Carlton Eaton's voice echoed over the crowd. "Testin', testin'. Can y'al hear me? Al right, then, on to Cream Pies. We have ourselves a close one this year, folks. Had myself the pleasure a tastin' a few a these pies, and I'm here to tel you every single one a 'em's a winner in my O-pinion. But I reckon we can only have one first-place winner here tonight, so let's see who it's gonna be." Carlton fumbled with the first envelope, ripping the paper loudly. "Here it is, folks, our third-place winner is ... Tricia Asher's Creamsicle Pie." Mrs. Asher scowled for a mil isecond, then flashed her phony smile.
I kept my eyes locked on Ridley. She had to be up to something. Ridley didn't give a crap about pie, or anything that happened in Gatlin. Ridley turned and nodded toward the back of the tent. I looked behind me.
Caster Boy was watching with a smile. He was standing by the rear entrance, his eyes on the finalists. Ridley turned her attention back to the stage and slowly, deliberately, began sucking on her lol ipop. Never a good sign.
Lena!
Lena didn't even blink. Her hair began to twist in the stagnant air, blowing in what I knew was the Casting Breeze. I don't know if it was the heat or the close quarters or the grim look on Amma's face, but I was starting to worry. What were Ridley and John up to, and why was Lena Casting here? Whatever they were trying to do, Lena must be trying to counteract it.
Then I figured it out. Amma wasn't the only one dealing out the Look like a bad spread of cards. Ridley and John were staring down Amma, too. Was Ridley stupid enough to mess with Amma? Was anyone?
Ridley held up the lol ipop as if to answer.
"Uh-oh." Link stared. "We should probably get outta here."
"Why don't you take Liv to the Ferris Wheel?" I said, trying to catch Link's eye. "I think things are going to be pretty boring for a while."
"Now we've reached the most excitin' part a the judgin'," said Carlton Eaton, as if on cue. "Al right, y'al , this is it. Let's see which one a these here ladies is gonna be takin' home a second-place ribbon and five hundred dol ars' worth a brand new bakeware, or a first-place ribbon and seven hundred fifty dol ars, compliments a Southern Crusty. ' Cause if it ain't Southern Crusty, it ain't the South, and it ain't Crusty --" Carlton Eaton never finished, because before he could say the words, something else came out --
Of the pies.
The pie tins began to move, and it took people a few seconds to realize what was happening, before they started screaming. Grubs and maggots and palmetto bugs, Carolina cockroaches, started crawling out of the pies. It was as if al the hate and lies and hypocrisy of the whole town -- of Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Asher and Mrs. Snow, the principal of Jackson High, and the DAR and the PTA and every church auxiliary, al rol ed into one -- had been baked into those pies, and now it was coming to life. Bugs were pouring out of every pie onstage, more bugs than the pie tins could possibly hold.
Every pie except Amma's. She shook her head, her eyes narrowing into slits like some kind of chal enge. Hordes of cream-covered grubs and roaches hit the floor around the contestants' feet. But the trail of scurrying insects diverged in a neatly forking path around Amma.
Mrs. Snow reacted first. She hurled her pie, sticky fruit-covered bugs rocketing into the air and landing al over the front row. Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Asher fol owed suit, maggots raining down on the Peach Pageant contestants' satin dresses. Savannah started screaming, not fake screaming but real, bloodcurdling screams. Everywhere you looked, there were pie-covered worms and people trying not to puke at the sight of them. Some were more successful than others. I saw Principal Harper doubled over a trash can by the exit, getting rid of a whole day's worth of funnel cake. If Ridley was looking to stir up trouble, she had succeeded.
Liv looked il . Link tried to push forward into the crowd, most likely to rescue his mom. He had been doing that a lot lately, and considering how unrescuable his mother was, I had to give him credit.
Liv grabbed my arm as the crowd surged forward toward the exits.
"Liv, get out of here. Go out that way. Everyone's heading for the sides." I pointed to the back exit of the tent. John Breed was stil standing there, smiling at his handiwork, his green eyes fixed on the stage. Green eyes or not, he wasn't one of the good guys.
Link was on the stage brushing worms and bugs off his mother, who was completely hysterical. I worked my way closer to the front.
"Somebody help me!" Mrs. Snow looked like someone in a horror movie, terrified and screaming, her dress alive with squirming bugs. Even I didn't hate her enough to wish this on her.
I caught a glimpse of Ridley, sucking away on her lol ipop, bringing bugs to life with every lick. I didn't know she could pul off something this big by herself, but then again she had Caster Boy to help her.
Lena, what's happening?
Amma was stil standing on the stage, looking like she could bring down the whole tent with a single look. Bugs and worms were crawling over each other at her feet, but not one was brave enough to touch Amma. Even the bugs knew better. She was staring down at Lena, her eyes narrow and her jaw tight, as she had been from the moment the first grub crawled its way out of Mrs. Lincoln's chess pie. "You fixin' to make me do this now?"
Lena stood at the edge of the tent, her hair stil twisting in the Casting Breeze, the corners of her mouth upturned into the smal est shadow of a smile. I recognized it for what it was. Satisfaction.
Now everyone knows what's really in their pies.
Lena hadn't been trying to stop them. She was part of it.
Lena! Stop!
But there was no stopping now. This was payback for the Guardian Angels and the Disciplinary Committee meeting, for every token casserole left at the gates of Ravenwood and every pitying look, for every insincere sentiment offered by the folks of Gatlin. Lena was handing it right back as if she'd saved every bit, storing it al up until it exploded in their faces. I guess this was her way of saying good-bye.
Amma spoke to Lena as if they were the only people in the tent. "Enough, child. You can't get what you want from these folks. Sorry from a sorry town is nothin' but a whole lot more a the same. A pie tin ful a nothin'."
Aunt Prue's voice pierced the din. "Good Lord, help! Grace is havin' a heart attack!" Aunt Grace was lying on the ground, unconscious. Grayson Petty was kneeling over her, taking her pulse while Aunt Prue and Aunt Mercy batted palmetto bugs away from their sister.
"I said enough!" Amma roared from the stage, and as I ran for Aunt Grace, I could've sworn the tent was going to come down on top of us.
As I bent down to help, I saw Amma pul something out of her pocketbook and hold it high above her head. The One-Eyed Menace, our old wooden spoon, in its ful glory. Amma brought it down on the table in front of her with a crack.
"Oww!" Across the room, Ridley winced and the lol ipop dropped right out of her hand, rol ing across the dirt as if Amma had smashed it with the Menace itself.
In that second, everything stopped.
I looked over to Lena, but she was gone. The spel , or whatever it was, was broken. The palmetto bugs scampered out of the tent, leaving only the grubs and worms behind.
And me, leaning over Aunt Grace to make sure she was breathing.
Lena, what have you done?
Link fol owed me out of the tent, confused as usual. "I don't get it. Why would Lena help Ridley and Caster Boy pul a stunt like that? Someone coulda real y gotten hurt."
I scanned the rides closest to us to see if there was any sign of Lena or Ridley. But I didn't see them, just the 4-H volunteers fanning old women and handing out plastic cups of water to the victims of the pie-baking contest from hel .
"You mean, like my Aunt Grace?"
Link yanked on his shorts to make sure they were grub-free. "I thought she was a goner. Lucky she just fainted. Probably the heat."
"Yeah. Lucky." But I didn't feel lucky. I was too angry. I had to find Lena, even if she didn't want to be found. She was going to have to tel me why she would terrorize everyone in that tent to get even with -- who? A few aging beauty queens? Link's mom, who was just aging? It was something Ridley would do, not Lena.
It was getting dark, and Link scanned the crowd through the flashing lights and hysterical church ladies. "Where'd Liv go? Wasn't she with you?"
"I don't know. I told her to go out the back when the bugfest started."
Link cringed at the word bug. "Should we look for her?"
There was a group of people in line at the Fun House, so I headed that way. "I get the impression Liv knows how to take care of herself. I think this is something we have to do on our own."
"Right on."
We turned the corner a few yards from the entrance to the Tunnel of Love. Ridley, Lena, and John were standing in front of the dingy plastic cars painted to look like gondolas. Lena was standing in the middle, a leather jacket slung over her shoulders. Only she didn't have a leather jacket. John did.
I cal ed her name, without even thinking. "Lena!"
Leave me alone, Ethan.
No. What were you thinking?
I wasn't thinking. I was finally doing something.
Yeah. Something stupid.
Don't tell me you're on their side now.
I was walking fast. Link struggled to keep up with me. "You're gonna start a fight, aren't you? Man, I hope Caster Boy doesn't set us on fire or turn us into statues or somethin'." Link was usual y up for a fight. Even though he was skinny, he was almost as tal as me, and twice as crazy. But the prospect of fighting a Supernatural didn't have the same appeal. We'd been burned on that one before.
I wanted to let him off the hook. "I've got this. Go find Liv."
"No way, dude. I've got your back."
When we got to the gondolas, John stepped forward protectively, in front of the girls, as if we were the ones they needed to be protected from.
Ethan, get out of here.
I could hear the fear in her voice, but this time I was the one who didn't answer.
"Hey, Boyfriend, how's it goin'?" Ridley smiled and unwrapped a blue lol ipop.
"Screw you, Ridley."
She noticed Link behind me, and her smile changed. "Hiya, Hot Rod. You wanna take a ride through the Tunnel of Love?" Ridley tried to sound playful, but she sounded nervous instead.
Link grabbed her by the arm and pul ed her toward him, almost like he real y was her boyfriend. "What did you think you were doin' back there? You coulda gotten someone kil ed. Ethan's four-hundred-year-old aunt almost had a heart attack."
Ridley snatched her arm back. "It was only a few bugs. Don't be so melodramatic. I think I liked you better when you were a little more compliant."
"Yeah, I bet."
Lena stepped out from behind John. "What happened? Is your aunt okay?" She seemed like my Lena again, kind and concerned, but I didn't trust her anymore. A few minutes ago, she was taking down the women she hated and everyone else in the tent with them, and now she was the girl I kissed behind the ticket booth. It didn't add up.
"What were you doing back there? How could you help them?" I didn't realize how mad I was until I heard myself yel ing. But John did.
He slammed his palm against my chest, and I stumbled back.
"Ethan!" Lena was scared, I could tel that much.
Stop! You don't know what you're doing.