She was in a whole different world. Eliza had to squint as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight, and she could feel its warmth tingling her skin. A male figure carrying a barrel organ brushed past her. Eliza rocked back and forth, soaking in the jolly music it made. Ethel pulled her out of the way as a crowd of excited children ran after the performer. They were dressed similarly in ruffled dresses, sailor outfits and aprons.
“Welcome to the carnival, Eliza!” Ethel beamed, pulling her towards the merry-go-round. It was so much grander in person, Eliza felt like she was standing at the bottom of a rainbow, looking up at a heaven of bright lights and every colour imaginable. The horses looked alive and the motor cars as if they could drive away, putt-putting over the horizon.
“Do you like merry-go-rounds?” Ethel asked..
“I’ve only been on one, years ago.” Eliza could remember being at a fair with her mother as a little girl. She’d clutched onto the wooden horse’s mane, too frightened of falling off to enjoy herself. As they joined the que of bubbly children, all gobbling up yummy food and anticipating their turns on the ride, Eliza felt far too excited to be afraid.
“I go on it all the time,” Ethel said. “Oh- look! Elliot!.” A plump boy in a navy blue sailor’s outfit appeared in front of them. He held a box of buttered popcorn, though most of the butter was smothered around his mouth.
“Hey, Ethel. Who’th thith?”
“Eliza Jane Clairvoy. But she isn’t a fortune teller.”
He held out a hand grubby, his fingers bright yellow. “I’m Elliot, but I thuppose you already knew that.” Eliza lightly gripped his hand, expecting to feel grease and salt, but instead she heard an awful squelching sound.
“Oh!” Eliza snatched her hand back, startled, and saw a splotch of yellow on her palm.
“Elliot, you shouldn’t surprise people like that!” Ethel offered her a handkerchief. “It’s only paint, Eliza. You’re in a painting after all.”
“Sorry,” she said, suddenly feeling very silly. Why did she keep embarrassing herself?“Don’t be thorry!” Elliot shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth, and continued whilst munching, “I wunth jumped two feet high becauth the vendor thed he wasth out’a popcorn!” Ethel laughed, and a smile spread across Eliza’s lips. She imagined the boy holding an empty box, his mouth yellow as cheese, leaping into the air because he couldn’t have another serve of popcorn. Eliza started giggling too and her embarrassment was wiped away by the joyous sights and sounds of the fairground.
“It’s our turn now!” Ethel said. The merry-go-round’s music squealed like a balloon as it slowed to a stop. “Come on, Eliza!”
“Out’a my way!” Elliot pushed past the pair, running and shoving until he reached the front of the line. “I get the grey car!”
“He always wants the grey car,” Ethel groaned.
When it was time for them to climb onto the platform, a cheerful man in a top hat reached out his hand for Eliza. “Would you like a horse or a car, miss?”
There was no doubt in her mind when she answered, “A horse, please.” Just like the one she’d ridden with her mother.
“A noble steed it is, then.” Eliza braced herself for another squelching sound when she took the man’s hand, but was relieved to hear only the excited chatter of her fellow riders. He picked her up by the waist and placed her on a horse so beautiful it could have jumped out of a fairytale. It was spotted brown with a long blonde mane. Eliza stroked its golden locks, discovering that it had real horse hair! At least, it felt like real hair; she had to remind herself that everything here was paint.
Ethel took the horse beside her, a shining black mare. “Here we go! Hold on tight!” Eliza did hold on as the merry-go-round rumbled to life, but not tight. She wasn’t going to let fear stop her from having fun for a second time.
It was hypnotising. Eliza lost all sense of the world outside. All she saw were the familiar faces of waving adults and impatient queuers, disappearing and reappearing as she travelled round and round. All she felt was the warm wind, swooping past as she bopped up and down. All she could hear was the playful music, and her whoops of joy mixed with those around her. All she could smell was the her noble steed with its freshly polished wood, and the lingering scent of Elliot’s popcorn. All her senses mixed together in a cloud of bliss, and Eliza forgot that she had ever walked through the doors of Edelweiss’ Boarding House.
“Get off!” Eliza’s attention snapped to the car ahead of her. Inside it, a red-headed girl was squealing and frantically swatting at the air. Her hair was flying this way and that, being pulled at by invisible hands. “Somebody get it off me!”
“It’s a poltergeist!” Ethel shouted, pointing at the girl’s head. At first, Eliza couldn’t see it amongst the bright lights of the merry-go-round, but she focussed hard, and there it was. A puff of smoke, pale-grey and etheral.
The merry go round grinded to a halt, and the children’s frightened shouts were all that was left. They clambered off horses and jumped out of the cars, running into the arms of adults. All the while, the girl’s hair danced around her head like burning flames.
Ethel slid out of her saddle and tugged on Eliza’s arm. “It must have followed you in. Come on!” Goosebumps formed on Eliza’s skin and her grip on the horse’s main tightened. Could she really be responsible for the poltergeist’s mischief? Ethel ran to the red-head and started grabbing at her fiery locks, trying to hold them down. The smoke just hovered there, completely unphased as the girl screamed.
“Eliza!” Ethel shouted. “You’ve got to stop it!”
“You brought it!” The man waved his top hat at Eliza from the ground below. “So get rid of it, missy!”
The sun disappeared behind a cloud, the air turning cold, and the fairground’s lights flickered on and off. As Eliza stared at the poltergeist, wondering how she was responsible, the smoke started to take shape. She saw it curl into a ball, then expand into an oval. Two arms grew from its sides, then two legs. Finally a neck, a head… and a face. Eliza’s face. Her double was blurry, still cloudy like smoke, but it was her without a doubt. It was laughing.
Eliza’s heart thudded in her chest. She had to help her friends.
Taking her eyes off the poltergeist, she slid off the horse. When she looked back, it was gone. The redheaded girl had stopped squealing, and now she and Ethel were looking around, confused.
Everyone’s heads snapped to the opposite side of the merry-go-round when Elliot yelled, “It’th got my popcorn!” The poltergeist was dangling the popcorn box above Elliot’s head. The sailor boy couldn’t reach it no matter how high he jumped.
“Hey!” She shouted at the mischievous creature. “Over here!”
Eliza felt her cheeks turning red. All eyes were on her. The children, their parents, the top-hat man and the organ player… they were all waiting for her to save them from the pesky poltergeist, But she didn’t know how.
The body of smoke itself turned to her and bored its eyes -a reflection of Eliza’s eyes- into her own. In a gust of cold wind, it started floating towards her, still holding Elliot’s popcorn. It opened its mouth wide, silently screaming as it got closer and closer. Inside its jaws was a black abyss and Eliza balled her fists, thinking she was going to be swallowed up and lost forever.
It was only inches away, all she could see was a grey blur. Eliza braced herself.
And nothing happened.
The poltergeist swept right past her, instead halting directly above the top-hat man. Eliza sighed with relief, resting a hand over her thumping chest. But she couldn’t relax for very long. The poltergeist tipped the box, covering the mortified man a shower of butter and popcorn. He squeezed his eyes and mouth shut, squealing, as yellow paint dripped down his body from head to toe. The poltergeist laughed, cackling like thunder.
Eliza looked to her friend. “Ethel. What do I do?”
“It’s feeding off your fear, Eliza.” The girl in a ruffled collar spoke with such wisdom that Eliza wondered how old the painting was, just how much Ethel had experienced. “The poltergeist will do what it’s told, but only you can order it. You have to be brave.”
She had to be brave. Eliza gulped. It felt like she’d spent her whole life being scared. Scared of trying new things, scared of being the centre of attention, scared of running into ghosts, scared of talking to people,.. and now she was supposed to forget all that?
She looked at the poltergeist. It was like glancing in a mirror, except this reflection wasn’t really her at all. It was everything she didn’t want to be. The poltergeist was cruel and mean, terrorising the fair-goers. It certainly didn’t care about anyone else’s feelings. Eliza valued kindness, she wanted to help the people here. The poltergeist was so misty and delicate, it seemed like the wind could blow it into a thousand pieces. Eliza wanted to be strong, not weak. The only thing she envied the poltergeist over was its fearlessness. It wasn’t scared at all, it was so much braver than her.
Yet surely you didn’t have to be a bad person to be brave?
The pesky creature narrowed its eyes, watching intently to see what action she would take.
Eliza stepped forward and raised her chin. “I want you to leave!”
“I shan’t!” It shook its head, wisps of smoke trailing its movements.
“You have to if I say it!”
“No I don’t! You’re too scared!” The poltergeist poked out its tongue. Eliza’s cheeks turned red, not with embarrassment but with a raging determination.
“No, I’m not!”
“You are!”
“I’m not!” She stamped her foot. Ethel’s hand rested on her shoulder and Eliza froze for just a second. This wasn’t the way to beat the boggart. Losing her temper wouldn’t solve anything, she wasn’t like that.
Eliza breathed in, inhaling the familiar scent of popcorn. She listened to the heavy breaths of those around her, so loud amongst the silence. She felt the breeze on her skin, felt the comforting touch of her friend. Eliza smiled. Then she addressed the creature with a soft, gentle voice, the way she would want to be spoken to. Because really, she was speaking to herself.
“You’re right. I am scared. I’m scared of the matron and the older girls at Edelweiss’ and of being alone. I’m even scared of you.” Eliza thrust back her shoulders. She felt so strong and powerful, so brave.”It’s okay to be scared, everyone gets afraid at some point- it’s how you know you’re alive. What matters is that you don’t let the fear stop you from living. Fear doesn’t control me. I control it.” The poltergeist squirmed uneasily. It looked like it was crying, but the unfeeling creature had no tears. “I control you. And I order you to go away!”
When Eliza finished speaking, the poltergeist was gone.
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