Bride of the Wolf

Chapter III: Gypsy Carnival

Chapter III: Gypsy Carnival

The carnival was in a secluded area on the edge of town, and Steve and Larry had never seen anything like it. It was much smaller than carnivals they had been to in North America; however what it lacked in size it more than made up for in excitement and energy. The emphasis was less on games and rides, and much more focused on entertainment.

A few acts were behind screens and required an admission price, but most were out in the open with a simple hat for people to contribute. There were jugglers, fire eaters, sword swallowers, contortionists, a tightrope walker. And everywhere there was gypsy music. The three ran from act to act, trying to see it all.

Gwen ran down the midway, laughing, closely followed by the two men.

"Who wants to go on the Ferris Wheel with me?" she asked, stopping short in front of the ride.

Steve looked at the ride dubiously. "Are you kidding?" he asked. "How old do you think that thing is? I'm not risking my life."

"Steve's afraid of heights," Larry explained.

"Hey, I'm not afraid of heights," Steve told them. "I'm afraid of falling fifty feet along with several tons of rusty, twisted, poorly maintained metal."

"I don't think Steve wants to come with us," Larry interpreted for Gwen.

"Okay then, something else!" Gwen laughed. "No one has won me a prize yet..."

Gwen looked around, and spotted a game. A man sat at a simple table made of a board and two barrels, in front of a rack of various stuffed animals. The three friends approached the setup.

"So what's your game?" Larry asked the man.

The man looked up. With a flourish he laid out three cards face up on the table, the queen of hearts and a couple of fours. He flipped them face down and moved them around. After three or four moves he turned over one of the cards, the queen.

"Simple," said the man in a husky, accented voice. "You find lucky lady, you win."

"That's easy," said Steve. "I'll play."

Steve handed the man a dollar, and the man stuffed the bill away. He flipped the three cards over to show that they were still the queen and two fours, then flipped them face down. He quickly rearranged the cards three, four, five times incredibly quickly.

"I lost track of the queen," Gwen said.

"It's this one," Steve said, pointing at the center card.

The man flipped the card - a four. Flipping the other two revealed the lucky lady's true position on the left.

"Mister must watch very closely," the man told him.

"I thought I did," Steve said, finding another bill. He handed it to the man. "Let's go again."

Once again the man flipped over the cards, then rearranged them. This time Steve watched closely, without so much as blinking.

"This one!" he declared triumphantly. But when the card was revealed it was a four.

"Let me try," said Larry, taking Steve's place in front of the table. He handed the man a dollar. The man turned over the cards and rearranged them with his usual flourish.

"I think it's this one. What do you think, Steve?" asked Larry.

"That's the one for sure," Steve agreed.

The man turned over the card, a four.

"Don't waste your money," said Steve as he saw Larry going into his wallet one more time. "It's a scam. You can't win."

"Oh, so no one will win me a prize?" said Gwen with disappointment.

Larry looked at the table, then at his wallet. "One more time," he said. "I think I've figured out the trick."

Larry reached into his wallet. His friends' attention was on the cards, but the dealer's attention was on the money as Larry pulled out a twenty dollar bill and handed it over. The man stuffed the bill away and set up the cards.

Larry watched as the cards moved, tracking the queen carefully. When the man was done he quickly pointed to the card.

"This one!" he declared.

"Any one but that one!" Steve laughed.

The man turned over the card Larry indicated - the lucky lady.

"Mister is wise," the man said. "Mister knows secret of universe. Choose your prize."

"Gwen?" Larry said, indicating it was her choice.

"The puppy! With the yellow bow," Gwen said, pointing at one of the stuffed animals.

The man handed Gwen her prize and the three wandered away through the carnival, Gwen smiling as she nuzzled her toy puppy.

"How did you do that?" Steve wanted to know.

"Easy," said Larry. "You just need to know the secret of the universe."

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A/N: I always figure that when they go to an amusement park in the movies, it means that the writers have run out of ideas! So here it is chapter 3 and look where they ended up. But really, it's part of the plot !

This was just a short chapter, so apologies for that. Now that Prettiest Vampire is complete I'll have more time to devote to this story, and that should mean longer chapters.

With my last book I published one or two pages twice a week. I want to give my readers a bit more, so I'm going to try to get out a full chapter every time I publish. But that means I can only publish once a week. Hey, I'm not a writing machine!

And please comment! I really just want to know what you think!