Dark Ride (25 page)

Chapter 87

Jack and the others make their way into the wasteland that is the Match Girl Room. Knowing what to expect does not take the creepy factor down for them one single notch. She's still humming, and for now, at least, there's no sign of the wolf. The girl is sitting in the corner, starring with a blank expression. The teens avoid the area she's gazing at by taking exaggerated, almost cartoonish, steps away from her line of sight. They try to hide behind what they can in order to pass unnoticed.

When they are halfway across the room, a genuine sense of hope delights Jack. As they are nearing the door on the opposite side, though, suddenly the girl stands in front of them and blocks their path. Any plan to make a break for it has been crushed.

“Won't you buy some matches?”

“We already bought some matches, just let us by, okay?” Mason pleads.

The match the girl is holding burns out, and she starts humming. The kids decide to use the elusiveness of the darkness to skirt around her and make their way toward the door. But then, immediately in front of them, the girl strikes yet another match and repeats her eerie ritual.

“Look, we gave you all the coins we had,” Amy tries to reason.

The girl seems to pay no attention to their efforts and says, “Won't you buy some matches?”

“Stop saying that! We already told you we have no more money,” Mason says.

The girl's appearance steadily changes. Her clandestine features begin to sour. Her mouth turns to a scowl.

“Oh, for heaven's sake. Here we go again,” Scotty whines.

Then, before any of the teens can object to his actions, Mason takes the escape into his own hands: he reaches out and pushes the girl.

The match girl is astonished by the sudden action and falls down.

“Mason!” Amy cries.

“No time for argument! Just get through that door,” Mason commands.

Jack wastes no time in following Mason to the door, and Scotty is right behind them.

“Amy! Come on. No time for sympathy,” Jack calls.

This instruction isn't heeded by Amy, though. She looks down at the girl and says, “I'm sorry.”

The matchstick girl cradles up into a ball on the floor and begins rocking back and forth.

Seeing the odd reaction, Amy begins to apologize again by saying, “Sorry we—”

“Now!” Mason says, stepping in front of Jack and grabbing Amy's arm.

Mason, almost dragging Amy behind him, and the others arrive into the new room. But with one look, they are met with the last thing they expected. To their mutual astonishment, they are right back in the room with the brick wall.

Chapter 88

None of them can believe what they are seeing. Jack is equally heartbroken and confused. “Are you kidding me?” he howls in anger.

“Maybe it's a different room with a brick wall?” Scotty suggests hopefully.

Just like before, the ladder is propped against the brick wall, and now the odd egg-shaped man is sitting on top. Also, the narrator mannequin is sitting in the corner.

“Nope, this is the same room.” Scotty points out.

“For crying out loud. How is this possible?” Mason sulks.

“How is anything possible in here?” Jack answers sharply.

Jack looks to Amy who is standing with her stick close to her chest. She is obviously agitated, but Jack is unsure of the exact cause for her displeasure. He figures that either she's mad about the room or she's upset with Mason for pushing the girl. He decides, though, not to ask.

Jack walks over to Mason and, while holding out his arm, says, “Let me see the map, Mason.”

“What, so you can correct my mistake again?” he snarls.

“Fine. Lead on, O Master of the Map,” Jack responds with an equal amount of irritation.

Mason raises his voice and says, “You looked at the map yourself. You said we needed to take this route.”

“You're the one so attached to that thing, not me. Maybe if we would just put the thing up and look—”

“Three…lived happily ever after.
Three
. Remember? Time to drop it.”

An unfamiliar voice calls down from atop the brick wall, “Keep it down! What is all the fuss about?”

Mason looks up and jabs, “Stay out of this, Humpty!”

“Okay, guys—enough!” Scotty declares. Both Jack and Mason are startled by the emotion in his voice.

Scotty nervously fiddles with Lucky and continues, “I'm just saying that you guys are driving me crazy. I don't think Amy or I….” Scotty looks over at Amy to see if she will support what he's saying, but he gets no response from her. He continues, “Um…we don't really care who is right or who is wrong. We just want to get out of this place.”

Jack, breathing hard with his face flushed, waves his arm dramatically and says, “Okay, Scotty. I think we can all agree that going back through that door will lead us right back to the girl. Why don't we just take one of those other doors at the back of the room. Then our great leader here can look at the precious map, and we can move on from there.”

Jack expects some degree of sarcastic reply because of his combative tone.

Mason retorts, “Finally. Some common sense, from you.”

“Then it's agreed,” Scotty says, playing the middle ground.

“I don't want to see that girl back there again,” Mason grumbles.

Now Amy speaks and asks, “Why is that Mason? Because you shoved her down?”

“I had too.”

“You're a bully,” Amy accuses.

“Amy, she tried to set me on fire. She's dangerous.”

“She's a little girl. A little girl, who's trapped in here just like us. Why don't you twist the head off some of her toys if we see her again?”

“What?” Mason asks. He genuinely has no recollection of the torment he used to cause Amy.

“You know what, Mason? You're just scared.”

“I am not. I just think—”

“You're scared you're the one who won't live happily ever after.”

Amy moves quick, gets right in Mason's face, and says, “Mason Chick, all you think about is yourself. You don't care about anyone else, and if someone gets in your way, no matter who they are, you shove them down.”

Amy makes a final jab by saying, “A pathetic bully,” and then backs off.

Jack's still angry at Mason, and although he enjoyed Amy's verbal attack, it's over. He knows that if they are ever going to get out of the ride, they'll have to stay together.

Turning to Mason, he says, “Look, I don't agree with following the map, okay? But I'll go along if that's what everyone else wants to do. The only way we're gonna get out of this is if we stay together. So, which door are we gonna take this time? The one straight ahead or the one to the left?”

On the outside, at least, nothing seems to faze Mason Chick. While considering Jack's question, he runs his fingers through his hair and seems to almost brush off all the hostility toward him.

Mason says, “I don't know, let's flip a coin. Amy, can I borrow a coin?”

“Yeah. Funny. Ha ha.”

“Fine. We go left,” Mason gruffly decides.

Amy stomps off toward the door, and Scotty follows. Mason and Jack, however, remain for a minute. Their friendship has taken a severe hit in the last few moments. Mason glowers at Jack, wanting to make sure that Jack recognizes him as the better man. Then he gestures for Jack to go first through the door, which he does after giving a shrug. This hacks Mason off way past his boiling point, and after entering the next room, Mason slams the door behind him.

From the other side of the now closed door, the group hears a yell and then a dull thud.

Mason looks at Scotty and asks, “Did he just…?”

“Yep.”

Chapter 89

Howard Snodgrass is hiding. It doesn't look like he's hiding, but he's definitely hiding. He's standing just outside of the concession stand, far enough out of range to be out of view from the parents who have camped out in front of the Enchanted Forrest. Snodgrass peers out to the parking lot and sees flashing blue lights. He thinks,
Great. Just great. Who called the police? This is turning into one heck of a night.
He hears multiple car doors slam shut and wonders,
What? Did they bring the whole department
?

Three police officers waltz up to the Enchanted Forrest with their walkie talkies blaring. From his vantage point, he can see Titus Chick extending a hand to one of them. He tells himself,
Better get out there, Howard. Be calm, relax.
A tall mustached policeman in his Smokey the Bear-looking hat calls out, “Who's in charge here?”

“I am. Howard Snodgrass, General Manger.”

The policeman looks at him, apparently sizing him up, which doesn't take long.

“So you've got some AWOL kids, huh?”

Mr. Carnahan calls out, “They've been in there for over two hours, and they won't let us go in.”

Looking over at Carnahan, the policeman speaks to the assembly saying, “Looks like we've got quite a crowd. My officers and I will speak to each of you. Just hold your horses, and let us do our job. We will do everything—”

“We know. Everything in your power. We've heard that plenty tonight,” Wallace Braddock retorts.

Brenna elbows him in the stomach and hushes him with, “Wallace!”

The cop glowers at Wallace. Taking out a notebook from his belt, the policeman, with pencil ready, responds to the rebuke by asking, “Sir, what is your name?”

“Wallace Braddock. That's two d's,” Wallace asserts.

“Oh,
the
Wallace Braddock,” responds the policeman. Then he turns to his officers and says, “We've got Speed Trap Wally over here, gents.” This creates some muffled laughter from the police squad.

Brenna shoots a second elbow into Wallace's ribs and tells him, “You see, Wallace, I knew—”

“Look, Officer Howdy Duty,” Wallace says, stepping over to the officer. “I don't care what you call me as long as you do your job. My boy's in there, and you don't want to deal with me if you don't bring him out.”

“Are you threatening an officer, Mr. Braddock?”

“You mean Mr. Speed Trap?”

The two men size each other up. Neither is bluffing.

“Just do your job,” Wallace voices and then backs off, dragging Brenna with him.

The Officer tries to restore his command of the situation by saying, “Look, I know everyone is on edge here. But I expect everyone to keep cool and keep your less-than-helpful-comments to yourself.” He gives another look at Wallace.

Then the tall cop motions to a female officer and orders, “Quinn, take down the parents' names and statements.”

Then, to another, “Markham, talk to these employees.”

Finally, he turns to Howard and says, “Mr. Snodgrass, I'd like to have a word with you.”

Howard thinks,
Great—just great! Why did I ever take this job?

Chapter 90

The scene before Mason Chick sends his head spinning. To the left of
him sits the little match girl on a stump, and he hears, “Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques,” being hummed lightly. Using both of his hands, he scratches his face in frustration.

Never in his entire life has he felt this lost. In his mind, this even trumps the time when he was seven and lost track of his father inside a Nashville Wal-Mart for 30 traumatizing minutes.

Fortunately, the match girl has not noticed their arrival, in spite of the slamming door. So, although expecting some self-righteous comment from Jack or Amy, Mason takes out the map for what seems to him like the fiftieth look at the room.

Jack approaches him and Mason thinks,
Here we go.

“Look, there has got to be something we're missing,” Jack says. “It makes no sense. I suggest we search the room for another way out.”

Pacified that Jack has not suited up for another round, he agrees but adds, “What about the girl?”

“I don't know,” Jack says and shrugs. “Maybe she will leave us alone now.”

“Maybe,” says Mason, but then he sees Amy and utters, “No, no, no.”

Jack wheels around in the direction Mason is now pointing and sees Amy walking up to the girl.

“Here, Braddock,” says Mason, “you take the map. I'll take care of Amy.”

“No,” Jack responds, “I'll take care of Amy.” There is a hardened look on Jack's face.

“What is your deal? Just take the stinking map. A moment ago you were all hot and bothered about having the thing. I'll take care of Amy.”

Mason thinks that something about the look on Jack's face is weird.

“Fine,” Jack says with a flash of irritation. “Scotty and I will look for another door.”

Mason issues a guttural noise under his breath and says, “Okay then.” He stomps off toward Amy.

The matchstick girl is rocking back and forth. Her face is red, and her eyes are closed. Amy speaks to the girl in a tender, caring voice and says, “Hey there.”

“Amy, get back over here. We need to find a door,” Mason calls.

Upon hearing Mason's voice, the girl's eyes flash open. This time the pale blue eyes are replaced by fiery red ovals. Immediately, she lights a match and hurls it at Mason.

“Would you like to buy some matches!” she screams.

The match strikes Mason in the forearm. It stings.

“Hey! Stop that you little—,” Mason says and takes an aggressive step toward the girl.

Amy grabs his arm and tells him, “No you don't. Not again.”

“What? Are you crazy? She—”

Another match strikes Mason, who is unable to shield himself in time. The burning stick hits him in square in the jaw.

“Ouch!” Mason exclaims and brings his right arm to his face immediately.

Amy turns to the girl and says, “Stop that! We just want to leave. We can help you.”

“Over here!” Scotty yells.

Mason turns to see Scotty struggling to lift a brown wooden circle from a spot in the floor. Jack is helping him.

The girl strikes another match and flings it at Mason, whose attention has been drawn away from her. Amy steps in front of the match to deflect it with her hand, but she doesn't make contact and the match lands somewhere behind Amy.

“Look, we can help you,” Amy pleads with the girl who is busying herself lighting more matches.

Suddenly, a small puff of smoke begins to envelope Amy's head. She screams, “No!”

To his horror, Mason watches as a fire begins to ignite behind Amy's head. The match had landed in her hood.

Mason rushes to Amy and starts patting at the flames.

In the meantime, the little matchstick girl gives a sinister snarl because she has lit Mason's shirt on fire from behind.

The burning sensation flashes across his back. Mason drops to the floor and rolls vigorously.

The girl starts humming again and continues to light even more matches.

Scotty and Jack see the chaos and drop the wooden hatch. Thinking fast, Jack grabs Lucky from Scotty and slams the bear on top of the fire in Amy's hoodie. The flame smolders from the lack of oxygen, and Amy whimpers in fear. After removing the bear from atop her head, Jack sees a large black burn in the bear's fur, just a few inches down from where the viper had gotten a mouth full of fluff. Jack then joins Scotty in trying to put out Mason's burning shirt.

The matchstick girl continues flinging burning matches at Mason. “Won't you buy some matches?” she says as she flings each one. “Won't you buy some matches?”

As Mason rolls on the ground, he suddenly feels a crippling weight. Scotty has jumped on him. The tubby boy muffles the fire, while Jack, with Lucky in his hands, is suffocates the visible flames that Scotty has not stifled.

After a brief struggle, the fire is out.

“You okay, Mason?” Scotty asks, looking directly in the face of his friend.

Mason is a little taken aback by the proximity of Scotty's face above his own and says, “Get off me.”

“Guess that's a yes.” Scotty confirms.

The boys hear a scream and look over at the matchstick girl, who is now smiling, lighting match after match, and slinging them at the dodging figure of Amy while repeating, “Won't you buy some matches? Won't you buy some matches?”

Another match lands on Amy's face. She's now had enough. Amy beelines right toward the matchstick girl, flinging the flying matches away. “I wanted to help you!” Amy tells her.

The matchstick girl lights another match and flings it at Amy, who knocks it away in midair. Getting to the girl and using a wicked backhand, Amy slaps the matchbox from the girl's hand. Matches fly from the box, littering the floor. The girl then bends down and begins to pick up each one as if each was a valuable treasure.

“No, no, no,” the little girl says.

Amy's face switches to one of tenderness and of remorse for knocking the matches out of the girl's hands. She says, “Look, I'm sorry I….”

The matchstick girl is now talking to herself, saying, “I tried to sell the matches, I did, but they wouldn't buy them. Please don't be mad. Please don't be mad.”

Amy feels a hand on her arm, and she spins around to face her brother. Scotty tells her, “As soon as she gets them picked up, she's gonna start again. We need to go.”

“But Scotty, she—”

“You can't fix her, Amy. We need to go.”

Scotty heads off toward the wooden hatch. He passes Mason, who's getting up off the ground without accepting Jack's offered help.

The group manages to get the hatch open, and they see a ladder leading down.

The humming starts again, and they all freeze.

“Get in the hole!” Scotty yells.

The little girl is moving toward them with her matches in hand.

The group scrambles to get down the hatch. Mason goes first and then Amy. Scotty starts to descend and then sees Lucky. He calls out, “Jack, get Lucky!”

“Leave him,” Jack says.

“No, he's getting out of here with us.”

Jack snatches the bear as Scotty disappears into the hole. Jack tosses the bear in and climbs down, pulling the wooden cover over him. From above, he hears a horrible scream. This causes them all to pause and listen for what will come next.

“Father. No, I tried to sell them. I did. But they wouldn't buy them. Please don't be mad. Please don't be mad.”