Carter and the Curious Maze Read Online Free PDF Page B

home now?
    He tried not to panic. He gulped hard as his heart raced and his mouth went dry. He looked past more tents selling ice cream (guaranteed frozen!) and Coney Island sausages for five cents …
    â€¦ and saw a splotch of red squid hat disappear behind a tree.

Chapter 8
    Arthur and the Freak Show

    â€œS YDNEY ! SYDNEY, WAIT!”
    Carter tore through the crowd. When he got to the spot where he’d seen Sydney’s hat, she was gone.
    â€œSYDNEY! SYDNEY!” He whipped around in circles. He ran from spot to spot. But there was no sign of her.
    Sydney had vanished.
    With a groan, Carter slid to the soft ground under a huge old tree. People and horses passed by him. Mothers, fathers, children, walked past in their best clothes, just another normal day for them, and all so terribly, terribly wrong for Carter.
    No doubt about it now. This was real. No one could see him except maybe horses; he knew that now, too. He was invisible. The man with the megaphone, the Coney Island sausage man, the people all around him, none of them could see him. It was just as though he wasn’t there.
    Maybe no one would ever find him, either. But his sister was out there too, somewhere. That thought calmed Carter just a little. If he’d been just a little younger, he might have started crying. But instead he swallowed hard and tried to be calm.
    Think, Carter, think!
    He had to find his way home somehow. But how?
    Where was Mr. Green?
    Carter pulled his knees up to his chest. He read a sign across the grass: “FREAK SHOW.” At that moment a man in a top hat came out of a big tent and yelled into a megaphone: “Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! For just ten cents, yes that’s one slim dime, you can see the amazing sideshow freaks! Meet Thumbelina, the world’s smallest mother! She plays guitar! See the one and only Wild Man of Borneo! He eats raw meat! And barks! And you wouldn’t want to miss the bearded lady, would you? We call her Harriet, or Hairy for short!”
    The crowd laughed, and then to Carter’s amazement people rushed to get inside the tent. He could hear the clink clink as men, women, and children eagerly dropped their money into a jar at the man’s feet.
    A girl and her brother, two children about the same age as Carter and Sydney, pushed passed him. The girl said, “Hurry, Henry! The sideshow freaks are performing!”
    Sideshow freaks? Hey, look over here! Freak boy from the future lost in time, ten cents a peek!
    No one knew that a boy in strange rubber-soled shoes and oddly zippered clothes was sitting under a tree.
    Was he scared? If he had to admit it … yes. If he wasn’t scared before in the maze, now he was.
    He was scared.
    How was he going to get home now? Where was Mr. Green?
    And where was Sydney?
    He was about to get up to retrace his steps back to the carousel. He was trying very, very hard not to panic.
    Then …
    â€¦ “Mummy?”
    A little boy stood in front of him. Could it be the boy from the maze? It was hard to tell, since all the children were dressed the same way, but he looked like the same boy.
    â€œHey, kid! Hey, can you see me?” Carter asked, a little frantically.
    The little boy stared at him. “Mummy?” he asked again, doubtful. But he was definitely looking at Carter. The little boy could see him, he was sure of it.
    â€œKid … listen carefully. Where’s the maze?” The little boy stuck his finger in his nose and frowned.
    â€œLost my mummy,” he said again, a little fearful. Carter grabbed the boy’s shoulder. He was real enough.
    â€œWhere’s your mom? Back in the maze? Where is it? Where’s the maze, kid?” Carter wanted to shake him, so he forced himself to calm down. But the little boy just stared. His big eyes filled with tears. Carter sighed and took the boy’s hand (the one that hadn’t just been in his nose).
    â€œWhat’s your