“Yeah, yeah…I don’t want a lecture tonight. Not about relationships and certainly not about letting things go.” Emily’s voice took on a bitter edge. “Not from you.”
“Wow.” Cora rubbed the back of her neck. “Really? You’re going to go there?”
“Sorry. Sorry. You just know how much I hate it when he…does this shit.”
“Yeah. I know.” Cora put her hand on the other girl’s shoulder. “Let’s eat some fried food on a stick and drink a beer.”
The Faire was loud and impressively busy. She was shocked at how many people were there on a random Tuesday night. But excitement rarely came to this part of the state, and she wouldn’t have been surprised to find out that the grand re-opening of the park had gone a bit viral. She wished she could still hop around with all her camera equipment and take photos for the local gazette.
Most of the decent food carts were all in one area, which seemed to create a bit of food court near the center of the park. It sat at the base of a giant tower that stretched high overhead. It resembled the lit-up observation tower at Coney Island’s old Dreamland park. The few websites she read said that Coney Island actually got the idea from Harrow Faire, but there was some debate about whether that was true.
The sign on the door said it was still closed for renovations. That was a shame. She would have loved to climb the stairs to look down at the park and the lake from that high up.
The walls of the tower were painted bright white to reflect as much of the light as possible from the hundreds of Edison bulbs that dotted its surface, all the way up to the top. But instead of a pond at the base like at Coney Island, there was a rectangular stretch of grass with picnic tables. Cora and Emily got their snacks and their thankfully alcoholic drinks and went to find a place to sit and eat.
“How was the event tonight?” Cora smiled at her friend, trying to cheer her up.
“Fine.” Emily shrugged. “Just another posh business event from some mucks down in Boston. Some guy named Alistair was running it. He hit on everything with legs. I think he and Trent might have known each other from somewhere, but I don’t know. I just help set up, and then I serve the drinks.”
She was clearly in a mood. Cora decided not to push it and changed the subject. “I don’t know how this place got fixed like this. I swear it was still a dump when I passed it yesterday.”
“I know, it’s weird.” Emily looked around at the park and shook her head. “I didn’t believe you when you texted us today. I had to drive by to see if you were joking for some dumb reason. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. You’d think somebody would have said something—put something in the news, anything.”
“Yeah.” Cora took in a breath, held it, and let it out in a rush. “It’ll be nice to have some business around here that isn’t just Castle on the Clouds and summering rich people. Maybe I’ll quit the bank and work here instead.” She grinned.
Emily snorted. “Yeah, right. What’re you gonna do? Join the freakshow?”
“Maybe! Don’t judge. I’d make a great freak.”
“The Amazing Breakable Cora Glass. I can see it now.” Her friend grinned.
She tossed a french fry at Emily, who squeaked and laughed, ducking her head to avoid another projectile as Cora threw a second. “Oh, like you’d do any better.”
“I’d suck at it. I hate crowds. I hate being looked at.” Emily gagged dramatically. “No, thank you. I like support jobs. I couldn’t ever be on stage. Can you imagine?”
“It might be fun, having people cheering for you. Like we were for that Strongman guy.” Cora found herself smiling at the idea. When she was young, she had dreamed of being a famous actress or a performer. Maybe a magician. But it never panned out—her talent had been behind a camera, not on the stage. She had seen the kind of passion and hardship it took to make it in that kind of world and decided it wasn’t worth it to her. “C’mon. It’s late. We didn’t get to see much. Maybe we can come back tomorrow? I know I don’t have anything better to do.”
“That’d be nice. I really do want to see the freakshow. Maybe they’re hiring, and you can get your wish.” Emily pushed up from the table, and the two of them walked through the park toward the exit, taking a different path from the way they had come.
The circus was an array of beautiful lights and strange flashing signs. It was an overwhelming array of movement and life. The tilt-a-whirl rides and haunted houses with their loud mechanical laughs were somehow both insultingly campy and wonderfully enticing at the same time.
Tomorrow, she’d have to dust off her Nikon and come back to take some photos. The lighting was just incredible, and even with a pretty fast exposure speed, she was sure she could catch some great shots of the spinning lights in action.
The whooshing sound of the carts rushing by on metal tracks, of the machinery, and the grind of the hurdy-gurdy made for a heady mix. Coupled with the smell of grease and sugar, it made her all at once a little uneasy but also brought a smile to her face. Places like this were just…fun. That was the only thing they were about. Well, okay, and making a buck. But that was American entertainment, wasn’t it?
Do a dance, get a dollar.
Nothing quite captured that as purely and simply as a carnival, circus, or fair. And this place was all three rolled into one. Not that she could really tell anybody the difference between the designations if she tried.
When they passed one tent, an old woman was standing outside it. The tent was smaller and looked about only fifteen or twenty feet in diameter, and much shorter than all the others. It was painted in purple, accented in gold metallic polka dots. The woman was dressed head to toe like a cartoon fortune teller. Resplendent in colored scarves that dangled shining gold coins, they hid her stringy, pale hair. The sign next to her read “Heed the Soothsayer’s Words!”
“Miss, can I interest you in a fortune?” the old woman called to her. She had a thick Eastern European accent. Of course she did. She looked like a walking cliché just like everything else in the park, so she might as well sound like one too.
“I’m all set,” Cora answered with a polite smile. “Thanks, though.”
“I think you might be interested in what I have to say, Cora Glass.”
She froze. Not this shit again. It gave her chills, even though she knew it was entirely bunk. They probably all had headsets, and somebody was tracking her through the park.
Emily’s eyes went wide and looked between her and the fortune teller in horror. “How does she know your name?”
“Old Maggie knows many things, Emily Dennis,” the old woman said with a warm smile.
Emily took a step behind Cora and hid from the woman. “What the fuck?”
“I think they IDed me on the way in. Probably found you through Facebook friends or whatever.”
Emily groaned. “This is an invasion of privacy. I don’t like this. This isn’t legal!”
“Laws.” The woman chuckled. “Come in, Cora. I have much to tell you.” Maggie waved her over with a grizzled hand.
“I’m not interested in whatever racket you have going.” Cora tried to sound as firm as she could. She didn’t know why she felt the need to protect Emily, but she did on an instinctual level. Whatever happened to her in that dark tunnel thing shouldn’t happen to her friend.