A Wanton Tale by Paula Marie Kenny Page B

his hat and cupped his hands to his mouth. Quite clearly she heard him shout.
    â€˜SCREAM IF YOU WANT TO GO FASTER!’
    Sophie didn’t want to go faster but she still screamed, a loud terrifying scream.
    She was being sucked into a whirlwind of coloured light, a vortex of spinning colour. She watched horrified as her precious black china cat prize flew out of her pocket. In slow motion it spun through the air until Bertie snatched it to safety.
    Then she screamed again.

Chapter 6
Sophie Arrives
New Brighton 1900
    S ophie’s throat was hoarse and her mouth was parched. She didn’t really want to go faster, but it was her fascination with the man wearing the top hat and her curiosity at the reaction of the ride to her screams. She had screamed until there was no power left in her lungs to project her voice.
    The spinning vortex of colour and distortion of the noise of the music, the people and the machinery had become a kaleidoscope and Sophie was part of it.
    There was nothing familiar to her in this strange tunnel of surrealism into which she was being transported. Her brother was no longer next to her, she was alone. She had no idea how long her journey had taken or where she was going. The colours began to disseminate, the nauseating spinning sensation, of which she was part, began to slow down. The racket of sounds seemed to diminish and separate one from the other.
    Gradually, everything was coming into focus but seemed strangely unfamiliar. She could hear a funfair organ and the puff and hiss of machinery, it sounded like a steam engine. She was pleased to see people but as her eyes slowly focused, she realised that they were dressed in a curious and old-fashioned manner.
    The ride had stopped and she was holding on to a golden, barley twist rope of a merry-go-round galloper. She was sitting astride a golden galloper. The caterpillar, the showman and her brother were gone.
    Her mind cleared and she remembered the strange man. Looking towards the centre of the ride, she saw him standing in the same position as when she was in the caterpillar car. He was waving to her again but now he was more animated, his smile was dazzling. Still hypnotised by his mint green stare, she was relieved to see him walking towards her, he was real after all. The stilted composure of her body which had been frozen in fear began to relax as she let out a sigh of relief. Instinctively, she had a feeling that the man was friendly, she was sure that he would help her. She felt relief as he strode towards her.
    He was standing alongside the galloper, holding out his hand he introduced himself. ‘How do you do Sophie? I am Larry the Hat, The Street Fire King!’
    Alongside her were two girls being helped off the merry-go-round. ‘This has to be a dream.’ She thought. ‘Who are these girls?’ Sophie was totally confused, she was beginning to have a bad feeling. Was the man in the top hat really a friend or a foe? She was bewildered and scared but still curious.
    She turned to Larry, ‘How do you know my name? Where’s my brother and what do you want? Why were you staring at me? And I am on the wrong ride.’ Her voice was quivering with anxiety.
    He didn’t answer immediately and the booming voice of the showman began to bark, ‘Jump On, Jump On, boys and girls, a magical ride for only a penny, one penny for all classes!’ His booming voice drowned out any possibility of a conversation. ‘Jump aboard the golden gallopers!’
    ‘All in good time and let me help you from your fine stallion.’ Said Larry before Sophie could protest. Larry took her hand and helped her off the ride. Sophie began to take more interest in her surroundings. She noticed that the showman was wearing long outmoded Victorian clothes. Her eyes followed the girls who had just dismounted the ride, their elaborate bonnets and capes were from a bygone era, as were the clothes of all the other people around her.
    ‘God, where am I?’ Thought Sophie, her