(eng) Nancy A. Collins - SSC by Knuckles & Tales

Author:Knuckles & Tales [Knuckles & Tales]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

SERPENT QUEEN

For more than fifty years, the Choctaw County Fair has been held the week after Labor Day. But that year, for some reason, the second week of September came and went, without a single ring-toss booth to mark its passing.

With October came autumn, setting the trees ablaze with a fire that did not burn. The air was cool and crisp and clear after the torpid, pollen-laden summer breezes, carrying with it the hint of smoke from distant bonfires. At night the winds held a hint of the coming winter, as if Mother Nature was content right now in merely flashing the edge of the scythe she carried at her waist. By the time the carnival arrived in Choctaw County, the harvested fields boasted more stubble than a drunk’s cheek.

Unlike the previous carnivals the county had played host to, the caravan of trucks and trailers came without fanfare. One day the county fairgrounds were empty, the next they were crowded with thrill-rides, gaudily painted canvas banners and stuttering neon signs

If the citizens of Choctaw County found this sudden appearance of the strangest of strangers more than passing odd, they kept it to themselves. After all, the county fair was one of the few times farmers and townsfolk alike were allowed to put aside the drudgery of their proscribed routines. Why run the risk of ruining one of their few chances for fun by looking the horse in the mouth?

000

“The carnival seems different this year.”

Barry paused in gnawing on his corndog to glance up and down the midway. The wide shoulders of his letter jacket shrugged indifferently. “Yeah, kinda,” he grunted. “I don’t think it’s the same one as the last couple of years. Maybe that’s why it was so late.”

“That’s probably it,” Cindy replied, plucking half-heartedly at a wad of fluorescent pink cotton candy. It was hard to put her finger on exactly what was unusual about the carnival, but there was something. And she was certain that the weirdness, for once, lay in something beside herself.

At first glance, the midway seemed no different from any of the others she had seen over the years: games of chance; thrill rides; concession stands peddling cotton candy and curly fries. But then again, there was the old-fashioned carousel with its ornately carved mythological characters in place of champing ponies, the House of Fun with its maniacally laughing clockwork harlequin capering on the balcony, and the equally antique Ferris wheel. These old-timey amusements seemed strangely out of place amidst the garishly painted Tilt-A-Whirl, Octopus, and Zipper, with their flashing colored lights and blaring sirens.

Barry’s eyes suddenly widened and his corn dog fell, half-eaten, from his hands onto the sawdust-strewn track of the midway. “Wow! Check it out, Cindy!” he said excitedly, pointing at a line of banner. “A freak show!”

Cindy blinked, jarred from her reverie. “Freak show? When did they start having one of those?”

A line of large banners was arrayed along the front of a dirty white-and-red striped tent. At the top of the banner-line was a large sign, written in classic circus script: Dr.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.