Things to remember

Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy; lights flashing - there’s dad and now he is gone! Going up and down and round, passing people, changing colours – It is fantastic! I am going fast!

Now my horse is slowing, and I can see the grownups stood round watching as the music winds down. When the horse stops, I slip my feet out of the stirrups and slide down. Then, I walk towards my dad who I know is stood watching…... and there is a moment of panic when he is not there! My horse must have stopped in a different place than where it started. I do not recognise any of the people, but I climb down onto the grass, all the time looking right sand left. He is not there!

To find my dad I walk around the outside of the Merry Go Round. It is so hard! The grownups are tall and all I can see are pants. What sort of pants is dad wearing? And then I am back looking at the horse I rode – I am sure I was on number seven. I stay stood still. Dad knew which horse I was on and I am sure he will find me.

The horses are all being mounted by newcomers. I recognise Tilly Waterson. She goes to my school and she always has a red ribbon in her hair. The parents are all helping, and they keep pushing past me. I look around and still cannot see my dad.  When the Merry Go Round starts to turn and the music joins in, and he still doesn’t show, I turn away from the carousel, which is what mum called it, and I scan the tumble of people who are swirling round. Perhaps dad went to mum and Dorothy. They were going to go into the haunted house when dad took me to go on the horses. Perhaps I should go to the haunted house: “Excuse me! Excuse me!! I tug at a lady’s coat until she stops and looks down at me: “Where is the haunted house? My mum went there with my sister Dorothy.”

“It’s over there!” the lady says pointing. I can’t see where she is pointing through the grown-up bodies that are all tall above me. I start to walk in the direction I thought she had indicated, and I get jostled back and forth as I skip backwards and forwards around the wall of moving legs. Now I am at the hammer thing, dad had a go at when we first walked in. A man is bashing down with a big hammer so that something shoots upwards and rings the bell at the top. When dad tried, he cursed when he did not ring the bell. I should be able to track the route we took from here. We went for a candy floss. Then there is a gap in the grownups, and I see the candy floss place and I run towards it.

When I get there, I look around again to see if I can spot mum or dad and to track the route to the haunted house. I do not see them. They have disappeared and I feel tears on the edge of my eyes.

When the Carousel started to turn, Jonathan Timberlake watched, smiling. He enjoyed seeing Peter, his son looking so exhilarated. He looked around towards the haunted house where Celia and Dorothy went and decided that is where he and Peter will go next. He turned when he felt his cell phone vibrating in his pocket. As he did so the carousel started to slow down. The call is from Tom his brother, confirming that he and the family will be here for the weekend. He smiled. It is pleasant to talk with Tom. He does not see him often enough. When he clicked off the call, the carousel and the music had stopped.

Jonathan looked up towards the horses, expecting to see Peter stepping down to join him. He felt his stomach tighten when he did not see him: “Peter! Peter!! Anxious, Jonathan called out his son’s name and he moved around the carousel to find him. He could not remember the number of the horse Peter had been on.

Dread and panic ensued when he had been all round and still cannot find him. He called louder; “Peter! Peter!” Then he turned and went round the horses in the opposite direction, hoping that he would meet is son doing the same thing.

His son has blonde hair, and he could not see anyone with blonde hair. Perhaps he went to the haunted house. He knew that is where his mum and Dorothy went. Jonathan dodged back and forth between the medley of people as he ran towards the haunted house. Peter was nowhere to be seen. ‘What should I do? Should I wait for Celia? Should I report Peter’s disappearance to someone in charge?’, were the thoughts that flashed through his mind. Then he saw Celia and Dorothy climbing from their cart and coming out of the haunted house, laughing together.

“Celia! I have lost Peter!”

Celia looked him in the eyes; “What? Where is he? Where did you leave him?” She grabs her husband and shakes him. “Why are you here? Why aren’t you looking for him?”

“I put him on the carousel but when it stopped, he wasn’t there!” He wondered whether to tell his wife about the phone call from Tom but decided against it. It was only important that they find Peter. Celia takes control; “Go back to the carousel and wait there. I will go to the management and get an announcement out. I will also tell the cop at the entrance to look out for him.”

Jonathan hesitated for the briefest moment then he left and hurried back towards the carousel. Celia decided to speak first to the uniformed cop at the entrance gate just in case Peter had been taken by someone. She could not bear to think of that possibility as she hurried there, to enlist his assistance. He was talking to another family as Celia interrupted; “Please help me! My son, he had blonde hair and he is wearing a blue shirt – we have lost him!”

The policeman looked at her, then he spoke into the radio telephone on his shoulder; “Hello! Missing boy, six years old, blonde hair, blue shirt” He turned to Celia; “What’s the boy’s name?”

Celia looked at him with panic in her eyes: “It’s Peter! He was on the carousel!”

The cop reached out and touched her arm: “Will he make his way back to your vehicle?”

“I don’t know!” she answered

“Don’t worry we’ll find him!” He told her.

Then he spoke into the radio telephone again; “the boy’s name is Peter!”

I hear my name, Peter Timberlake! I can just hear the loudspeaker over all the other noise.

‘Six years old boy with blonde hair! Peter Timberlake!’ A good feeling takes over and I do not hear the rest of the message.

The lady serving the candy floss looks down at me; “What’s your name?”

“Jonathan Timberlake!” I tell her

“They are looking for you” she says. Her eyes are wide as she comes to me from behind the stall

“I lost my dad! I tell her. She crouches down to my level and takes out her mobile.

“It’s Julia at the candy floss stall. I’ve got him. The little boy that is missing – I’ve got him with me. OK!”

Julia stands. She guides me behind her stall and sits me in her chair. The she whips a candy floss onto a stick and gives it to me. I have almost finished it by the time my mum appears at the window; “Peter! Peter!” She rushes round the back and comes inside to hug me. “Where have you been?” We thought we had lost you!”

I look at her and I am sorry that she has tears in her eyes. I do not like to see my mum cry. It isn’t my fault that dad moved, but all I can say is “I’m sorry!”