"No, it just happened," Perry said. This girl was a little spooky-looking. He put his hand over his heart. "On my honor." "It can't be," she said. "I mean, the story is like *right there*. Someone must have made it." "Maybe they did," Perry said. "Maybe a bunch of people thought it would be fun to make a story out of the ride and came by to do it." "That's probably it," the girl said. "The other thing, that's just ridiculous." She was gone and on the ride before he could ask her what this meant, and the three bangbangers behind her just wanted tickets, not conversation. An hour later, she was back. "I mean the message boards," she said. "Don't you follow your referers? There's a guy in Osceola who says that this is, I don't know, like the story that's inside our collective unconsciousness." Perry restrained a smile at the malapropism. "Anyway a lot of people agree. I don't think so, though. No offense, mister, but I think that this is just a prank or something." "Something," Perry said. But she rode twice more that day, and she wasn't the only one. It was a day of many repeat riders, and the market-stall people came by to complain that the visitors weren't buying much besides the occasional ice-cream or pork cracklin. Perry shrugged and told them to find something that these people wanted to buy, then. One or two of the miniatures guys got gleams in their eyes and bought tickets for the ride (Perry charged them half price) and Perry knew that by the time the day was out, there'd be souvenir ride-replicas to be had. Lester and Suzanne came by after lunchtime and Lester relieved him, leaving him to escort Suzanne back to the shantytown and the Kettlewells. "You two seem to be getting on well," Perry said, jerking his head back at Lester as they walked through the market. Suzanne looked away. "This is amazing, Perry," she said, waving her hand at the market stalls, a gesture that took in the spires of the shantytown and the ride, too. "You have done something...stupendous, you know it? I mean, if you had a slightly different temperament, I'd call this a cult. But it seems like you're not in charge of anything --" "That's for sure!" "-- even though you're still definitely *leading* things." "No way -- I just go where I'm told. Tjan's leading." "I spoke to Tjan before we came out, and he points the finger at you. 'I'm just keeping the books and closing the contracts.' That's a direct quote." "Well maybe no one's leading. Not everything needs a leader, right?" Suzanne shook her head at him. "There's a leader, sweetie, and it's you. Have a look around. Last I checked, there were three more rides going operational this week, and five more in the next month. Just looking at your speaking calendar gave me a headache --" "I have a speaking calendar?" "You do indeed, and it's a busy one. You knew that though, right?"