Page 1 of Colton’s Inferno

Chapter 1

Outside Red Grove, North Dakota

September 2

Friday, 8:22 p.m.

Lucy Harris stood at the edge of the crowd and looked around the Five Steers Ranch. The dusty pasture, usually silent, was filled with colors and sounds and smells. Lights were strung from one booth to another. In a yellow-and-white-striped tent, they were serving lemonade, hotdogs, and fried pickles. There was a food truck with corn dogs, hamburgers, and sundaes. There were games as well: ring toss, basketball, balloon darts, and Whac-A-Mole. A Ferris wheel lit up the sky and the teacup ride spun so fast that the riders passed in a blur.

Her grandfather, Rusty, stood at her side. Patting her back, he leaned in close. “You done good,” he said, raising his voice to be heard over the sound of hundreds of people who’d come to the ranch for the Labor Day Fair. “Everyone is having fun, and we’re about to make a boatload of money.”

The cash is what Lucy wanted. By letting Bryant Bros. Carnivals set up on their property for the long weekend, the Five Steers Ranch would make a whopping fifty thousand dollars. It was enough to pay all the bills—gas, electric, an outstanding bill due to the veterinarian, the credit cards that had been used to pay for necessities, plus replace the roof and upgrade the heating system in the main house. But still, her grandfather was right. More even than the money, the fair had brought out everyone in the community.

A group of children ran by, waving glow sticks.

“Everyone is having fun,” she said, leaning her head on her grandfather’s shoulder. His arm was thin, and his collarbone was sharp. When had he become a frail old man?

“How ’bout you?” he asked. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

To be honest, Lucy didn’t like crowds. She preferred quiet ranch days, when it was just her and Grandpa Rusty with the horses and the cattle. With the fair, the lights were a little too bright. The music being played, a country-western song, was a little too loud. It was mixed in with voices until she couldn’t hear her own thoughts. The scent of everything fried mingled into a miasma that wasn’t appealing.

But once they got the money, it would all be worthwhile.

“I’m having a great time,” she lied.

“You sure?” he asked.

It was sweet of Grandpa Rusty to worry. Lucy smiled. “I’m positive.”

“You should go and meet some of the young people,” he said, nodding toward a group standing in front of wavy mirrors. They pointed at their distorted figures and laughed.

Her heart started to race, and her chest got tight. Lucy tried to draw a breath, but it wouldn’t come. It’d been that way since her brother’s death whenever she thought of meeting someone new. Her hands started to tremble, and she folded her arms across her chest. “I don’t know, Grandpa.”

“What about him?” Her grandfather pointed to the town’s mayor, Ted Barrett.

Ted was as good-looking as they came. Dark blond hair. Green eyes. He had a trim yet muscular build. But the guy was born a politician and always shaking someone’s hand or kissing a baby’s cheek. His constant social schedule left her dizzy. “No way,” she said. “Could you imagine me as the mayor’s wife? I’d be horrible at the job.”

“I didn’t say you have to marry him,” her grandfather began.

It didn’t matter what Rusty said, she couldn’t imagine leaving the ranch. Five Steers had been in her family for generations. Her bones were made up of the soil. Everyone else in the family might have left, but she was going to stay forever. “I don’t plan to marry anyone, especially the mayor.”

“What about one date?”

Ted waved at Lucy and Rusty. Then, he started walking in their direction.

“Do not say a word,” she whispered to her grandfather.

“What’s that?” Grandpa Rusty cupped a hand over his ear. “I can’t hear a thing. It’s too loud.”

He was joking. Well…she hoped he was.

“There you two are,” said Ted, holding out his palm to Rusty. “Heck of a turnout.”

Her grandfather shook hands with the mayor. “I can’t take any credit for the carnival coming to town. It was all Lucy.” He placed his hand on her shoulder. “She’s a gem of a woman. Bringing in the fair was all her idea. If all goes well, we’ll make plenty of money.”

“Having a carnival was just what Red Grove needed.” Ted scanned the crowd. “I’d say that most everyone in town is here tonight.”

“And we still have tomorrow, tomorrow night, Sunday, and Monday left,” Rusty added.