The Haunted Hayride

by Abby Klein

  “Well … um,” I said.

  “Well, what?”

  “I can’t find my necklace, and I need one for the carnival tonight. Can I borrow yours?”

  “Why do you need it for tonight?”

  I ignored her and didn’t answer.

  Suzie held up her pinkie for a pinkie swear. “What’s it worth to you?” she said.

  I groaned. Why did she always have to do this? Why couldn’t I borrow something from her just once without having to give her something in return? “Can’t I just wear it tonight? I promise I’ll give it back to you as soon as we get home.”

  “Sure you can wear it tonight,” said Suzie.

  “Really? Thanks so much!” I said, reaching for the necklace.

  Suzie pulled her hand back. “Like I said, ‘What’s it worth to you?’ ” she said, holding up her pinkie once again.

  I knew it was too good to be true. “I don’t know,” I said.

  “Well, you’d better think of something, because I’m not just going to give you the necklace.”

  “How about I give you three pieces of my Halloween candy?”

  “Three pieces?” Suzie said, laughing. “Are you kidding?”

  “Five pieces?”

  “How about six that I get to choose, and then I think we have a deal.”

  “Six! That you get to choose! Six pieces of candy for a dumb, old necklace?”

  “If you think the necklace is so dumb, then I guess you don’t need it.”

  “Fine, fine,” I said, holding up my pinkie. “You can choose six pieces of my Halloween candy if you let me borrow the necklace tonight.”

  We locked our pinkies in a pinkie swear.

  “Here you go,” Suzie said, handing me the necklace.

  “Thanks.” I took the necklace and turned to leave.

  “Hey, Freddy.”

  “What?”

  “You never told me why you need the necklace.”

  “I just do,” I mumbled, and walked out of her room.

  On the car ride to the carnival, I could not stop thinking about the Haunted Hayride. I was usually really excited to go to the Halloween carnival, but not tonight. Tonight I wished I could skip it altogether. I didn’t want to admit to Josh that I was too afraid to go on the ride.

  “Freddy, are you all right?” my mom asked. “You’re awfully quiet back there.”

  I didn’t answer.

  Suzie poked me. “Mom’s talking to you, Sharkbreath.”

  “What? Huh? Did you say something to me, Mom?”

  “Yes, honey. I said, are you all right?”

  “Oh yeah, I’m fine.”

  “Well, you don’t seem fine,” said my dad. “Usually you can’t stop talking about all the things you’re going to do at the carnival.”

  I didn’t want my parents to get suspicious, so I said, “I’m just trying to decide what I’m going to do first. Maybe I’ll do the Beanbag Toss, or the Balloon Burst, or the Gone Fishin’, or …”

  “Wait a minute,” said my mom. “Did you say Gone Fishin’?”

  “Yes, he did,” said Suzie.

  “Is that the one where you win a live goldfish if you get a paper fish with an X on its back?”

  “Yep, that’s the one,” I said.

  “You think Mom is going to let you have a pet fish?” said Suzie, laughing. “Think again.”

  “Of course she will,” I said. “Right, Mom?”

  “Now, Freddy, you know how I feel about any kind of animals in the house,” said my mom.

  “But, Mom, fish are not like dogs. They don’t bark, and they don’t shed fur.”

  “Good try,” whispered Suzie, “but she’s still going to say no.”

  “I’m sorry, Freddy, but I’m still going to have to say no to a fish.”

  “Told you so,” said Suzie.

  “Come on, Mom,” I pleaded. “Pretty please with a cherry on top? I’m older now, so I can take care of it by myself.”

  “Freddy, your mother said no, so the answer is no,” said my dad.

  “It’s not fair,” I mumbled, and stuck out my lower lip.

  Just then we pulled into the school parking lot. “Here we are!” said my dad. “Freddy, let’s turn that frown upside down.”

  “Time for some fun,” said my mom.

  Suzie and I jumped out of the car.

  “I told Kimberly that I’d meet her at the tie-dye booth. See you guys later,” said Suzie as she disappeared into the crowd.

  I had just entered the carnival when someone came up behind me and yelled, “Boo!”

  I jumped.

  “Ha-ha! Did I scare you, Freddy?” said Josh. “Just getting you ready for the Haunted Hayride later.”

  Did he have to remind me? I was hoping he was going to forget about the hayride, but apparently not.

  “Cool necklace,” said Josh. “I like how it glows red like vampire blood. Where’d you get it?”

  “I didn’t get it here,” I said. “I got it at a Fourth of July parade.”

  “Do you want to go play some games with me?” asked Josh.

  “Sure!” I said. Maybe playing games would get my mind off how nervous I was about the hayride.

  “What do you want to play first?” asked Josh.

  “Let’s go do the Beanbag Toss,” I said. “I’m usually pretty good at that, and I want to win some prizes.”

  We took off running toward the games. “See you later, Mom and Dad!” I called over my shoulder.

  “Be careful!” my mom yelled. “Have fun!”

  When we got to the Beanbag Toss, Jessie was already in line. Josh snuck up behind her and yelled, “Boo!”

  Jessie didn’t even flinch. She just laughed.

  “Hey, Jessie,” said Josh.

  “Hey, guys. I was hoping I would find you here.”

  “Jessie is really good at this game,” I said.

  “Really?” said Josh.

  “Yeah,” I said. “Jessie is the pitcher on our baseball team.”

  “A girl pitcher. Wow! That’s cool,” said Josh.

  “Thanks,” Jessie said, smiling.

  “And she has a really good arm,” I said. “Wait until you see her throw the beanbag.”

  “Looks like I won’t have to wait long,” said Josh. “It’s Jessie’s turn now.”

  For the Beanbag Toss there was a picture of a witch painted on a wooden board, but there was a hole cut out where the witch’s mouth would have been. You had to throw the beanbags through the hole. If you got all three of them in, then you won a prize.

  Jessie picked up the first beanbag, took aim, and threw it hard toward the witch’s mouth.

  “Bull’s-eye!” Josh yelled. “That’s one!”

  Jessie picked up the second one and once again tossed it right through the hole.

  “Wow! You weren’t kidding, Freddy,” said Josh. “Jessie really does have a great arm.”

  “That’s two,” said the lady in the booth. “You only need one more, honey, to win a prize.”

  “Come on, Jessie, you can do it,” I shouted, clapping my hands.

  Jessie whipped the third beanbag, and it whizzed right in.

  “Three!” yelled Josh. “You got all three!”

  Jessie had a big grin on her face. “Easy peasy,” she said.

  “You get to pick a prize,” said the lady. “What would you like?”

  “Can I have one of those orange spider rings, please?” said Jessie.

  “Sure thing, honey,” said the lady, handing it to Jessie. “Here you go.”

  Jessie put the ring on.

  “That’s cool and creepy,” said Josh. “Freddy, let’s try to win one of those, too, so we can all have one.”

  “Good idea,” I said. “It can be like a secret spider club.”

  “You go first,” said Josh.

  I quickly threw my first, then my second, and then my third beanbag, and they all went in. “Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Oh yeah!” I sang as I danced around. “I did it! I did it
! I did it!”

  Jessie giggled. “You look like a dancing chicken,” she said.

  “I’d like a green spider ring please,” I told the lady. “Your turn now, Josh.”

  “Josh, Josh, Josh,” Jessie and I chanted.

  Josh picked up the beanbags. “There’s one! There’s two! There’s three!” he said as he hurled them through the air.

  “Woo-hoo! You did it!” Jessie and I shouted. “You got them all in.”

  “I’d like the black spider ring, please,” said Josh.

  Just then a voice said, “Really? A black spider ring? That’s so lame.”

  I’d know that voice anywhere. It was Max.

  “Josh, you’re going to have to win better prizes than that tonight,” said Max, “so when I win our little bet I get to take something really good away from you. Something like this,” said Max, holding up a clear plastic bag with a real live goldfish swimming around in it.

  “Is that a real goldfish?” Josh asked Max.

  “Of course it’s real. Can’t you see it swimming around?” said Max, shoving the bag into Josh’s face.

  “That’s awesome! I can’t wait to take that away from you when I win the bet,” said Josh.

  I wished the two of them would stop talking about the bet. It was making my stomach hurt.

  Just then Robbie came running up. “Hey, guys, I’ve been looking all over for you. What’s up?”

  “I was just telling Max that he’s going to have to give me that goldfish later, when Freddy goes on the hayride and I win the bet,” said Josh.

  “Ha-ha! That’s funny that you think you’re going to win,” said Max. “I know I’m going to win because I know Freddy way better than you do, and he’s afraid of everything … and I mean everything!”

  “I know I’m new around here,” said Josh, “but Freddy seems like a pretty tough kid to me.”

  I smiled to myself. Josh, the cool surfer dude from California, thinks I’m tough.

  “Well, you’d better go win your own goldfish, because you are definitely not going to get mine,” Max said as he turned and walked away.

  “We’ll see about that!” Josh called after him.

  “What should we do now?” Jessie asked.

  “I really want one of those goldfish,” said Josh. “Don’t you, Freddy?”

  “I wish,” I said.

  “Then let’s go play Gone Fishin’,” said Josh.

  “I can’t.”

  “What do you mean you can’t?”

  “Freddy’s mom is a neat freak,” said Robbie. “She won’t let him have any animals in the house.”

  “But fish aren’t like other animals,” said Josh. “They don’t bring mud into the house. You don’t have to clean up their poop.”

  “I know. I know,” I said. “I’ve tried telling her all of that, but it’s no use. No animals, period.”

  “Wow! That’s a bummer,” said Josh.

  “Do you have any pets?” asked Robbie.

  “Yeah, I have a dog named Yogi. He’s awesome. He even sleeps on my bed at night,” said Josh.

  “I am so jealous!” I said. “I really want a dog that sleeps on my bed.”

  “Robbie, do you have any pets?”

  “Robbie has, like, a whole zoo at his house!” I said. “He has all kinds of pets.”

  “Really?” said Josh.

  “You’ll have to come over and see them sometime,” said Robbie.

  “I’d love to,” said Josh. “Maybe one day after school.”

  “Sure thing,” said Robbie.

  “I have one goldfish named Choopy,” said Jessie, “and I’d like to give her a friend, so let’s go fishing!”

  We all ran over to the Gone Fishin’ booth.

  Robbie, Josh, and Jessie all got in line.

  “Aren’t you going to play?” said Josh. “Just for the fun of it.”

  “No. That’s okay. I’ll just watch you guys,” I said.

  The guy in the booth handed them each a fishing pole with a magnet on the end. They had to drop the fishing line behind a curtain painted to look like the ocean. The magnet would “catch” a paper fish that each player had to reel in. If the paper fish had a big X on it, they’d win a real goldfish.

  Jessie went first. She threw her fishing line over the curtain.

  “I think you’ve caught one,” the guy said. “Go ahead and reel it in.”

  “Come on, come on,” Jessie whispered to herself as she reeled the fish in. “I want a friend for Choopy.”

  “Did you win? Did you win?” Josh asked.

  “I don’t know. I haven’t looked yet,” said Jessie as she pulled the paper fish off the end of the line. Slowly, she turned the fish over in her hand, and there on the back was a big black X. “I won! I won!” Jessie shouted, jumping up and down.

  “Way to go!” said Josh.

  “It’s your lucky night,” I said, giving her a high five.

  “Here you go,” said the guy as he handed Jessie her fish in a bag. “Be careful and take good care of it.”

  “Thanks, I will!” said Jessie.

  “What are you going to name it?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure yet,” said Jessie. “I have to think about it. Maybe Pessy.”

  “Bessie? Rhymes with Jessie?”

  “No, Pessy.”

  “Pessy? What kind of name is that?” I said.

  “Well, pescado means ‘fish’ in Spanish, so I thought I could call him Pessy for short.”

  “That’s cool,” said Josh. “I like it.”

  Robbie went next. He threw his fishing pole into the ocean, caught a fish, reeled it in, pulled his fish off the line, and looked at the back.

  “Bummer,” said Robbie. “No X.”

  “Sorry, dude,” said Josh.

  “Better luck next time,” I said, patting Robbie on the back.

  “Your turn, Josh,” said Jessie. “Good luck!”

  The guy handed him a fishing pole.

  “You know,” said Josh, “the beach was only a few blocks from my house in California. If I win a fish and keep it in my bedroom, maybe I won’t miss the ocean so much.”

  Josh tossed his fishing line to catch a fish and then reeled it in.

  “I can’t look. I’m too nervous,” said Josh. “Freddy, would you check it out for me and tell me if I won?”

  “You want me to look?” I said.

  “Yeah,” said Josh. “Take the fish off the line and tell me if it has a black X on it.”

  I carefully pulled the paper fish off the line. I think I was just as nervous as Josh was.

  “Come on, look already!” said Robbie. “The suspense is killing me.”

  My heart was beating really fast. I slowly turned the fish over …

  “Did I win?” asked Josh. “Is there a black X?”

  I shook my head. “Sorry,” I said. “No X.”

  “You can always try again,” said the guy in the booth.

  “Or I can just take Max’s fish when I win that bet tonight,” Josh said, smiling. “Right, Freddy?”

  I gulped and pretended to laugh. “Ha-ha! Right.”

  “So, what should we do now?” asked Jessie.

  “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving,” said Robbie. “I think we should go get something to eat.”

  “Great idea!” said Josh. “My stomach is growling. Freddy, what do you want to eat?”

  My stomach was growling, too, but not because I was hungry. I was so worried about that hayride that I didn’t really feel like eating anything. “I don’t know,” I said.

  “Let’s go over to the food area and see what they’ve got,” said Jessie.

  We all walked over to the food trucks.

  “Wow!” said Josh. “They’ve got so many choices: hot dogs, hamburgers, tacos, pizza, chicken fingers, sandwiches … I don’t know what to choose.”

  “I know what I want,” said Jessie.

  “Let me guess,” I said. “Tacos.”

  Jes
sie laughed. “Yep. I’m going to get tacos. You know I love tacos.”

  “I love tacos, too,” said Josh.

  “You do?” said Jessie.

  “Yeah, I used to eat them all the time in California. There is a place called the Taco Hut that makes the best tacos in the world.”

  “Actually, my abuela, my grandma, makes the best tacos in the world,” said Jessie. “She’s from Mexico, and she has a secret recipe that she has been using since she was a little girl.”

  “Freddy, have you ever had her tacos?” Josh asked.

  “Of course! They are sooooooo good,” I said, licking my lips.

  “Josh, you’ll have to come over and try them some time,” said Jessie.

  “For sure!” said Josh. “Thanks, Jessie.”

  “I think I might get a hot dog,” said Robbie.

  “We could all get hot dogs and be hot dog vampires,” said Josh.

  “Hot dog vampires? What’s that?” I asked.

  “You don’t know what a hot dog vampire is?” said Josh. “Come on. Let’s get hot dogs and I’ll show you.”

  The three of us got hot dogs, and Jessie got some tacos.

  “Now get a knife and some ketchup,” said Josh, “and meet me at that table over there.”

  Robbie and I got what we needed and joined Josh and Jessie at the table.

  “Now what?” asked Robbie.

  “First, you have to make your fangs,” said Josh.

  “How do we do that?” I asked.

  “You cut a small chunk off each end of the hot dog, like this,” Josh said as he cut his pieces off and held them up for us to see.

  Robbie and I did exactly what he did.

  “These are going to be our fangs.”

  “Now what?” said Robbie.

  “Now you dip each of the pieces into ketchup, so it looks like our fangs are dripping with blood.”

  We dipped our pretend fangs into the ketchup.

  “Freddy, you need to dip yours a little more,” said Josh. “You want them to look really bloody.”

  All this talk of bloody fangs was not making me feel any better. In fact, it was making me feel worse!

  “Do I have enough blood on mine?” Robbie asked.

  “Yeah,” said Josh. “That’s perfect. Now you push the pieces of hot dog over your two top front teeth like this,” Josh continued as he put his fangs in place.