The Skidder

'The Skidder?' Thought Emily. She was finding that less and less was surprising her as this evening went on, but what on earth could The Skidder be? She remembered she was supposed to be covering Peter's coffee break, but that was all she knew about her final task.

In the busy central area of the fair she found her answer. Elaborately painted and blaring loud music was a large circular waltzer ride with 'The Skidder' painted in lettering intended to look like streaks of lightning around the canopy.

Arriving just as the ride came to a halt and excited and slightly dazed looking passengers started to alight, Emily greeted a smiling blonde girl at the entrance. 'Hello, I'm Emily. I'm here to relieve Peter.'

'Oh, wow!' the other girl bounced up and down excitedly. 'I'm Emily too!' she shouted. 'We could be twinnies!'

Emily looked at the other Emily. They did look quite similar, except the new Emily was perhaps slightly shorter and her pony tail was a little longer. Her uniform had clearly been personally selected by Mr Jackson, as it was just as tight as the t-shirt scrunched up in the bottom of Emily's locker had been. Emily thought for a moment of trying to engineer a situation where the new Emily's clothes ended up being somehow accidentally removed, just like hers had been, then perhaps she could steal them and escape. But that kind of situation was just not realistic, she decided.

'Peter's in the control booth,' the new Emily pointed to a large acrylic viewing window in the centre of the ride behind which a large man with long black hair seemed to be inspecting some kind of cabling dangling from the roof. She then opened the steel gate and allowed the next passengers in.

Emily was going to be super-careful from now on. Nothing was going to happen to her final item of clothing, she determined. She was going to get through this. The circular spinning cars had large chrome rails around the back edge, and she could see that it was entirely possible, if one were to rotate, the end of a rail might just snag her shirt and pull it off. Or at least tear it. She carefully gave them all a wide berth.

Stepping into the control booth Emily looked for signs of danger. Peter was there holding a thick loom of cable with a large round plug on the end. Hanging from the plug was a metal clip with sharp teeth. So I'm not going anywhere near that, thought Emily. A hatch in the roof was open, and a stepladder stood beneath. Nope, and nope. There were coat hooks on the back wall of the booth, with one white hard hat hanging from one. Emily briefly had an image of her shirt somehow becoming hooked and tearing from her. Staying away from that, then. A pole with a wavy hook on the end stood in the corner. She guessed it was for opening the hatch, but she was absolutely, definitely, not touching it.

There are a lot of hazards here, thought Emily. I'm going to have to be very careful.

'Peter?' she enquired. 'I'm Emily. I'm here to operate the waltzer while you have a break.'

Peter looked over at Emily and squinted. 'This is no waltzer,' he explained. 'This is a beautiful, carefully restored steam powered skid.' He gently stroked the control panel. 'Of course, it's not actually steam powered nowadays, all electric.' he sighed wistfully, 'but you can tell the difference as a waltzer has crests in the track, the skid doesn't. Also the cars,' he pointed out to the customers crowding into the carriages 'don't spin 360 degrees. The pedals allow the cars to be locked so they slide...'

He gave much more detail, but Emily's mind had started to wander.

'Now, I'll show you how to get the best out of the old girl.' Peter licked his lips as he turned to the control panel. There were some coloured lights on it, a button marked 'Start,' one marked 'Stop,' a big red emergency stop, and a long wooden handle.

Emily stood next to Peter as he pressed the start button, and the cars started to rotate around them. After a couple of spins they were moving quite quickly, and Emily could see and hear that the passengers were already enjoying themselves.

Loud music played from outside the booth, and Peter explained how the lever controlled the speed of the ride. He invited Emily to take control and 'really open her up.' Emily heard the speakers outside the booth command 'Scream if you want to go faster!' at which point she took the wooden lever in both hands, one above the other, and slowly pulled it toward her. She felt the rumbling of the machinery through the handle, and as the cars visible through the window increased speed they flashed by in a blur, the excited screams of the riders increased in volume and pitch, and the vibrations of the old engine shook Emily's arms.

Peter smiled approvingly. 'She likes you!' he shouted. 'The run is timed, so just have fun! Any problems, just hit the emergency stop.' With this he left Emily's side and she saw him sling the big cable over his shoulder and climb the ladder into the hatch. With his belly squeezed into the hole he hauled the rest of the cable upward through the gap.

'Well this isn't so bad,' thought Emily. As long as she kept away from all the dangerous clothes ripping things she saw earlier, she would be fine with this, then she could talk to Mr Jackson, get her stuff from the locker, and everything would be okay.

She enjoyed making the cars spin faster, then slowing them down for a minute or so more until the ride automatically started to slow down.

Peter was back down the ladder as the ride stopped. With an embarrassed look he asked Emily 'If you have a chance, would you mind going up and plugging that cable in? I've left it next to the socket, I just can't quite reach it any more.' He patted his large belly, looking annoyed with himself. I've re-wired all the lights and this is the last set, I just feel so sad to see this beautiful old lady without all of her make up on. She looks almost naked.'

His words made Emily's heart skip a beat and she unconsciously checked her t-shirt was still in place. 'Of course I can!' she beamed. She had absolutely no intention of climbing up that ladder.

'Awesome!' Peter looked so pleased. I can't wait to see her all lit up properly again when I get back. Look after my old girl!' He stroked the control panel lovingly once more and left.