Chapter 13 - What Ramon wants

No, you go and solve the mystery," Al replies to Johnny. "I'll stay down here with Ripper." She looks clearly disappointed and she's still hugging Ripper for comfort instead of letting him back down on the ground. "I guess I'll help find the next clue."

Johnny climbs in the Ferris Wheel gondola with Lily and her parents. The Wheel man secures the gondola door, and the gondola starts to raise slowly.

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A few minutes later, Nate and Logan are also let in one of the gondolas, but the Wheel man puts them together with three more visitors to fill the gondola. They are a couple in their forties with one elderly man, probably an in-Law .

The cabins rise up and up slowly, offering great views on the open ocean and, looking North, on Gulf Haven.



Alana hugs Ripper and shields her eyes, looking up from the Pier trying to spot her friends.

I don't know about being super heros, but it felt good when we found him. The article came out this morning...I'm wondering if Mi..many people saw it. Logan sits back and enjoys the ride.

As they get up high, Logan starts to look for anything that be related to their current hunt.

Al watches the ferris wheel. Maybe she can see something from the bottom as well.

She also glances around the crowd, always checking if she recognizes someone.

Alana cannot see anything on the Ferris Wheel or around it that resembles the sword symbols Ramon drew, or that reminds her of water meeting the sky.

Looking at the crowds, she sees no know faces - but she can see a man near her approaching a trash can. "Nah, I don't need it anymore," he is saying to his wife, badly folding a Gulf Haven map and preparing to dump it in the trash.

It felt a little awkward and weird to get separated from both Alana and Logan, the only two people he really knew in Gluf Haven, and stuck with the little red-haired girl and her family but it did get him on the ferris wheel a lot sooner than if they'd just stayed in line.
As they loaded into the gondola, he looked around for anywhere he might spit a clue as they rose ever higher, getting a good view of the ocean and the coastal parts of Gulf Haven. He was entirely unsure if the ferris wheel would even yield any clues but it was fun and probably the highest view he'd ever seen.

Logan looks in dismay at the horizon. That's plenty of water meeting the sky on display, but not the right kind...

He turns to look inland and at the tall buildings he can spot. The day is very bright, and he has to shield his eyes.

"You looking for something?" he asks, noticing Logan looking around with purpose.

The elderly in-law that shares the cabin with them starts pointing at features to his companions.
"See Heron Point, over there? Where the Lighthouse is... and that over there is The Town Hall..." You get a sense he's the local, and his two companions the visitors.

Meanwhile Johnny looks at the gondola they're in - and at the adjacent ones above and below him. No markings or symbols are visible...

Then he scans the skyline of his new town. Remembering what Charlene suggested (probably just to get him away from places with barbed wire), he can see several high building. Not skyscrapers, but tall enough. He looks for signs of water on any of them. Nothing.

The little girl and her parents are enjoying the view too.

Johnny spots a bright reflection in the far distance, quite high up as if it was on a tall structure. He squints his eyes trying to see better, but it's hard in the blinding sunlight. He has no idea what could be in that direction. Only that it is a tall point, and inland.

Al waits for the man to drop the map into the bin, then fishes it out as soon as he starts walking away.

Maybe she could spot something on the map. Or it could be helpful for the next mystery. Or if she gets lost again.

Al retrieves the map before it gets too soiled in the trash. It is in pretty good state. She unfolds it.



She can see the Amusement Pier to the South, then along the coast to the West, Heron Point with the Lighthouse.

Hey, what's that shiny thing out there? Johnny pointed out of the gondola towards the shiny but that attracted his attention. Is that a radio tower or antenna or something? he asked the red-haired girl's father, figuring he might know.

Oh, it's a water tower. he blinks the green hazy spots out of his eyes from the strongly reflected sunlight. That one's super shiny.
The ones back in Oklahoma were all a dull gray color and usually had graffiti all over them... he handed back the camera. I've never been up this high to see things this far out.
He thought about the water tower as the rude continued, something about it tickling his brain until the possibility that it might fit the riddle they were looking for. After that, he couldn't wait for the ride to end -as pleasant as it was- so he could tell Logan and Alana about the water tower.

Johnny's gondola gradually gets on the lower part of its journey, until they can disembark from it, back to the base of the Ferris wheel.
Johnny spots Alana on a bench with Ripper. She has a large map.

Logan glances over at Nate and answers his question. Eh, kind of. It's sort of like a riddle. We know that the location is around here or in town, but we can't figure it out.

"Right... and you are hoping to spot the location of this riddle from up here?" He smiles. "Let's see... the water meets the sky... horizon, I think."

You can see the older man lending an ear to the boys' conversation.

"You know, son? I think there IS one place in Gulf Haven where water meets the sky."
He points North, at a reflection in the distance. "See that glint over there? That's the water tower, son. Tallest place you'll find water in this town. Almost touches the sky, one might say..."

Logan smiles gratefully at the in-law. Thank you sir, that helps out a lot. It's much appreciated.

As he waits fir his turn to get off the ferris wheel, Logan continues to speak with Nate. You know...there may be a way to get around your dad not letting you read horror books. You can always go to the movies. They're almost always showing a horror movie marathon every couple of weekends. They got some of the older ones mixed in with some of the newer ones.