Free Dark Ride by Caroline Green

hair back from his face in a fan.
    ‘What are you doing?’ I screamed.
    He said something back but the wind just whisked it away.
    ‘What did you say?’
    ‘I’ve been figuring some things out,’ he yelled. ‘I have to know. I’m sorry, Bel.’
    And then he started to climb higher. I shouted until my throat ached. I wondered if I should run back to the seafront to find help, but I couldn’t bear to move in case it was just my willpower alone that was keeping him from falling.
    Soon he’d got to the top of the first support. There was a flat ledge and I gasped with relief that he was standing on something solid.
    Then he did the worst thing I’ve ever seen. He closed his eyes, put his arms out to the sides ... and stepped off the edge into thin air.
     

C HAPTER 14
     

You’ve Got to
Help Me
     
    ‘Luka!’
    I covered my face because I couldn’t bear to see it but I still heard the sound he made as he hit the ground. I opened my eyes and ran over. He was facing away from me, lying on his stomach, his arm at an awkward angle. He looked very still and I fell down onto my knees next to him, crying in big, wracking sobs. His eyes were open but glassy-looking and his cheek was pressed hard against the ground.
    ‘You’re going to be OK, Luka!’ I wailed. ‘I’m going to get help. Just stay still.’
    I took off my jacket and laid it over his shoulders. I bent down and kissed his cold, dirty cheek. Then I ran faster than ever in my life towards the exit turnstile. The only person outside was a woman pushing a pram along the road. She looked alarmed as I ran up to her.
    ‘You’ve got to help me!’ I screamed. ‘It’s my friend! He’s had an accident!’
    She jiggled the pram as the baby inside started to wail. ‘Where?’
    ‘He’s in there!’ I pointed to the fairground and the woman pulled a pink mobile phone from her pocket.
    She made the call, darting suspicious glances at me the whole time. ‘They said they’d be here soon,’ she said when she’d hung up. She patted me awkwardly on the arm. ‘You know you shouldn’t be in there, don’t you? It’s dangerous.’
    I just hung my head and cried quietly, wondering if there was anything they could do or if Luka was already dead.
    It seemed like no time before a big yellow and green ambulance with all its nee-nawing and lights screeched up next to us. A man and a woman in paramedic gear leapt out, radio noises crackling in the background.
    ‘Where’s the casualty?’ said the woman to me.
    ‘He’s in there,’ I said and the two paramedics exchanged glances. They were looking at me differently now, as though I was some kind of vandal.
    ‘Look,’ said the woman, ‘it’s going to be very hard to get the rig in there. Take me to your friend and we can work out how we can help him, okay?’
    I nodded miserably and the lady paramedic came with me through the gates using the tickets.
    ‘What were you doing in here anyway?’ she said, not unkindly as we hurried through the fairground, past all the boarded-up stalls. ‘Didn’t you see all those signs?’
    I just snivelled.
    ‘Tell me exactly what happened,’ she said.
    ‘It’s my friend,’ I said. ‘He climbed up the side of the rollercoaster. Then he just threw himself off!’
    ‘Is he conscious?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘He’s just lying there. He’s right around this corner.’
    We came towards the concession stands.
    ‘He’s just over...’
    The words died in my throat.
    ‘Where?’ said the paramedic.
    I rushed over to the spot and saw that my jacket had been slung over the bottom rail of the rollercoaster. I opened and closed my mouth a few times.
    ‘But what, where ... ?’ I ran around wildly, trying to see where he’d gone. ‘Luka!’ I yelled at the top of my voice. ‘Where are you? You need help!’
    The paramedic started to speak into her radio. ‘Are you sure he was hurt?’ she said, turning to me. Her words were sharp but her eyes were kinder. ‘You