Chapter 17
Sadie stares around the table.
‘You’re serious?’
School in the UK has taught her to be suspicious. Guarded. Trust no one. Treat every hand of friendship as if it’s holding a loaded grenade. Could this be some elaborate wind-up? Some ritual of humiliation for the new girl? Possibly. But the faces staring back at her look genuine.
‘Why would someone want to kill Frankie?’
‘Million-dollar question.’ Ramona smirks.
Sadie tries a different tack. ‘But you said yourselves, it was supposed to be this guy Chris in the costume. Have you spoken to him?’
Another exchange of glances. ‘We would,’ Dax says. ‘But he’s disappeared.’
‘The house is locked up, cars gone,’ Ramona continues. ‘Like the whole family just upped and left.’
‘They could be on holiday?’
‘No.’ Ramona shakes her head. ‘You’re not from Serenity. You don’t understand.’
‘You’re right. I don’t. So why are you telling me any of this?’ She looks at Ellis. ‘Yesterday you acted like you hardly knew Frankie.’
‘I’d only just met you – and I couldn’t say anything in front of my dad.’
‘So, why invite me today?’ And then it dawns. Sadie’s stomach sinks a little. ‘You asked me along to find out if I saw anything, the day he died?’
Ellis shakes her head. ‘No. That’s not it …’
‘But did you?’ Ramona asks.
Sadie makes a show of scrunching up her face. ‘Now you ask, yeah. Right before they found Frankie I saw this figure, dressed up like a clown, and he was holding a red balloon and saying something about … floating.’
Ramona’s eyes widen. ‘Really?’
‘No, not really,’ Sadie snaps.
She reaches for her milkshake and then pauses as she sees Lou approaching their table again.
‘Crap, what now?’ Ellis mutters.
Lou smiles curtly. ‘Keli has asked if you want to move.’
‘Why?’
Lou nods to the entrance, where several people are waiting.
‘People want lunch, and you guys only have shakes. There are stools at the bar.’
Sadie pushes her shake to one side. ‘That’s fine. I’m just leaving.’
‘You don’t have to,’ Ellis says. ‘We can go someplace else.’
‘I’ve got stuff to do.’ Sadie fishes in her bag for her wallet and pulls out five dollars, which she places on the table. ‘Nice meeting you all.’
‘Oh, man.’ Ramona shakes her head. ‘I am still not getting over that accent.’
Sadie smiles. ‘Try.’
She nods at Lou, pushes her chair back and walks quickly out of the diner. She hasn’t gone far when she hears a shout behind her:
‘Sadie. Wait up.’
Sadie keeps walking. She hears the slap of trainers on tarmac and Ellis jogs up to her side. ‘Man, you walk fast.’
‘And you don’t take a hint.’
‘You’re pissed at me.’
‘I just don’t like being played.’
‘Okay. I did invite you because of Frankie, but not just because of Frankie.’
‘Whatever.’
Ellis glances back at the café. ‘Ramona and Dax don’t trust many people round here. I convinced them you were okay – and you might be able to help us.’
‘Wow. You guys really are deep state.’
‘Funny,’ Ellis says. ‘When you’ve lived here a while, you’ll get it.’
Sadie folds her arms. ‘Maybe I don’t want to. Maybe I’m already done with all this weird shit.’
‘Says the girl who keeps her dead cat in a box under her bed.’
Sadie stares at her. Touché.
‘Look,’ Ellis says. ‘You found a body in your pool. I thought you might want to know why.’ She pauses. ‘And I thought you might want to hang out, too.’
Sadie wants to say she isn’t interested in why Frankie ended up in their pool, or in hanging out with Ellis; she has plenty of friends back home.
But that would be a lie. She doesn’t have any friends back in the UK.
After what happened with Decker, even people she thought were friends dropped her.
She was a snitch, a slag, a liar. It’s left her wary of trusting people.
But maybe here things could be different.
‘I’m fussy about who I hang out with,’ she says.
Ellis nods. ‘Yeah, right. Me too. I could have chosen the most popular kids in school, but I picked Shaggy and Miss “your accent is so cute” because they are way cooler.’
Despite herself, Sadie smiles. ‘Maybe I’m interested.’
Ellis grins. ‘Okay. We’re meeting at the fairground tomorrow night. Come along and I can show you something really epic.’
Sadie looks at her sceptically. Then she relents. ‘Okay.’
‘Airdrop me your number.’
‘I thought phones were banned.’
‘Just make it quick.’
Sadie takes out her phone and sends her number.
‘Great,’ Ellis says. ‘I’ll let you know where and what time.’
Sadie watches her run back to the diner, blonde hair bouncing. Cute. But nuts.
She’s about to slip her phone back in her bag when it pings with a text. Dad.
You okay? How’s the unpacking going?
Change of plans. Went to diner with Ellis and friends.
Great! Have fun. Just going to grab a coffee. See you later.
She replies with a smiley face and pockets her phone.
If Dad’s not home, there’s not much point in heading back.
She looks around. What the hell is there to do around here – apart from sweat?
She supposes she could go and hang by the lake or …
she could check out the fairground. Get the lay of the land before – if – she meets Ellis tomorrow.
She strolls down the street. A few people pass, smile and nod.
Maybe just being friendly, but she feels that prickling of discomfort again.
She reaches the path that runs around the park and lake.
It’s pretty, she has to admit. Green grass, sparkling water.
Even a quaint pink-and-white ice-cream van sitting by the kerb, serving window closed for some reason. Maybe it ran out of ice, she thinks.
A sign directs her past the top of the lake and on to a path that runs along the edge of woodland. It’s shadier for a while and then it opens out to an ornamental bridge. She crosses it and, ahead, she can see a large field and the mythical fairground.
It’s bigger than she expected and looks so fairgroundy it’s almost unreal.
Like if you asked a little kid to draw a picture of a fairground, this is what they’d draw.
Not the scruffy, slightly tacky fairgrounds you get in the UK with their distorted disco music, blaring lights and badly painted (and infringing on copyright) pictures of famous Winsom characters.
Sadie can see a Big Wheel, a Helter-Skelter, Dodgems, multiple carnival stalls and, right in the middle, a huge Carousel, the multicoloured horses frozen mid-gallop, eyes wide, nostrils flared.
When Sadie was a little kid, Carousel horses freaked her out.
Their bodies impaled by thick gold poles, teeth bared in agony, condemned to race around the Carousel for all eternity.
Not that these horses are going anywhere, not even round and round.
The fairground is obviously shut. The stalls have their flaps down and the rides are still and silent.
Although … she can hear music playing faintly somewhere.
An old, sentimental Winsom tune. It’s kind of creepy, drifting out over the deserted fairground.
She tries to ignore it and walks across the dry grass, up to the Carousel.
The horses here are the most elaborate and lifelike she’s ever seen.
Painted shades of white, dappled grey and black, their manes look luxuriant, eyes bright with excitement, muscles and sinews gleaming.
She looks around and, before she knows it, she’s climbing on to the wooden Carousel.
She rests a hand on one of the horse’s polished flanks. Solid, inanimate wood. Of course.
And then something moves.
She jumps, heart pounding, before she realizes it’s a child, a little boy, darting between the horses. Maybe aged four or five. Messy blond hair, dressed in a dirty yellow T-shirt and blue shorts. Just like the little boy in the flyer. Davey Junior.
‘Hey!’ she calls out. ‘You shouldn’t be playing on here.’
The boy scurries around the curve of the Carousel and jumps down, landing deftly on bare feet. He takes off across the fairground, disappearing between two fast-food stalls. Sadie stares after him. Where are his parents? Should she tell someone?
‘Excuse me, miss?’
She turns. A man in overalls and a peaked cap squints up at her from the grass. He’s holding a trash sack and a litter-picker. The logo on the cap reads: Keeping Serenity Spotless.
‘You need to get down from the Carousel.’
Sadie flushes. ‘There was a little boy up here. I wanted to check he was okay.’
‘Oh.’ The man frowns. ‘He still up there?’
‘No. He ran off.’
‘Well, I’m sure he’ll be fine.’
‘I couldn’t see his parents.’
‘They’re probably around somewhere.’
‘But what if …’ Sadie falters. ‘Something bad happens to him?’
‘In Serenity?’ The man chuckles. ‘Nothing bad happens in Serenity Falls.’
‘I guess not.’ Sadie jumps off the Carousel.
‘Thank you.’ The man smiles. His teeth are white, and his eyes are really blue. Dirty-blond hair is yanked back in a ponytail. Kind of good-looking, she supposes.
‘Sorry for ragging on you,’ he says. ‘But you’re not supposed to climb on the rides when the fair is closed.’
‘Sorry. What time does the fair open?’
‘Weekdays, it’s normally two p.m. Ten a.m. Saturday and Sunday.’
‘Right.’
‘Here.’ He reaches into his overalls pocket and pulls out a piece of paper. ‘Opening times are on the flyer. Also, you get a ten per cent discount at the cotton-candy stall.’
‘Oh. Great.’ Sadie hates cotton candy.
He cocks his head and pushes back his cap, giving her an amused look. ‘Don’t like cotton candy?’
‘Not really.’
‘Me neither. Like eating hair.’
Sadie laughs. ‘Yeah. Exactly.’
He takes out a pen and scribbles something on the flyer.
‘Go see Ernie at the hot-dog stall. Tell him Larry Broom sent you and he’ll give you ten per cent off a hot dog instead.’ He folds the flyer up and hands it back to her. ‘You do like hot dogs?’
‘Of course.’
‘Well, there you go, then.’
He doffs his cap. A weird feeling ripples through Sadie. It’s like he’s teasing her. Playing with her.
‘Anyhow,’ Larry Broom says now, ‘I’d best be getting on. Feel free to wander round, but don’t go climbing on any more rides. You don’t want to get hurt.’
‘I thought nothing bad ever happened here?’
He stares at her with his blue, blue eyes. ‘This one time, years ago, a kid died on one of the rides.’
‘Jesus.’
‘Yeah. Real tragic.’
Real tragic. Like Davey Junior. Like Frankie.
Larry nods at her. ‘You take care. And keep hold of that flyer.’
‘I will.’
He turns away, resuming his task of harpooning non-existent litter. Sadie walks slowly towards the fair exit. She unfolds the flyer and frowns. Larry has scribbled on the back:
Nothing bad happens in Serenity.
Not by accident. 61322
What the hell?
She turns around ‘Hey – what’s this?’
But the fairground is empty, just one lone candy wrapper scuttling across the bleached grass. Larry Broom has gone.