![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smackenzieIt turns out that lying to Luisa is the easy part. But escaping Lucas' watchful eye is a whole other thing. James suspects that Lucas is watching him closely because he thinks Con is a bad influence and James is unduly swayed by his moody older brother. James does not think Con is a bad influence, but neither does he think that of Julia, and Julia has formulated a plan to sneak him out of the house and spirit him away to Luna Park without their parents' permission or knowledge.
But either she has told Con or he figured it out himself, because he somehow manages to convince Lucas to let them out of the house, and then distract him so Julia and James can make their escape.
James is thrilled. It is as if they are spies trying to meet their contacts without arousing suspicion. But the only spy he knows of is Mata Hari, and he knows well that she came to a bad end.
He and Julia take the streetcar down to 34th Street and walk the several blocks to Sean and Liam's building. The brothers are waiting on the stoop, practically vibrating with excitement. James can understand.
"Isn't Luisa coming?" Liam asks.
"No," Julia tells him. "Just me."
"The other one." He grins. Julia raises an eyebrow at him. "The other sister," he explains.
"It was a joke," James says. "He could never remember your name, so he always called you 'the other one'."
"Really," Julia says dryly.
"I know it now," Liam says.
"Can we go?" Sean demands. "We're wasting time we could be riding the roller coasters."
James' first subway ride is crowded and hot, and the movement of the train makes him feel a bit sick at first. But he adjusts to the motion fairly quickly, although he cannot keep his balance and keeps threatening to fall onto the people standing all around him. Julia is just tall enough to be able to reach one of the hanging straps, but he has to hold on to her and to one of the poles running up and down the train car. Sean laughs at him the first time the subway pulls into a station and stops and James lurches forward, unprepared, but by the next stop, James has angled himself so that if he falls over, he will fall on Sean.
The line ends at the brand-new station at Coney Island, and everyone still on the train pours out. James nearly loses both his sister and the O'Donnell brothers in the crush, but Julia's hold on his hand is strong and Sean compensates for a potentially weak grip by grabbing James' shirt with his free hand. They follow the crowd out of the station and through the streets to Luna Park, where James and Julia and Liam stand in the street to just stare at the entrance and take it all in.
James can see roller coaster tracks rising behind walls and fences, and for a minute the sounds and sights are nearly overwhelming. He has never been anywhere with so many people before. He knows there is another park, and he can tell that there are more rides up and down this street and on other streets outside Luna Park and Steeplechase, but right now, all he wants is to go inside Luna Park and find a roller coaster and ride it. He will even go around and around on the carousel with Julia, if the end result is a faster and more dangerous ride.
The front gate to Luna Park is tall and painted white with giant crescent moons that say "Luna" on them and red and white wheels over the entrance. Julia pays for herself and for him, but Sean and Liam have their own money and insist on paying for everything themselves.
Sean seems to know exactly where to go, much to James' relief, and the first stop is a very long line to ride a roller coaster called Drop-the-Dip, which Sean explains is the fastest and scariest coaster on Coney Island. James looks at the line of people in front of him, and the towering wooden structure looming over them, and does not know what to think.
"If you are too afraid to ride it," Julia whispers, having apparently seen his face and decided his thoughtful look might be fear, "I will wait with you for Sean and Liam's trip to finish."
"I am not afraid," James says, because a part of him is not afraid, and a part of him just wishes to appear brave in front of his older sister and his friends. "But it is very big."
Liam cranes his neck to look up at it. "It is, isn't it," he says.
"Listen to the people screaming," Sean tells them, sounding impressed.
"Is that good?" James asks.
"If you want your rides to scare the hell out of you." Sean grins. James pretends he did not hear the swear word.
"I should have worn a hat," Julia says to herself. She fans herself with her hand. "Although I imagine I would lose it on that." She points up at the Drop-the-Dip.
"As long as you do not lose your breakfast," Liam says happily. One would think the prospect of being terrifed is the best thing that has happened to him all week.
They edge closer and closer to the front of the line, taking the opportunity to discuss what else there is to see and do and what they will do after this, and what if this roller coaster is so much fun they want to ride it again?
"Then we will get at the end of the line again." Julia says reasonably.
The roller coaster cars seat four, two in front and two in back, and Sean makes James sit in front with him over Liam's strenuous objection. There are bars that come down across the passengers' laps, the purpose for which James does not understand until the car climbs up a steep hill and drops them straight down.
That is so I do not fly out of the car, he thinks, screaming with fear and delight as the car swings around sharp turns and climbs and drops off more hills and rushes him along the track so fast he cannot catch his breath.
It is the most thrilling, terrifying thing he has ever been on, and as soon as they come to a stop at the end of the ride, he wants to go again.
Julia's hair is in her face and Liam looks both scared and excited and no sooner are they free of the lap bars and out of the car than Sean demands they ride it again. So they run back to the end of the line and wait for what seems like an interminably long period of time before it is their turn again and the roller coaster swings them around corners and drops them down hills and makes them all laugh and scream with joy.
But after the second time Liam complains that he wants to do something else and he doesn't want to have to wait in line again, so they troop off to find more rides.
They ride a slower, scenic railway, which has drops and turns like the roller coaster, but the aim of the ride is not to scare you but rather to entertain you. They ride past painted Arctic scenes and scenes from the bottom of the sea and all kinds of places around the world, and it is enough time for them to collectively catch their breath before looking for something more exciting.
They stumble through a funhouse, slipping down slides and rolling across a tilting floor and getting lost in the mirror maze, They ride a water flume, which by chance and their seat positions soaks James and Liam but leaves Sean and Julia mostly dry. They ride that one a second time with everyone in a different seat, so that they can all get wet. They make several circuits around a carousel, because they can and because they are hot and tired, and after that they go off in search of lunch.
Julia takes them to Feltman's for hot dogs and pickles and cold bottles of Cola-Cola. Sean tries to protest – he has his own money which he earned running errands for Mrs Meara and the grocer and Mrs O'Donnell's friend Hannah Connelly, and he can pay for his own lunch, thank you. But Julia insists, because he and Liam have made her brother so very happy, and if he wishes to buy something, he can buy them all ice cream later.
"Besides, you paid your own way in," James reminds him.
"We did do that," Liam agrees, his mouth full of hot dog.
"Do not talk with your mouth full," Julia tells him. She sounds as if she is trying to be stern and mother-like, but is not succeeding very well.
"Why are they called red hots?" James asks, to change the subject. He remembers that Sean has always called them red hots when talking about all the joys to be found at Coney Island.
"Because they are red" – Sean pulls the last bit of his hot dog out of the bun and shows it to James – "and hot." He pops it into his mouth, followed by the rest of his bun, chews, swallows, and sighs contentedly.
"I want another one," Liam says.
"Of course you do." Sean digs into his pocket, pulls out a dime, and hands it to his brother. "Go get another one."
"What shall we ride next?" James asks.
"The Whip," Sean says. "And then we'll have to find another roller coaster."
"Can we go to the beach?" Liam asks, returning with half a hot dog. He must have started eating it on his way over from the counter.
"You don't want to ride the Whip? It has little cars that spin you out and snap you back, as if you were riding a giant whip."
"I want to go in the water."
"You do not have a bathingsuit," Julia points out.
"I will take off my shoes and roll up my pants." He sticks his foot out from under their table to demonstrate. "I won't go in that far."
"Can you swim?"
"No." He stuffs the rest of the hot dog in his mouth, finishes off his Colca-Cola, and burps. James giggles. Julia tries to look stern, but fails completely, and follows Liam's performance with a belch of her own. This makes Sean and Liam both laugh so hard that they almost fall out of their chairs. James giggles because they are laughing, but he is not sure that he thinks it is as funny as they do.
"I want to go to the beach," Liam repeats, when they are finished with lunch, and again as they head towards the Whip. James is not sure he wants to ride a whip-crack ride with his stomach full of hot dog and pickle and Coca-Cola – he is not used to eating like that and does not want to throw up – but it sounds more fun than the beach, and he definitely wants to ride the Drop-the-Dip again before they go home.
"So go to the beach," Sean snaps. "We are going on the Whip." Liam's lower lip quivers as if he is about to cry.
"I will go with you," Julia says. "I do not have a bathingsuit either, But I do not have to roll up my pants." She kicks a leg out, ruffling her skirt and making Liam giggle. "Meet us back here in an hour," she tells James and Sean, pointing to the entrance to Feltman's. She gives James a handful of change for the rides. "Do not throw up on anyone on the Whip."
"Yes, ma'am," Sean says, saluting. Julia ruffles his hair, making him jump back and yelp, and now James giggles.
Julia takes Liam's hand and they head down to the beach. Sean and James go ride the Whip. James does not throw up, but the sharp jerk of the ride as the little car he and Sean are in swings out and snaps back make him taste hot dog in the back of his throat, much to his chagrin.
But they both survive that ride and enjoy it enough to go again, and then, because Sean is almost out of money and took Julia seriously when she said he could buy everyone an ice cream, they just walk around, peeking into the shows and discussing the rides and looking for an ice cream stand.
Neither of them is wearing a watch, and by the time James realizes that Julia and Liam might be waiting for them, it is past an hour. He and Sean run back to Feltman's, only getting lost once, to find Julia and Liam looking a bit wet and sandy but happy.
"I went into the ocean!" Liam exclaims. "There were so many people on the beach."
"It was very crowded," Julia continues. "But the water felt good. Next time we will have to bring bathingsuits."
"We don't have bathingsuits," Sean says.
"Take off your shoes and roll up your pants!" Liam tells him.
"I have sand in my stockings," Julia comments. "I should have been a mermaid. Mermaids do not have to worry about sand in their stockings."
words: 2250
total words: 36,843
quickie research: coney island, mata hari
But either she has told Con or he figured it out himself, because he somehow manages to convince Lucas to let them out of the house, and then distract him so Julia and James can make their escape.
James is thrilled. It is as if they are spies trying to meet their contacts without arousing suspicion. But the only spy he knows of is Mata Hari, and he knows well that she came to a bad end.
He and Julia take the streetcar down to 34th Street and walk the several blocks to Sean and Liam's building. The brothers are waiting on the stoop, practically vibrating with excitement. James can understand.
"Isn't Luisa coming?" Liam asks.
"No," Julia tells him. "Just me."
"The other one." He grins. Julia raises an eyebrow at him. "The other sister," he explains.
"It was a joke," James says. "He could never remember your name, so he always called you 'the other one'."
"Really," Julia says dryly.
"I know it now," Liam says.
"Can we go?" Sean demands. "We're wasting time we could be riding the roller coasters."
James' first subway ride is crowded and hot, and the movement of the train makes him feel a bit sick at first. But he adjusts to the motion fairly quickly, although he cannot keep his balance and keeps threatening to fall onto the people standing all around him. Julia is just tall enough to be able to reach one of the hanging straps, but he has to hold on to her and to one of the poles running up and down the train car. Sean laughs at him the first time the subway pulls into a station and stops and James lurches forward, unprepared, but by the next stop, James has angled himself so that if he falls over, he will fall on Sean.
The line ends at the brand-new station at Coney Island, and everyone still on the train pours out. James nearly loses both his sister and the O'Donnell brothers in the crush, but Julia's hold on his hand is strong and Sean compensates for a potentially weak grip by grabbing James' shirt with his free hand. They follow the crowd out of the station and through the streets to Luna Park, where James and Julia and Liam stand in the street to just stare at the entrance and take it all in.
James can see roller coaster tracks rising behind walls and fences, and for a minute the sounds and sights are nearly overwhelming. He has never been anywhere with so many people before. He knows there is another park, and he can tell that there are more rides up and down this street and on other streets outside Luna Park and Steeplechase, but right now, all he wants is to go inside Luna Park and find a roller coaster and ride it. He will even go around and around on the carousel with Julia, if the end result is a faster and more dangerous ride.
The front gate to Luna Park is tall and painted white with giant crescent moons that say "Luna" on them and red and white wheels over the entrance. Julia pays for herself and for him, but Sean and Liam have their own money and insist on paying for everything themselves.
Sean seems to know exactly where to go, much to James' relief, and the first stop is a very long line to ride a roller coaster called Drop-the-Dip, which Sean explains is the fastest and scariest coaster on Coney Island. James looks at the line of people in front of him, and the towering wooden structure looming over them, and does not know what to think.
"If you are too afraid to ride it," Julia whispers, having apparently seen his face and decided his thoughtful look might be fear, "I will wait with you for Sean and Liam's trip to finish."
"I am not afraid," James says, because a part of him is not afraid, and a part of him just wishes to appear brave in front of his older sister and his friends. "But it is very big."
Liam cranes his neck to look up at it. "It is, isn't it," he says.
"Listen to the people screaming," Sean tells them, sounding impressed.
"Is that good?" James asks.
"If you want your rides to scare the hell out of you." Sean grins. James pretends he did not hear the swear word.
"I should have worn a hat," Julia says to herself. She fans herself with her hand. "Although I imagine I would lose it on that." She points up at the Drop-the-Dip.
"As long as you do not lose your breakfast," Liam says happily. One would think the prospect of being terrifed is the best thing that has happened to him all week.
They edge closer and closer to the front of the line, taking the opportunity to discuss what else there is to see and do and what they will do after this, and what if this roller coaster is so much fun they want to ride it again?
"Then we will get at the end of the line again." Julia says reasonably.
The roller coaster cars seat four, two in front and two in back, and Sean makes James sit in front with him over Liam's strenuous objection. There are bars that come down across the passengers' laps, the purpose for which James does not understand until the car climbs up a steep hill and drops them straight down.
That is so I do not fly out of the car, he thinks, screaming with fear and delight as the car swings around sharp turns and climbs and drops off more hills and rushes him along the track so fast he cannot catch his breath.
It is the most thrilling, terrifying thing he has ever been on, and as soon as they come to a stop at the end of the ride, he wants to go again.
Julia's hair is in her face and Liam looks both scared and excited and no sooner are they free of the lap bars and out of the car than Sean demands they ride it again. So they run back to the end of the line and wait for what seems like an interminably long period of time before it is their turn again and the roller coaster swings them around corners and drops them down hills and makes them all laugh and scream with joy.
But after the second time Liam complains that he wants to do something else and he doesn't want to have to wait in line again, so they troop off to find more rides.
They ride a slower, scenic railway, which has drops and turns like the roller coaster, but the aim of the ride is not to scare you but rather to entertain you. They ride past painted Arctic scenes and scenes from the bottom of the sea and all kinds of places around the world, and it is enough time for them to collectively catch their breath before looking for something more exciting.
They stumble through a funhouse, slipping down slides and rolling across a tilting floor and getting lost in the mirror maze, They ride a water flume, which by chance and their seat positions soaks James and Liam but leaves Sean and Julia mostly dry. They ride that one a second time with everyone in a different seat, so that they can all get wet. They make several circuits around a carousel, because they can and because they are hot and tired, and after that they go off in search of lunch.
Julia takes them to Feltman's for hot dogs and pickles and cold bottles of Cola-Cola. Sean tries to protest – he has his own money which he earned running errands for Mrs Meara and the grocer and Mrs O'Donnell's friend Hannah Connelly, and he can pay for his own lunch, thank you. But Julia insists, because he and Liam have made her brother so very happy, and if he wishes to buy something, he can buy them all ice cream later.
"Besides, you paid your own way in," James reminds him.
"We did do that," Liam agrees, his mouth full of hot dog.
"Do not talk with your mouth full," Julia tells him. She sounds as if she is trying to be stern and mother-like, but is not succeeding very well.
"Why are they called red hots?" James asks, to change the subject. He remembers that Sean has always called them red hots when talking about all the joys to be found at Coney Island.
"Because they are red" – Sean pulls the last bit of his hot dog out of the bun and shows it to James – "and hot." He pops it into his mouth, followed by the rest of his bun, chews, swallows, and sighs contentedly.
"I want another one," Liam says.
"Of course you do." Sean digs into his pocket, pulls out a dime, and hands it to his brother. "Go get another one."
"What shall we ride next?" James asks.
"The Whip," Sean says. "And then we'll have to find another roller coaster."
"Can we go to the beach?" Liam asks, returning with half a hot dog. He must have started eating it on his way over from the counter.
"You don't want to ride the Whip? It has little cars that spin you out and snap you back, as if you were riding a giant whip."
"I want to go in the water."
"You do not have a bathingsuit," Julia points out.
"I will take off my shoes and roll up my pants." He sticks his foot out from under their table to demonstrate. "I won't go in that far."
"Can you swim?"
"No." He stuffs the rest of the hot dog in his mouth, finishes off his Colca-Cola, and burps. James giggles. Julia tries to look stern, but fails completely, and follows Liam's performance with a belch of her own. This makes Sean and Liam both laugh so hard that they almost fall out of their chairs. James giggles because they are laughing, but he is not sure that he thinks it is as funny as they do.
"I want to go to the beach," Liam repeats, when they are finished with lunch, and again as they head towards the Whip. James is not sure he wants to ride a whip-crack ride with his stomach full of hot dog and pickle and Coca-Cola – he is not used to eating like that and does not want to throw up – but it sounds more fun than the beach, and he definitely wants to ride the Drop-the-Dip again before they go home.
"So go to the beach," Sean snaps. "We are going on the Whip." Liam's lower lip quivers as if he is about to cry.
"I will go with you," Julia says. "I do not have a bathingsuit either, But I do not have to roll up my pants." She kicks a leg out, ruffling her skirt and making Liam giggle. "Meet us back here in an hour," she tells James and Sean, pointing to the entrance to Feltman's. She gives James a handful of change for the rides. "Do not throw up on anyone on the Whip."
"Yes, ma'am," Sean says, saluting. Julia ruffles his hair, making him jump back and yelp, and now James giggles.
Julia takes Liam's hand and they head down to the beach. Sean and James go ride the Whip. James does not throw up, but the sharp jerk of the ride as the little car he and Sean are in swings out and snaps back make him taste hot dog in the back of his throat, much to his chagrin.
But they both survive that ride and enjoy it enough to go again, and then, because Sean is almost out of money and took Julia seriously when she said he could buy everyone an ice cream, they just walk around, peeking into the shows and discussing the rides and looking for an ice cream stand.
Neither of them is wearing a watch, and by the time James realizes that Julia and Liam might be waiting for them, it is past an hour. He and Sean run back to Feltman's, only getting lost once, to find Julia and Liam looking a bit wet and sandy but happy.
"I went into the ocean!" Liam exclaims. "There were so many people on the beach."
"It was very crowded," Julia continues. "But the water felt good. Next time we will have to bring bathingsuits."
"We don't have bathingsuits," Sean says.
"Take off your shoes and roll up your pants!" Liam tells him.
"I have sand in my stockings," Julia comments. "I should have been a mermaid. Mermaids do not have to worry about sand in their stockings."
words: 2250
total words: 36,843
quickie research: coney island, mata hari
