Dark Ride (22 page)

Chapter 74

Jack drops the bowl to the ground and yells, “Let's get out of here!” as the giant spider is lowering itself towards him.

From the steps of the shack, Mason runs towards the commotion and sees the spider for himself. He takes out the axe and heaves it at the eightlegged monster. However, He misses badly, and the axe crashes into the far wall.

“The door—get to the door!” Jack yells.

Without wasting any more time, all four of them make a quick dash for the door on the far side of the room.

The spider is slow and deliberate as if it knows something the others do not.

Amy reaches the door first, but is unable to open it. She announces, “It's locked.”

“What?” questions Jack. He frantically shoves at the door before confirming that Amy is right.

Jack feels a wisp of air above his head and hears a dull thud against the door. He realizes that the spider is shooting webbing at them.

“What do we do?” Scotty asks while looking at Mason.

The spider is now on the floor inching toward them. Jack notices that the bowl is a few feet in front of the menace, and he decides to run and grab it.

“Jack!” Amy calls as she watches him run right at the spider.

Before the spider can reach it, Jack picks it up and hurls the dish and its contents at the spider. It is a direct hit, and the thick curds and whey blankets several of the glowing eyes.

“To the shack! If it's locked, we'll bust through the window—come on!” Jack commands.

As they sprint to the porch of the shack, a shot of webbing just misses Amy's feet.

Jack grips the doorknob and turns it while crashing his shoulder into the door, praying that it will give. It does, and all four move into the protection of the cabin.

Chapter 75

Five frustrated parents, some kids, one sulking teenager, and a handful of park employees stand outside the Dark Ride. All of them are looking intently at Howard Snodgrass.

Why me?
thinks Snodgrass. It is a question he has asked himself multiple times over the last seven years. He wonders,
How many worthless nights have I spent babysitting this worthless park?

Facing the crowd, he says, “Look, my employees are doing everything in their power to see that the kids get safely outside.”

He feels he has already answered the same 20 questions multiple times: first from the Carnahans, then from the Chick guy in his tailored business suit, followed by the Braddock couple, who arrived last with their silent, brooding teenage daughter.

Howard reassures everyone again, saying, “Just stay calm. There is no need for panic. This kind of thing happens all the time.” He has already said that same line six times tonight. This time, he adds, “Your little darlings are totally safe.”

“Look, Howard,” says Titus Chick while sending a menacing look his way. “These
things
, as you say, may happen all the time, but not to my son. I don't think you realize who you are dealing with.”

Actually, Howard knows exactly whom he is dealing with. Everyone in Cassidy Falls is well aware of the Chick law firm.

The lawyer continues, “How do you lose track of four teenagers for well over two hours in a ride? You are aware that this has lawsuit written all over it—especially if this happens all the time? I'll tack on negligence for fun.”

The other parents all nod in agreement.

Howard wonders why he had ever been sent to this forsaken place. He recalls that one day he was working as supervisor of the mailroom at the Newcastle Group home office in Annapolis when his father, the CEO, had promised great things, telling him, “Howard, we've got a special assignment for you. We've purchased an amusement park in Tennessee. We would like you to oversee the operations.”

What Howard did not know was that the assignment was simply a way for his dad to ship off his spoiled deadbeat son.

The happiest day of Howard Snodgrass's life had been the day he heard that they were tearing down Storybook Hollow. He had badgered his father on the phone nearly every day since the announcement of the park's
closing, and he had been promised another assignment once the faltering park closed its doors for good.

“Have you called the police?” Wallace Braddock asks.

“The police? Are you not listening to me? Your kids are going to be out any minute. It's a building—where could they have gone?”

“I don't know,” replies a combative Houston Carnahan, raising his voice. “Isn't that your job to figure out?”

My job?
thinks Snodgrass. This is all the frustrated man can take
.
He declares,
“
My job is not to play mama bird to some reckless teenagers. Have you considered that they are the ones who are sneaking around there in my ride unattended? Do you know what unsupervised teenagerss do? And I'm happy to counter-sue for any damages inside the ride and anything that's missing.”

A whirlwind of escalating voices erupt from the mouths of each and every one of the parents. Seeing that his last comment pushed too far, Howard nervously grabs his phone, pretending to get a phone call.

“Sorry, excuse me, uh, I have to get this. Gwen, see that the parents get some free popcorn or something. Back in a flash.”

Snodgrass marches back behind a food stand a few steps away. He can hear the incredulous cries and has no intention of rushing the pretend phone call.

“Can I get anyone some popcorn?” Gwen asks, but the offer goes over like a resounding belch at a funeral.

A red-faced Titus Chick reaches for his phone while the Braddocks and Carnahans begin talking to Gwen, grilling her with the same set of questions they had asked Snodgrass.

Meanwhile, Howard thinks,
Safe for now. Geez, Clyde, hurry up and get those teenagers outta there
.

Chapter 76

Inside the cabin, the four teens are panting in relief. Amy senses tears welling up inside her. The outward toughness she has shone all night is beginning to unravel. At this point, she does not care who leads them, nor does she care what advice they follow. All she wants to do is get out of this place alive. It has been one thing after another, and on top of everything else, she's nervous about a giant spider that's wanting to eat them.
Nervous, on edge, and pushed beyond the limits that anyone can expect of a thirteen-year-old girl, she begins to cry.

Scotty sees his sister with her head lowered in her hands and attempts to calm her.

“Amy, we're okay. We made it past. We are safe.”

“Yeah. For now, we're safe…until someone comes out of the kitchen with a knife or something to chop us into little bits. What then?”

She looks up. Jack and Mason are staring at her. Each is looking as dumfounded as the other. Wiping the tears from her face, she straightens a bit.

Jack places a reassuring hand on her shoulder and says, “Come on, Amy. None of us is going to let anything happen to you. Now let's figure out what's in this shack and come up with a plan on how to get through the doors out there and past that spider.”

Amy nods, appreciating Jack's reassurance, even though she remains no more comforted about their situation. She simply does not want to cry anymore in front of Jack.

“Guys, I know some of you…” Jack says, looking at Mason but keeping his voice very non-combative, “are not really wanting to listen to the narrator, but we really need to pay attention. I mean he did say something like, ‘eyes set on high.' He was warning us about the spider.”

Amy sees Mason nod. Even he must relent that Jack is right. Her eyes readjust to the light of the room. It is well lit, and to the mutual shock of all of the party, it is elegant. Judging by the looks of the outside of the cabin, Amy had expected to find a litany of taxidermy deer heads and fishing trophies. Instead, a fine oriental rug covers a shiny hardwood floor, a grand piano in the corner, and a chandelier hangs down above an elaborate dining room set in the middle of the floor. In the back of the room, there is a door.

If she didn't know any better, Amy could have believed she was standing in her own grandmother's house—squarely in the center of the room that no child was ever permitted to play.

Oddly, her thoughts take her back to a day when Scotty had gotten the only spanking she had ever seen her grandmother dole out. They were playing hide-and-seek that day. Scotty was eight, and she was seven. The kids' Grammy was known for second helpings, surprise gifts, doting wet kisses, and free access to the pantry, but she also had one rule in her house for her grandchildren: do not step foot in the china room. Up until this particular day, Amy actually couldn't recall ever having seen anyone inside the room except for her grandmother, who would tediously vacuum the
room with ritualistic precision. However, on this day, Scotty ignored the rules and hid under the glass-topped coffee table, which sat beside an old grandfather clock that chimed hauntingly every 15 minutes. Because the room was indeed off-limits, Amy did not bother to look there. After being unable to find him, she asked her grandpa if he had seen the boy, and, apparently, Grammy overheard the question. Like a cop on patrol, her face grew rigid and suspicious. She stomped over to her china room and called out, “Scotty Hubert Carnahan! Show yourself this instant.”

Amy had never heard this tone from Grammy. It was disturbing, but not nearly as disturbing as what happened next. The little boy crept from under the coffee table, and as he did so, a plate on display was jolted by one of his flailing arms. With a crash, the plate shattered. In an instant, the frail and loving Grammy transformed into a frightening persona, like the Grim Reaper. With lightning-fast reflexes, far beyond Amy's imagination for the 60-plus-year-old woman, she vaulted into the room, lifted Scotty by the ear, dragged him out into the den, and carried out corporal punishment.

Amy remembers feeling a mixture of comedy, from seeing Scotty splayed out over her Grammy's knees, and terror, from seeing the old woman deliver the punishment.

As soon as it was over, smiling, good-natured Grammy returned and said, “Now, you kiddos stay out of the china room.”

There was no need to tell either of them, ever again.

The room in the shack, complete with a grandfather clock that ticks and tocks, reminds Amy of the china room. However, there is one difference: the hands on this clock seem to be moving around the face with rapid speed.

Chapter 77

Jack desperately wants to console Amy further. He wants to wrap his arms around her and teleport them away from all this. When looking at her face, still glistening with tears, he has to keep himself from rushing to her. Jack focuses on her eyes, and he wonders,
What is she staring at?
His eyes follow hers to the face of the grandfather clock. The arms are rapidly turning around the face.

Scotty and Mason are examining the table setting.

Scotty inquires, “Think there's something to eat in here?”

Mason responds, “How can you think of eating at a time like this? Oh, I guess you always think of eating,” and jabs at Scotty's belly. Scotty feigns a smile.

“Guys, look at the clock,” Jack says.

Mason looks and says, “Great, looks like it's 12:30. Man, we've been in here a long time.”

Jack corrects, “It's not 12:30 or 12:40. No, the hands—look.”

As the small hand clicks over to the Roman numeral one, a long chime strikes. From the top of the clock, three mice run down the side of the frame to the floor.

“The clock strikes one! Hickory, dickory, dock,” Scotty announces and lets a small laugh escape.

“Well, unless they have guns that we can't see or razor-sharp piranha teeth, maybe they won't come after us,” Mason jokes.

Jack watches the mice carefully. There was a small amount of ominous truth in Mason's words, although he half expects the mice to grow into monstrous carnivores. To his relief, the mice scamper away from them, but something is odd. The small rodents keep bouncing into walls and crashing into each other it is as if they can't see.

Then Jack realizes,
Three blind mice, of course.
Suddenly, the back door swings open. A large woman with a white apron storms into the room. Mason and Scotty run back to Jack and Amy, expecting the worst. Wildeyed and open-mouthed, the large woman wields a knife in her hand. Ignoring the teenagers, the robust woman scurries around the room after the mice. Like the world's largest cat, she nimbly catches each mouse by the tail. Holding the mice with one beefy hand and brandishing the knife in the other, she turns to the back door.

As she opens it to leave she stops, looks back, and says, “You need to leave now.” And with that, the door closes behind her.

“Oh man, I would hate to be one of those mice,” Mason remarks. “She was not messing around.”

“Well, I guess we need to leave,” Jack declares.

Amy's in total shock. She declares, “See? I told you. Someone would come out of the kitchen with a knife.”

“But she wasn't after us,” Scotty points out.

However, his words don't really calm Amy.

Nervously, Jack spies the clock. The hands are moving rapidlyit's already 3:00. He thinks,
If the clock strikes one again with us in here, who knows what will happen
.

In response to Jack's earlier suggestion, Mason states, “But what about the spider? I think we should stay. I would rather deal with her than that thing.”

Jack counters, “We're going to have to get past him somehow. Let's go out the back door and try to sneak around it.”

Mason retorts, “But the door is locked, and the only other exit is back to that garden.”

Jack thinks,
Why won't he listen to me?Tick
,
tick
,
tick
.

Scotty and Mason decide to make a sweep of the room. Before long, they are engaged in another conversation about Scotty's weight. Meanwhile, Jack notices that the butcher knife is still on the table and thinks,
Now that's just plain crazy. What kind of bizarre magic is this? That could come in handy.
He broods over the knife, evaluating whether he should take it or not. Then he grabs it.

Looking up, he sees the disapproving face of Amy. She has been watching him.

“You can't take it,” she utters.

“Why not?”

“She has to have it…or she'll come looking for you, don't you think? We've already got a wolf and now a spider after us, but we were warned in the map, about the glowing orbs and the fiery lass. She looked pretty fiery to me. You steal her knife, and it could be trouble.”

Looking back at the knife, Jack is torn. He has already stolen something tonight, and the guilt has been gnawing at him. However, he also feels that the knife could come in handy.