Carter and the Curious Maze Read Online Free PDF Page A

now that he was free. If Mr. Green had done something weird by somehow making the curious maze disappear, what did he care now he was out of it? If he ever saw that Native boy again, he’d have to thank him for getting him out of there. He turned to go. His mother and Sydney and the parking lot weren’t far away now. He took a step, turned around a few more times, and then stopped and frowned again.
    Something else was definitely not right.
    Not only was the maze gone, but there was also something wrong with the midway. He’d been so happy to get out of the maze and to hear shrieks of riders and smell fried food (and garbage) that he hadn’t really LOOKED at the fairgrounds.
    The midway wasn’t right. Not right at all.
    A small wooden Ferris wheel circled up and down.
    I’ve never seen that there before.
    Nearby, a tiny wooden roller coaster rolled around a short track. People on the ride shrieked, but it was the least scary-looking ride Carter had ever seen, as though it was for really young kids. A large sign above it said, “Ride the Switchback! Just like Coney Island!”
    Coney Island? What’s that?
    He heard a yell from overhead and looked up. A man in a sling rolled slowly past on a cable, as though he was zip-lining but very, very slowly. A nearby sign read: “Take your chance on the Aerial Railway!”
    I’ve never noticed the Aerial Railway there before, either.
    People flowed all around Carter as though he wasn’t there. He turned in circles, his mouth open.
    Where’s the real midway?
    Where was the mighty Double Helix Death-Defying roller coaster? And the Monster Loop-the-Loop? And the Zippedy Spinner? And the Skull-N-Bonz Pirate Ship? He’d even be happy to see the sad, so-not-scary haunted house right about now.
    There were at least a dozen more rides that Carter could name that SHOULD have been on the midway, rattling on enormous wheels and making lots of noise.
    But they weren’t there.
    Instead there was a wooden carousel, a small Ferris wheel, a tiny roller coaster, and something that looked like zip-lining with all the fun taken out.
    A man walked by, shouting into an old-fashioned megaphone: “Hurry, hurry, hurry! Step right up! The grandstand horse races are about to begin!”
    Horse races?
    Carter ran up to him. “Hey, sir. What happened to the midway?” he asked. But the man seemed not to hear him and kept walking. Musicians strolled past, playing guitars and drums, and more men walked by yelling strange messages into megaphones:
    â€œCome see Bert Bostock’s Leopards!” yelled one man.
    â€œDon’t miss the Mighty Swordfish in the world’s largest tank!”yelled another.
    â€œThe sideshow freaks are about to perform!”bellowed a third.
    There were definitely more megaphones than he remembered. And that wasn’t all that was strange.
    I’ve never seen leopards, a swordfish, or … sideshow freaks here before!
    Carter’s head buzzed as he joined a huge crowd. Overhead, a bright red hot-air balloon floated in the afternoon sky. A sign on the side of the balloon said, “Watch the Daredevil Professor Stewart Soar into the Heavens!”
    What’s going on? What’s so exciting about a hot-air balloon? The air show should start soon … with helicopters and jets.
    Carter took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and opened them again. Nothing had changed. Everything was still wrong, very, very wrong.
    He spun in a slow circle. It was dawning on him that there were horses everywhere. Horses pulled buggies, carts, even big trucks. One horse-drawn truck went past, with the words ICE ICE ICE painted on the side. Carter walked up to a horse waiting patiently tied to a post and cautiously reached out to stroke its nose. The animal sniffed his hand and then stomped its front legs hard in the dirt and reared away, frightened. Carter hurried off into the crowd.
    Everyone was dressed in