Alice Falls Again by DJ Stoneham

Author:DJ Stoneham [Stoneham, DJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781546299868
Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
Published: 2018-11-18T05:00:00+00:00

“I’m now in the fairground and can’t find the way out. It’s not fair,” said Alice.

“Well it wouldn’t be, would it?” said the Cheshire Cat. “Not with a name like ‘Unfair’. There’s not much that’s honest about that place these days.”

CHAPTER 6

THE UNFAIR

Mary led Alice to the opposite side of the yarn market to where a large yellow archway filled a gap between the houses. It was peculiar how Alice had missed this landmark on her walk round the market. The archway had dozens of multicoloured balloons drawn onto it, as well as two enormous paintings of a lion and a unicorn at both ends of the arch. The whole structure looked rather weather-beaten and unstable, not least because the first of the seven giant letters nailed to the arch had fallen off completely. This meant that instead of the word “FUNFAIR” the attraction extended a dubious welcome to the “UNFAIR”.

“You’ll love this place,” said Mary. “It’s the most fun anyone could possibly have in Banbury.”

Alice’s spirits rose. The haunting music of a barrel organ and the smell of candyfloss drifted from within. She adored circuses and funfairs. She had once won a coconut and a goldfish though she couldn’t recall what had happened to either of them, apart from the fact that at least one had been eaten.

Mary explained the rules at the Unfair. “First of all, you have to understand that every time you want to have a go on something here, you need to pay a price. The seller will tell you what that is and you decide if you want to pay or not.”

“But not money?”

Mary giggled. “Of course not. Nothing would ever happen around here if people had to pay money. The sellers might ask you to sing or tell a story. Or maybe give them a ribbon or paint a balloon on their wall. It can change every time you want to play.”

Alice thought that was a much better deal than having to part with money. Once inside, they were surrounded by a number of brightly coloured stalls and sideshows. The first one had a row of targets painted onto the back wall.

“This first stall,” Mary continued, “is called Darts. You try to score a bullseye and win a prize. But it’s very difficult.”

“Oh I know this game. It’s fun,” said Alice, “and I’m quite good at it.” She turned to the seller, a large jovial-looking man with a huge moustache that covered half of his face. She couldn’t take her eyes of it.

“I see you’re admiring my ‘tash,” he said proudly.

“Erm…yes, exactly,” replied Alice, not sure that “admiring” was the word she would have used. “It’s…erm…quite…”

“In your face?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“Just the effect I was looking for. Much obliged.”

“It’s certainly very different to any moustache I’ve seen before,” said Alice, not able to conceal her frown. It was surely large, but there was something else Alice couldn’t put her finger on.

“Ah yes,” said the man sadly. “That’s because it’s drawn on. I couldn’t afford a real moustache, you know.

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