In memory of my mother who gave me my love for history And to our ancestors who were irresistibly adventurous if impractical enough to fight on Charlie’s side lo these four centuries ago MJ
Down too fast into darkness The chill air whipped at my face jammed the 3-D glasses against my eyeballs I gripped the sides of the car It wasn’t the drop that scared me I’d been on thrill rides before It was not being able to see The train wrenched to the left Even safety-clamped to my seat I lurched sideways A loud shrill scream rang out Its echo was even more agonizing a howling like the cries of the dead I pressed my hands over my ears A huge green head blazed out of the darkness It was a woman with snakes writhing from her scalp Her slithery head loomed larger closer The snakes lunged at me Blood dripped from their fangs It was all a cartoon I knew that All the same I started sweating The woman opened her mouth I braced for another loud shrill
Chapter One Scre-e-e-e-am The train barreled straight at me It was the train’s piercing whistle that made the screaming noise The whistle shrieked at me now like an accusation I was at the edge of the platform I stood on the other side of the painted safety line the one you weren’t supposed to cross 2
I had tried out the ride a few days earlier I wasn’t going on it a second time The darkness the screams that cries-of the-dead echo once was enough Besides this was another type of thrill to miss getting hit by inches The gush of air from the speeding train felt good We were in a two-month drought that showed no sign of breaking The white sun blazed on the metal shield of the approaching locomotive From the shield’s center the woman with the snaky hair glared out Medusa In Greek mythology Athena goddess of war carried Medusa’s head around to scare off enemies Yeah I could see how that would work The train ride called Medusa’s Scream was the new tourist attraction in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley The locomotive ran on autopilot It wrenched nine open-air cars on a twisty 3 Medusa’s Scream
