Horseflies (6 page)

“I hope you get over your spring fever before the Fourth of July, Starlight,” Carole said as she quickly brushed the dried sweat from his coat. “Otherwise we’ll have to invent a whole new name for whatever it is you’ve got!”

“L
OOK
! T
HERE
’
S
C
AROLE
!” Jamie Bacon’s voice rang out from the backseat of Mrs. Atwood’s car. “But where’s Stevie? Isn’t she supposed to come with us?”

“Yes, Jamie, she is,” Lisa reassured the excited little boy as they pulled up to Pine Hollow. “She might be visiting her horse, or she might not be here yet.”

“Then can we go see Nickel?” Jamie unbuckled his seat belt and pressed himself against the front seat, where Lisa and her mother sat.

“Maybe.” Lisa rolled down her window and waved at Carol.

“Oh, please?” Jamie began to jump in the backseat. “Please?”

“Jamie, honey, calm down,” Mrs. Atwood said gently.
“You don’t want to tire yourself out before you even get to the fair.” She parked the car and turned to Lisa. “I’ll wait here in the parking lot. Why don’t you take Jamie up to visit the pony for a minute? Maybe Carole knows where Stevie is.”

“Okay.” Lisa opened her door. “Come on, Jamie.”

Jamie bounded out of the car and ran toward the stable. “Hi, Carole!” he called. “We’re going to the fair! Will you ride the merry-go-round with me? Where’s Stevie? Can we go see Nickel?”

“Gosh, Jamie.” Carole laughed. “You sound a little excited. Yes, I’ll ride the merry-go-round with you.”

“Hi, Carole.” Lisa hurried up, already out of breath from chasing after Jamie. “Where’s Stevie?”

“She just called the stable and left Mrs. Reg an emergency message for us,” Carole reported. “She said not to leave without her, that Chad had put crunchy peanut butter in her best sneakers and she had to clean them out before she could come, but she would be here in ten minutes.”

“Uh-oh,” Lisa said with a grin. “I know an older brother who’s gonna get revenged.”

Carole laughed. “This one should really be good. I already feel sorry for Chad.”

“So can we go see Nickel?” Jamie pulled Lisa by the arm.

“Well …,” Lisa began.

Suddenly there was a shrill whistle from the parking lot. “Hey, everybody!” a voice called. “Aren’t we going to the fair?”

They all turned. Stevie stood by the Atwoods’ car, waving. The Lakes’ station wagon was disappearing around the curve. Mrs. Lake must have taken mercy on Stevie and dropped her off.

“I guess you’ll have to visit Nickel some other time, Jamie,” Lisa said. “Stevie’s here and we need to go.”

“Aw.” Jamie stuck out his lower lip. “I want to see Nickel.”

“Well, how about if the first thing we ride at the fair is the merry-go-round?” suggested Lisa. “You’ve been talking about it all morning, so we’ll do that as soon as we get there.”

“Okay.” Jamie brightened and skipped back to the car.

Lisa looked at Carole proudly. “I think we created a brand-new horseman the other day.”

“I know.” Carole beamed. “Isn’t it terrific?”

They piled into Mrs. Atwood’s car, where, all the way to the fair, Stevie complained about her brother.

“I can’t believe Chad would do something that nasty,” Stevie fumed. “He knew this was important. He knew I was going to see Phil today.”

“I thought you two had declared a truce,” said Carole.

“I thought so, too. But Chad re-declared war when he stuffed all that goopy peanut butter in my shoes. It took me forever to get it out!” Stevie sat back and crossed her arms. “Just wait. I’ll think of a trick to play on him that will go down in the history books.”

“How much longer till we get to the fair?” Jamie asked
Lisa. Though he had listened politely to Stevie’s ranting and raving, Lisa could tell that he could hardly wait to get to the fair.

“We’re almost there,” Mrs. Atwood called from the driver’s seat. She turned off the highway down a dusty, unpaved road. Just across a large field they could see a tall Ferris wheel, a ride that looked like a giant pirate ship, and a set of enormous swings.

Mrs. Atwood dropped them off at the gate, reminding them that she would pick them up at three. “Don’t ride anything that will make you queasy,” she called as they got out of the car. “Remember, Lisa, you’ve got a sensitive stomach!”

“Bye, Mom,” Lisa said wearily as her mother drove away.

“Come on!” Jamie grabbed her by the hand and pulled her toward the front gate. “Let’s go ride the merry-go-round!”

They had just paid their admission fee when they heard a familiar voice behind them. “Why, there’s The Saddle Club. Fancy meeting them here!”

The girls turned. Phil Marsten, Stevie’s boyfriend, stood there smiling. He wore jeans and a green polo shirt and a space helmet made out of bright pink foam. “Pretty cool hat, huh?” He laughed, nodding and making the two sparkly antennas wiggle. “I won it at the bottle toss.”

“Sorry we’re late, Phil,” Stevie called. “I had a rather sticky encounter with my brother.”

“No problem,” said Phil. “The fair will be here all day
long.” He looked down at Jamie and gave him a warm smile. “Is this Jamie, the famous horseman?”

“Yes,” Lisa said. “And he really wants to ride the merry-go-round.”

“Well, let’s go.” Phil pointed past the fortune-telling booth. “I think I saw it right over there.”

Jamie pulled Carole and Lisa toward the merry-go-round. Stevie and Phil followed, laughing together. It was a beautiful day for a fair—bright and sunny, with the sound of music drifting on a gentle breeze. A gypsy with silver earrings called to them to have their fortunes told. A local high-school band was trying to sink its director in a dunking booth. The director made faces and called funny insults to his students while they tried to hit a target with a softball and plunge him into a tank of water. Everyone was laughing and enjoying the spectacle when suddenly Jamie stopped.

“Oh no!” he cried, tears edging his voice. “Look!”

Everyone looked where he pointed. The merry-go-round was still and dark. All the horses were frozen in place, and not one note of cheerful music filled the air. A yellow plastic band had been tied around the ride with
OUT OF ORDER
printed in thick black letters.

Jamie looked up at Lisa and Carole and Stevie, his lower lip quivering. “Is it broken?”

Lisa bent down and gave him a hug. “That’s what the sign says, Jamie. But there are lots of other rides here that are just as much fun as the merry-go-round.”

“Do they have horses?”

“Well, no, but—”

“I want to ride on the merry-go-round!” Jamie crossed his arms and stamped his foot.

“Hey, come on, Jamie.” Phil knelt down beside him. “There are lots of neat rides here. There’s the Tilt-A-Whirl carousel and the Typhoon and the Spyder and a really cool Ferris wheel. You might even be able to see Pine Hollow from the top of it!”

Jamie peeked up at Phil. “Could I see Nickel?”

Phil frowned. “Well, maybe. If Nickel’s outside, of course.”

“Well, okay,” muttered Jamie, grabbing Lisa’s hand again.

“You want to wear my space helmet?” Phil took off his pink hat and put it on Jamie’s head.

Jamie looked up as the antennas wiggled above him.

Phil led the way to the Ferris wheel, showing Jamie the face-painting booth and the haunted house along the way. Jamie looked at everything, but nothing brought a smile to his face. “I want to ride the merry-go-round,” he said again.

They bought tickets for the Ferris wheel. All five of them could fit into one of the double seats. Jamie sat between Carole and Lisa; Stevie and Phil faced them.

“Here we go,” Phil said as the wheel began to lift them up.

“How’s your sensitive stomach, Lisa?” Stevie asked, pretending to be afraid. “You’re not going to barf, are you?”

“No.” Lisa shook her head. “Sometimes I think my mother just dreams up things to worry about.”

Bit by bit they rose higher, pausing as other people got on the ride. At the first stop they could see the tops of all the rides; then they could see the tops of all the trees; then suddenly they were at the top of the wheel and the whole countryside spread out before them like a green patchwork quilt.

“Where’s Pine Hollow?” Jamie sat up straight and clutched the safety bar that held them in.

“It should be right over there.” Phil squinted and pointed over Carole’s left shoulder. Jamie turned and peered at the distant scenery.

“Can you see Nickel?” Stevie asked.

Jamie looked for a moment, then slumped back disappointedly in the seat. “No,” he said as the Ferris wheel began to turn. “I want to ride the merry-go-round.”

For three full rotations of the Ferris wheel, Jamie whined about the merry-go-round. Then the ride ended. Phil suggested they go buy Jamie some cotton candy. “Maybe it’ll sweeten him up and he’ll forget about the you-know-what,” he whispered in Stevie’s ear.

“I sure hope so,” Stevie whispered back. “He’s acting as bratty as my brothers.”

They walked over to a snack booth and bought Jamie a giant cone of pink-and-blue cotton candy.

“Does it taste good, Jamie?” Stevie asked as they headed toward the Tilt-A-Whirl.

Jamie nodded with his mouth full. “But I still want to ride the merry-go-round.”

“There are a lot of other neat rides here, Jamie,” said Stevie. “Let’s go try them out!”

So they spun twice on the Tilt-A-Whirl, turned upside down several times on the Phazer, and careened through at least three Typhoon rides. Stevie bought Jamie an Italian sausage sandwich while Carole and Lisa kept him well supplied with Sno-Kones and candy apples. All the while the only thing he talked about was the merry-go-round. Finally Phil took him to the milk bottle toss while The Saddle Club sat down under a tree to figure out what to do.

“I don’t understand,” grumbled Stevie. “We’ve taken Jamie on every ride here twice, we’ve fed him all the junk food the fair has to offer, and he still can’t get over the merry-go-round.”

“I know,” Carole said. “We’ve done everything we can to distract him from it, but nothing seems to work. He’s a sweet little boy at the stable, but here he’s a real pain in the neck.”

“I’m sorry,” Lisa said sadly. “I had no idea he would act like this.”

“It’s not your fault,” Stevie reassured her.

“Hey, everybody. Look what Jamie won!”

The girls looked up. Phil and Jamie were walking toward them. Jamie carried a huge brown teddy bear with a red bow around his neck.

“Wow, Jamie!” Carole said. “How did you win that?”

“He knocked down three bottles at the milk bottle toss,” Phil explained with a big wink. “Jamie’s got a great arm. The carnival guy was amazed!”

“That’s terrific, Jamie!” Lisa said. “Aren’t you happy?”

“Yes.” Jamie nodded. “But I still want to ride the merry-go-round.”

Crestfallen, the girls looked at each other. Everything they did was useless. Everything Phil did was useless. Jamie wanted to ride the merry-go-round, and nothing else would do.

“Wait,” Stevie said, jumping up off the bench. “I’ve got an idea. Why don’t we go back to the merry-go-round and see if they’ve fixed it?”

“All right!” Jamie’s blue eyes sparkled.

Carole and Lisa glanced at each other, both wondering if this was such a great idea, but Jamie was already tugging Stevie and Phil toward the merry-go-round. They had no choice but to follow.

Hurrying past the gypsy fortune-teller and the dunking booth, they turned a corner and saw the merry-go-round, still dark and silent. The only thing different about it was that a carnival worker in denim coveralls was doing something to the motor with a wrench and an oil can.

“Sorry, Jamie,” Phil said softly as tears came to the little boy’s eyes. “Looks like it’s still broken.”

“Wait!” Stevie cried suddenly. “Stay right there. Don’t move. I’ve just had a stroke of genius!”

Lisa and Carole stood beside Jamie and Phil and watched as Stevie ran to the merry-go-round. She threaded her way through the frozen horses and began talking to the man in the coveralls. He looked over at them once, scratched his
head, then shrugged his shoulders. Stevie pumped his hand madly, then motioned for everybody to come over.

“Are we going to ride?” Jamie asked excitedly.

“I don’t know,” Carole answered, wondering about Stevie’s “stroke of genius.”

“Jamie, this is Mr. Carter,” Stevie said as they approached the ride. “He says the merry-go-round has a broken crankshaft and won’t be fixed until the end of the week. But I explained to him that this is the only ride you really wanted to ride and how upset you are, and he says you can sit on whichever horse you want to.”

“Really?” Jamie smiled for the first time that day.

Stevie nodded.

“Neat!” Jamie walked around the merry-go-round and studied each horse carefully. Finally he pointed to a coal black stallion wearing a red-and-gold saddle and rearing on its hind legs. “That one,” he said.

“Exactly the one I would have chosen,” said Stevie. They walked over to the horse and she lifted Jamie onto its back. “Pretty neat, huh?” She smiled.

“Yeah,” Jamie said. He put his feet in the little stirrups and stroked the horse’s wooden head. Then he closed his eyes and held the reins tight, pretending that the horse was galloping away with him. In just a moment, though, he opened his eyes again and looked at Stevie. “Can’t the man make it work just for a little while?” he asked.