Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Book list
Landlocked Lighthouse Excerpt
FIRELOCKED FUNHOUSE
Mixi J Applebottom
This one is for the scary clowns.
Chapter One
Eight-year-old Miles was happy they were going to the carnival. He and his sister Lorelei, and his brother Gregory were gonna have a great time. His mom had already promised him a day pass. Miles worked on his chores day and night. He had a loose tooth and had been wiggling it furiously trying to get it out before it was time to go. He didn't want to lose it on any of the rides.
Mom told him to get in the car though, long before the tooth was out. So he quit touching it and climbed in the middle seat. He was finally old enough to stop riding in a car seat, and the car had become much more comfortable without all that plastic. The cushion was leather and smooth on his little backside. Lorelei sat on his right, and Gregory sat on the left.
"Do you think they'll have a house of mirrors? I love mirrors!" Gregory said happily, staring out the window at the trees whirring past.
"I don't like mirrors one bit." Lorelei said.
" That's 'cause you're fat." Miles said. It was matter-of-fact, he didn't mean it as an insult. He liked to be direct.
Lorelei elbowed him in the gut. She was a little chunky, but not enough to deserve the label fat. Miles let out a gush of air as the elbow dug in. "Hey! Knock it off. It's not my fault you've got jiggly stomach." Miles was properly annoyed now and had a fair bit of whine to his voice. He didn't even know why she hit him, not really. She had a gut, and so did Gregory. They were chunky. Only Miles was skinny. That, in part was because he never seemed to sit still for more than ten seconds at a time, and secondly because he was by far going to be the tallest. He was already the same height as Lorelei and she was two years older than him! Two whole years!
"Guys seriously, knock it off, don't make mom mad." Gregory let out an angry whisper. He was impatiently awaiting the carnival, and nothing stopped a drive somewhere fun like whining in the back seat.
All three kids paused and looked up at their mother. She was wearing her favorite hot pink sunglasses and had the radio turned up. She didn't seem to pay any attention to their back seat complaining. Thank goodness.
"Do you think they will have a Carousel?" Lorelei was thinking about riding a pretty pink stallion.
"Oh! I hope so, we'll go up so high we will see the whole city!" Miles used his announcer voice and boomed out the words.
"That's a Ferris wheel, not a Carousel. Carousels go in a circle on the ground. Ferris Wheels go up into the sky. Carousels have animals." Lorelei corrected her little brother, and he let out a sigh of annoyance.
Gregory gave him a dirty look again. "Don't make mom mad, we've been waiting for this for at least a month."
Mom had certainly been milking this for a long while. The house was sparkling with every bedroom, bathroom and window properly scrubbed and cleaned. Gregory even mowed the lawn. That's how badly everyone wanted to go to the carnival. This wasn't one of those tiny little carnivals. This was the big one!
During the summer the enormous carnival was open in the big town three hours from their house. It was hard to convince mom to let them go. Last time they had tried and mom called it a huge waste of a day because Miles was too small to ride any ride at all. He cried and made her carry him, and they all got sunburned, and it hadn't gone well. Gregory remembered it clearly and was determined to make this trip successful. He had made sure to sunscreen himself and Miles and Lorelei. He was eleven years old and perfectly capable of making an outing a success. But, for all his preparations he was nervous. He figured if this went badly, mom would never take them out of the house again.
The car ride was already feeling stuffy and Miles let out quite a toot. Lorelei shouted, "Ewww, Miles!" And waved her hand melodramatically in front of her nose.
As soon as they pulled up into the parking lot Miles was squirming with the need to urinate. He hopped out of the car as soon as it stopped, he was dancing and desperately trying not to pee himself. Far across the parking lot he saw a line of blue outhouses. "Lorelei! Greg! Bathrooms!" He shouted as they hopped out of the car. The three of them were running towards the toilets before their mother was even out of the car.
Chapter Two
The bathrooms were blue plastic outhouses. They smelled terrible, and the one Miles popped into had no toilet paper, but it had many flies. Two of which he managed to spray with urine. Yeah, it might not have all gotten in the toilet, but those flies were soaked! It was all he could do to contain his hysterical giggling in there. Even with his wild aim he kept his red shirt and jeans dry. Lorelei carefully picked her outhouse after looking several of them. She found one with less flies, more toilet paper, and less enthusiastic urine sprays from small boys. After they had finished Greg said hesitantly, "Uh, where is mom?"
Lorelei looked back at the parking-lot area. She wasn't even sure where they had parked. Plus mom might have already left the car. Lorelei frowned and shook her head at Greg.
Miles' eyes grew wide and worried. His bear, thankfully urine free, pressed tight to his heart. When he was little, like four, his dad traveled for a business trip and brought back this little white bear. It was beautiful and soft and had a tiny blue t-shirt that said Colorado on it. Miles slept with that bear every night since that very first one. The bear was worn and only came on a few trips these days. Mom was always demanding he leave it at home, he was eight, he didn't need a bear.
Except, he still loved Colorado. It didn't matter to him that he was eight. Love knew no ages. He just knew he loved the bear. And that was enough for him to steal it away with him sometimes. He held the bear up in the air over his head. "See anything?"
Lorelei said, "Yeah, I'm sure Colorado can see her, but it's a real shame he can't talk. Mom is gonna be so annoyed that you brought him. You know she wants you to leave him at home."
Miles shrugged. The three kids looked extremely somberly at each-other, and wondered what to do next, when Greg, took charge. He was eleven, and about to start middle school. So he could handle t
his. He straightened his gray striped t-shirt. "Let's go to the ticket counter. She must show up there at some point anyways."
As they walked to the entrance, there was a disheveled looking woman with bright yellow fliers. "Take a flier! Please! You have to help them."
Greg shook his head and took Lorelei's hand, they stepped around the lady, but she cornered Miles.
"Please let me know if you see them." The yellow paper had the word MISSING across the top in big letters, and a picture of a boy and a girl. Greg turned and shoved the lady.
"Stay away from my brother."
The yellow flier dropped to the ground slowly like a leaf, and the three siblings raced away. The lady didn't seem to mind being shoved, but simply turned and tried to force a flier on another family.
So the three of them turned and looked at the entrance. The ticket counter was a tall red and white striped box. Inside was a girl clown with pink pigtails. Just outside the ticket counter were two extra tall clowns. Their legs were longer than Dad was tall. That's how long their legs were.
They weren't moving, and Greg immediately pointed up at the one with a blue nose and said, "See that statue? He's got a blue nose because he is so tall he walked into one of the posts around here."
Miles snorted and laughed.
Lorelei rolled her eyes and took Miles' hand. The walk to the front seemed absurdly long. The bathrooms were at the back of the parking-lot, and they kept waiting for cars and trucks, carefully looking both ways at every lane. It took them five days, but finally they made it to the front, with a slightly whiny Miles frowning the whole way. Once they made it to the front, the two huge clowns looked even bigger. They hadn't moved even a breath the whole way the children trudged through the parking-lot.
"I can't believe they have real clothes, I thought they'd be plastic." Lorelei said and then let out a scream as the clown suddenly moved.
He roared with a big laugh and threw a bright colored ball into the air. The other clown, the one with the blue nose shouted, "Tickets! Get 'yer tickets! Bracelets are only $50 each! Get 'yer tickets!"
Both clowns were ignoring the children, or intentionally frightening them because the big, long legs suddenly were crashing down right next to Miles' foot. He screamed too and tried to run away from the giant clowns. Lorelei shouted "Miles!" And ran after the frightened boy.
Greg stood, frozen with fright as the long striped and polka-dotted pants were on both sides of him. They were stomping closer and closer as they juggled right over his head. Soon he'd be trapped. Then he'd be crushed alive. A big red, squeaking shoe crashed down on the asphalt right next to his little blue sneaker. The shoe was almost as big as he was! He would be killed!
Gregory screamed, and charged forwards, running into the long striped pant leg and the clown above him teetered at the force of it. "Hey! Watch it kid!" He said, and the other clown reached forwards to steady him. Greg was quickly pressed into a long row of prizes. Stuffed animals and inflatable whales. He took a moment to catch his breath and realized he didn't know where Miles and Lorelei had gone.
Chapter Three
Greg stepped forward, and his heart was still thumping hard in his chest. "Miles? Lorelei?" He creaked. His voice felt small in the large sea of people swarming past him. What do you do if you are lost in a carnival? What do you do!
His eyes got wet, and he was too frightened to look by the ticket booth. Think! Where would Miles have run to if he was frightened? Greg scanned the long swarming crowd, wondering which way he should walk, when finally he spotted both of them huddled, just like he was. Lorelei's purple shirt and gray skirt were easy to spot as she pressed into a giant white teddy bear.
He took two steps towards them and heard "Watch it, kid," as a stroller smacked into his tender ankle.
"Leave me alone!" Greg shouted and charged forwards harder. He wiped his eyes to hide his frantic tears. The crowd was thick, and he lost sight of his brother and sister. It was like swimming upstream. But he was a good swimmer, and he kept pushing towards the bear. Breathless, he broke through and there was Miles, sobbing into his sister's arms. "You guys okay?" Greg said, giving them both a big hug.
He was back to being under control. He'd never tell them he almost got crushed, and started to cry, and even let out a scream. Greg was the big, safe brother, he'd never tell them how weak he was.
That was his last thought before he burst into tears and said, "That clown almost got me!"
"Me too!" Miles sobbed again, and it was Lorelei who got every calmed back down.
"Guys, I'm sorry we got so frightened, but they are just clowns, and I think we need to find mom. Do you think Dad is here yet?" She said, and both boys quickly dried their tears. She had a plan, as always.
Greg looked around at the mob still pouring into the carnival.
"How will we ever find them?" Miles said, with a nervous little flutter. Colorado was shoved so tightly into his arms that his threadbare head threatened to pop free.
Greg frowned, but Lorelei smiled. "Don't you guys remember anything? Mom said if we get lost to always go to the Ferris wheel. Weren't you listening in the car?"
Miles stared at Lorelei, "But what happens if mom isn't at the Ferris wheel?"
"She will be." Lorelei said.
And with that matter settled, they linked arms together and carefully follow the sea of people to the brightly colored ride in the middle of the carnival. As they were walking, they saw a man in a tight leopard suit folding himself up into a tiny little box. Miles said, "I don't think he has any bones."
Greg said, "That's not true, you'd die without bones."
"People don't fold like that." Miles said again, frowning as he looked back at the man who was grinning inside the tiny clear box. He was wiggling his tooth with his tongue and shoving Colorado back into his jean pocket.
Lorelei said, "Well, he certainly doesn't look like he has bones."
Greg shouted. "It's a trick box! Don't you guys read anything!"
"It can't be a trick box if it's clear." Lorelei retorted with a snort.
Miles shouted, "Is that a Ferris wheel?" He was so excited he almost needed to pee again.
"Where?" Lorelei shouted!
And Greg said with a frown. "That's a carousel. It's got horses and goats and giraffes and stuff. Not a Ferris wheel."
"I think mom said to meet her at the carousel." Miles said.
Lorelei wrinkled her nose. "I was certain she said Ferris wheel."
Greg looked at both of his siblings and realized he was the tie breaker. He hated being the tie breaker. That was the worst. It always started a fight. He shook his head. "Dunno."
Lorelei let out an exasperated sigh and said, "I'm going to the Ferris wheel. If they aren't there, we can come back here." And she broke the links their arms made, charging forwards.
The sea of people were thick, and Miles nervously raced after Lorelei. She grasped his arm and soon the three of them were linked back together as they got closer to the one ride towering above all the others. Lorelei stopped, and glanced around nervously. Miles gripped her arm tightly, and while she scanned the crowd for their Mother, he watched a small white dog with curly hair.
It was standing on its hind legs, with a bright red ball balanced on its nose. The dog was hopping up and down and the ball bouncing gently. It stopped hopping and suddenly spun in a circle. The ball fell and rolled directly to Miles feet. Miles picked up the red ball and held it out, and the dog scampered over and carefully took it from his little hands. The little eight-year-old boy ruffled the dog's ears with his hand. But as soon as he released it, the dog ran back to its position and dropped the ball at two large yellow feet.
The oversized yellow feet were attached to red striped pants that were fat. "That clown must be a thousand pounds." Miles hissed to his sister. He was perfectly round. His shirt was red with white polka-dots. He was balding, his scraggly hair spray painted red, and his skin a ghastly white/green tint. His mouth was painted on in a frown
and he scowled at Miles.
"Don't touch my dog." He said.
Then he lifted the little red ball off the ground, still dripping from the dog slobber, and held it in the air. The dog obediently pressed his nose back to the ball, and once it was balanced danced again. A large floppy patchwork hat was laying on the ground in front of the act.
A small handful of dollar bills were in the hat.
Miles stepped backwards slightly. The man frightened him, with his big frown, and angry eyes.
The clown suddenly barked, "Alright Sue, let's do some hoops." The cranky clown lifted a hula hoop, and the dog dropped the red ball and ran in a circle, jumping through the hoop, under the clowns leg, on its back and through the hoop again.
Miles clapped his little hands.
Lorelei frowned at him. "Do you see mom?"
Gregory, also distracted by the little white dog said, "Isn't that a boy dog?"
Lorelei said, "It's name is Sue. It's gotta be a girl."
"But," Miles sputtered, "That's a wiener."
Gregory let out a large laugh, and Lorelei stared at the little dog jumping through the hoops. "Eww. Why are you even looking at that?" She said.
Miles turned red, and watched the dog run so excitedly, its little tail almost fell off its body. Gregory scanned the crowd. "I don't see mom."
Lorelei sighed. "Maybe we should circle the Ferris wheel. Maybe they are on the other side, through the crowd."
Gregory stared at the mass of people walking past.
Miles looked at the little red ball, still laying on the ground. He really wanted to throw it to the dog.
Lorelei said, "Let's walk around it to the other side."
Gregory shrugged, but before the two of them took a step, Miles snatched the little red ball and said, "Come here Sue, I've got your ball."
The dog jumped off the clown's back, through the hoop and ran with its tiny tail wagging. It didn't take the ball from Miles and instead leapt into his little arms and licked his face. Miles laughed hysterically, the tiny white dog continuing to adorn him with kisses.
Firelocked Funhouse (Locked House Hauntings Book 3) Page 1
