Bringing Down the Mouse Read Online Free PDF

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    â€œYou can’t put a price on fun, can you, Dad?” Charlie responded as they stepped past the ticket booth and looked out across the fairground.
    And indeed, if you were putting a price on fun, the Sherwood Halloween Fair would’ve been on the low end of that monetary scale. Aside from the assorted booths hawking cotton candy, roasted peanuts, foot-long sausages, and Halloween friendly balloons depicting everything from ghosts and witches to cartoon characters, the only two true highlights of the fair were readily visible even from the front entrance.
    Directly to Charlie’s left, just inside the gate, was the Haunted Hayride. Basically the hayride consisted of a tractor hauling an oversize wagon piled with hay. The ride lasted about ten minutes and followed a figure-eight dirt track that stretched out across the farmland adjacent to the parking area. Assorted papier-mâché dioramas dotted either side of the track, things like skeletons hanging from trees and scarecrows dangling from iron hooks. But the real haunting was enacted by a handful of teenagers dressed as ghosts, who were getting paid to run alongside the wagon, shouting at the passengers inside. The ride was actually pretty scary—until you turnedabout eight years old; then it was just plain uncomfortable, bouncing around that hard flatbed, hay jabbing at any exposed skin, while teenagers yelled at you.
    The second main attraction was on the far side of the park; Charlie could just make out the top of the enormous Ferris wheel from where he was standing next to his dad, and he had to admit, it was pretty impressive. Strung with thousands of multicolored lights, at night you could see the Ferris wheel through the trees from miles away. The fact that the carnival even had a Ferris wheel was pretty surprising; there weren’t any other rides to speak of, unless you counted the ponies in the petting area off to Charlie’s right. But the Ferris wheel was enough to keep people coming back, even if they had to wait thirty minutes in line for the eight-minute journey.
    â€œWhat time did Jeremy say he was going to meet you?” Charlie’s dad said as they both moved through the open gate.
    â€œTwo,” Charlie answered. “He’s probably already on line at the wheel. We’ll wave to you from the top.”
    Charlie didn’t feel good about lying to his father, but he wasn’t quite sure how to explain what he was really doing at the Sherwood Fair. The truth was, he didn’t even know why he was there. The more he thought about the strange meeting at the vending machine, theless he understood. More than once, he had decided to ignore the whole incident. But eventually, his curiosity had gotten the best of him.
    â€œAnd you have enough money to enjoy yourself until we meet back at the car?”
    Charlie patted his jeans pocket. He’d brought thirty dollars from his stash, more than enough for a hot dog, ice cream, and maybe a couple of rides on the wheel. Although he couldn’t imagine that Finn and Magic had invited him to the fair to take a ride on a Ferris wheel.
    â€œOkay, man. You know where to find me when you’re done.”
    Charlie’s dad gave his shoulder a squeeze, then wandered off toward the concession tent. Charlie felt another pang of guilt as he watched his dad go; he knew that lots of kids his age didn’t have nearly as much independence as he did. Part of that was probably because he was an only child; sometimes his parents went out of their way to make him feel like they were his friends and not just authority figures. And the other part was because his dad was on the older side; he’d had Charlie when he was in his early forties. Or maybe it was just his dad’s “absentminded professor” personality. Whatever the reason, Charlie had a lot of freedom, and he didn’t usually abuse the privileges that came with it.
    Charlie waited until his