty minutes, I was going to hunt for the mask.

  Brad’s eyes widened behind his thick glasses when I told him my plan. “I dunno if Mulligan would approve. He might start yelling.”

  “Mulligan won’t yell once he realizes the mask’s significance. The mask connects Judd to Aggie. This is where you come in, Brad. You can help me.”

  Brad nodded. He wiped a tissue over his forehead.

  I led Brad into the control room, where I twisted the wheel all the way to the right.

  “All you have to do is guard the landing pool till I get back. The park’s closed, but people hang around. Make sure no hotshots dive in while the water’s flooding down and no little kids toddle up and fall in.”

  Brad looked nervous, and, in a shy way, pleased. “I’ll stand guard, Clay. I won’t let you down.”

  I clapped him on the shoulder. “If I’m not back in twenty, turn the wheel off. After that point, water will overflow into the drains. That’ll mean a lot more cleanup, plus it’d be a huge waste of water.”

  I stepped out of the control room. I watched Judd pour cleanser into the launching pool, then jump down to the path under the tube. He was starting his inspection.

  Still, I hesitated. I was asking a lot of Brad. I might get him into trouble. “Are you sure you’re okay with this? I’m breaking the rules by leaving my post.”

  He managed a wobbly grin. “Don’t worry. I’m okay.”

  “Good guy.”

  I started outside the control-room window where Judd, wearing his lynx mask, had spied on Brad and me. From there it was an easy jump to the fir-needle-carpeted slope.