Summary

Chapter 1 opens with a notation that the events are set in “Holyoke, Massachusetts, Twenty Years Ago” (1). Aubrey Ellis was riding the Ferris wheel of Heinz-Bodette carnival owned and operated by her grandmother, Charlotte Antonia Pickford Ellis Heinz Bodette. Everyone, including Aubrey, called her Charley. Aubrey was suddenly overcome by nausea, caused by the presence of a spirit rather than the spinning of the ride. She vomited over the side and the operator, Carmine, called Charley, who rushed to Aubrey's side. Charley suggested they go to the Winnie (Winnebago), but Aubrey knew from experience that she should do what the spirit (a man named Roy) wanted in order to get the ordeal over with. Aubrey gave Roy's message to a man named George, who assumed that Charley and Aubrey were creating some sort of scam aimed at soliciting money. When he was gone, Aubrey...