Lemon City by Elaine Meryl Brown

Author:Elaine Meryl Brown [Brown, Elaine Meryl]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-345-51257-4
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2009-02-24T00:00:00+00:00

Faye was tired. She had been making pies with her sisters all evening. After she watched the news, she crawled into bed without taking a shower. In the middle of the night, she rolled onto her back with her eyes still closed, using her arm along the sheet like a windshield wiper, feeling around for Harry, but he still wasn’t there. Being left alone, she was beginning to feel as worthless as a jar filled with air. Now that it was morning, she dragged herself out of bed to percolate some coffee and make herself useful. There was a note taped to the refrigerator door. Had to go to The Shop. See you at the Fair around 3—love, Harry. Her spirits lifted a bit knowing that her husband had at some point come home in the middle of the night. She had been hoping they’d go to the Fair together so they’d have a chance to finalize their plans, but at least he cared enough to leave the note. Faye dialed Louise and told her she wanted to go with her and Elvira.

The cacophony of the Annual County Fair consisted of cheers from the Ferris wheel, screams from the roller coaster, and laughter from the merry-go-round. Music, chatter, and all the sounds of a good time ricocheted off the hills, through high peaks and narrow ravines, disappearing deep into the Blue Ridge Mountains. The clear blue sky was dotted with colorful hot-air balloons, and the smell of roasted peanuts made the air salty-sweet. At the entrance to the fairgrounds, a ragtime band performed at the base of the twenty-foot-tall brass metal statue of the founding fathers. The elements had taken their toll on the statue, which ironically came to reflect a more accurate picture of the town today. Over the past one hundred years, the high yellow cast had rusted so that it was brown in places, and in others it was burnished by rain and sun and turned to cast-iron black. The old founding fathers now represented the color spectrum of the faces in Lemon City, from high yellow to blue black, with shades of rust brown in between.

Inside the fairgrounds was a world of magic and make-believe that could convert even the oldest patron into thinking that for a day, age was only a state of mind. There were arts and crafts and antiques booths; canned fruits, jam, and vegetable booths; and canopied tables for baskets and pottery. There were farm equipment and talent shows, a beauty pageant, a parade, and a full-fledged circus. There were platforms erected in various locations hosting drama, comedy, and musical events, attracting spectators by the droves who applauded the entertainment. There were horses, pony-and-buggy rides, a petting zoo with pigs, cows, wild turkeys, goats, deer, groundhogs, foxes, and a black bear. Food stations with hot dogs, corn dogs, fried whiting, barbecued ribs, trout, apple fritters, cotton candy, and candied apples were readily available, making sure everyone had enough to eat to keep up their stamina and endure the fun of the day.

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