The Battle of the Red Hot Pepper Weenies Read Online Free Page A

as I tripped and fell into the only mud puddle in the whole carnival. A couple people came over to help me up, including the guy who ran the ride. He looked a lot like the guy who ran the sausage booth. Maybe they were brothers. After I got to my feet, I saw Buzzy at the front of the line. He’d hopped the gate.
    The guy glanced at Buzzy, but didn’t say anything. He just let him on. Before the next kid could get in, the guy said, “One at a time.”
    The ride started out slowly, then picked up speed. In a moment, it was really swooping around. It looked cool enough that I almost wished I was on it. Then again, I could always ride it after Buzzy got off.
    â€œIt’s not mild !” Buzzy shouted as he swooped past.
    I noticed that the letters in the name shook. On his next swoop, Buzzy shouted, “You’re such a child !”
    The letters shook again. But not all of them. I realized it was just the I, L, and D. That was weird. They bounced like someone had given the support post a hard kick.
    As Buzzy shot past again, he yelled, “This is wild !”
    The letters in WILD shook, then fell off the crossbar, one at a time. The W barely missed the head of a kid who was standing in the line.
    Buzzy was now riding the BLUE YONDER .
    â€œMe!” he shouted as he swooped by. “I’m riding.”
    Next swoop, he pointed at me. “You’re not !”
    The N and the O in BLUE YONDER shook. There wasn’t a T . I wondered whether letters would fall only if they matched the whole word. Not that it mattered—as long asnobody was standing underneath the sign, nobody would get hurt.
    Buzzy ran through a half dozen rhymes for not, and then shouted, “You don’t have a clue !”
    As the L, U, and E shook, my eyes locked on the sign. I’d always been good with word games. What I saw made my knees buckle. I could feel the blood drain from my face. I realized that Buzzy’s words might matter a lot. Don’t say it, I thought. But I knew it was coming. He was running out of other words.
    â€œThe ride’s not through !”
    I wondered if there was any way I could get him to be quiet.
    â€œYou belong in a zoo !”
    Just the O shook.
    â€œGo buy a canoe !”
    I glanced at the ride operator. Maybe the ride would end before Buzzy said the wrong thing. I hoped so. But the guy was standing there with his arms folded across his chest like he was willing to let BLUE YONDER run all day.
    Buzzy pointed at me and screamed, “I’m better than you !”
    Oh, no. He’d said it. You. I looked at the sign. The Y fell first, leaving BLUE ONDER. The U fell, leaving BL E ONDER. Finally, the O dropped. The sign now read BL E NDER. The crossbar was still shaking enough to make the letters slide together. Buzzy was no longer riding the BLUE YONDER . He was strapped into the BLENDER .
    I hoped nothing else would change, but I sort of knew what was coming. The jet tilted so its nose pointed straight up. The wings folded down. The tail turned into a blade that pulled into the bottom of the jet.
    I flinched as a whirring sound ripped through the air. I heard Buzzy scream, “Help!” His scream was followed by sounds I didn’t want to identify.
    The whir slowed, and then stopped. The ride, still shaped like a blender, lowered itself to the ground and settled into the base. I heard a liquidy sort of slurping, like when water runs down a half-clogged drain.
    I noticed a thick hose attached to the base. I followed it with my eyes, though I really didn’t have to. I was pretty sure I knew where it led. The hose, snaking its way among the dozens of cables and wires that cross a carnival ground, ran all the way to the rear of Sonny’s Super Sloppy Sausage Sandwich booth. I guess Buzzy was headed there himself.
    I wasn’t in the mood for any more rides. And I really wasn’t in the mood for any food. I headed to the parking lot to wait for Mrs.