Landlocked (A water witch novel) Read Online Free Page B

in.
    “She doesn’t know me as well as I thought…” Clarissa whispered and a muffled a laugh.
    The car slowed to a stop. “After we unload, why don’t you two go check out the other booths and grab something to eat before we start?”
    “Don’t you want help setting up?” I carefully tucked a framed canvas under each arm.
    “As long as you bring me back some food, I won’t complain.”
    We walked toward the city park that now had white tents and vendors sprinkled over its grassy expanse. Tall oak canopies shaded the event nicely. The turnout was better than I expected it to be. There must have been nothing happening in town. The small alley-ways between the shops were so flooded with people it made navigating them with full hands a pain. When we came to our empty booth, I sighed in relief, glad to no longer be responsible for Sylvia’s paintings. Hers were actually worth money.
    “We’ll be back soon.” I looped my arm in Clarissa’s and began to walk away.
    “Nothing deep fried. Organic if possible!” she called out to us.
    “Organic fair food? Does that even exist?” Clarissa asked when we were out of hearing distance.
    I grinned. “Well, since this is an art fair, the vendors are usually a little more refined than what you’d find at a carnival. I bet they have lots of organic choices, there’s probably even a vegan food truck around here somewhere.”
    “Gross! So, do I look for pretentious people… or should I just sniff out the ones not wearing deodorant and follow them to find Sylvia’s dinner?”
    “Did you ever think that it’s not just pretentious hippies eating organic, and maybe it’s just a healthy choice for any person to make?”
    “Nope, the thought never crossed my mind. I plan on finding the most deep-fried, heart-clogging…”
    I stopped in my tracks, we had walked past dozens of booths and not hing had caught my eye until then. There was only one piece on display, though the artist wasn’t anywhere to be seen. A large metal sculpture sat in the middle of the booth. It was the likeness of a slender woman with her back to us. Her long hair blew about as if by the wind. How the sculptor had made her hair look so light and airy given the material was amazing. I stepped into the booth wanting to see the front of the mesmerizing woman. As I walked around the piece, I was shocked that the statue remained the same even as I looked at it from different angles. Somehow it had been magically sculpted to look like the back of a windswept woman from all three hundred and sixty degrees.
    “Pretty cool.” Clarissa’s voice pulled me out of the spell I was under.
    “Understatement,” I muttered. I couldn’t tear my eyes off of the eerie figure.
    “Come on, I’m starving!” Clarissa tugged on my arm.
    “All right.” I left the tent, hoping to be able to meet the artist responsible before the night was over. I’d never seen anything quite like it.
    When we reached the first food truck, I was hit by the strong sent of fried dough that brought happy memories of past fairs and carnivals with it.
    Clarissa clapped her hands and rubbed them together. “Where to start?”
    “I don’t know.” I scanned the place.
    “Are you going to eat real food or that bird food Sylvia wants?”
    “Do you really need to ask?”
    She laughed. “Fine, I’ll meet you back at the tent. This may take awhile.” She walked to the nearest food stand and stood in line. How she stayed so thin eating nothing but junk was a mystery.
    On my way back with our organic gyros, I spotted Brad laughing it up with one of his friends and decided that walking through the crowd balancing two food baskets was annoying enough without being hit on. So I slipped into the back alley that ran behind the booths. The canvas walls made me feel like a horse with blinders on but at least no one was back here.
    “Maribel!”
    I rolled my eyes at the familiar voice and turned around to see Brad and hi s friend Levi sauntering