Chapter 8: Fun House

"When I find that kid I'm gonna…" Mac spewed empty threats through gritted teeth as he raced through the crowds of visitors searching for Maddie. He poked his head into an open tent and gasped when he caught a half-man half-woman dressing. He threw his hands over his eyes.

"Sorry! Sorry! Did you happen to see a little girl run by, short, bobbed brown hair, deer in headlights expression?" He blurted out quickly.

"No handsome, I've been too busy trying to get these stockings to stay put!" The he-she replied with a woman's pitch. "Did you, Ed?"

"No Edna, I've been too busy trying to get these suspenders up, sorry, man!" The He-she said again in a voice as deep as Mac's.

Mac cringed with a lopsided smile and muttered thanks, running toward another red and orange tent. He abruptly slid through a loose mound of wet hay and sawdust, crashing into a little person. He grabbed hold of him and they tumbled just inches near the tent post. Mac had saved him from near impalement. The little person hoisted himself up with a huff and kicked Mac's shin.

"Oww! Why you little!" Mac grabbed his shin and recoiled from the jab. "I aughta step on ya!" He barked.

"Why don't you watch where you're goin' bucko? Just because I'm little, don't mean I'm invisible! I…hey! Wait a minute! I know you! Big Macky! How's it hanging?"

Mac cleared the stars floating past his eyes and rubbed his head, resting his gaze on the diminutive, blonde man with bucked teeth and puffy blue eyes. He broke into a smile.

"Smitty half-Nelson! You little devil! I didn't know you joined the circus!" Mac jumped up and dusted the hay off his jeans.

"Yeah, well, this is a carnival, they have more tolerance for the freaks like me. I kinda got tired of all the bouncing around, especially after we were run out of the bar a few times. You know how it is." Smitty punched Mac's arm in a friendly gesture.

"I always liked you Mac, you were the only one who got me to stick on that Velcro and you were one heck of a tipper!" He laughed again, slapping Mac's back with his pudgy hand.

Smitty was referring to the times Mac came up to Nevada with Gretchen. Mac would go to an all-night bar and after a few rounds, play the wild and woolly game of dwarf tossing with some of the fun-loving and eccentric locals. Gretchen was mortified when she found out Mac was involved in such an inhumane act. Mac's boozy response to her moral ranting that night was–'The dwarves didn't seem to mind! I got me a bullseye!'

"I'd love to stay and shoot the breeze, but I'm in a hurry. Have you seen a little girl go by here, a little taller than you, short brown hair, big brown eyes? She would have been really angry or crying?" Mac asked hastily.

"Still breaking hearts, huh? Naw, I haven't seen her. There are wide-eyed runts all over this joint. Say, how's the fox? Ehh? Ehh? What was her name, Ginger? Gwyneth?" He winked. "Think I have a chance?"

Mac was about to say a firm, 'no way,' when he remembered he and Gretchen broke up. He laughed and rubbed Smitty's shoulder.

"Stranger things have happened! It's Gretchen and she just might be interested." Mac bluffed.

He laughingly remembered the time she came storming into the bar demanding he come back to the house. Mac convinced her to stay for the fun and Smitty was immediately smitten. Gretchen clung to Mac's side the whole night while Smitty tried all his saucy tricks to get her attracted. Gretchen finally had enough and told him she never dated men shorter than Bill Bixby, and to rub more salt in Smitty's wounds, she said, 'That's five-foot nine, not four…not three!'

Smitty chortled and waved his hand in disbelief. "Don't ya worry about me, I got something going on with Jessie and Bessie, the seven feet tall Siamese twins, attached at the back ya know! Rrrowww! But please, let's get real, Mac! After a girl's had you, I doubt they would settle for anything…ahem…less!" He held his stomach laughing.

Mac shrugged. "Yeah, well…ahh! Never mind! I gotta run, Smitty! Watch out for the twins, it could spell double trouble! One is hard enough. How do you…" Mac stopped talking, suddenly having unsettling and absurd visions of three foot tall Smitty and the seven-foot Siamese twins. "Well, uhh, Smitty, catch ya again sometime!"

"Sure thing!" Smitty called after him. "Maybe we can grab dinner and a beer. You can meet some of the freaks and we can toss the old dwarf around or something!"

Mac waved in agreement and kept running. He was growing extremely worried. The carnival was crowding up. He continued to dodge vendors and wily clowns until he spotted a large structure shaped like a castle. It was aptly named, 'Fun house of Horrors.' There was a sign out front that read, 'CLOSED FOR REPAIRS. NO ENTRY! THIS MEANS YOU!'

-Oo-

Maddie figured for sure that Mac would never find her in the fun house, especially since it was closed up. She was able to sneak within easily through a loose plank on the side of the castle. However, now she wished she didn't as a strange fear crept over her.

"Don't be so stupid, Maddie!" She scolded herself. "You were practically raised in a dirty, old tunnel and now you're afraid of a dark, dumb fun house?"

The Freedom Tunnel of New York may have been huge and dirty, but it didn't have ghastly grinning clowns and skulls hanging off black and red painted walls. She was starting to think that she made a mistake running away. Mac wasn't a bad guy, he might have had a good reason for breaking up with Gretchen, but presently she couldn't fathom it. Adults were so complicated. Maddie didn't hear the footsteps behind her until it was too late. A pair of greasy hands gripped her arms and she knew immediately they weren't Mac's. She let out an ear-piercing scream.

Mac's ears perked up and he raced across the field to the fun house. It was definitely Maddie's distinct cry. She could shatter glass with her screaming, but right now the eerie carnival music, bells, whistles and noisy laughter drowned her out. He rushed up the faux stone steps to the doorway and pushed it in, but it wouldn't budge. He wanted to kick it open, but then he noticed the loose board. He jumped over the railing and tore off another board, forcing his body through the narrow opening. It was almost pitch dark inside, save for the beams of sunlight from the hole.

Maddie struggled violently under the man's grasp. She couldn't see his face and he wasn't talking much for her to recognize his voice. His hand fell over her mouth and she remembered Mac's advice to, 'chomp down hard.'

"Arghhh! You stinkin' brat!"

Maddie ducked and fell out of his hold, she jumped on his loafers and he fell backwards into the sickening ride known as the, 'Dizzy Whirl.'

"Leave me alone! Get away from me! Help me! Help me!" She cried and wished with all her might Mac was in the fun house. All of a sudden, she heard Mac shout out to her.

"Maddie! Where are you? I'm here!"

"Mac! I'm by the 'Dizzy Whirl!' Hurry! He's gonna get me!"

Maddie's would-be abductor had nearly regained his footing and she couldn't run back the way she had come. He lunged for her, when suddenly the entire fun house came to horrid and vivid life. Multi-colored lights flashed, chains clanked, garish clowns and ghouls laughed maniacally and popped in and out of the walls. Some lurched slower than others, due to mechanical failure. Maddie froze on the spot, screaming desperately for Mac. The man was about to grab her when the ride began to spin. He was thrown off his feet, and it rotated faster and faster until he wanted to puke.

The floor beneath Maddie dropped and she was thrust onto a curly slide into a lower level of the fun house. She landed in a shivering heap on a large pile of pillows. She recognized the man now; it was her friend Donna's father. Maddie rolled off the pillows; bursts of steam blew out of the walls and obscured her view. She ran as far away from the slide as possible, only to get lost among a maze of mirrors.

-Oo-

Mac finally found the 'Dizzy Whirl' after evading swinging pendulums and cackling puppets that dropped from concealed places in the ceiling. 'Only a dork would get tangled up with these marionettes.' He thought. Even if he did, Mac had his reliable Swiss army knife to cut through the wires. Mac spotted a man on his stomach, trying to claw his way off the ride.

"Oh no you don't!" He shouted and took a flying leap into the ride. The man was startled. They rolled off together and fell down the slide. Mac grabbed his collar furiously.

"You! Some father you are! Where's my kid?" He shook him up.

Donnie's eyes crossed and his head bobbed dizzily. He could barely see straight. "Girl…I need…I need…it! I need her…"

Mac grimaced and socked him. The worst thoughts were running through his mind. "You piece of filth! I aught to snap you like a twig! If you touched my kid, so help me, I'll…"

Donnie grunted heavily and his eyes glazed over. Blood spilled from the sides of his mouth. "Need…her bookthe ma…" His body slumped forward against Mac's and more blood trickled down his plaid blazer. Jutting out from his back was a large and ultra sharp Ninja star. Without handling the weapon, Mac dropped his body and jumped away.

"A Shuriken! That almost killed me! Where did that come from?" He blurted in surprise.

There was no time to wonder about it. Mac's senses told him dive and just as he did, three more twirled across the room and became embedded into the opposite wall.

"If I find you, I will kill you first!" Mac threatened to the darkness in Chinese. He received no reply.

Keeping low, Mac ran toward the mirrors and was immediately engulfed in twenty visions of his and Maddie's reflection. She jumped up and down frantically.

"Mac! I see you! Where are you?"

Maddie, wherever you are, sweetheart, don't move! I will find you!"

Mac moved with speed and expertise through the maze, following its standard triangular, grid pattern. Each mirror was placed at sixty-degree angles. There was no time to waste gawking at his distorted reflections with another assassin on his tail. So far, no more flying weapons appeared. He eventually found the right mirror and grabbed Maddie from behind. She turned and practically crawled up his legs and into his open arms, gasping tearfully. Mac wanted to just fall to his knees and give her comfort, but they had to get out of the fun house. He breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing a bright, red Exit sign just a few feet from where they were standing. He ran with her and kicked open the door, the sunlight nearly blinded the two of them. A disgruntled Carnie in patchwork clothes noticed them and ran over. He was about to hassle them, but Mac cut him off.

"Listen! You have to call the police, there's a man in there! He tried to kidnap my little girl and somebody offed him! He's laying on the pillows by the slide!"

The Carnie didn't believe him. "You're pulling my leg!"

"I'm not kidding! See for yourself!" He insisted.

Mac kept the door wide open and the Carnie rushed inside to assess for any damages. "Who turned the power on? I don't know what you're talking about, Mister! There's no dead body in here! Nice prank! Get outta here!"

Mac didn't want to go back into the fun house, in case the assassin was still lingering. Whoever had tried to kill him, also removed Donnie's corpse. He ran with Maddie all the way to the station wagon and opened the door, sitting her in the passenger seat. He knelt in front of her. Her mouth quivered with fright and her eyes widened like saucers. She grasped his neck.

"Mac, he tried to take me away! He tried to hurt me! Don't let him get me!" She cowered.

Mac held her, putting his chin in her hair and kissing the top of her head. "Don't worry baby girl, he won't be hurting you or anyone anymore. I promise!"

Maddie squeezed her eyes shut and more tears spilled down Mac's shirt.

"Shh…shh…it's alright, you're alright. I'm here, you're safe now." He whispered compassionately.

Maddie pulled away, shaken. "I'm…I'm sorry, Mac! I'm sorry I ran away! I didn't mean what I said! I don't hate you; I love you! Do you hate me? Please don't hate me!" She begged tearfully.

Mac held her skinny arms and brushed strands of hair from her eyes. "Maddie, I'll never hate you. I really love you too. I know you were upset, but we'll have to talk it out. Come on, I need to take you home right away."

Mac buckled her into the seat and rushed to the driver's side. There was no doubt in his mind all the events of the day were connected to the Huxley's murder, but he was at a loss as to why they wanted Maddie. He reached over and clutched her tiny fingers as he drove. She curled up in the seat and quietly gazed at him with adoration. He smiled delicately and continued to hold her hand the rest of the way, all the while making completely sure he wasn't followed.

-Oo-

Min Ah Chui wiped his black leather gloves on his matching pants. He had just finished stuffing the ample Mr. Vecchio in the back of his trunk. The Emperor was not going to be pleased, but at least he had gotten a good look at the child. He narrowed his gaze in the rear view mirror when he slid into his car. He had seen that blonde man before, in the Quicksilver hotel. He was one of a group of models.

"For model he very smart!" Min wondered. "He know right name of my weapon! He knows Chinese!"

It could have been that the model was just taking the child out for a day at the carnival, but Min didn't survive this long by trusting people. He pulled out his car phone to make a full report to the Emperor. Starting from today, he and his associates would be watching the entire group of American fashionistas very closely.