Series 2000- Horrors of the Black Ring Read online

  She hurried away.

  Danny waved at us. “Grab a spoon,” he said.

  I washed my hands and started dropping dough in clumps onto a cookie sheet.

  “I’d better preheat the oven,” Tina said. She turned the oven knob to 350 degrees.

  “It should be hot enough soon,” she added.

  I filled one cookie sheet and loaded it into the oven. I grabbed a clean cookie sheet and started filling it up.

  A few minutes later, I smelled something funny.

  “Is something burning?” I asked.

  Tina shrugged. “I don’t think so. The cookies take fifteen minutes to bake.”

  The sharp aroma burned my nose.

  “I smell smoke!” Danny cried.

  I turned—and saw thick black smoke pouring out of the oven.

  “Oh, no!” I cried. I grabbed a pot holder and threw open the oven door.

  The oven burst into flames.

  Fire roared out of it.

  I screamed and covered my face.

  “Help!” I shrieked. “Oh … help!”

  I froze.

  I couldn’t believe this was happening.

  Tina moved fast. She grabbed me and dragged me out of the kitchen.

  “Danny, come on!” I cried.

  We raced down the hall. I found a red fire alarm and tugged on the lever. A shrieking bell rang through the school.

  Then I saw someone running ahead of us.

  Anthony.

  What’s he doing here? I wondered. School is out. Why isn’t he home?

  We ran outside and stood in the school yard. A few minutes later, fire trucks squealed to a stop. Firefighters hurried inside the building.

  Some teachers and a few more students raced out of the building.

  Miss Gold rushed over to me, Danny, and Tina. “Kids, are you all right?” she asked.

  We nodded.

  Miss Gold appeared very upset. Her face was pale, and her hands were shaking.

  She really cares about us, I realized.

  “Thank goodness,” Miss Gold breathed. “When I heard that fire alarm go off, I really got scared. Luckily there weren’t many students left in the building. Mrs. Cooke, the principal, is still inside, checking every room.”

  I saw Anthony hovering around the edge of the crowd. I hurried over to him.

  “Anthony, it’s so weird,” I said. “You always seem to be around when something bad happens.”

  His jaw dropped. “What? You think I had something to do with this?”

  “I saw you outside the kitchen. What were you doing there?” I demanded.

  “Nothing!” he insisted. “My locker happens to be outside the kitchen. I saw you guys baking cookies, and I was thinking maybe I’d help.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. Anthony Gonzales, offer to help? Yeah, right.

  It was just too weird. Someone scrawls THE CARNIVAL IS DOOMED all over the chalkboard—and Anthony walks by with chalk dust on his hands.

  Someone smashes up the art projects— except for Anthony’s painting.

  A fire breaks out while we’re baking—and Anthony just happens to be hanging around nearby.

  Whenever something bad happens, Anthony is there.

  Mrs. Cooke came out of the building. “The fire is out,” she announced. “There wasn’t too much damage, and no one was hurt. Everything is all right now.”

  “Thank goodness.” Miss Gold sighed.

  I felt nervous as I walked home. Did someone start that fire on purpose? I wondered.

  It’s strange, I thought. The only people in the kitchen were me, Tina, and Danny—the heads of the carnival.

  What if someone isn’t just trying to stop the carnival? I thought. What if someone is trying to hurt us?

  When I got home, Mom and Amanda were watching the news. Mom stood in front of the TV, her purse slung over her arm. A reporter was interviewing Mrs. Cooke about the fire.

  “Beth!” Mom hugged me. “I was just about to go to school and get you! I’m so glad you’re all right!”

  “I’m okay, Mom,” I told her. “No one got hurt.”

  Mom sank onto the couch. “Thank goodness.”

  I wandered out to the back porch to check on Chirpy.

  Chirpy fluttered his one good wing when he saw me.

  “How are you feeling today?” I reached into the cage and gently rubbed his back. He fluttered again, weakly.

  I gave him some birdseed. He ate a few seeds from my hand, then settled down to rest.

  He doesn’t look much better, I thought sadly. “Come on, Chirpy,” I said. “Cheer up. Try to get strong again.”

  He pecked at another seed. “That’s good,” I said. “Keep eating.”

  I headed to my room. I felt totally wrecked. What a crazy week!

  I sat down on my bed and took off my shoes. Suddenly I heard a noise.

  THUMP.

  I froze. What was that?

  CLUNK.

  It came from inside my closet!

  I stared at the closet door. My heart pounded.

  Calm down, I told myself. There’s no one there.

  No one is in my closet, I thought.

  I sat frozen on my bed, listening.

  THUD.

  I gasped.

  The carnival is doomed.

  The words flashed into my mind.

  Someone’s after me! I thought. Someone has come to get me!

  I heard breathing behind the closet door.

  “Who’s that?” I cried. “Who’s in there?”

  The closet door cracked open.

  My heart raced. “Which-who is it?” I asked again.

  I waited, frozen in place.

  The door creaked.

  It swung open.

  Amanda leaped out. She tackled me on the bed.

  “Get off me!” I cried.

  She tumbled to the floor.

  “You scared me to death!” I shrieked.

  “I know!” she replied gleefully. “I wanted to scare you!”

  “Why?” I demanded.

  “Because you never pay any attention to me,” she sniffed.

  “I’ve been busy!” I shouted, furious. “I can’t help it! I can’t spend every second playing with you!”

  Amanda’s upper lip trembled. “You used to like playing with me,” she whined. “Now you’re hardly ever home!”

  I sighed. She’s right, I realized. I’ve been so busy with the carnival I haven’t spent any time with her. But still—she can’t expect me to drop everything for her all the time.

  “I’m sorry, Amanda,” I said. “It’s just that … things have been so crazy the last few days.”

  “I know.” She nodded sadly. “But I miss you.”

  “Amanda, I promise to spend more time with you as soon as the carnival is over. That’s tomorrow. You can wait one day, can’t you?”

  “You’ll help me with my Barbies?” she asked.

  “Yes. And anything else you want to do. I’ll even take you to the petting zoo.”

  She brightened up. “Okay.”

  “And tomorrow night I’ll take you to the carnival. That will be fun, won’t it?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Do you feel better now?”

  She nodded. “Yeah.”

  “And you won’t play any more mean tricks on me?”

  “No. I promise.” Did she have her fingers crossed? I couldn’t see.

  She waved good-bye and shut the door behind her.

  I pulled off my socks. She’s really not so bad, I thought. For an obnoxious little sister, I mean.

  I decided to read for a while. I pulled down the covers and slid into bed.

  I felt a little uncomfortable. I shifted.

  Something strange touched my leg.

  What is that? I wondered.

  I moved my leg. Something touched it again.

  Something cold.

  “Yuck!” I groaned. I leaped out of bed and pulled down the covers.

 
The cow eyeball!

  “Ohhh!”

  Amanda’s cow eyeball rolled along my sheets, leaving a slimy trail.

  My stomach clenched. Then I heard peals of high-pitched giggling from my sister’s room.

  “Amanda, you’re going to get it!” I shouted.

  She’s so horrible! I thought angrily. Why do I bother trying to be nice to her?

  “I don’t believe it!” Danny said. It was the next day. Tina, Danny, and I were on our way to the gym after school. “Tonight is the carnival. And nothing has gone wrong today.”

  “So far,” I reminded him.

  We were carrying projects from the art room to the gym. It was time to finish setting up the carnival.

  The carnival is doomed, I thought. I couldn’t get those words out of my head.

  Would they come true? Was something terrible about to happen?

  “Everybody heard about the oven fire,” Tina said. “Lots of people baked cookies and stuff at home and brought them in. We might even have more food than last year!”

  “That’s great,” I said. “The food tables make the most money.”

  I put down the paintings I was carrying and opened the door to the gym.

  I thought I saw someone. Just a flash of blond hair. The figure darted out the back exit.

  “Who was that?” I asked.

  “Who?” Danny said. “I didn’t see anyone.”

  “Neither did I,” Tina said.

  I shrugged and picked up the paintings. “Maybe I’m imagining things,” I said.

  “I’m going to run back to the art room to get some more stuff,” Danny told us.

  “Don’t forget the masking tape,” Tina reminded him.

  Danny nodded and hurried out of the gym.

  Tina led the way to the food tables. “Look at all the stuff people brought,” she said happily.

  The tables were loaded with dishes covered in tinfoil.

  I’m hungry, I thought. I think I’ll sneak a brownie while Tina’s not looking.

  I drifted over to the end of the table. I lifted the tinfoil off a plate and snatched a brownie.

  I stuffed the brownie into my mouth.

  I chewed. Something crunched.

  What was that? A walnut?

  I made a face. It didn’t taste like a nut. It tasted sour.

  I crunched again. And felt something crawl across my tongue.

  Something was alive in my mouth!

  I spit out the brownie.

  “Ohh …” I moaned. “I’m going to be sick.”

  I dropped to my knees as my stomach heaved, and I vomited all over the floor.

  “What? What is it?” Tina raced over to see what was wrong.

  I finally stopped heaving and backed away. I covered my mouth with one hand.

  We both stared down at the brownie. Tiny white wriggling maggots.

  Tina squealed with terror. My stomach lurched again. I could still feel the maggots crawling over my tongue. Gagging, I hurried to the water fountain and frantically rinsed out my mouth.

  Tina was checking every plate of food. “Who did this?” she demanded. “Who?”

  I tried to reply but gagged again.

  Maggots. I had maggots in my mouth! I’ll never be normal again, I decided.

  “What should we do?” Tina asked.

  “We’d better tell Miss Gold,” I suggested. “Maybe she’ll know what to do.”

  Miss Gold bit her lip when we told her what had happened.

  “Maggots,” she murmured. “Maggots …”

  She began to shake. Lines seemed to grow on her face right before my eyes. She sank into a chair and dropped her head into her hands.

  “I think we should call off the carnival,” she said quietly.

  I gasped. “But-but—” Tina sputtered. “We worked so hard on it!”

  “I know, girls.” Miss Gold looked so frightened. “But I have a very bad feeling.”

  Tina and I glanced at each other. “Maybe she’s right,” I said. “A lot of bad things have happened. And they keep getting worse!”

  “I don’t know,” Tina protested. “We’ve worked so hard. What else could go wrong?”

  “A lot,” Miss Gold said grimly.

  She’s really scared, I thought. “What do you mean?” I asked her.

  Before she could reply, Anthony rushed in to the classroom.

  “Hey—the dunking tank is all set up,” he announced. “Want to see it? Danny is going to try it out.”

  Miss Gold frowned. I glanced at the black ring on her finger. It glowed in the light from the window.

  She saw me staring at it and covered it with her hand.

  “Let’s go see the dunking tank,” she said, standing up.

  We all trooped back to the gym.

  “Hey!” Danny called. He sat on a bench at the top of the dunking machine, hovering over a tankful of water. Beside him stood a red-and-white target.

  “I always wanted to try one of these,” Danny said. “But Anthony will never dunk me.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Anthony grabbed three softballs and prepared to throw. If one of the balls hit the target, Danny would fall into the water.

  “Anthony, be careful,” Miss Gold warned.

  “Don’t worry, Miss Gold,” Anthony assured her. “I won’t clonk him in the head.

  “Ready?” he called to Danny.

  Danny yawned. “No way I’m getting wet.”

  Anthony gripped a ball. He wound up like a pitcher and hurled the ball at the target.

  It bounced off the wall behind the dunking tank.

  Danny laughed. “Missed me!”

  “Anthony, that’s enough,” Miss Gold ordered. She was trying to sound tough, but her voice quavered. “We’ve seen how it works. Danny— climb out of there!” she called.

  “No way, Miss Gold,” Anthony said. “I’ve got two more chances. And this time I’m not going to miss!”

  He wound up again and threw. The ball just nipped the edge of the target.

  “You throw like a girl!” Danny taunted.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I cried.

  “Watch this!” Anthony picked up the third ball.

  “Anthony—don’t,” Miss Gold warned. “Don’t dunk him. He—he’ll get his clothes all wet.”

  “Tough,” Anthony muttered. “He asked for it.” He wound up and pitched the ball.

  BANG! It hit the target square in the middle.

  SPLASH! Danny dropped into the tank of water.

  “Aaaauuuggghh!” Danny let out a cry and began to thrash wildly in the water.

  “Let me out!” he shrieked. “Help me! Help!”

  At first I thought he was clowning around. But then I saw that his face was bright red.

  “Help—somebody!”

  It took us all so long to realize that he was in pain. But then I saw the steam rising up from the water.

  And Danny moaned, “Boiling. It’s boiling me!”

  His eyes shut. His body went limp. And he sank under the water.

  We raced to the tank. Climbed over the side.

  Steam rose up around us. Boiling hot.

  “Give us your hand!” Miss Gold screamed.

  But Danny had passed out. He couldn’t hear us.

  We grabbed him by the shoulders and hoisted him up.

  “Is he drowned?” Anthony cried. “Is he breathing?”

  The custodian, Mr. Greaves, rushed into the gym, followed by his assistant, Jerry. They helped us pull Danny out.

  We set him down on the floor. His skin was an angry red. He was breathing.

  “The water—” he gasped. “It was so hot!”

  I touched Danny’s arm. It was boiling hot and red as a lobster.

  “That’s impossible!” Mr. Greaves insisted. “I just filled that tank with cold water. I swear!”

  “Take him to the nurse’s office—quick!” Miss Gold ordered.

  Mr. Greaves helped Danny up and half-walked, half-carried him out of the g
ym.

  “Man, I’m so sorry,” Anthony said. “I didn’t know that water was hot—I really didn’t!”

  Miss Gold’s lip trembled. “Something

  dreadful is going to happen tonight—I just know it!”

  “Miss Gold—” I asked. “How do you know?”

  She rubbed her temples as if they ached. “I just know.”

  I hugged my knees to my chest. “What can we do?”

  Miss Gold stood up. “Come with me, Beth. We’re going to the principal’s office to ask her to call off the carnival.”

  “That was the nurse,” Mrs. Cooke announced, hanging up the phone. Miss Gold and I had been sitting in her office when the phone rang. “She said Danny will be fine.”

  Mrs. Cooke folded her hands on her desk and frowned at us. “I understand your concerns, Miss Gold. I wish I could call off the carnival. But it’s too late.”

  Miss Gold stared down at the black ring on her hand. She looked very upset.

  “We’ll just have to take extra care,” Mrs. Cooke continued. “I’ll call the police and ask them to send someone to keep an eye on things. That should help.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Cooke.” Miss Gold and I left the office.

  “Are you all right, Miss Gold?” I asked.

  She clasped her hand over the ring.

  She didn’t answer my question. Instead, she took off, running down the hall, vanishing around the corner.

  “I don’t want any dinner, Mom,” Amanda declared. “I’m going to eat at the carnival tonight—right, Beth?”

  I swallowed, thinking of the maggot-covered brownies. “Um—I don’t know, Amanda,” I began. “I’m not sure they’ll have anything good there.”

  “Sure they will!” Amanda cried. “They always do!”

  “I guess you can have hot dogs for dinner once in a while,” Mom agreed. “Or whatever they’re serving this year.”

  My stomach turned over again. Chocolate-covered maggots, anyone?

  “I guess they have hot dogs,” I replied. “And other stuff.”

  “I can’t wait to go,” Amanda said. “And you’d better not try to back out of taking me, Beth. Remember—you promised.”

  “I know.” I felt miserable. Amanda would kill me if I refused to take her to the carnival. But something inside told me she shouldn’t go.

  “Come on,” I said, tugging Amanda’s hand.

  “Let’s get this over with.”

  “I guess Miss Gold was wrong,” Tina said. “So far, the carnival is going great!”