Do you like stories with mystery and suspense? Strange and “wyrd” ones? Well, if you do, keep reading and enjoy Eggcentricsagas. If you are just joining Eggcentricsagas, you might want to start from the beginning: A La Mano: Part 1-The Treasure
Arnie tightened his grip around her waist, and Charlotte felt the cold metal blade press harder against her throat. Edward turned around and saw what was happening.
The Advance Man chuckled maliciously. “Thought you were smarter than me, didn’t ya?”
“What do you want Arnie?” Edward asked calmly.
“Don’t try your talking nonsense with me. I know all about your mind games!” Arnie said harshly.
“I just want to know what you want,” Edward replied in an even-tempered tone. The sound of the hurtling train grew near, and its headlight came into view.
Arnie turned to look at the locomotive bearing down on them. He tried to step back and pull Charlotte with him when he realized he was stuck. His boot heel had become wedged in between the muddy railroad ties. Edward saw this as well and raised the lantern. He swung it to alert the train.
Arnie shrieked at him. “Put the lamp down! Don’t make me slit her throat in front of you!” The knife bit into the skin of her throat, and a trickle of blood flowed down Charlotte’s neck. It sunk in that the carnie had finally cracked. They all knew what he intended to do.
Edward tried to appeal to his better nature. “Arnie, this doesn’t have to happen. Put the knife down. I promise to help you.”
Arnie seemed to relent slightly but then gripped Charlotte harder. Pointing the knife at Edward, he said, “That’s what you all say. But nobody ever helps ME!”
The train roared towards them. By the time the engineer saw them in the headlight, it would be too late anyway. “Just let her go. We’ll figure it out.”
“No! We’re going to die together!”
Edward looked into Charlotte’s wide eyes. She was on high alert. Edward mustered all of his focus; he had to reach into Charlotte’s mind and make her understand. Tilting his head towards his shoulder to show her what to do, he shot one word at her: Duck!
Time seemed to slow as he watched her do what he wanted. She moved her head to the side and away. Summoning all his might, the magic man threw the lantern at her assailant. Hitting him squarely in the side of the head, Arnie tottered, and his grip on her loosened. A warning blare from the train horn blasted their ears as the glare of the headlight dazzled their eyes. Charlotte jammed her elbows as hard as she could into Arnie’s gut and pushed away from him. Edward’s hand grasped hers, and he pulled her off the track as the speeding train flew by. The wind and motion of it blew them over, and they flew headlong into the darkness.
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Head over heels, they rotated around and around. Flipping over and over, Charlotte felt like the coin that Arnie had flicked in the air. Temporarily blinded by the train’s headlight, Charlotte clung to her only stability. Edward’s hand. Then, falling, down, down, down into the black void. Ever faster, they tumbled. All the while spinning round and round…
Suddenly, another brilliant light appeared, and she found herself standing in a passage alone. Charlotte recognized it. I have been here before, she thought. The long, white hallway. So very long with so many doors. The never-ending passage.
Up ahead, the familiar orb bobbed down the corridor. Charlotte watched as the ball of light disappeared into a doorway. There. That’s where she was supposed to be. Charlotte approached the door and looked inside. People were there; a man, a woman, and a person in bed. Before she could see who they were, everything went black. Then an invisible hand grabbed hers and pulled her inside.
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Charlotte opened her eyes. She was lying in a bed. Her mother was there smiling and holding her hand. “Our prayers have been answered. You’re back.” Charlotte looked over at her father, also smiling.
Her throat was sore and dry. “Where am I?” she croaked.
Her mother helped her sit up and drink a glass of water from a bedside table before answering, “You’re in the hospital. You have been in a coma for the last three weeks. There was a tornado and you were injured. Do you remember going to the carnival with Betsy?”
After sipping her water, Charlotte nodded.
“The tornado hit when you were in the Hall of Mirrors. Paramedics found you trapped under the tent unconscious. A piece of broken glass had somehow gotten embedded in your neck. They had do surgery to remove it. At first, the doctor was very concerned that you might not make it or suffer permanent paralysis but he thinks that you will recover completely.” Her mother turned to her husband. “Isn’t that right, Father?”
Her father agreed, “He is a fine, young surgeon. We are deeply grateful to Dr. Angel.”
Touching her throat in surprise, Charlotte replied hoarsely, “Dr. Angel?”
Her mother responded, “Yes, Dr. Angel. We are very thankful for his skills. And of course, that nice paramedic and nurse. Those two were always reading to you. They said it would help you wake up sooner.” She picked up a time-worn book with tattered edges off the bedside table and handed it to Charlotte. Charlotte read the faded title and the subtitle underneath; Capers with Kapi and Adventures with a Carnival Capuchin.
A man appeared at the door. He was wearing a white coat, and a stethoscope draped around his neck. “Hello.”
Charlotte’s mother turned and exclaimed happily, “Dr. Angel, look who woke up! We were just talking about you. I was showing Charlotte your father’s book of memoirs.”
The East Indian man approached the bed of his patient. He chuckled when he saw the book. “I’m not sure that’s a completely truthful chronicle. There may be some embellishment by him. The characters and some of stories are frankly, well, far-fetched. Fortune tellers, little people, a psychotic killer, a magician that did real magic, time travel, people disappearing into thin air…”
Pausing, he said, “My father, as well as being an accomplished surgeon, did have a rather active imagination.” Then adding wistfully, “Great sadness was felt last year with his passing.” Then the doctor smiled. Flipping the book open, he pointed to the inside front cover. Taped to it was an old, yellowed, black and white photo of a young man dressed in a cap, hood, and gown with a monkey perched on his shoulder standing in front of a building. Charlotte couldn’t believe her eyes. She was looking at Rajiv and Kapi, only older.
Dr. Angel spoke. “That is my father and his monkey on the day he graduated from medical school.” Smirking, he reminisced, “That darn monkey. Kapi was his name. My mother was never fond of his capers. He was always stealing my stuff when I was a kid.” The doctor laughed and then added, “You couldn’t help but love him. My father sure did. He was very sad when Kapi passed away at the grand old age of 45.”
“Forty-five! Wow! I didn’t think monkeys lived that long,” exclaimed a voice from the doorway.
They all turned to look at the man standing there. He was dressed in a paramedic outfit. Approaching the bed, he explained, “My shift just ended and I thought I would visit my new friend. Read another story to her but I see I don’t have to. She has returned.”
“Thanks to you,” her mother told him.
When he reached the side of her bed, Charlotte studied his face. Looking at her were the kindest and greenest eyes she’d ever seen. A smile beamed on his handsome face. Then he remembered. “Oh, yeah. I have something for you.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out her bracelet with the rhinestone heart. Giving it to her, he said, “Welcome home.”
Up Next: The Myth of Madame Mariposa
