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Authors: Todd Loyd

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BOOK: Dark Ride
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Chapter 23

The train pulls Amy into a new room. The doors slam behind her.

She thinks,
Those stupid boys. We are going to be in so much trouble.
She didn't say this just because they had disregarded Clyde's instructions. Mainly, she had been so demonstrative in hopes that they would re-join her for the reason that she had no desire to be left alone in such a spooky place. Despite this, though, Amy finds herself alone.

Winding up in a mess caused by Mason Chick reminds Amy of previous experiences with him. Oftentimes when they were younger, before Mason could stay alone at his house, he would spend two or three agonizingly long days at Amy's when his bachelor father was working on an especially rough case. One event in particular that had cemented her dislike for Mason occurred when she was in second grade. Amy was playing with one of her dolls in her room. She was setting up a surprise birthday party for Barbie and had arranged her other dolls around the dream house to surprise the doll. Her playtime was disturbed when Mason waltzed in carrying one of Scotty's dinosaurs. He started snarling and hissing, stomping around the room.

“Stop it, Mason! You're knocking over my dolls.”

“Godzilla not care, must destroy!”

He threw down the play toy and apparently decided he would play the role of the giant lizard. Grabbing and slinging her dolls recklessly around, he hissed and growled, mocking the monstrous cries of Godzilla. He proceeded to stomp and break more than one doll. This was more than she could bear. She slung herself at his legs and tried to make him stop. With his left leg, he slung her into the dream house, cracking it in two. She was mortified with a combination of tears, rage, and hurt. Mason simply looked at her and snickered.

Then he ripped the head off of Barbie and roared, “Godzilla—king of monsters—rahhhhhh!” And with that, he was gone.

Amy heard that, as a result of this incident, Mason had gotten in trouble. However, he had never apologized to Amy, and despite the fact that they were only little kids when it happened, she had never forgiven him.

The cart Amy is in slows to a crawl for riders to get a good view of the room. To her left is a campfire scene. Green lights provide the forest-like atmosphere, and a small tent provides shelter for what looks to be an oldtime spinning wheel. Gold strands of what appears to be hair are draped over a wicker basket. Amy immediately recognizes the scene as one from Rumpelstiltskin.

The train stops, the sounds fade, and the lights cut off. The power seems to be off again. Looking backwards, Amy waits for the boys to spring through the doors. The two dull emergency lights provide little comfort for her. She is afraid.

Waiting patiently, though, she sits and says, “I am supposed to stay in the cart. Clyde said to stay in the cart.”

Nonetheless, her resolve to stay in cart is immediately tested. She imagines that the walls are closing in. Then she hears a crackle noise from behind, followed by a pop from above. Craning her neck to catch the cause of the noises, she tries to settle herself, thinking,
It's nothing, just like at home when the house settles
.
The boys will be here in a moment.
Amy takes another look at the door. On it are odd shadows that resemble a man.
That's just plain creepy
, thinks Amy who starts wondering what exactly happened to Douglas Finch. She tells herself,
It's just a story, Amy, stop it.

But, she realizes that all she has to protect herself with is Lucky, the stuffed bear, and, after a bizarre whirling sound exudes from the wall to her left, she feels so much apprehension and fear welling up inside her that she can no longer tolerate sitting there.

She thinks,
What if Mason was right? What if Clyde…. Stop it, Amy, get a hold of yourself.

Regardless, she can stay put no longer. After wrangling herself from behind the iron bar, Amy steps out into the room. It is remarkably still.

Amy looks at the train and sees Lucky in the second cart. She heads toward the large bear and lifts him from the seat. “So you're stuck in here, too? Mason is such a jerk for leaving us here. Scotty was simply doing what he thought Mason would like, and Jack…well…what was Jack thinking? Boys. Don't worry, Lucky, they'll be here in a second…. Won't they?”

Amy strolls over to the campfire. A collection of sticks are stacked up against each other to form the structure. One stick in particular appears loose, and it grabs her attention.

“Good idea, Lucky. It wouldn't hurt to have that, just in case. She lifts the object from its rest and holds it firmly with her right hand. The stick is solid wood and roughly three feet long, similar to a softball bat.

In fourth grade, Amy's dad had made her go out for softball. She absolutely hated it at first. The practices were pure drudgery. But this changed after she played in her first real game. The crowd, the competition—they fueled her. Ever since that first game, she was hooked.

Amy cradles the stick and squeezes her hands around the solid wood exterior, thinking,
Like to see someone try and get us now.

From the wall to her left, sudden music startles Amy. She wonders,
What's that? Is the power coming back on?

After rushing back to the train, she pauses. The train doesn't stir. The green tinted lights don't flicker to life. But the music continues. It's calliope music. Amy ponders,
I didn't think we were that close to the carousel.

Amy is now filled with confusion but also curiosity.
Where is that music coming from?
she wonders and takes cautious steps toward the wall, scanning for the point of origin. Above her head, a neon green sign glows to life. It reads, “Enter.” The outline of a door is now apparent on the wall. Amy thinks,
Is this a way out? Could I walk out the doors and back into the park? No. Then it would be labeled “Exit,” not “
Enter.”
She notices a crash bar at her waist protruding from the door.

“What do you think, Lucky? Wait for the boys? Right, let's go back and wait in the cart.”

Turning back to the vehicle, she gives another glance at the door. The music grows louder.

Chapter 24

A barrage of activity, lights, sounds, and motion comes all at once. The three boys wheel around, but it's too late to catch Amy. As a result of their foolishness, they turn just in time to see her carried through the large doors.

Jack arrives at the doors first. Desperately, he flings himself at the door, expecting it to give way, but a dull thud is heard as his shoulder strikes the barrier.

“They won't budge.”

“You serious? Back off, let me try,” offers Mason.

Relenting to let the “macho man” try, Jack watches as Mason grunts with his shoulder pressed on the door.

“Oh, man, you're right. Come on, help me here.”

Jack takes a position directly beside Mason.

“Okay, we push on three,” states Mason.

Scotty, willing to help, looks up at the other two boys and asks, “Hey, where do you guys want me?”

Dismissing the offer, Mason growls, “You'll just get in the way, Scotty. We'll take it from here.”

Scotty, however, ignores the rebuff and finds a place to push beside Mason, who looks at Jack and says, “One, two, three.”

The door does not give, but Scotty's footing does. He slides face first towards the floor, and his hands search for a steadying hold. They find Mason's shirt, which rips at the collar and results in the larger boy falling down on top of Scotty.

In the ensuing confusion, Mason ambles to his feet and yells, “Scotty, you klutz! I told you to stand back. You almost strangled me. Now get back and let us handle this.”

Reproached, Scotty wanders a few feet back while rubbing a bright red spot on his forehead. Still wanting to help, he offers, “But if we just wait for the next train to come through, we can catch up.”

“He's right, Mason, another train should be here any minute.”

On cue, the hum of the sound system throttles off and dim lights flash bright and then go out, leaving only the emergency lights that lazily give off their glow. The power has died again.

“No use in waiting for another train now,” says Jack. A dark thought clouds his mind:
Did the ride respond to our plans? No, that's ridiculous
. Scotty remarks, “It's like the ride heard you, Jack.”

“Shut up, Scotty,” says Mason, who's assessing the damage to his shirt.

“Well, at least this buys us some time. Amy's train won't be going anywhere ‘til the power cuts back on. Come on, Jack. We need to hurry. The power might cut back on soon.” Mason says.

After another three-count followed by straining and groaning, a slight budge gives way. However, it's not enough for any of them to squeeze through.

“Oh man, we're in for it now, Mason. Clyde is going to know that we got out of the ride. He's going to know we were up to something, and Amy—she's….”

Jack stops mid-sentence before revealing a deeper level of concern for the girl.

“Calm down, Jack,” assures Mason. “We're going to get through that door.”

Still, Jack's mind races,“
What was I thinking? Everything had been so perfect. She's out there all alone, and I left her.

Mason instructs, “Jack look around. We need something to pry them open.”

Every second wasted in the room, causes more stress to envelop Jack. He realizes that Amy's cart could be two rooms ahead now.

Thankfully, Mason is keeping his cool. He says, “There—against the wall—that stack of bones,” and saunters to the pile. Examining the collection, he pulls a leg bone from the stack. “This will do.”

Scotty starts, “You want me to—?”

“Can it, Scotty, you've helped enough.”

The mood is tense, and even Jack pays little attention to the harsh treatment of Scotty.

“We're gonna push one more time. Give it all you've got, and when we get a gap, I'll do the rest. One, two, three.”

Jack slams his shoulder hard into his door with desperation fueling his effort. As the others exert their will as well, the doors open slightly. While Mason grinds his left shoulder on the left door, he extends his right hand and lodges the bone into the crevice. Then, using the bone as a wedge, Mason forces the small opening to extend. A loud cracking sound occurs as the bone snaps in two and Mason spills back onto his posterior. Nonetheless, the left-side door flings open due to the hinge giving way against the strain.

“It worked! Let's go! Hurry!” Jack implores.

Mason flings a piece of the broken bone to the side and clambers to his feet, joining the other boys in making a break through the open door, which leads into the Rumpelstiltskin Room.

Chapter 25

Scotty is the last one into the room. He is hurt. Mason has rarely been so critical of him before, and it stings. He is not sure what is more painful, the lump forming just below his hairline or the insults Mason threw his way.

Sulking and feeling useless, the boy decides to let the other two be the heroes by rescuing the damsel in distress. Instead of following the other boys to the center of the room, he slumps away from them to explore the room. After all, he, too, had never been able to walk around the ride like this. He examines the tent set up in the room as well as the spinning wheel and the fake bonfire. Although the sticks were toppled over, this didn't faze Scotty as being all that unusual, but out of the corner of his eye, he spies something shinning and wonders,
What's this?
It turns out to be a shiny pair of large silver scissors at the base of the spinning wheel. His eyes are transfixed on the sheers. Marveling at the imagination of the creators of the ride for their realism, he stands before them as an idea flashes in his mind:
My prop! I bet Mason thinks I was going to chicken out. Well, I'll show him. He'll have to be impressed. Maybe he will forget about my fall back there.

Glowing with pride, he scoops up the scissors, thinking,
Now we all have what we came for. Mission complete!
He calls out, “Guys, look what…. Guys? What are you looking at?”

Then, looking down, he gasps at what the other two are staring at: an empty train with no sign of Amy.

Chapter 26

“This is way too creepy deepy. So, Lucky, do we go through the door or stay in here? We could wait for the boys.”

After further consideration, Amy says, “No, it serves them right. We should leave them. I bet this door will lead us right out of here. The power is off again, and that music has to be coming from outside the ride. Come on, let's go. Oh, this is ludicrous: I'm talking to a stuffed bear. What? Don't look at me like that.”

Amy thinks about waiting for Jack but then tells herself, “
He left me sitting there on the ride, too. He's no better than the others.”

She pushes the bar, and the door under the “Enter” sign gives way. A small black tunnel is revealed behind the door.

“Jackpot, Lucky! This is a service exit.”

Another single door illuminated by two glowing emergency lights appears at the end of the tunnel.

Slowly and cautiously, Amy takes one step at a time. The lights at the end of the hall provide little comfort for the shaken girl and her bear.

“When we get to that door and find Clyde, we are not covering for them, you know,” Amy says aloud, and then

thinks,
The faster I get out of here, the better.

As Amy quickens her pace, the calliope music grows louder.
Maybe the carousel is just on the other side
? she considers. But when she pushes against this second door, the music stops as the door opens to reveal another room. Amy realizes she is still in the ride and thinks,
Oh, just great.

She sees a gingerbread house positioned in the center of the large room. The house stands there made entirely of candy. It is a life-sized version of one of those gingerbread houses she used to make with her grandmother during Christmas break. Trying to make sense of the situation, Amy thinks,
I just took a cut through to another part of the ride.

From somewhere up above, a speaker cracks and buzzes. Amy looks in the direction of the sound and is startled to see a narrator mannequin with a large book in hand. Amy, reassuring herself that the figure is not real, waits for the rhyme.

“Little Red all alone had made a wrong turn.
A poor choice, she made the boys to spurn.
If she had some wisdom on this ominous night,
She would realize her peril and at once take flight.”

Amy thinks, “
Little Red, wrong turn, boys? What peril? Wait a minute, is he talking about me? This can't be happening. It has to be a coincidence.
Just then another ominous fact makes her dizzy. She says, “Wait a second, isn't the power off? How is that speaker…?”

Talking to the bear is absurd, she knows, but it helps calm her a little.

“Okay, Lucky, that's enough. Let's go find the boys.”

Amy turns around to reach for the door and exclaims, “What in the world!?”

The handle and the door are both missing. She scratches and pries along the wall trying to find the door, but it's no use. The entrance has completely disappeared.

Panic takes hold of Amy, and she yells, “Jack! Scotty! Help! Somebody!”

BOOK: Dark Ride
6.02Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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