We’ve got half an hour to do rides, then we have to check in with my dad at the candy apple tent,” I tell Lewis and the first-graders. “So, where to first?” Lewis aims his camera at the huge grin spreading across my face, then pans in a slow circle.
We’re on the midway at the Holmsbury Fair, I’ve got a blue paper bracelet on my wrist, and every ride is waiting. There’s something fantastically fun in every direction—the Mile-High Flying Swings, the Pirate Ship rocking in its huge arc, the crazy Spinning Teacups. Off to the right I see a domed disc lifting up off the ground. It starts to turn in a slow circle, then picks up speed.
“The Gravity Whirl!” I shout.
“Great,” Lewis says. “Let’s go.”
“We’re not going on the Gravity Whirl,” Penny says, tossing her popped giraffe into a trash barrel for emphasis.
“We’re not tall enough for the Gravity Whirl,” Andrew points out.
My grin falls away. “But—”
“Hey, Miller!” Henry Yee, a boy from our class, runs up to me with his sister Susannah, who’s in the fifth grade. “We’re going on the Gravity Whirl. Come with us!” Henry is bouncing on his toes like he’s about to launch into space.
Susannah looks behind her. “Bye, Mom!” She waves.
“Mom?” A molecule of hope forms in my mind. “You’re here with your mother?” I search the crowds and hone in on Mrs. Yee. She’s wearing a bright orange shirt and a cheery smile. More molecules of hope expand into a long chain of hope. Mrs. Yee waves at me. I wave back. Excessively. Because I’m having a brainstorm of brilliance.
“There she is!” I say.
Henry’s mother was my sister’s kindergarten teacher last year. Penny loves her, every other kid in the school loves her, and Andrew will love her even though he’s homeschooled and has never seen her before. Mrs. Yee is the best grown-up I could have hoped for to help me out. She’s with a roomful of kindergartners every day, so three first-graders will be like a vacation to her. My dad will think this is such a great idea that I don’t even have to ask him first. I grab Lewis’s arm.
Henry is inching toward the Gravity Whirl. “We’re helping Mom with our little cousins,” he says.
Little cousins? I let go of Lewis.
“There’s five of them here with us,” Susannah adds. She pushes Henry along like they’re in a hurry. “They’re in nursery school so they can’t go on any of the good stuff. Mom said we could ride the Gravity Whirl while they go on the Bouncy Slide.”
I feel like I’ve been unplugged. My shoulders droop. I take a closer look at Mrs. Yee. There are two little kids holding her hand on one side and three on the other.
“HI, MRS. YEE!” Penny yells. “I’M GOING ON THE BOUNCY SLIDE, TOO!”
“First the Mini-Swings,” Andrew says.
“FIRST THE MINI-SWINGS!” my sister yells.
Lou-Ann points to the Gravity Whirl and shakes her head no.
“WE CAN’T GO ON THE GRAY—”
“Okay,” I say, stepping in between the human megaphone and Mrs. Yee. “She gets it.”
I get it, too. Mrs. Yee would have been the best, most perfect grown-up to take charge of the Pest Pack, but she can’t do it because she has a Pest Pack of her own.
The other information slowly seeping into my brain cells is that six-year-olds can’t ride the Gravity Whirl. They can’t ride the Zipperator. They’re not going on the Pirate Ship, the Rockin’ Rounder, or the SuperDrop. Six-year-olds are not tall enough for the real rides at the Holmsbury Fair. Most of my molecules of hope float away into space. I drag my gaze toward the kiddie end of the midway and catch one last glimpse of her bright orange shirt just before Mrs. Yee disappears into the moving throng of Fair-goers.
“Have fun on the—” I turn back to Henry and Susannah, but they’re already gone.
I swallow. I’m the one who decided to bring these kids here without Andrew’s mother. Not Lewis. He shouldn’t suffer because of my stupid idea.
“Go ahead,” I tell him. “Go with Henry and Susannah. You don’t have to stay with me. Really.”
“Nah.” He shrugs. “It’ll be a good chance to get some other kinds of shots for my movie. Besides,” he adds, “Andrew’s mom might even get here by the next check-in.”
“She might,” I say. Out of the corner of my eye I see the Gravity Whirl spin and spin.