Carter and the Curious Maze (3 page)

Scared
Yet?

C
arter
burst out of the hedge onto the maze pathway, his eyes darting all around.

“Mr. Green? Come out! I want out of here!” he shouted.

Mr. Green walked out of the bushes. His garden shears poked out of the top of the deep pocket in his green smock, and he clutched them tightly with his deformed hand.

“It's just me, Carter. No need to shout.” The old man stared at him.

Even his teeth look creepy! And
don't
look at his thumb!

Carter tried not to stare at the creepy thumb, but he couldn't help it. Mr. Green seemed not to notice and repeated his question.

“So are you? Scared? You certainly
look
scared.” Mr. Green stared at Carter and blinked. He didn't even reach Carter's shoulder.

SNIP.

Mr. Green blinked again. Carter wasn't sure … but it was entirely possible that the old man's
eyes
were made of wood, too. They were the colour of wood, speckled like wood, stiff and round like wood …

NO! His eyes are not made of wood! No one has WOODEN eyes! Get a grip on yourself!

“Look! I've had enough, okay? There are at least two lost kids in here, and I've just seen grown-ups playing war or something. A wounded man was being chased around by angry soldiers with bayonets! You should do something!”

Carter's voice rose, but Mr. Green didn't answer. Carter was losing his temper, so he closed his eyes tight and opened them again.

He was alone. Mr. Green was gone.

Where did he go
this
time?

“Okay, play games if you want, Mr. Green, but as soon as I get out of here, I'm going to the police! Someone has to tell them what's going on in this place!”

The only answer was the breeze gently ruffling the bushes.

Carter took a deep breath and looked up into the sky. He was sure his mother and sister would be looking for him, worried by now. Maybe they had called the police, and soon the maze would be crawling with officers calling his name. That thought was a tiny relief. Eventually
someone
would come looking for him — there was no doubt about that. But when?

The old man liked scaring kids. How weird! Creepy Leaf Girl and the little boy both looked pretty scared. And who knows what was going on with the wounded soldier? Adults played weird games sometimes, like paintball and war re-enactments. Maybe there was a perfectly sane explanation for the soldier?

Carter jutted his chin out and felt just a little bit courageous. Mr. Green might be able to scare those other kids, but he wasn't going to scare
him
!

But there was another thought forming in Carter's head, one that was much more worry­ing than wounded soldiers, a lost child, or weird old men with deformed fingers.

What if he
couldn't find the exit
?

What if he ended up wandering around and around and around, every once in a while bumping into the little boy looking for his mom, or the wounded soldier, or worst of all, Creepy Leaf Girl?

The thought made Carter a little sick. He was starting to feel a little like the hamster at school who spent his entire life running along mazes built out of books.

Although, Carter told himself, the hamster found his way out. Most of the time.

Carter frowned. This whole situation was really weird. It didn't make sense.

But it was beginning to dawn on Carter that maybe … just maybe … the maze wasn't supposed to make sense.

He was about to start walking again when a shadow fell across the path. The hedges parted behind him, and someone tapped him on the back.

Sydney? Please be Sydney!

Carter swallowed and turned around …

IT WAS CREEPY LEAF GIRL!

Carter shrieked.

He wanted to run, but his feet wouldn't work!

Creepy Leaf Girl raised her arm and shuffled slowly toward him like a stiff young sapling tree.

Carter backed up against the hedge. Vines leapt and curled around his feet and his arms, holding him tight. Creepy Leaf Girl tried to speak, but her voice was choked. Her bonnet slipped back off her head, and leaves and small twigs popped out of her ears. Then more leaves curled out of her hair and sprouted along her eyebrows. Carter stiffened further into the hedge in horror.

“NO! DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!” he tried to scream, but the vines curled over his lips. He covered his face with his arm, and turned away.

PLEASE GO AWAY!

Creepy Leaf Girl came closer and closer, opening her arms. She opened her mouth and green, lush leaves popped out, curling over her lips, then down her long, white neck. Her voice came out in a garbled, leafy whisper, “H-e-l-p … m-e … p-l-e-a-s-e … g-a-r-d-e-n … s-h-e-a-r-s …”

Carter opened his mouth to SCREAM himself to death …

… when a strong hand yanked him backward through the hedge.

 

Amazed

C
arter
didn't stop to see who had grabbed him. He ran, panicked. He crashed along the pathway, stumbling over uneven bricks and past scratchy bushes. Vines leapt out of the hedge, clutching at his feet and hands. He ripped them off and kept running.

Where's Sydney! Where's the way out! Help! HELP!

He ran the pathway, dodging left and right at each turn, until he thought his heart would burst. It took him a while to realize that someone was running beside him, someone fast and strong.

Carter screwed up his courage and peeked over his shoulder. A boy about his own age ran with him. The boy smiled and then leapt past, almost leaving Carter behind.

Carter followed as fast as he could, but there was no way he could keep up. Carter wasn't a bad runner. In fact, he was a GOOD runner, but this boy was amazing.

The boy was bare-chested, and long, black hair danced down his back as he ran. He wore leather pants and moccasins on his feet.

Maybe they helped him run fast? Carter thought about all the expensive running shoes he had begged his mother for over the years and wondered briefly if maybe this boy knew something he didn't. At every turn in the pathway, the boy looked back and made sure Carter was still following.

I hope he knows the way out!

They ran for another minute, but soon Carter couldn't catch his breath. He finally stopped running at a bend in the maze and held up his hand, groaning, bent over.

“Stop! I can't run anymore,” he gasped. The boy stopped, waiting, wary, watching the bushes all around them. A leather necklace with a big white claw dangled over the boy's bare chest.

A Native boy? Another historical performer? Where are all these people coming from?

“Um, hi. I'm Carter. Thanks for saving me back there. That … that girl with the leaves. I … I don't know how anyone can be so creepy! Do you know the way out? I'm supposed to meet my mom and my sister at the parking lot. Do you know where that is? The parking lot?” Carter slowly regained his breath.

The boy stopped smiling. He said, very slowly and carefully, like he was trying to say it perfectly, “Par … king … law … t?”

“Yeah, it's over there somewhere. I think,” Carter said, pointing to where he figured the maze must end.

If there WAS an end.
Please, please let there be an end.

The boy frowned, like he didn't understand. Maybe he wasn't from around here?

“I'm Carter. CARTER.”

The boy repeated very slowly, “Car … tair.”

This kid must be French or something? If he's a historical performer, he's a really good actor.

“Yeah, close enough. I've seen a lost kid, and a wounded soldier, and now that leaf girl, twice. And let's not even mention Mr. Green and his garden shears. I really just want to find the exit and go home. Do you know the way out of here? Can we go that way?” Carter pointed toward where he thought … hoped … his mother and sister were waiting for him.

The boy grew serious. He shook his head and cut the air with his hand across his chest. He could only be saying “NO!”

“Okay, okay! Not that way, I get it. But
do
you know the way out?” Carter asked hopefully. Finally, here was someone who seemed, well maybe not exactly normal, but possibly able to help him. Someone who could see him and understand him, sort of. Carter needed all the help he could get.

SNIP!

SNIP!

Mr. Green! The boy grabbed Carter, and they ran through the maze, dodging left and right at top speed like two silent shadows.

SNIP!

SNIP!

Wherever Mr. Green was, the Native boy seemed to stay one step ahead of him, dodging and darting along the path.

They ran until Carter was ready to collapse … then suddenly stopped. The boy put his hands to his lips in a
shhhh
… and they listened to the breeze.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Carter strained his ears for the dreaded SNIP! SNIP! But instead he heard …

… a distant shriek! Sounds of the midway! Carter's heart pounded.

The exit must be near! They must be reaching the end of the maze! Carter thought he was going to faint with relief. They crept along quickly, keeping low.

The midway sounds got louder. More people shrieked and laughed. Carter heard music and finally, he could smell … fried food and garbage!

I never thought the smell of garbage would make me so happy!

SNIP!

SNIP!

The boy gave Carter one final enormous shove, and Carter burst out of the bushes. He blinked. He was out of the maze! He was free! The sounds and smells of the fair were all around him.

“Thank you!” Carter called out, but the boy was gone. The exit to the maze looked so harmless, just a path and a few bushes.

They really ought to put a “Danger, keep out” sign here
, he thought.

He turned his back on the maze. He could go and find Sydney and his mom! They could get the police to help the wounded soldier! Then he could go home and try to forget about this weird afternoon. He looked around.

Then he frowned.

Something wasn't quite right.

He turned back to the maze … and saw an old-fashioned wooden carousel spinning around and around.

Where did THAT come from?

Carter blinked and looked again. The carou­sel spun and wheezed …

… but the curious maze was gone.

 

The Grand Fair

C
arter
stared. The wooden carousel went around and around. Children rode the painted wooden horses, laughing and having fun.

It didn't make sense.

Where did the maze go?

He opened and closed his eyes a few times, but the maze didn't reappear.

What? What's … going on?

The children on the carousel all wore the same old-fashioned clothes as the little boy from the maze, and Creepy Leaf Girl.

Okay, so the maze has gone, I'm not sure how they did that, but okay. Great trick. Magicians do make big things disappear, I think. This
old-fashioned
carousel is really authentic, so are the children, but at least now I know where that little boy and Creepy Leaf Girl came from. That still doesn't explain the soldier … or the Native boy …

Carter was a reasonable boy, trying to make reasonable sense of the situation.

But nothing really made sense. He stared at the carousel a little longer, then called out, “Pretty cool, Mr. Green! A disappearing maze, not bad, not bad at all.” No one answered him, though, and the carousel riders shrieked louder than ever. The music wheezed on.

Then he remembered what Mr. Green had said when he first entered the maze:
it's the most
interesting
ride at the fair
.

The maze
was
interesting, that's for sure
.

And creepy
, he thought.
Be honest, it was scary, too.

But he hadn't
really
been scared … had he?

It didn't matter anyway, now that he was free. If Mr. Green had done something weird by somehow making the curious maze disappear, what did he care now he was out of it? If he ever saw that Native boy again, he'd have to thank him for getting him out of there. He turned to go. His mother and Sydney and the parking lot weren't far away now. He took a step, turned around a few more times, and then stopped and frowned again.

Something else was definitely not right.

Not only was the maze gone, but there was also something wrong with the midway. He'd been so happy to get out of the maze and to hear shrieks of riders and smell fried food (and garbage) that he hadn't really LOOKED at the fairgrounds.

The midway wasn't right. Not right at all.

A small wooden Ferris wheel circled up and down.

I've never seen
that
there before.

Nearby, a tiny wooden roller coaster rolled around a short track. People on the ride shrieked, but it was the least scary-looking ride Carter had ever seen, as though it was for really young kids. A large sign above it said, “Ride the Switchback! Just like Coney Island!”

Coney Island? What's that?

He heard a yell from overhead and looked up. A man in a sling rolled slowly past on a cable, as though he was zip-lining but very, very slowly. A nearby sign read: “Take your chance on the Aerial Railway!”

I've never noticed the Aerial Railway there before, either.

People flowed all around Carter as though he wasn't there. He turned in circles, his mouth open.

Where's the real midway?

Where was the mighty Double Helix Death-Defying roller coaster? And the Monster Loop-the-Loop? And the Zippedy Spinner? And the Skull-N-Bonz Pirate Ship? He'd even be happy to see the sad, so-not-scary haunted house right about now.

There were at least a dozen more rides that Carter could name that SHOULD have been on the midway, rattling on enormous wheels and making lots of noise.

But they weren't there.

Instead there was a wooden carousel, a small Ferris wheel, a tiny roller coaster, and something that looked like zip-lining with all the fun taken out.

A man walked by, shouting into an old-fashioned megaphone: “Hurry, hurry, hurry! Step right up! The grandstand horse races are about to begin!”

Horse races?

Carter ran up to him. “Hey, sir. What happened to the midway?” he asked. But the man seemed not to hear him and kept walking. Musicians strolled past, playing guitars and drums, and more men walked by yelling strange messages into megaphones:

“Come see Bert Bostock's Leopards!” yelled one man.

“Don't miss the Mighty Swordfish in the world's largest tank!”
yelled another.

“The sideshow freaks are about to perform!”
bellowed a third.

There were definitely more megaphones than he remembered. And that wasn't all that was strange.

I've never seen leopards, a swordfish, or … sideshow freaks here before!

Carter's head buzzed as he joined a huge crowd. Overhead, a bright red hot-air balloon floated in the afternoon sky. A sign on the side of the balloon said, “Watch the Daredevil Professor Stewart Soar into the Heavens!”

What's going on? What's so exciting about a
hot-air
balloon? The air show should start soon … with helicopters and jets.

Carter took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and opened them again. Nothing had changed. Everything was still wrong, very, very wrong.

He spun in a slow circle. It was dawning on him that there were horses everywhere. Horses pulled buggies, carts, even big trucks. One horse-drawn truck went past, with the words
ICE ICE ICE
painted on the side. Carter walked up to a horse waiting patiently tied to a post and cautiously reached out to stroke its nose. The animal sniffed his hand and then stomped its front legs hard in the dirt and reared away, frightened. Carter hurried off into the crowd.

Everyone
was dressed in old-fashioned clothes, not just the children on the carousel. The ladies ALL wore long dresses and fancy hats, and the men wore dark suits and hats, too.

So many hats everywhere! Even the children wore soft caps and bonnets.
Who wears so many hats?

Carter took a few more steps. He steadied himself; he did
not
want to faint. Not here, wherever here was, and not now.

What was going on?

Food. That would help. If he was going to face something weird, at least he didn't have to face it on an empty stomach. It felt like ages since he had eaten anything.

He walked carefully past the strange midway and stepped up to a food tent. It said “Try our
ICE CREAM
! Guaranteed Frozen!” Beside that a sign said, “Coney Island Sausages Here! Five cents!”

Coney Island again. He had no idea what that was, but “sausage” he understood.

“Excuse me, sir, one Coney Island Sausage, please.” The man ignored him, like he hadn't heard.

Carter repeated his request, louder this time. “EXCUSE ME! One sausage, please!” But the man ignored him again. Carter was just about to shout when a boy ran up to the food counter.

“One ice cream, please,” the boy said.

“Of course, young man! You want to taste the best ice cream in town! That'll be five cents.” The man turned to a wooden box at his feet. He removed the tight-fitting lid, and inside Carter saw a box of ice cream packed into straw-covered ice. The man scooped ice cream into a piece of waxed paper shaped like a cup and handed it to the boy.

“Don't you have an ice cream cone?” Carter asked. But the man paid no attention to him, just as though he was invisible.

When the boy had gone, the man re-opened the box lid.

“It's too hot today! This ice cream is getting soft. I need more ice,” he muttered to himself. “Maybe more straw will help.” The man pulled a bale of straw out from under the stall and packed a few handfuls around the block of ice.

“Why don't you just put the ice cream in the …” The word “freezer” died on Carter's lips.

No. There wouldn't be a refrigerator with a freezer, would there? He didn't want to think about why.

Why, Carter, why doesn't he have a freezer for his ice cream?

Carter shook his head. He didn't want to answer himself.

Just then a lady walked by, holding a man's arm. She said, “Oh dear, George, the motor vehicles at the grandstand are so loud! They're far too noisy, and very dirty. I certainly hope they never catch on here. I'll take a horse and buggy every time, thank you!”

Carter clapped his hands over his ears.
NO! I did NOT just hear that lady say that!

He opened and closed his eyes again, but nothing helped. He tried to focus on something further away. He suddenly noticed a banner that hung near the entrance to the midway: “Welcome to the Grand Fair, 1903.”

Carter could feel a horrible shriek starting in his throat. His head swam…. There WERE no cars, only horses and buggies. There were NO airplanes overhead, just a hot-air balloon. There were NO huge midway rides, just small wooden ones. It was normal for people to wear old-fashioned clothes and eat food kept cold on ice.

Because it was 1903!

Carter gulped and slowly turned to the east, to the city where the huge buildings should be … but weren't.

There were no skyscrapers, no big bank buildings. There was no modern downtown. Instead there were just small brick buildings and lots of chimneys.

Where did the city go?

Carter was definitely awake, whatever was happening. Hallucinations? Visions brought on by terror? Time travel?

But that's not possible, is it?

The lake was still there, and the big grey rock was still there too, he could see them over the food tents. So he was in the same place on the fairgrounds. He hadn't gone any
where
.

Just any
when
.

How do I get home now?

He tried not to panic. He gulped hard as his heart raced and his mouth went dry. He looked past more tents selling ice cream (guaranteed frozen!) and Coney Island sausages for five cents …

… and saw a splotch of red squid hat disappear behind a tree.