Chapter 1
“Step right up! Step right up!”
The carnival barker wore a red-and-white striped jacket despite the hot muggy night. There wasn’t a single bead of sweat beneath the brim of his straw hat. The cane twirled in his gloved hands and then pointed to the spinning wheel behind him.
“There’s a winner every time,” he promised.
“Chance, beautiful chance awaits. And tonight fair lady fate could be yours. What do you wish for? What do you dream? What do you need? It is all within your grasp. But be warned. Only the brave and the fearless should follow this path.”
The wheel spun and clicked.
“You see before you a poor representation of magnificent fortune. The true wheel of fate has an infinite number of slots, an infinite number of prizes and an infinite number of penalties. Infinite, I say. Don’t believe those who put limits on this world or others. No sooner does man scratch out a limitation than a new frontier is discovered just beyond the next horizon. So I ask you, ladies and gentlemen, who is brave enough to step forward and put their hands in fate? Who among you is willing to take a step into the unknown? Who is willing to journey past the horizon that we know?”
The sickly sweet smell of pink and blue candy floss wafted to Summer’s nose as she stood in line to ride the caterpillar. Her little brother, Sam, had a look of pure bliss on his face as he stared at the candy floss vendor. Drool had gathered at the corner of his little mouth.
“Can I get some after the ride?” he asked, his gaze never straying from the colorful cart.
“Depends on how much it is. Mom only gave me twenty bucks, and we haven’t had lunch yet.”
“That can be lunch.”
“No, it can’t, doofus.” She knocked him in the head gently. “You need real food or you’ll get a headache.”
He rubbed the back of his skull where she tapped him. “You’re giving me one already.”
She laughed, then nudged him forward as the line crept along.
It was only eleven-thirty and already the fairgrounds were crowded. Summer predicted that nearly half the town of Crooks was at the carnival. The other half would arrive later on, once most of the businesses shut down for the day. It was a yearly summer event that no one liked to miss. And the first day was always the most exciting.
At least she was really excited. After another four hours of looking after her brother—Mom had to work at the café until four—then she was free to hang with her friends and go on all the big scary rides like the loop-de-loop rollercoaster. Sam was too small to go on the ride. Besides that, he had a queasy stomach. He even had to watch the foods he ate. Some foods would make him sick for hours.
The line was moving pretty fast. A lot of people could fit on the ride at once. Although the caterpillar was an old ride, Summer liked it. The metal cars spun backwards fast while the canvas top came overhead, encasing the riders in the dark. The canvas was green so when you looked at it from a distance, it did indeed resemble a giant caterpillar spinning in a non-ending circle. To Summer it looked like it was eating its own tail.
“When is it our turn?” Sam whined as he leaned against the ropes that constructed the line-up.
“Pretty quick.” The people in front of them shuffled forward. “See? We’re almost at the front.”
