“Nooooo!” Kelsey screamed. “Nooooo!”
The card flipped and spun in the air.
Kelsey leaped for it.
The evil gypsy blew it again – blew it from her grasp.
“To the sea!” Madame Valda cackled. “To the beautiful
The card swirled in front of Kelsey. It fluttered down in front of her face. Then rose up sharply.
Kelsey lunged for it. But it whirled around her.
Taunting her.
Then it sailed out to the shore.
Kelsey lunged again. Plunging in the cold, inky water.
“Say goodbye, you little fool!” Madame Valda shrieked. Then she threw her head back and roared with laughter.
And just as she did, Kelsey snatched the card from the air – and thrust it directly in the center of Madame Valda’s flaming body!
“Here’s your card back, Madame Valda!” Kelsey spat.
“Nooooooo!”
Madame Valda’s screams rang out through the night. Her fiery form exploded in an enormous burst of light. And tore through the blackened sky.
Kelsey smiled as she watched the fire fade – as Madame Valda’s features began to melt.
Her fiery figure shriveled up – smaller and smaller.
And then she disappeared in a puff of smoke.
22
“No! No! Noooo!” Kelsey screamed when she heard the explosion.
“I won!” Drew shouted. “I won!”
Kelsey glared at the clown she had been aiming at. Its inflated balloon head bobbed from side to side.
She set down her water pistol, defeated. “Only because I let you win,” she shot back.
Drew just laughed as the carnival barker handed him his prize – a giant pretzel. He broke it in two and gave her half.
“Thanks.” She smiled. “What should we do next?”
“Let’s go through the haunted house again,”! he suggested. “The Shadyside Carnival has the best haunted house!”
“That’s because Shadyside is the best haunted town,” Kelsey joked.
“I’m glad we made it back from the beach in time for the carnival,” Drew said as the two headed for the haunted house ride.
“I’m glad we made it back at all,” Kelsey replied.
“Oh, brother!” Drew pointed up ahead. “Look at that line!”
The line for the haunted house curved all the way around the ride twice.
“We’ll be here forever,” Kelsey complained. “Let’s find something else to do.”
“Like what?” Drew asked. Then he gasped.
“What?” Kelsey cried.
“Look!” He pointed to a sign that read “Gypsy Fortuneteller.”
“That?” She laughed. “That’s nothing. It’s just a mechanical fortuneteller inside a glass box. Come on, I’ll show you.”
Drew hesitated.
“Come on!” she said again, tugging him over to the glass box.
As they neared it, a little girl slipped a quarter into the slot and waited for the mechanical fortuneteller to whirl around and tell her fortune.
She waited. And waited. And waited.
“This stupid thing is broken,” the little girl complained, kicking the box. Then she gave up and walked away.
“See?” Kelsey said. “Nothing to be afraid of.”
Drew stared at the box. “Just a machine,” he said, breathing a sigh of relief.
Then she and Drew turned and walked away.
“Not afraid?” a voice called after them.
They stopped.
“Fool! Fool! Fool!” The voice cackled now. “Only a fool is not afraid!”
R. L. Stine
