Nighttime at an amusement park is a whole different kind of experience than during the day.

Every building was decorated with white lights lining the roofs, making the midway sparkle like a fairyland. The rides were covered with thousands of multicolored twinkle lights that helped create the illusion of magical fun. Strangely, it didn’t look much different from the park in the present day. The place was crowded too. Everybody seemed to be having a blast on this late-spring evening. Music mixed with the mechanical sounds of rides, the smell of fried food, and the happy screams of excitement. Some things never change, I guess.

Then again, we were trying to make sure some things did change.

Lu pulled her cap down low, trying to become invisible. “I don’t know if this is cool or terrifying,” she said.

“Cool,” I replied. “The terror comes later.”

“There it is,” Theo announced, pointing.

The Magic Castle ride was the most impressive building on the midway. The soaring turrets of this make-believe castle towered over everything but the Tornado roller coaster.

“What kind of ride is that?” Lu asked.

“I think it’s one of those spook-house things where you walk along in the dark and things pop out at you,” I replied.

“Baz’s apartment must be in one of those turrets,” Theo said. “If the place caught fire, there’d be no way out.”

We moved through the crowd to get a closer look at the doomed ride. A drawbridge stretched from the midway, over a wide moat of water, and into the arched entrance. There was no line. People kind of walked in whenever they wanted. That was one huge difference from modern amusement parks where you had to wait in long lines for everything. I guess there were a lot fewer people back then.

I walked to the edge of the moat and scanned back and forth. About a hundred yards to our right, on the far side of the park, I could see the masts of the pirate ship known as Blackbeard’s Galleon. They rose up above the buildings along the midway, looming like dark, ominous silhouettes. It was the infamous ride where Charlie Simmons met his fate on opening day.

“I suppose that ship has made its last voyage,” Theo said.

“So much trouble going on,” I added. “Makes you wonder if this park is cursed.”

“Don’t say that!” Theo scolded. “We’ve got enough problems.”

“Speaking of trouble…,” Lu said, pointing.

A group of young boys formed a circle on the grass near the Magic Castle entrance. One kid in the middle was getting shoved around.

“Is that our friend Derby?” Theo asked.

The little guy was being ganged up on by the others. My blood started to boil. Bullies do that to me. I ran across the drawbridge and right up to the gang.

“Hey!” I shouted.

The bully boys froze like I was a cop, but not before one of them gave Derby a final shove that sent him tumbling down onto the grass.

“You guys are real tough, ganging up like that,” I said. “How about if I jump in on Derby’s side?”

There was a lot of mumbling and foot shuffling as they all backed off in different directions.

“Didn’t think so,” I added.

One kid got in a last shot at Derby. “Sissy,” he said under his breath.

“C’mon, tough guy,” I snapped at him. “Let’s go.”

I took a threatening step toward him, and the kid took off.

Theo helped Derby to his feet. “Are you okay?” Theo asked.

Derby yanked his arm away, embarrassed and angry.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“They think I’m a sissy because I won’t go through the Magic Castle alone,” he grumbled. “They all did it, but…”

He didn’t have to finish the sentence.

“But you’ve got a thing about the dark,” I said.

Derby shrugged.

“One on one, I’d knock their blocks off!” he said defiantly.

“I know you would,” I said. “Do me a favor? If you’re gonna suck it up and go through, wait till tomorrow, okay?”

“Why?” Derby asked.

I glanced at Lu and Theo. They looked away, not knowing what to say.

“Because you don’t want to let those little thugs know they got to you,” I said.

“Sure, pal,” Derby said. “Whatever you say.”

He started walking away, but as an afterthought he said, “Hey, you gonna be a clown?”

“Clown?” Lu said, surprised. “You hate clowns.”

“Still trying to figure that one out,” I said while pushing the others to leave. “See you around, chief. Remember what I said. Don’t go in there tonight.”

We walked back over the moat and away from what was about to be the scene of the crime.

“So how do we save Baz?” Theo asked. “We have no idea when the fire will happen.”

I looked up at the windows in the turrets. No lights were on. Nobody was home.

“Let’s go see if he’s in his tent,” I said.

We left the castle and walked quickly to the end of the midway. I had to constantly push Lu to keep her moving. She was just as amazed to see the park in 1937 as Theo and I had been, and she kept stopping to take it all in.

“So cool,” she kept saying, over and over.

When we finally arrived at Baz’s orange-and-white tent, it was buzzing with activity.

“There’s a show going on,” I said. “I want to see this.”

We hurried straight inside to find the place packed. Baz really was a big attraction. It was standing room only. With every bench filled, we had to stand in the back along with a bunch of other people who had gotten there too late to find a seat.

Weird flute music was playing as Baz sat on his throne, staring into his crystal ball. There was one spotlight on him, making the scene all sorts of dramatic. The only other light was the glow that came from the crystal ball.

“Mallory Loehr!” Baz called out, his voice booming through the big tent.

A woman standing close to us gasped and shot a look at the guy next to her, not sure of what to do. Her eyes were wide. The guy laughed and nudged her forward.

“Here!” she yelled. “I’m back here!”

“You have an uncle who is quite ill,” Baz exclaimed. “I am afraid his time is short.”

The woman sighed and said, “I know. He’s elderly. Been sick a long time now. His passing will be a blessing.”

“It will be more than a blessing,” Baz announced. “He is quite wealthy, and you are his sole heir. Congratulations, Mallory. You are about to become a very rich woman.”

Mallory took a step back as if the announcement had physically hit her. I don’t know if the news made her happy or sad. The audience reacted strangely. Some applauded. Some muttered with discomfort. It was a classic good news–bad news deal.

“Uh, are you sure?” Mallory called out.

Baz shot a dark, penetrating look her way. “About his passing or your good fortune?” he asked.

“Uh, both, I guess,” Mallory said. She looked a little embarrassed to be asking about money, considering where it would come from.

“Why are you here if you doubt my ability?” Baz said with a sneer.

The woman was totally flustered. “I’m not—I mean—I don’t…I mean, thank you. I think.”

She didn’t seem to know whether to laugh or cry. Her husband gave her a hug. I’ll bet he mostly cared about the getting-rich part.

As I watched her, my eye caught someone I recognized in the audience. It was Mrs. Simmons, the wife of the pirate ship guy who Baz had predicted would die. She didn’t look any better than the last time we’d seen her. She stood leaning against one of the thick tent poles, hugging her arms around her waist. While everyone else in the audience was whispering to one another with excitement about the prediction Baz had just made, Mrs. Simmons had her eyes locked on the oracle. Why was she there? It must have been torture for her to watch Baz make more predictions, especially about somebody who was going to die soon.

Baz threw up his hands to quiet the crowd.

The place instantly went silent. If anybody was breathing, I couldn’t hear it.

When Baz raised his arms, he winced in pain and grabbed at his side.

A murmur of curiosity rippled through the crowd. Was this part of the act?

“What’s his problem?” Lu whispered.

Baz steeled himself and raised his arms again, slower this time. He cringed but didn’t give in and kept his arms held high.

The crowd went quiet again.

The flute music was all that could be heard. It was totally eerie.

Baz stood there for a long couple of seconds. Anticipation was building. Something was about to happen.

The crystal ball glowed brighter. Baz looked down at it with an expression that I can best describe as stunned. Whatever he was seeing in that crystal ball shocked him. That was strange, because this guy didn’t get rattled. Even when he was facing an angry guy who wanted to skewer him with a sword, he didn’t break a sweat. He stared into the light for a few seconds, then shouted, “The show is over!”

The effort of yelling triggered the pain in his side again. He clutched himself but didn’t budge from the spot.

“Go!” he commanded. “Make your way to the exits.”

Nobody was sure of what to do. They looked at one another questioningly, wondering if this might be part of the show.

It wasn’t.

“Get out!” Baz screamed.

People got the hint. Or the command. There was a lot of grumbling as they slowly stood up and shuffled out.

We moved to the side, letting them pass. Nobody was happy. They all felt like they had been cheated out of a full show.

Mrs. Simmons didn’t move. She stayed in place, gazing at Baz with a look that seemed like worry.

Baz continued to stare into the crystal ball, as if hypnotized by whatever he was seeing. The music ended and the houselights came on. Still, Baz didn’t move.

“What’s up with him?” Lu asked.

The three of us skirted around the crowd, moving against the flow, and made our way to the stage.

“What is he seeing?” Lu whispered.

“Whatever it is, he doesn’t like it,” Theo replied.

“I can guess what it is,” I said. “Maybe Baz is a better oracle than we gave him credit for.”

“Meaning…?” Lu asked.

We were only a few yards away from Baz when a man came hurrying toward him across the stage. It was Hensley, the park manager.

“What the hell are you doing?” he yelled angrily. “Those are paying customers. You can’t cut a show short!”

Hensley charged forward as if to tackle Baz, but Baz threw up his hand, making the other man stop short. It was like Baz had thrown out an invisible force field.

“Why am I seeing you again?” Baz asked through gritted teeth. For whatever reason, he was in a lot of pain. “Did I not make myself clear?”

“I ain’t afraid of you, swami,” Hensley said. “You understand? You can’t touch me. I have more friends here than you do. Remember that.”

Baz never took his eyes from the crystal ball. He didn’t lower his hand either, or say another word to Hensley.

“Be smart,” Hensley said. “Go home and figure out what your next move is. Think long and hard about it and get back here tomorrow for your shows. Your full shows. Understand?”

If Baz understood, he didn’t say so.

Hensley turned and stormed off. The last person left in the tent besides us was Mrs. Simmons. She gave Baz one last worried look, then left.

Theo tugged on my arm to get me to leave, but there was no way. We were there to save Baz, whether he liked it or not.

The tent was now empty. I took a cautious step closer to the oracle and said, “You’re seeing your own future, aren’t you?”

Lu gasped with surprise.

“Of course!” Theo exclaimed.

Baz finally tore his gaze from the crystal ball. Instantly, the light that came from within went dark. When he looked at me, I saw the fear in his eyes.

“It’s a fire, isn’t it?” I asked. “That’s what you saw.”

Baz opened his mouth as if to say something, but no words came out.

“Please say you can change your future,” Theo said.

I think Baz was in shock. He tried to say something, but all he could do was shake his head.

“You can!” Lu exclaimed. “Just stay away from your apartment.”

Baz’s eyes went unfocused. He glanced down at the crystal ball as if hoping it would show him something more. It didn’t. The glass orb stayed dark. Suddenly, Baz ran off backstage, his purple robes billowing behind him.

“This is good, right?” Lu said, hopeful. “Now he can save himself.”

“Did that look like somebody who thought everything was going to be okay?” Theo asked.

“Stop being so negative!” Lu exclaimed.

I took a step closer to the edge of the stage, where I got a good view of the crystal ball. I looked deep into the glass, hoping to see any hint of a vision that would predict the future.

“So where’s the real power?” I asked my friends. “Is it Baz? Or the crystal ball?”

I didn’t expect to see anything, but I did. It was like a fire burning within the glass. It was quick but unmistakable, and so real I imagined that I felt heat on my face.

“Whoa!” I exclaimed, and backed off. “Did you see that?”

“See what?” Lu asked.

“You didn’t see the fire inside the crystal ball?”

Lu shook her head. I turned to Theo. Theo shrugged. Neither had seen it.

“I swear I saw something,” I said.

“So what does that mean?” Lu asked.

“It means we’ve got to make sure Baz doesn’t go home,” I said.

I took off running for the exit with the others right behind me. We blasted out of the tent, only to get caught in the crowd of people who had just left Baz’s show. There was no way to know if the fire was going to start right away, or later that night, or long after the park closed, but we couldn’t take the chance. Baz was headed for trouble, and we had to make sure he didn’t find it.

We had to prove that his predictions didn’t have to come true.

We had to change the future.

We pushed our way through the crowd, taking way longer than we should have. Once we broke out from the masses, we jogged toward the midway.

“What are we going to do?” Lu asked, breathless.

“We keep Baz from going to his apartment,” I answered.

“How?” Theo asked. “That guy doesn’t listen to anybody.”

“Then we’ll drag him out,” I said. “Or we’ll go to that Hensley guy and tell him his Magic Castle ride is going to catch fire. Maybe he’ll close it down.”

“Or maybe closing it down is the exact thing that leads to the fire,” Theo said.

I didn’t want to think that. I had to believe we could change what was coming, because we knew what it was.

We ran onto the midway to discover that it was really crowded. There were so many people, it took forever for us to push our way through to the Magic Castle ride.

“I guess we don’t have to worry about closing the ride,” Lu said. “Look.”

There was a sawhorse in front of the castle entrance with a bright yellow Ride Closed sign on it.

“It’s already closed,” Lu added.

“Uh-oh,” Theo said, pointing up to the turret.

A light shone from a lone window high above. Baz was home.

“We’ll go to Hensley,” I said. “We’ll get him to pull Baz out of there and—”

“Marcus!” Theo shouted.

“Theo, stop arguing!” Lu said, frustrated.

“I’m not arguing,” Theo said. “I know how the fire started.”

Lu and I shot him surprised looks.

“You do?” I exclaimed.

“Yeah. You were right. It wasn’t an accident. It was set,” Theo said, sounding numb. “Not by one of Baz’s enemies either.”

“Then who?” Lu asked.

“Look,” Theo said, pointing toward the ride.

A lone person approached the entrance, but not on the pathway leading in. The person crept along the base of the ride in front of the bushes that surrounded the castle, as if trying to make sure nobody noticed him. In one hand he held something that he shielded with the other.

It was a lit candle.

He slipped in behind the Ride Closed sign and walked straight for the front door.

“He’s afraid of the dark,” Theo said. “So he’s bringing in his own light.”

It was Derby.

The kid glanced over his shoulder to see if he was being watched, then ducked inside the entrance and disappeared.

We’d found our fire starter.