Authors: Jessa Hawke
Matt had already paid, so he jumped out of the booth, threw a tip on the table, and ran into the rain. “Emma!”
She stopped running, turned and stood in the rain, looking back at him. She hesitated. “Matt! Come on, follow me. Let’s get out of the rain!”
He ran after her as they ducked on to the porch of the empty church. “I have the keys. Just a second.” She let them in, flicking on the lights.
They stood dripping in the entryway to the holy place, each dripping on the carpet and exchanging nervous looks. “I’m sorry about the other night.” She began, catching his eye, then looking away. “I just wanted to say that. It’s not right you’d be treated that way.”
“It’s okay.”
“Not really.”
“Okay, not really.” He agreed with a little smile.
She noticed his grin and returned it. “I hope that you still like it up here.”
“I do. I like the peace, the quiet of it all. It’s the right pace of life for me. I guess I’d always hoped I’d be a country doctor.”
“You don’t get much more country than Mitigoog, I guess. Anyway, I just wanted to say I’m sorry. That’s all.” She turned to leave.
“You can make it up though.” He suggested.
“Oh?” She asked, her voice rising with a hopeful note.
He took a step closer. She didn’t retreat. Remembering where they were, he didn’t plan to try to kiss her. But he did reach across the emptiness and took her hands. “Emma Butler, would you do me the honor of accompanying me to the fair this week?”
“So formal, Mr. Conroy.” Her words were light-hearted, but her voice shook slightly as she said them.
“I’m a Southern boy, and I don’t feel like we got off on the right foot. I’d like to ask your father’s permission, but if he says no, I’d like you to know I’d still be honored if you chose to meet me all the same.”
She thought about that. “He’ll say no. I’m sure of it. But… I wouldn’t mind if you asked.” She kissed him again on his cheek, lingering. Then she whispered. “And I’ll be there either way.”
---
No one was more surprised than Matt Conroy when he found he was driving through the winding backstreets of Mitigoog with Emma in his passenger seat on the first evening of the Adams County Fair. He said as much after commenting on how pretty his date was.
“I didn’t think he’d say yes either, to be honest.” She admitted. He started to turn the wrong way, so she quickly corrected his turns. “Main Street is that way.”
“Thanks. So- why do you think he was okay with it?”
“What can he do? Lock me up in a tower? I bugged him about it, and I think Mom probably spoke with him. He was terrible about me dating when I was in high school. If he didn’t approve of the guy and hadn’t seen him in our church every single Sunday, he pretty much chased them off.” She sounded a trifle bitter as she spoke, then switched gears by changing to an upbeat tone. “But that was then, this is now. And here we are on Main! How would you have ever managed to get here without me?”
“You’re a great navigator, ma’am.”
“Ma’am? Hmm. I can get used to being called that, I guess.”
“Well how about Emma?”
“Mmmm… I’d say ma’am is better.”
“Sweetie pie?”
“
Maybe
.” She laughed.
One thing he soon found out about Emma was that she had a taste for cotton candy. After paying for admission, they made a beeline to the cotton candy booth. Soon, they were tearing off airy threads of the sugary stuff. She happily stuffed a big wad of it into his mouth, which he did his best to polish off in one gulp. She clapped at his efforts.
“Impressive stuff, Mr. Conroy.”
“Friends call me Matt, ma’am.” He managed to say between bites of the fast-melting candy.
“Oh, but we’re very formal here in the Midwest, Mr. Conroy. I might call you honey bear, though.”
“You call me whatever you like, so long as you call me.”
She pointed to the “high striker,” the strongman game. “Care to test your strength with the mallet, Mr. Conroy?”
“Oh, all right. I suppose. Though I’m better at shooting the ducks, if truth be told.” When it was his turn, he hit the mark and the striker went up, up, up to 900 just short of the bell.”
“Well that’s a rip!” Emma proclaimed. He started to shell out some more money, but she stopped him. “I’m teasing! Don’t. I know you’d hit the bell if you kept at it, I’m just messing with you.”
“To be honest, I’m not always good at knowing when I’m being picked on.” He admitted.
“That’s okay. You’re smart, and that’s great. Maybe I’m not as smart as you-”
“I don’t believe that for a second.” Matt interrupted. She took his arm and they walked the fair together, taking in the smells and sights. Normally, he’d be nearly sick from all the people. With her on his arm, he felt much stronger.
“Okay, book smart. I’ve got a lot of common sense though. If someone were picking on you, I’d tell you right away.”
“That’s sweet of you.”
“You look out for me, I promise to do the same. It’s only fair.”
They found a quiet bench beside the ferris wheel and sat to finish their cotton candy. “What do you plan to do with yourself?” Matt asked. “I wanted to know more about you before but, you know. Things didn’t go so hot.”
She sat close to him, nearly snuggling. “Oh, let’s call this the first date and forget about that. The burger was kind of dry anyway. I should have known something would go wrong. It’s never a good sign.”
“All forgotten.” He promised.
Emma crossed her legs and bobbed her foot as she talked. “I’m going to school, as you might guess, and it’s not cheap. I’d like to move out on my own, rent a place. But the scholarships and loans I’ve taken aren’t quite enough.”
“Oh, I know all about loans.” Matt groaned. “I’ll be paying off med school for a long time.”
“Yep. So I’m studying at Central Michigan. There’s an extension a few towns over; it’s a long drive, not very fun. Anyway, I’m don’t laugh.”
“Laugh?” He was confused. “I promise wouldn’t do that.”
“Well… I’m studying business. I’d like to open a bakery.”
“Cool!”
“Seriously?”
He nodded. “Seriously. My great-grandfather was a baker. He served in WWII, Europe. They sent him to school after and he opened a pie shop with a partner back in Raleigh.”
“You’re kidding!”
“Nope. We’ve got recipes in the family still. I bet my Mom could dig them up, if you ever want to see them.”
She looked behind them, up and over her shoulder at the ferris wheel. “Hey, you want to go up there? Look at the stars with me?”
Damn it. Why did we sit here?
His mood plummeted instantly. Everything had been going so well. He wanted nothing more than to get in the seat next to her and share in that experience. At the same time, his gut was turning somersaults. “You know… why don’t you go for a spin first, and I’ll go next? I need to use the bathroom real quick.”
“You sure? I can wait.”
“Yeah. I’m going to sit this one out. Next for sure.”
She looked a little disappointed, but gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Meet you back here.”
Burying his hands deep in his jeans pockets, Matt stared at the ground as he walked away. He didn’t need the bathroom, but he did want to work up some courage before putting himself in that precarious little machine. He didn’t like to even think of it, to be honest. Worst of all, he didn’t like the idea that he might suffer a panic attack with her right there to witness it. That would be humiliating.
He was about to circle back to the ferris wheel when he looked up and was horrified to see he was face-to-face with the Reverend Frank Butler.
The man was standing next to his wife and had his own hands shoved into his pockets. “Where’s my daughter? You just went and left her alone?”
“Excuse me, sir, I was just heading back from the bathroom.” He explained. “She’s off that way.”
“Heck of a thing, to leave her on her own.” The man repeated, but his wife hushed him.
“Don’t worry about a thing, Matt. You go ahead and meet Emma, have fun. We’re just here to take a stroll and we’ll stay out of your hair. I promise.” She added firmly, causing the Reverend to shut his mouth before saying anything further.
Matt turned on his heel after excusing himself to leave and was nearly back to the wheel when he heard screams. The ferris wheel was stopped, as normally happens during the ride, but near the top, one of the compartments had broken loose from one side of the wheel. It was still attached by the other side, but was tilting crazily, forcing its lone passenger to hold on tight to stay in her seat.
It was, as he feared, Emma.
He sprinted to the man who was running the machine. The ferris wheel operator was on a walkie talkie, explaining the situation to someone else on the other end. “I don’t know what happened! I don’t dare run the machine, it could snap off part-way through the descent.”
“They gotta climb down.” The voice from the other side explained. “That thing won’t hold too long.”
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.”