Authors: Jane Prescott
The man looked up. “I don’t know if she can do that. I’m not going up there. Hey!” He yelled.
His shout was ignored as Matt ran over to a stairway. It led to a second stairway that would leading up one of the legs supporting the ferris wheel.
He took the stairs two at a time, ignoring everything but what was in his immediate view. He had no intention of looking down; for the moment, he knew he was operating purely on adrenaline and that might dissipate like a puff of smoke at the first sight of how far up he was. Better to just keep moving as fast as possible.
He soon reached the center of the wheel, the center point from which the spokes radiated out to connect with the rounded wheel. There was a platform here, nothing too remarkable. The next step would be to somehow climb up one of the steel radials towards Emma.
Had she been at the exact summit of the wheel, it would have been much more challenging to reach her. The climb had no grips. As it was, he needed to climb into the central spoke of the wheel and climb up that way. There were a series of regularly spaced squares with metal x's within them that made a rather imperfect ladder that could be climbed with caution. Still determined not to look down, Matt threaded his way into the center and began the ascent.
He was vaguely aware that most of the fairgrounds had gathered at the base of the wheel to watch him climb. In the distance, he could hear sirens. From where he was standing it was actually easy to see emergency vehicles from a long ways off approaching in the dusk.
The x-shaped beams were harder to climb than he’d expected. He had about four of the squares to climb, and he found himself struggling to make the first. The angle wasn’t great and each of the spokes he touched was smooth and slippery. He had to keep three of his four limbs touching at nearly all times, which made movement slow.
“Help me! God, help me, someone!” Emma shouted. He could see the back of her head and she wasn’t aware he was there.
“Emma!”
“Matt?” She turned and he could see she was crying. He focused on her face as he kept moving forward, ignoring the ground that was waiting below to take him into the sinking blackness of death.
“I’m coming. Stay cool, hon.”
“I will. Oh my God, please hurry!”
He kept moving, one square defeated. By the time he’d beaten a second square, he could see the lights of the emergency vehicles were turning into the fairground. They didn’t have to fight crowds, as most of the people were still gathered around to see what would happen. But there wasn’t a cherry-picker among the flashing lights. There was nothing more that could help than what he was already doing.
Matt was negotiating the third square when his sneaker slipped. Abandoning his grip, he threw both arms around a beam as both of his feet disconnected from the beam. Fortunately, his body was leaning against the center of the x, and his wrapped arms kept him firmly on the square.
“Almost there, Emma! Stay calm, okay? Try not to move too much.”
“Okay. I cut my head. I’m so scared.” She was weeping quietly, holding on tightly to the side of the swaying lift.
“I’ll get you all stitched up when we get on the ground. I need you to stay still and calm until I get to you.”
He beat the third square and found he was on the fourth when he made the big mistake. He looked down.
Matt felt overcome with terror. The excitement of the moment had kept him fueled. The reality of his potential fall made it impossible to move.
Still, some part of his brain rebelled against the impulse to crawl back down the way he’d come. This girl was depending on him to reach her. Together they’d get through it.
He found the end of the fourth square, climbing up as far as he could. He could see he was right about the angle. Had the seat been at a different angle, she might not have been able to get out and step onto the girders. From where he was standing, he had a reasonable expectation that with a little help from him, she could get out.
“Emma? I’m here babe.”
“Thank God. What do I do?”
“I need you to unbuckle the belt.”
“Are you sure? I won’t fall?”
He held out both hands, leaning against the structure from the waist down only. It was a dangerous position to put himself into, but he had little other choice. “You’re going to take my hands and step onto this metal beam, Emma.”
“Oh no. Oh no, I can’t do that.”
“Emma!” He was straining to reach out.
“What?”
“Emma, I’m terrified of heights. If I’m doing this, trust me. You can do it. It’s perfectly safe or I wouldn’t be up here.”
She looked doubtful. “You’re scared of heights?”
“Yeah. Didn’t think it was something to say on a first date, but hey. Now you know. Also,” Matt was afraid his feet would slip. If they did, he might not be able to save himself as he did before. He felt the wind picking up, whipping back his hair in the darkness. “I guess I should tell you that what I’m doing right now is a little tiring. I need you to reach out right now, please.”
“Okay. Okay, I’m going to trust you.” Her voice didn’t sound that certain, but she did as he suggested.
Emma was wearing black leather boots under a long skirt, not particularly practical for the climb down. He could see the sneakers were a mistake as well. Once she was safely next to him propped against the metal beams, he looked down.
The ground felt so far away, but unimportant. He shouted down.
“Look out! We’re kicking off our shoes!”
“Why?” Emma asked, shivering beside him.
“Feet and toes will have better grip. Kick off the boots if you can.”
“They’re zipped up.”
After kicking his own shoes off and working off the socks, he reached down with one hand as she raised each foot towards him. Together they managed to get her feet bare. They were cold against the slippery metal, but he immediately knew it was the right choice.
They started down gradually. When they were much of the way down, two firefighters joined them to help them with a more secure climb. The spectators were cleared away by the police.
As they continued down, a horrible metal screech rose rose above. The chair she’d been sitting in was straining at its last bent metal point of connection with the wheel.
The four reached the center point of the wheel, stepped out onto the platform. The wheel was turned back on and slowly rotated to let passengers off. Before they could get the first few people unloaded, her seat finally snapped off and fell into the grass below, well clear of any people.
When they reached the ground, paramedics were on hand to check her head wound before Matt could do so. A cheer went up from the townspeople who were being kept a good distance from the sight.
Two people were allowed into the little circle of police, firemen, and paramedics; Emma’s parents.
While Emma embraced her crying mother, Reverend Frank Butler put an arm around Matt’s shoulders and extended a free hand. “Thank you, young man.” He quietly said, a few tears of his own running down his cheeks. “You gave us back our daughter. I can never thank you enough.”
Matt had nothing he could say in response to this, so he took the offered hand and shook it.
---
Doctor Matt Conway stretched out happily in the summer sun on the beach, watching the pines gently sway beside Lake Michigan. He spotted a fish jumping far out in the water, breaking the surface and landing with a splash. Far beyond that fish were the woods of Wisconsin and even more the flat, green farmlands of the upper Midwest. He felt at home.
“Matt!” Frank called from behind him. “More hot dogs and hamburgers are ready!”
“Your dad’s a pretty good cook.” Matt rolled over on his beach blanket to whisper in Emma’s ear. He rubbed his stomach. “But if I eat one more hot dog I’m going to explode.”
“That could be pretty gross.” She solemnly agreed. “Dad! Stop cooking, please. We can’t eat any more.”
“Oh, fine. More for your mother and me, I guess.” The man replied readily enough with a chuckle. He cracked open a beer and sat at the table to talk with his spouse.
Matt tapped Emma’s stomach gently. “Want to walk with me?”
“Sure.” They got up and after telling her parents they would be back in a minute, the two held hands and started down the shoreline.
“It’s a beautiful day.” She shielded her eyes from the sun and looked out at the water. The tourists were starting to fill in the empty places along the rocky shore, spreading out wherever they could find enough sand to make themselves comfortable. Work at the clinic would necessarily pick up, and the morning coffee runs would have to be skipped. Tourists weren’t as likely to adhere to the informal breakfast arrangement Doc Baker had worked out with the locals.
Matt smiled to himself thinking of that word. “Local.” A few months on, he was starting to think like one.
“I think today’s the day.” He told her. She squealed with glee in response, running in front of him and jumping up and down while holding his hands.
“Yes! I knew it! I woke up this morning and just knew you were going to be ready. I don’t know why, I just did!”
“Emma.” He replied calmly.
She stopped jumping right away. “Too much?”
“Yeah. I’m going to need a second on this one.”
“Got it.”
They walked a safe distance from everyone until they were at the final spit of where the beach met the water. Any further and they’d be in the woods alongside the lake. That was private property anyway, so they stopped.
“Okay. How do you want to do this?”
He thought carefully. Finally, he heard himself say as if from far away, “It’s probably best to just do it all at once.”
“Should I go with you?”
“Yeah. That’d be best.”
The two waded into the lake. He’d gone in wading plenty of times. Always up to the hem of his swimming shorts, never any further. They kept walking until they’d reached that point.
“Fear number three.” She reminded him.
“Yep. Beat two already. Crowds, heights.”
“And who was with you each time?”
“You were, sweetie pie.”
She smiled at him. He leaned over and their lips met for a long, sweet kiss.
“You bet your cute little butt. Okay.” She looked behind them at the distant lake. “Enough stalling.”
“I like the stalling.”
“Shut up.” She grinned. “On my count.”