“No, it couldn’t be!” He began to slowly back away. The apparition of the little girl in the Easter dress began to walk towards him. Kayla grabbed my hand and pulled it as she began to run away. The man did not attempt to follow us or fire the gun. He was already running back in the direction of the cabin.
We did not stop running until we got back to Aunt Ruth’s house. I told her everything that had taken place; she called the police right away, making sure to lock all of the doors.
“So that’s what happened to the Franklin girl. You see, the Franklins lived here before I did; their little girl disappeared in the woods one day, never to be seen again. Mr. Langston was the caretaker for the house and he still lives in the same cabin deep in the woods. I still can’t believe he would be capable of such a thing,” my aunt said.
The police were unable to find Mr. Langston, who had fled the scene as quickly as he could. From that point on, I had much less of a desire to explore the woods around my aunt’s house.
My brother Chris and I were always in trouble for venturing too far from home, staying outside too late, or trying dangerous experiments, but no time was etched in our memory like the time we investigated the old carnival. It was called “Dr. Danger’s Park of Amusements” when it was opened in the nineteen-fifties. It was one of those permanent carnivals like Coney Island in New York or the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz.
The wooded hills that surrounded the old carnival had begun to take the land back over again. Vines and tall weeds now obscured parts of the ground as if nature was attempting to cover the unpleasant devices of mankind. A large switch that operated the Ferris wheel was now completely devoured by kudzu; even the Ferris wheel itself had become a lattice for vegetation to grow upon. The ghost train sat rusting with an evil-looking clown still staring out maniacally from a window on the second floor, frozen in time.
Being new to the neighborhood, we knew nothing of the carnival’s history. Our family moved there after our father took a new teaching position at a local university. We were used to life in the country, so our new home on the outskirts of town with its country aspects was not foreign to us. As soon as we were given permission to go out and play, we ran for the park that we had seen the day before when we drove by it. Our mother had told us specifically to stay away from the park; that is precisely why we wanted to explore it.
“You don’t think she’ll ground us a whole month, do you?” Chris, usually the more timid of the two of us, asked. Chris was also the shorter and younger of the two of us. He was nine and I was ten, and I would never let him forget it. Chris had short brown hair and wide, hazel eyes. I had longer, blond hair and blue eyes.
“Come one, Chris, when have I ever led you astray,” I said with a grin.
“Every time we go outside,” Chris said, laughing.
We got to the rusted gate that marked the entrance to Dr. Danger’s Park of Amusements. A huge padlock and chain, also rusted, hung across the gate, but Dr. Danger’s statue still stood with a cane and top hat just to the left of the gate. The mischievous look on Dr. Danger’s face gave us pause as we took a step backwards and contemplated where we wanted to go over the gate. As luck would have it, there was a place down the street where the gate was pulled upwards at the bottom just enough for two young boys to squeeze in.
As soon as we got inside, we looked from side to side at the growth that had taken over everything. To the left was an aisle of games: shooting galleries, balloon dart stands, a strong man’s bell, and many others. To the right was the midway, where a roller coaster, Ferris wheel, ghost train, spider, merry-go-round, and a Tilt-a-Whirl all beckoned. A sign indicating the direction to various attractions was barely legible and dangling from the post it was nailed onto.
“I really want to go and check out the roller coaster. You know, maybe the cart is stopped at the top of the hill and we can push it and ride it down the track!” I said.
“I wanna check out the ghost train, too.”
“I want to check out the Ferris wheel,” Chris said.
“What, you scared of the ghost train?” I asked, trying to tease him the way I always did.
“No, of course not, it just sounds lame,” Chris said defensively.
“Good, no little brother of mine is allowed to be scared of a ghost train that doesn’t even operate anymore,” I said. I paused for a minute with my hand on his chin. “Tell you what, why don’t you go check out the Ferris wheel and I’ll go check out the ghost train. Then, we can meet back up at the roller coaster.”
“No way, we’re not separating,” Chris said, looking around at the creaky, vine-choked park and its mad-looking mascot. The clouds were thick and gray overhead and not much light made it through them to make it clear that it was actually even daytime.
“Come on,” I said.
“Don’t say it. Don’t call me chicken. I’m off to check out the Ferris wheel. I’ll see you at the roller coaster,” Chris said, storming off.
I giggled
