Dark Ride (38 page)

Chapter 145

Jack's confidence soars. He feels that what Scotty has done is pure genius, and a glimmer of hope now emerges in his eyes. Jack collects the three cups and the ball from the floor as Scotty proceeds to explain the game to the Giant. Then the amateur carny takes a large piece of the drywall and lays it out flat along the floor, producing a makeshift game table.

Once the cups have been set out in a row before the Giant, Amy walks up to Jack and pleads, “Jack, be careful, please! You can't lose.”

Jack grins at her and says, “Don't worry, Amy, I've got this.”

The narrator meanders over to Jack, as well, and says, “I wish you good fortune, Jack. I see that your friend the apprentice has given you an out.”

“Yes, he has,” responds Jack, who looks up at the man and then over to Scotty who is still explaining and re-explaining the rules to the Giant.

Never again will Jack think of Scotty as weak. All of those years Scotty had spent with his nose in books had made him smart, in fact, downright crafty. Jack will never take Scotty Carnahan for granted again.

Meanwhile, Mason is sitting on a stump and fiddling with some of the candy remains of the house. Jack sees him and wonders,
What is he thinking? Is he even happy I have a chance? He can't be that angry, can he? Why do I even care? He betrayed me.
Their friendship had been obliterated during the night, and at least once, Jack had sworn to himself that he would never speak to Mason again if they survived. Yet, looking at him now, he feels something odd: sympathy.

Mason's head turns Jack's way, and their eyes meet. They stare at each other for a moment. Then Mason raises his head slightly and calls out absently, “Good luck, Jack.” After this, he goes right back to playing with
the debris, seemingly uninterested in whatever the results of the game may be.

The gesture may have been halfhearted, but it makes Jack feel that maybe things could be salvaged—if he wanted them to be.

As for the wolf, the beast has made a seat out of a large collapsed section of wall and is cautiously waiting, perhaps intrigued by the strange game. Still, Jack notices that every few seconds the beast stares at Amy, and he thinks,
If I make it through this, we might have to deal with him again.

Scotty and the Giant finally finish.

Now, turning his attention down at the small board, the Giant addresses Jack, “So, you just happen to have these items with you?” Then after a pause, he adds, “Why do I think I am being set up?” His face is suddenly stern.

“No one is tricking you,” Scotty announces. “You have just as good a chance as Jack. It is simply a matter of keeping your eyes on the ball.”

He lifts a cup over the ball and then removes it for the Giant to see before continuing. “Like I said, best two out of three. Jack will shuffle the cups first, and you will try and guess which one it is under. Then it will be you turn.”

“I guess I am game,” The Giant concludes and then chuckles at his pun.

At least the Giant seems like a good sport
, thinks Jack. In fact he catches himself thinking that as far as giants go, this one is likable.

Jack kneels on the floor and calls up to the Giant, “Are you ready?”

Scotty, the narrator, and the wolf now crowd around the gaming table.

Amy takes a position right behind Jack, gives him a gentle squeeze on the shoulder, and keeps her hand there.

“Yes,” the Giant replies.

Jack pats Amy's hand and she lets go. Then he holds the ball up for the Giant to see. Next, he shuffles the cups—slowly at first but soon picks up speed. With dexterity, Jack wheels the cups. They revolve and dart around each other, and sometimes Jack circles a cup one way and then another.

The Giant's head spins circles as he tries to follow the cups as well as he can. The shuffling goes one for about 20 seconds, and then Jack stops suddenly, confidently, and says, “Okay, under which cup is the ball?”

Jack reasons,
There is no way he could have tracked the ball.

The Giant reaches a large hand to his chin, almost knocking over Scotty with his elbow, and scratches at his woolly beard.

There is a puzzled look on the Giant's face, and he declares, “You expect me to have followed that? I have no clue.”

Jack confidence soars even higher, for this means the Giant would be guessing, a one in three shot.

The Giant ponders for what seems like an eternity.

Finally Scotty announces, “Okay, times up. Which cup?”

“It's a blind guess at best,” the Giant explains as he points to the cup in the middle.

Jack's heart soars, for he knows that the Giant has guessed incorrectly.

“Nope,” Jack says and beams with pride as he lifts the cup and reveals nothing beneath it. He keeps the cup aloft for a few seconds, relishing the victory.

Amy lets out a sigh of relief.

Scotty slaps Jack on the back, and tells him, “Good job.”

Then, like an announcer at an athletic competition, Scotty announces the score for everyone in the room to hear: “One to nothing, Jack leads.”

Glowing with pride, Jack looks over at Mason. The boy remains sitting and seems to be paying no attention.

The Giant lets out a good natured laugh, which shakes the entire room, and says, “Well, so much for beginner's luck, I guess. You sure are handy with those cups. I suppose it is my turn to try and deceive you.”

The wolf chuckles. He is impressed by the boy's good fortune.

As for the others, they are confident that Jack will win after seeing his ability to quickly confuse the Giant.

Jack, too, is confident in his ability to see the cups. He thinks,
This should be easy. How could the Giant possibly confuse me?

As if she could read his mind, Amy advises, “Keep your focus, Jack. Don't get cocky.”

The massive Giant moves what to him is a pea-sized ball under a cup and with a single finger gently begins to nudge the cups around in a clumsy fashion. On more than one occasion, the narrator and Scotty have to move out of the way of the Giant's arms as he struggles to move the tiny pieces.

“You have an unfair advantage, boy. Maybe I should not have agreed to this,” the behemoth declares.

“But you did,” Amy quickly adds, smiling with pride.

Silence resumes, and the Giant begins to move the cups a little easier. However, he is still painfully slow, and the spectators are following the movement of the balls just as easily as Jack.

Suddenly, Mason blurts out, “Get this over with, Jack.”

The simple words distract the contestant, who thinks,
Where did Mason come from?
For one brief second, Jack looks up at the boy who is
now among the spectators. Quickly, though, Jack looks back down, realizing he has made a critical mistake.

“Shut up, Mason!” Amy scolds.

Oh, no!
thinks Jack. Mason's distraction has caused him to lose track. He's furious, but since he's unable to take another look up at Mason, he tries to calm his nerves. Jack tells himself,
Focus! Maybe something will tip it off?
He glares at the table and soon thinks one cup is moving more slowly than the rest, which means it must have the ball underneath it
.

After another full minute, the Giant stops and says, “Okay, thief, which cup?”

With so much at stake, Jack fights the urge to second guess himself. Before allowing his mind to play tricks on him, Jack points to the cup on the right.

Another moment of intense silence ensues as the Giant clumsily attempts to pick up the cup.

Finally, after several attempts and nearly knocking over the other items, the Giant successfully lifts the cup. The ball is not there.

“What!” Jack gasps. He is momentarily shocked. Then when the realization of what just happened hits him, he looks up and glares at Mason, wondering,
Did he do that on purpose?
Mason looks at Jack and says, “I'm sorry.” He actually does look remorseful.

In disbelief, Amy asks the Giant, “Then which cup is it under?”

“I'm not sure myself,” he responds and then chuckles.

Jack is disgusted at the sound. He can't help but think about his family. He considers how he is now one mistake away, one lucky guess, one break of concentration, from losing them, losing everything.

Scotty demands that the Giant lift the other cups. The behemoth complies, and there, under the middle cup, is the ball.

“So, I got one by you there, thief.”

Jack is stunned. He sees the narrator standing and twirling his mustache, but he can't read the man's face.

Scotty clears his throat and, while looking angrily at Mason, announces the score: “So it's Jack one, Giant one.”

“Walter,” says the Giant.

“What?” asks Scotty.

“My name is Walter, not Giant.”

Scotty nods and corrects himself, saying, “Oh, sorry Mr.—”

“This time, Mason, keep your mouth shut!” Amy scolds.

“I said
I'm sorry
. I really did not mean to,” he apologizes again.

Jack closes his eyes. He can't think about Mason now; he has to concentrate. With one hand, he pushes his loose bangs up out of his eyes and then says, “It's now or never.”

He looks at Amy. Until now, his thoughts had been centered on losing his family and not being able to go home. But, a new thought reigns heavily upon his brow:
If I lose now, there will be no future for Amy and me.

Jack proceeds to slowly place the ball underneath the middle cup, and then he begins shuffling.

As before, he spins the cups deftly, moving them in and out, weaving and bobbing. But, this time his hands move so fast that even he eventually has no idea which cup contains the ball. At one point, Jack decides to look at Walter, taking his eyes off the cup. The Giant seams confused.
Good
, thinks Jack.

The boy also takes a look at the others. Amy appears to be almost as nervous as Jack. Scotty, on the other hand, beams with confidence, and Mason is staring at his own hands.

Finally, Jack stops shuffling, confident that no one could possibly guess the location of the ball, but then he goes ahead and moves each of the cups one last time.

Jack looks intently at Walter and says, “Okay then, make your best guess.”

“I have been a fool. I should have never agreed to this,” the Giant moans.

Jack's confidence soars.

“Well, which one?” Scotty presses.

The Giant rubs his hairy chin. He starts to point at the cup on the far left but then pulls his hand back and says, “Honestly, I have no clue.”

The odds seem to be in Jack's favor.

No one speaks for what seems like a full minute. Then Scotty again asks, “Okay, which cup?”

The Giant points to the cup on the right and says, “Okay, show me I'm wrong.”

Jack gulps. He realizes his future of freedom or captivity boils down to this moment. Before he lifts the cup, though, he looks at Amy, who has leaned down close to his side. She is not watching. Her head hangs low, and her eyes are closed.

Jack lifts the cup slowly.

There, underneath the cup, is the small red ball.

A fire lights underneath the skin of his face. He thinks,
No!
How?

He looks up, bewildered.

Amy raises her head, and after seeing the ball for herself, she gasps.

Scotty bellows, “No way.”

The wolf also lets out a surprised, “Well I'll be.”

Mason simply turns away.

Walter laughs lightheartedly.

Never in all of his life has Jack been so stunned.

“Well boy,” says the Giant. “Say your farewells, and we shall take leave.”

Chapter 146

Jack is in complete shock. The gravity of the moment forces down his shoulders into a slump. He thinks,
No, this can
't be. What's going to happen to me? How long will I have to stay here? What are my parents going to do without me?
These thoughts depress Jack even further.

“This cannot be happening,” Scotty moans. “Jack, you can't leave us.”

However, in spite of his friend's declaration, Jack knows there is no alternative and that the Giant is going to take him.

Nonetheless, Amy makes another last ditch effort to the Giant, “One more game all of nothing. If you win, we'll all go with you.”

Mason qualifies this by saying, “No way, Amy, I'm walking out of here.”

“Speak for yourself,” snarls the wolf in agreement with Mason.

“No,” the Giant declares. “I think the time for games is over. You had your one chance. It's time you came with me, boy.”

Amy looks Jack in the eyes, and with tears streaming down her face, she kisses him softly and quickly on the lips.

The kiss stuns Jack, but the dread of the moment outweighs the emotion of the kiss.

Amy pleads, “You can't go. It's not fair. Mason distracted you.”

“He didn't mean to,” Jack counters, although he isn't sure he believes it himself.

“It's time to go,” the Giant says and makes a motion toward the gap in the wall.

“Just a second, please,” Jack responds. “Scotty, tell my parents what happened here.”

Scotty grimly nods and wipes his wet eyes.

Then Jack and Mason eye each other. Finally, Mason offers softly, “No one's going to believe us, Jack…. Jack, I promise I didn't mean to—”

“Forget it, Mason,” Jack says.

His previous impulse to deck Mason has been overcome with a feeling that he is sincere.

After another awkward few seconds, Mason muses, “Maybe we can come back and bust you out one day?” Then he extends a hand.

It's clear to Jack that his friend of many years meant no harm. So, Jack obliges and says, “See you someday, Mason,” before he gulps back the lump in his throat.

Jack now approaches the narrator. The man who had already saved them once simply looks at Jack and gives a deep nod of concern.

“Look,” Jack requests, knowing the answer will be no. “Can you, maybe, help me out with this?”