Dare at the Fair Read online

  Abracadabra Disaster

  “Look in your pocket,” Orson said.

  Nancy reached in and pulled out a slimy rubber tarantula. “Gross,” she said. “That thing was in the same pocket as my banana taffy.”

  “Make sure Orson didn’t leave any more yucky things in your pocket,” Jessie said.

  Nancy carefully dipped her hand into her pocket again. There were no more creepy crawlies. But then Nancy noticed something even more scary.

  “Oh, no!” Nancy gasped.

  “What is it, Nancy?” George asked.

  “The taffy is missing,” Nancy said. “And so are the passes!”

  Contents

  Chapter 1: Big Thrills . . . and Chills

  Chapter 2: Poof! They’re Gone

  Chapter 3: Mis-Fortune

  Chapter 4: Daffy for Taffy

  Chapter 5: Pocket Full of Trouble

  Chapter 6: Monkey Business

  Chapter 7: Ladybug, Ladybug

  Chapter 8: Nancy Goes for It

  1

  Big Thrills … and Chills

  I’ve been waiting all year for this day!” Eight-year-old Nancy Drew was standing at the entrance to Big Thrills Fun Fair.

  “Wouldn’t it be cool if Big Thrills was open even in the winter?” Bess Marvin asked.

  “Sure,” George Fayne said. “If you’re a polar bear.”

  “Then the roller coaster would be a polar coaster,” Nancy said with a giggle.

  Bess and George were cousins. They were also Nancy’s two best friends. They were all together for the most exciting Saturday of the year. It was the day that Big Thrills opened for the season.

  “I still can’t believe Jessie is getting us passes to get in free for the whole week,” Nancy said.

  “Seven days of total fun!” George said. She pointed two thumbs up.

  Jessie Shapiro was in the same third-grade class as Nancy, Bess, and George. Her mother worked at Big Thrills. Mrs. Shapiro was able to get passes for Jessie and her friends.

  “Guess what?” Jessie called as she ran over from the ticket window. “My mom is getting the passes right now.”

  “Super!” Nancy cried. She brushed her reddish blond bangs from her eyes.

  “Why aren’t you giving a pass to Rebecca Ramirez, Jessie?” Bess asked. “Isn’t she your best friend?”

  “Rebecca was my best friend—until last Sunday,” Jessie said. “That’s when she took Amara Shane on a family picnic instead of me.”

  “Did you talk to Rebecca about it?” Nancy asked Jessie.

  “I don’t ever want to speak to Rebecca again,” Jessie said.

  “Well,” Nancy said, “it’s too bad you two had a fight.”

  “Yeah,” George said. “But I’m sure glad you picked us for the free tickets.”

  Nancy stood on her toes and tried to peek over the Big Thrills gate. “I can’t wait to see Coconut,” she said.

  Bess wrinkled her nose. “Who?”

  “Coconut the Peekaboo Chimp,” Nancy explained. “He sneaks up behind kids, put his hands over their eyes, and says—”

  “Peekaboo!” Jessie laughed.

  “Eeeww!” Bess said. “He probably has hairy knuckles and banana breath.”

  Just then Mrs. Shapiro walked over to the girls. She waved four pieces of paper in her hand. “Here they are,” she announced.

  “Way to go, Mom!” Jessie cried as her mother handed out the passes.

  “Thank you,” Nancy, Bess, and George said almost at the same time.

  Nancy held her pass carefully. She loved the way it looked. It was pink with an orange border. The border matched the lining of her red jacket. On the pass were printed the words “Saturday to Saturday.”

  The girls waved their passes proudly as they followed Mrs. Shapiro through the front gate of Big Thrills.

  “Awesome!” Nancy gasped once they were inside. “It looks even better than last year.”

  Everywhere Nancy and her friends looked there were rides. High in the sky was a Ferris wheel with colorful butterfly chairs. Another ride looked like a pirate ship rocking on a giant wave.

  “Remember, girls,” Mrs. Shapiro said. “The passes cannot be replaced. So take good care of them.”

  “We will, Mom,” Jessie promised.

  “Good,” Mrs. Shapiro said. She checked her watch. “We’ll all meet right here at this spot in two hours. I’ll drive everyone home.” Then she hurried away to her job at the Big Thrills office.

  “Let’s put our passes in a safe place,” Nancy suggested.

  “Good idea,” Jessie said. She slipped her pass inside her red waist-pack.

  “My jacket has huge pockets,” Nancy told Bess and George. “I can hold your passes with mine.”

  “Okay,” Bess said as she handed her pass to Nancy.

  Nancy slipped the three passes into the right-hand pocket of her jacket.

  “Button the flap on your pocket,” George said.

  “This isn’t a real flap,” Nancy said. “It’s just for decoration.” She patted her jacket pocket. “But the passes are safe in here.”

  “Guard them with your life,” George said.

  “She will,” Bess said with a laugh. “Detectives don’t lose things. They find things.”

  Nancy smiled. Everyone knew she was the best detective at Carl Sandburg Elementary School. She had a blue detective notebook in which she wrote down all her clues.

  “Okay, gang,” Jessie said. “Which ride should we go on first?”

  Bess jumped up and down. “How about the Doodle Duck? It has rubber duck boats that float on water.”

  “Rubber ducks? It sounds like a giant bathtub,” George said.

  “How about the carousel?” Nancy asked.

  Before her friends could answer, Nancy heard a loud rumbling sound.

  Uh-oh, Nancy thought. That rumble could mean only one thing.

  “The Rambling Rosie!” Jessie cried.

  The Rambling Rosie was the fastest ride at Big Thrills. It was the biggest roller coaster for miles around. And it was Nancy’s least favorite ride.

  A line was already forming when the four friends reached the entrance to the ride.

  “Oh, great,” Bess said. She pointed to a wooden sign. It read, You must be as tall as this sign to go on this ride.

  George shrugged her shoulders. “You’re still too short, Bess.”

  “But I grew a whole inch since last year,” Bess said.

  “I’ll keep you company, Bess,” Nancy told her. “I’m not going on, either.”

  “Why not, Nancy?” George asked. “Last year the Rambling Rosie was great.”

  “Yeah,” Jessie said. “It even flipped upside down.”

  Nancy made a face. “So did my stomach,” she said.

  George grinned. “You probably felt sick because of all the cotton candy we ate right before the ride. Remember?”

  “Maybe next year,” Nancy said.

  “Okay,” Jessie said. “Let’s all meet at the carousel in half an hour.”

  Nancy watched George and Jessie run for the line.

  “Who needs the Rambling Rosie, anyway?” Bess said. She adjusted her pink scrunchie. “It would just mess up our hair.”

  “I have an idea,” Nancy said. “Let’s buy some taffy from Tony’s Taffy Stand.”

  Tony was at Big Thrills every summer. He made taffy in many different flavors.

  “I wonder what new flavors Tony has this year,” Bess said.

  Nancy began to giggle. “How about … pepperoni pizza?”

  “Pepperoni pizza? Yuck-o!” Bess cried. “That would make me sick.”

  Tony’s Taffy Stand was right next to the bobsled ride. Bess bought a small bag of strawberry-flavored taffy. Nancy chose banana.
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  Nancy ate a piece of taffy. Then she put the bag in her right-hand pocket.

  “I’d better go easy on the candy,” Nancy said. “I don’t want to get sick again.”

  Nancy and Bess walked through the fair. They saw a large crowd standing in front of a stage.

  “I wonder what’s going on,” Bess said.

  Just then a man wearing a silver cape burst out from behind a red velvet curtain.

  “It’s Marv the Marvelous Magician,” Nancy said. “He’s here every summer.”

  “Mmmph,” Bess said. She was still chewing her taffy. “Iwikemarph awot.”

  “For my next trick, I’ll need an assistant from the audience,” Marv said.

  Nancy’s hand shot up. Then she heard someone shout, “Out of my way!”

  A boy with black hair pushed his way in front of Nancy.

  “Orson Wong!” Nancy said. Orson was in their class.

  “Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! Pick me! Please!” he called.

  Orson was shouting so loudly that Nancy covered her ears. “Oh, well.” Nancy sighed. “Maybe Orson should get picked. He does want to be a magician when he grows up.”

  “If he ever grows up,” Bess said.

  Marv pointed to Orson. “There’s a kid who loves magic. Step right up, young man.”

  “Cool!” Orson cried. He pushed his way through the crowd. Marv helped him jump up onto the stage.

  “Should we watch Orson help Marv?” Nancy asked Bess. “Or do you want to ride on the carousel?”

  Orson made a goofy-looking face at the crowd.

  Nancy and Bess looked at each other. “The carousel!” they said together.

  On their way to the carousel, Bess grabbed Nancy’s arm.

  “Nancy, look,” Bess whispered. “It’s the creepy House of Screams.”

  Nancy shivered. “Check out the broken shutters and all the cobwebs.”

  “I wouldn’t go in there if you did my homework for a year,” Bess said.

  “It can’t really be haunted,” Nancy said. “Can it?”

  Bess began to whisper. “I heard that a werewolf lives inside. All year ’round!”

  “A werewolf?” Nancy asked.

  Bess nodded. “With long, dripping fangs … and hairy claws!”

  Suddenly two hands covered Nancy’s eyes. She reached up. The hands were fuzzy—and very, very hairy.

  “Werewolf?” Nancy gulped. Then she screamed. “Somebody help me!”

  2

  Poof!

  They’re Gone

  Ooh, ooh, ooh!” a voice whooped in Nancy’s ear.

  The fuzzy hands came down, and Nancy whirled around. It wasn’t a werewolf. It was a chimpanzee.

  “Wow,” Nancy said, “You must be Coconut the Peekaboo Chimp.”

  The chimp was exactly the same size as Nancy. He grinned at her. Nancy could see his big teeth.

  Then Coconut reached into the pocket where Nancy had her taffy. But he quickly pulled his hand out when he saw a woman walking toward Nancy. She was dressed in a tan pants suit and a straw hat.

  “That’s right, young lady,” she said. “I’m Barbara Woodhall. I’m Coconut’s trainer,” the woman said. “And you are the first Peekaboo Pal of the day.”

  Bess waved her hands at Coconut. “Shoo, shoo! Go away!”

  “It’s okay, Bess,” Nancy said. She shook Coconut’s hand. “Coconut is very friendly.”

  Barbara Woodhall pinned a Peekaboo Pal button on Nancy’s jacket. The button had a picture of Coconut on it. Then Ms. Woodhall took a banana from her backpack and gave it to Coconut. Coconut shrieked happily.

  “Coconut will do anything for a banana,” Ms. Woodhall said. “Next to taffy, it’s his favorite treat.”

  Bess clutched her bag of strawberry taffy tightly in her hand. “Taffy?” she gulped.

  “Coconut is so well-behaved,” Nancy said. She watched the chimp peel the banana.

  “He wasn’t always that way,” Ms. Woodhall said. “He did some naughty things two years ago.” She chuckled. “That’s when I sent him to Colonel Cafferty’s School for Chimps. It was time he learned some manners.”

  Nancy watched Coconut finish his banana. Then he put the banana peel in the large pocket of his overalls.

  “See?” Ms. Woodhall said. “Most monkeys would toss the banana peel on the ground, but not Coconut.” She patted Coconut on his head. “Good boy!”

  Coconut clapped his hands.

  “We have some rides to go on,” Nancy said. “Thanks for the pin,” she told Ms. Woodhall. “Bye, Coconut.”

  Nancy and Bess walked toward the carousel. Nancy ran for her favorite white horse.

  Suddenly a girl with dark hair peeked out from behind a bright orange rooster.

  “Rebecca Ramirez!” Nancy cried. Bess ran over to join them.

  “Hi, Nancy. Hi, Bess,” Rebecca said. “Is George here, too?”

  Bess nodded. “She’s with Jessie on the Rambling Rosie.”

  “Jessie never told me she was coming here today,” Rebecca said.

  Nancy thought that Rebecca looked upset.

  “Not only is Jessie here,” Bess said, “but she gave us free passes for a whole week. Isn’t that neat?”

  Uh-oh, Nancy thought.

  “Did you say passes?” Rebecca asked. “You mean, you got in free?”

  “Show her, Nancy,” Bess said.

  Nancy sighed. She pulled the passes halfway out of her pocket.

  Rebecca stared at the passes. “First, Jessie doesn’t speak to me for a whole week. And now this!”

  I’d better cheer her up, Nancy thought. She pointed to a plastic ladybug purse strapped across Rebecca’s chest.

  “I love your purse, Rebecca,” Nancy said. She slipped the passes back into her pocket. “Do you like ladybugs?”

  Rebecca nodded. “I love ladybugs. They’re so pretty. And lucky, too.”

  A bell clanged three times.

  “The ride is about to start,” Nancy said.

  “I want to ride the pink-and-white rabbit,” Bess said.

  Nancy tried to get up on the white horse. It was so tall that she had trouble climbing up.

  “Let me help,” Rebecca said. She came up behind Nancy. She put her hands around Nancy’s waist and gave her a push up.

  “Thanks,” Nancy called down from the horse. But Rebecca was no longer on the carousel. She was running away.

  “Hey, Rebecca!” Nancy called. “Aren’t you going on the carousel?”

  Rebecca didn’t stop running. She didn’t even turn around. She just kept running until she disappeared in the crowd.

  That’s strange, Nancy thought as the carousel began to turn.

  When the ride was over, Jessie and George were waiting at the rail.

  “Guess who we saw?” Bess asked. “Rebecca Ramirez.”

  “Rebecca’s here?’ Jessie asked.

  “You’ll never guess who else we saw,” Nancy said quickly. “Coconut the Peekaboo Chimp.”

  “No way!” Jessie exclaimed.

  “What’s he like?” George asked.

  Nancy tapped her pin. “Well, he has a real big smile.”

  “He’s kind of weird,” Bess said.

  “Speaking of weird,” George whispered, “look who’s coming.”

  “Orson Wong!” Jessie groaned.

  Orson was dressed in a silver cape. He waved a long, sparkly wand in the air. “Abraca-dokey, arti-chokey!” he said.

  “Ha, ha,” Nancy said. “Hi, Orson.”

  “You mean, Orson the Awesome,” Orson said. He took a bow. “I’m Marv’s assistant.”

  “We know that,” Nancy said. “Bess and I were there when Marv picked you.”

  “Marv didn’t pick me for just one trick,” Orson said. “He asked me to be his assistant for the whole day. Am I lucky or what?”

  “Big deal,” George said. “Jessie gave us free Big Thrills passes for a week.”

  “How’s that for lucky?” Bess asked.

  Orson’s eyes op
ened wide. “Free passes? No way!”

  Bess pointed to Nancy’s pocket. “They’re in there.”

  Nancy saw Orson look at her pocket. She thought he looked jealous and a little bit angry.

  “Let’s go,” Nancy told her friends. “I want to ride the Whizzy Whirl.”

  “Wait,” Orson said. “You have to see my magic tricks.”

  “No, we don’t,” Jessie said.

  Orson reached out and pulled a bright red flower from behind Jessie’s ear.

  Jessie stared at the flower. “Wow! Not bad.”

  Orson turned to Nancy. He began to wave his wand over her head.

  “Abraca-phooey!” Orson said.

  Nancy stared up at the wand. She waited for something to happen.

  “Well?” Nancy asked.

  “Look in your pocket.” Orson giggled.

  Nancy shrugged. She reached in and pulled out a slimy rubber tarantula.

  “Yuck!” Nancy threw the tarantula at Jessie. The girls shrieked as they tossed the spider back and forth.

  “Am I good or what?” Orson laughed as he walked away.

  “Gross,” Nancy said. She tossed the rubber spider into a trash can. “That thing was in the same pocket as my banana taffy.”

  “Make sure he didn’t leave any more yucky things in your pocket,” Jessie said.

  Nancy carefully dipped her hand into her pocket. There were no more creepy crawlies. But then Nancy noticed something even more scary.

  “Oh, no!” Nancy gasped.

  “What is it, Nancy?” George asked.

  “The taffy is missing,” Nancy said. “And so are the passes!”

  3

  Mis-Fortune

  Nancy felt terrible. She had promised to take care of the passes, and now they were gone.

  “Check your other pocket,” Jessie said.

  Nancy reached into her left-hand pocket. “They aren’t in here, either,” she said.

  “Oh, no!” Bess moaned.

  Jessie unzipped her waist-pack. “I still have mine,” she said.

  Nancy took a deep breath. “The passes could have fallen out of my pocket while we were walking. We have to look everywhere we went.”

  The girls looked all around the carousel and asked people if they’d seen the passes. They passed Marv the Marvelous’s stage. Then they stopped at Tony’s Taffy Stand.