Chapter 3
Evie stormed out into the yard, grabbed the laughing half-drunk frat boy, and jerked him off of Gustdance.
"Get off my horse!" she snapped. She rubbed Gustdance's muzzle and spoke soothingly to him, "It's okay Gustdance, the bad man is gone."
"What's with her?!" snapped the leader of the Frat guys, a lanky guy named Craig Ferguson
"That's her horse," snapped Matt, "So keep your goons away from him!"
"Yeah," snapped Evie, "and there is no way that you clowns are getting free tickets to my family's circus!"
"She's the Moondance Clan leader's daughter." Explained Matthias, "If she says you're not getting those free tickets my brother promised you, you're not!"
"But J.J. promised that we would get free tickets!" said Craig
"Tough!" snapped Matt, "You want tickets? then you pay like everyone else."
"J.J., said that Evie gives you free tickets!" snapped Craig's girlfriend, Monica Lars
Matt glared at her.
"That was only one time, on the day that Evie and I first met and became friends," growled Matt his annoyance meter fast approaching max capacity, "I have paid for my tickets every time since then! My brother had no business making a promise he couldn't keep!"
With that Matt spun on his heel and strode off toward the woods with Evie and Gustdance. Once Gustance was safely back in Diablo's Hollow, Evie and Matt sat down on the very same boulder they had been sitting on when Gustance and Wisteria Matt's horse had first accepted them.
"I'd keep my eyes open at the show tonight if I were you, Evie," said Max, "From what I've seen of these frat boys and their girlfriends I wouldn't put it past them to try sneaking in!"
"Don't worry I will!" replied Evie, "You're coming, right?"
"Yeah," smiled Matt, "Bought my ticket this morning!"
"Good!" said Evie, "I have the feeling I'm going to need extra backup tonight!"
"Just one thing about my ticket, though," said Matt his eyes twinkling, "Somehow, I always seem to get the exact same seat. The middle seat in the front row of the section closest to the ring where you do your dance."
"Really?" said Evie in fake surprise
"Yes," said Matt with a slight smirk, "You wouldn't by chance have had something to do with that would you?"
Matt burst out laughing when Evie pointed to herself and gave him an exaggerated-Who Me- look.
Then Evie started laughing herself.
After their laughter subsided Matt turned and looked at the trail that led back the way they had come.
He sighed.
"I really don't want to go back home right now," he said.
"Then don't," said Evie, "Come back to the camp and hang there until the show, you can even join us for supper beforehand. Mom's making chicken and peppers tonight."
"You're sure your folks won't mind?" said Matt
"Of course not," said Evie, "Your practically family anyway."
"Okay, you're on!" smiled Matt
"Great," said Evie, "Then it's settled!"
Just as Matt finished sending his mother a text to let her know where he would be for the rest of the day, Wisteria approached and nudged Matt's arm. Matt smiled and gave her a carrot. Evie did the same for Gustdance.
After the horses had had their treats, Evie and Matt mounted up and rode toward the Wandering Star circus grounds, they paused at Pine Hollow so Matt could pick up his saddle. Then they continued to the camp. When they got there, they went straight to the Atwood trailer. Evie filled her parents in on everything that was going on.
Rafael said he'd station a couple of the guys who weren't in the show tonight to act as security and keep an eye out for any members of this fraternity.
"Good Idea, Daddy." Said Evie
"Definitely," said Matt, "Those guys will try anything!"
Matt and Evie decided to go for a hack until supper time. they headed outside and called their horses. They mounted up and headed up the trail toward the quarry which was their favorite route.
They weren't in a hurry so they just let their horses walk quietly along. After a leisurely ride to the quarry Matt and Evie untacked their horses and let them graze and relax while they did the same.
Matt spread out a blanked that Evie kept in her saddle bag, then, he pulled out a travel chess set that he kept in his saddle bag.
"Feel like a game?" he asked
Evie nodded
"Only if you're that anxious to get beaten again!" she quipped playfully
"Now you've thrown down the gauntlet, lady." Replied a smirking Matt equally playfully.
They sat down on the blanket set up the board and happily played until Evie looked at her watch and realized it was time for them to get back to camp or they'd be late for supper.
Their equine friends seemed rested and happy too after spending a lazy afternoon grazing at the quarry.
Evie and Matt rode back to the camp, then, turned their horses loose to roam with the rest of Diablo's herd.
Matt and Evie washed up then joined the rest of Evie's family at the table.
After the meal was underway, Risa turned to Matt.
"Mom and Dad told me about the mess your brother got you into," said Risa, "I'm sorry."
"There's no reason for you to apologize," shrugged Matt, "It's not your fault, I'm sorry that you guys got caught in the middle of things because of my brother's stupid promise."
"Forget it," said Rafael with a wave of his hand, "We're not blaming you for you brother's mess."
"Thanks," said Matt, "I'm still worried though, that those frat boys and their girlfriends could cause you some trouble."
Rafael just shrugged as he passed Matt the seasoned rice.
"If they do, they do," he said, "we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
After a pleasant meal everybody set about getting ready for the show. Matt helped out where he could. He helped set up the game booths and the concession stands.
Just as he finished helping hang prizes up on the wall of one of the game booths, people started arriving.
Matt knew that first, people would amuse themselves on the midway with snacks, games, and the weird and wild stuff in the clans mobile and constantly updated version of a believe it or not museum.
Suddenly Matt was jarred out of his thoughts by a commotion over at the ring toss booth.
"Give me my money back!" someone yelled, "This lousy game is rigged!"
Matt went toward the gathering crowd. He was sure the air around the booth was bruised and battered from the string of expletives that came from the mouth of a man in his late twenties.
Matt edged around the crowd to a spot where he could see the bottles. His eyes zoomed in on them and he could immediately see that these were not the bottles that he had carried over to the booth earlier. The necks of these bottles were fatter.
He saw the guy running the booth and recognized him too. His name was Cedric Molino, Matt had hung around with the clan long enough to know that Rafael and Lisa had been suspicious of Cedric for some time.
While a couple of other members of the clan were trying to prevent a fight. Matt turned and went to find Lisa. He found her in her booth, between customers, wearing a swami hat with a propeller on top up It, next to her was a sign that billed her as the Balmy Swami.
Lisa was a natural entertainer and most people came to her both to watch her clown around, and make jokes.
"Lisa," he said poking his head inside, "We've got trouble on the midway!"
"Cedric?" asked Lisa immediately
"You guessed it," nodded Matt, "He's rigged the ring toss."
Lisa jumped up, jerked her swami hat off and slammed it down on the table angrily. Then she stormed out of the tent and headed down the midway toward the ring toss booth.
When she got there, she vaulted over the counter into the booth. Cedric was standing there with a fist full of bills, trying in his own oily manner to convince the complainer that he just had bad luck.
Lisa kicked Cedric in the groin causing several people in the crowd to flinch. As Cedric went down, Lisa grabbed his wrist and twisted the bills out of his hand.
"You know we run a clean operation, Cedric!" she snapped, "Those are not the bottles you were given. Those have a wider neck, so it's much harder than it should be for someone to win!"
Two of the clan's security guards grabbed Cedric pulled him up and held him as Lisa turned to the Complainant
"How much did he take you for?" she asked
"Nearly 40 dollars!" said the young man
"Well here," said Lisa, shoving the whole fistful of bills into his hand, "Take this and go enjoy the show!"
"Wow, Thanks," said the young man genuinely smiling for the first time since Matt had seen him. he hurried off toward the big top.
Lisa turned to the two men who were holding on to Cedric.
"Lock him in the supply trailer. Rafael and I will deal with him later!" she said
The guards dragged Cedric off. The whole way Cedric was yelling that Rafael and Lisa hadn't heard the last of him.
"Thanks," said Lisa turning to Matt, "Now you'd better get to your seat before the show starts or Evie will come looking for you!"
To Be Continued…Please Review
