The Last Place You Look
Chapter Six: Setting the Traps
by Aeris Tiniel Mirime
Here you go everybody. This chapter includes some things you have been asking for. What things might those be? Read and find out!
Then loving goes by haps.
Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.
-Much Ado About Nothing
As everyone knew except for Maddie herself, London was not telling the truth. It was necessary that she stay behind, not because she had to go to a fashon show, but because, while it fell to the twins to get Maddie to the carnival, it was London's duty to get Esteban there as well.She waited until Maddie and the twins were safely out of the hotel,then hopped the elevator down to the lobby, and trotted over to where Esteban was standing.
"Hey Esteban, does 'mil mascaras' mean?" she asked, pronouncing the word as she would her eye makeup.
"Mil mascaras?" he corrected her. "It mean 'a thousand masks.' "
"Oh. But why would they want to see a thousand masks? It's not Halloween."
"Miss London, what in the world are you talking about?" Esteban asked, confused.
"Frankie and Fernando, the two waiters. They said they were going to see mil mascaras and Santa at the carnival down the street. I guess it's some holiday type thing."
"Santa?"
"Yeah, they said the mascaras were going to fight Santa, but he was sick or something. They called him "Ill Santa."
"Mil mascaras and ill Santa..." Esteban repeated, trying to make sense out of London's seemingly random statements. But suddenly his face lit up.
"Do you mean El Santo?" he asked.
"Yeah, that's it. What's that supposed to mean, anyway?"
"El Santo and Mil Mascaras are only the greatest masked wrestlers ever!" Esteban told her. "And they're going to be at the carnival?"
"Yeah, tonight."
"Oh, this is great!" Esteban exclaimed loudly, then clapped a hand over his mouth as everyone in the lobby turned to stare at him because of his outburst.
"Ok, well, I've got to get to a show. See you later," London said, making her way to the exit. But instead of actually leaving, she slipped behind a hedge, glued her eye to the door, and waited.
She didn't have to wait long, for Esteban soon came running out, dressed in his street clothes, like she knew he would. And he was headed in the direction of the carnival. Smirking to herself, she came out of her hiding place and slinked off behind him. She tried to stay far enough behind so that he wouldn't see her, but close enough for her to see where he was going. It required a lot of concentration on her part, but Zack and Cody were counting on her, so she was willing to do it.
"Esteban and Maddie are counting on me, too," she told herself. "Even if they don't know it yet."
line
Cody felt his jacket pocket begin to vibrate, and silently brought it to the attention of his brother. Zack nodded and tugged on Maddie's sleeve to get her attention focused on him.
"Maddie, when are we going to eat? Because those corn dogs look really good," he said, and pointed to a yellow cart that had "Korn Dogs" painted in red letters on the front.
Behind them, Cody flipped open the phone he had been carrying. It was pink and decorated with rhinestones, but that was because it belonged to London's dog Ivana. London had lent it to them so they could coordinate their secret plan. He flipped it open and read the words "New message from London: He's heading towards the ferris wheel."
"You know," Maddie said to Zack, her attention succesfully diverted. "If you had stayed home, you could've had dinner by now."
"Yeah, well, you didn't have to bring us here," Zack responded, imitating her tone.
The older girl shook her head in disbelief, and Zack cast a quick glance back at Cody.
"Well, we're here anyway, so I guess I have to get you something." Maddie said, and started to walk towards the stand.
Zack, seeing Cody slip the phone back into his pocket, knew it was safe for him to drop his act. "Oh, what do you know, I'm not hungry anymore," he said in mock amazement.
"Let's go get on the ferris wheel." Cody suggested, giving Zack a meaningful look. "I'll race you."
"You're on," Zack replied, and he and Cody took off sprinting without a second glance at their chaperone.
Maddie's mouth fell open as she watched them openly break her rules. But she soon had to collect herself and start moving, or else she was going to them. "They are so in for it," she grumbled as she ran, imagining all the things she would do to the two troublemakers when she caught them. What she didn't know was that they, in turn, were planning things for her, and she was in for quite an unusual night herself.
Esteban made his way through the fairgrounds, wondering where his heroes, El Santo and Mil Mascaras, might be. As he looked this way and that, he saw two short figures, who he recognized as Zack and Cody rapidly coming his direction.
"Dude, it's Esteban!" Zack exclaimed when he saw him, and skidded to a halt in front of him.
"What's up, big guy?" Cody asked as he slowed down as well.
"Well, I heard that some of my favorite Lucha Libre fighters were going to be here today, so I came down to see them. But so far I haven't found them."
"You mean those wrestler guys? They're not going to be here until tomorrow," Zack said, delivering the line just as he had rehearsed it during the midnight meeting with London.
"Tomorrow?" Esteban said in dismay."I guess I should have known that Miss London would have got her dates mixed up."
"But hey, why don't you hang out with us?" asked Cody.
"Sure, that sounds like - "
"Hey Maddie, look who we found!" Zack suddenly shouted, drowning out Esteban's sentence as Maddie came huffing upon the scene. In a repeat of the day before, both she and Esteban froze when they saw each other.
"He's gonna join our group," Cody explained to her, pretending to be oblivious to the tension between the two.
Maddie pulled her asthma inhaler out of her purse. She was glad to have the subterfuge of needing it because she had been running.
"Ok, so are we going to get on this ferris wheel or what?" Zack asked, clapping his hands together and eyeing the ride's line.
Neither Maddie nor Esteban particularly wanted to get on any rides at the moment, but they really had no choice. Esteban had already promised to hang out with the boys before he found out Maddie was their chaperone. And she, as part of that duty, was not going to let the boys out of her sight. So, helplessly, they followed Zack and Cody as they got in line. As they neared the front, Maddie saw, to her dismay, that this the kind of ferris wheel that had straight benches, and only seated two to a car, rather than the round kind that seated four.
"Ok Cody, I'll sit with you. And Zack, you can sit with Esteban," she directed, hoping to avoid any potential awkwardness.
"But Cody and me want to sit together," Zack protested.
"I know, but you need someone older with you so - " Maddie started to say. But before she could finish, Zack and Cody had hopped into a seat and popped the safety bar down into place. They waved as their car moved forward and up, making room for the next car at the loading station. Maddie and Esteban stared at it. Both were stiff as stone statues, dreading what they knew had to come next.
"Come on, people. You're holding up the line," the ride operator said, his gruff voice breaking them out of their paralysis.
Esteban gulped and turned red, while Maddie glared at the operator murderously, but they had to comply with his request. Slowly, as if her feet were made of lead, Maddie got into the car and slid over to the far end. Esteban, feeling like a dead man walking, had no choice but to follow.