Warhol's Prophecy

59

HAILEY CLOSED HER eyes as the excited babbling around her began to grow in volume.

There was a moment of near silence. Then the screams began.

And she joined that chorus of shrieks.

She gripped the safety bar with both hands as the rollercoaster hurtled down the precipitous slope. It sped down with such incredible speed it seemed certain it must crash. But, instead, it merely shot up the next incline, its momentum carrying it onwards.

As the brightly coloured carriages began to climb, Hailey continued to cling tightly to the rail.

She, Rob and Becky sat side by side in the lead car. All three were clutching the bar. All three were yelling at the tops of their voices.

Becky was laughing, too, amused by her mother’s apparent terror and also at the sheer exhilaration she felt. Rob looked across at Hailey as they prepared to speed down the next slope. He grinned broadly, reaching out quickly to touch her face before the rollercoaster went hurtling towards the bottom again.

Hailey kissed his outstretched hand, then looked down at Becky, opened her mouth and screamed again as they were catapulted earthwards.

The rumble of the wheels on the track was loud in her ears and she could feel the car vibrating beneath her as it took each curve.

Becky was loving it – just as she had loved all the other rides before it. As she’d loved the funhouse and the dodgems. She’d earlier watched Rob at the rifle range, shooting down the small metal targets. Cheering, like her mother, as each one fell. Then she’d watched him hurling small beanbags at a pyramid of tin cans. She had shouted in delighted triumph as the pyramid was shattered, hugged him when he presented her with the large fluffy panda he’d won. It sat between them now, blank eyes watching every twist and turn of the rollercoaster.

Hailey felt the wind surge through her hair, pull at her face, and, when she screamed, it rushed into her open mouth.

The feeling of exhilaration was infectious.

It had been Rob’s idea to visit the funfair, which was in town for four days. He had mentioned it that lunch-time, and his suggestion had taken Hailey by surprise.

They had arrived here about four, oblivious to the threatening clouds above, all three of them determined nothing would spoil their evening out. And now, three hours later, with the whole fairground illuminated by the multicoloured lights and flashing neon of the stalls and rides, they were still enraptured by it all. As the roller-coaster reached the top of another incline, Hailey looked out over the sprawling mass of brilliant lights below. They burned in the darkness like fallen, multi-hued stars.

Up and down, the rollercoaster careened madly for another few minutes, then came to a halt. Laughing passengers spilled from the cars, to be replaced by others eager to taste the thrill.

‘That was great,’ said Becky, reaching up to hold Hailey’s hand. ‘You were scared, weren’t you, Mum?’

‘Petrified,’ Hailey admitted, laughing.

‘We’d better get home soon,’ Rob said, as they walked along.

‘Oh, Dad,’ Becky complained.

‘Dad’s right,’ Hailey told her. ‘We have been here for a long time, haven’t we?’

Becky nodded reluctantly.

‘One more ride?’ she said imploringly.

‘We’ve been on all the rides there are,’ Hailey insisted.

‘We haven’t been in there,’ said Rob, pointing ahead of him.

The hall of mirrors bore a huge clown’s face that leered down at them as if daring them to enter.

Hailey looked at the large wooden face, and thought how menacing it appeared. Not the usual benevolent visage of a clown, but something darker. The mouth looked more like a sneer than a smile.

Rob saw her slow her pace and he reached for her hand.

‘What’s wrong?’ He smiled.

‘Nothing,’ she told him, squeezing his hand. ‘Nothing at all.’ She leant across and kissed his cheek.

‘Come on,’ said Becky, pulling them both towards the entrance. She ran ahead, beckoning to her parents, who sauntered along behind.

‘I got lost in one of these when I was a kid,’ Hailey said quietly. ‘I was in there for ages before they got me out. I was terrified.’

‘Well, hold my hand,’ Rob told her. ‘I’ll make sure you don’t get lost.’

They looked at each other for brief seconds, then Becky’s excited cries sent them running towards the cashier.

Rob paid the entrance fee and they walked in.

Immediately, Becky began to laugh as she was confronted by a bank of distorting mirrors that elongated and squashed her image alternately.

Hailey and Rob also stood gazing at their own warped reflections.

Oh, how appropriate.

Both of us twisted. Bent out of shape.

A little like how some marriages get.

All three of them posed before each mirror in turn, Becky’s musical laughter filling the musty, wooden-floored hall. Then they moved on.

The labyrinth of mirrors seemed impenetrably confusing.

On all four sides, Hailey saw her reflection staring back at her.

Guilt on every side? Is Rob feeling the same thing?

She glanced across at him, or at his reflection, she wasn’t sure which.

He seemed more intent on gazing after Becky, who was picking her way carefully through the maze ahead of them.

Hailey felt a wave a panic rising inside her.

Memories?

She looked into one mirror and saw herself as a child again. Standing alone, sobbing – lost.

When she blinked, the image vanished.

In another she saw Rob and Sandy Bennett, both naked, coupled together. Sweat pouring from their undulating bodies, pleasure etched across their faces.

Again the image disappeared when she blinked.

The image of Adam Walker loomed at her from another of the mirrors.

He was looking at her angrily. There was pain in his expression.

She looked away, but the image was still there.

Hailey felt her heart thud rapidly against her ribs.

She reached out to touch his image.

‘Come on,’ said Rob, touching her bottom with one hand.

Hailey spun round, her face pale.

‘Are you OK?’ Rob wanted to know.

She looked back at the mirror.

The vision of Walker was gone.

Hailey nodded. She leant forward and kissed her husband.

‘I love you,’ she whispered.

Rob looked suprised.

‘I know,’ he murmured. ‘Even though I don’t deserve it.’

‘Come on.’

Becky’s excited shout came from just ahead of them. ‘I’ve found the way out,’ she called.

They hurried to catch up with her.