The early morning hours were his favorite on the Midway, those few spare hours before the dawn brought about the hustle and bustle of the day, as carnies woke up and prepared for another day of fleecing the rubes. The stillness and silence was broken only by the snap of pennants and the soft whine of the wind through the guide wires of the Ferris Wheel and Round-Up rides. The creak and groans of the wooden coaster provided point and counterpoint to the music of the night.

Normally this natural composition was enough to ease the day's tensions from the ghost-like figure who wandered the carnival's midway. However, tonight there was an air of menace about them. It unnerved the young man and reminded him of Colorado.
 
Giving up his walk as a lost cause, the figure headed back to the wagon circle of RVs, campers and pop-up trailers that made up the carnival's living quarters for the next week. He shared one of the bigger RVs with one of the carnival's most successful concessionaires, Ruby McKinnon, and consequently his boss. It was a unique business arrangement. He kept her happy after hours, and she made sure the local authorities paid little attention to the pale young man that ran her most profitable concession.
   
    *"Oh Mama, I'm in fear for my life from the long arm of the law.
    Lawman has put an end to my running and I'm so far from my home.
    Oh Mama, I can hear you a cryin, you're so scared and all alone. 
    Hangman is coming down from the gallows and I don't have very long."
 
Ghost grimaced slightly in the darkness as he approached the RV he shared with Ruby. The lyrics of her favorite song wafted through the open window. She was up and waiting for him, which meant he probably wasn't going to get much sleep tonight. Any other night he'd be glad for the distraction, but his hackles were up and he couldn't shake off the memories of that bloody night in Colorado Springs and how he barely escaped alive when his adoptive family hadn't. Definitely not circumstances generally conducive to a romantic evening.
 
    "The jig is up, the news is out, they've finally found me.
    The renegade who had it made retrieved for a bounty.
    Never more to go astray, this'll be the end today,
    ... of the wanted man."
 
A shiver ran through him as the second verse of the song rang out, hard and heavy. He sure hoped there wasn't any kind of bounty on him. Ruby was a great gal, and loyal, but she had a weakness for shiny things and the money necessary to buy them.  It'd been five years since Colorado, and a year and half with the carnival, the longest he'd stayed in one place, relatively speaking. He couldn't help but feel the song was somewhat prophetic.
 
    "Oh mama, I've been years on the lam, and had a high price on my head.
    Lawman said get him dead or alive, now it's for sure he'll see me dead.
    Dear mama I can hear you a cryin, You're so scared and all alone
    Hangman is coming down from the gallows, and I don't have very long."
 
Knowing that Ruby was very insistent, and convincing, on these nights, Ghost resigned himself to pleasing the boss, silently thankful for youthful stamina and a metabolism that required little sleep to maintain itself. He reached for the RV's door handle when Ruby's voice sounded just above the music. "I don't care what he's done. If you hurt him, our deal's off and I doubt you'll make it off these grounds. We protect our own, and there's more of us than there are of you."
 
    "The jig is up, the news is out they finally found me.
    The renegade who had it made, retrieved for a bounty.
    Never more to go astray, the judge'll have revenge today,
    .... on the wanted man."
 
Ghost didn't bother to wait for the reply but quickly and silently as possible he backed away from the RV. When he was out of the pool of lights surrounding the impromptu camp grounds, Ghost dropped to the ground, cursing silently to himself. He'd been with the carnival too long, and they'd finally tracked him down. Whoever 'they' were. He had a sneaking suspicion that it was the same group from the Springs, and he'd be damned if he let that night repeat itself. He owed these people better than that. If he disappeared, maybe they'd leave his friends alone.
 
As if that would happen.    
 

(* Lyrics by Tommy Shaw and Dennis DeYoung, as performed by Styx)