Saving Gracie Part 21

"Say it," Meghan said.

After repeating Meghan's impromptu litany, Quinlan pulled the envelope toward her and emptied the contents on the table without ceremony. Three pamphlets slid out, along with a map, a trouble-shooting chart and a bright blue badge embossed with the words "gold card." A blue ID bracelet and a pair of blue sparkly gla.s.ses attached to a matching blue-beaded eyegla.s.s chain followed after a final shake.

"I can't wear these." Quinlan held up the gla.s.ses. The frames swept upward into a wicked point. "They're tacky. And definitely not my color."

"Oh, lighten up."

"I'll look like Catwoman hosed down in blue glitter."

"Or a Smurfette."

Quinlan glared.

"Sorry. Snarky, remember?" Meghan grabbed the large envelope and peered inside. "Hey, here's something else." A standard, letter-size envelope fell to the table. "It says Open Tonight."

Running a finger briefly over the ID bracelet, Quinlan pushed it aside and reached for the pamphlets.

Upon Arrival FAQ.

In Case of Emergency She swallowed hard. Emergency?

"I'm sure this is all..." Meghan rolled her hand around in a nonchalant circle, "standard procedure."

A fresh round of fear moved across Quinlan's face. Her temples throbbed. "Why's everything blue?"

Borrowing a Steel Magnolias accent, Meghan drawled out each word. "Maybe it's your new signature color."

Quinlan rolled her eyes.

Meghan touched Quinlan's arm. "It's getting late, why don't you get some sleep."

"In a minute, Clairee." Quinlan reached for the Open Tonight envelope. "I still need to read this." Sliding a fingernail under the sealed flap, she made a mental note to pack an emery board. She opened the single sheet of heavy parchment paper and squinted at the small, hand-written script.

Dear Quinlan, Congratulations on your a.s.signment.

You are to report to the transport station tomorrow morning at 7:00 A.M. sharp. Your travel escort will be waiting. Show your gold card and ID bracelet to the transport a.s.sistant. Your a.s.signed ground patrol will be waiting for your arrival on Earth. (Don't forget the special enclosed gla.s.ses). There is no need to worry this evening with the information pamphlets. There will be ample time for review on the trip. For your convenience, a messenger will retrieve your travel gear at 6:00 A.M. and deliver it to the transport station. Attach your personal travel bags to the carabiner on the parachute. Please remember s.p.a.ce is limited. We will be in touch and wish you well on your endeavor.

-The Advisory Council Quinlan held the piece of parchment to the light. "Attach your personal travel bag to the...I can't read this word."

"Here." Meghan reached for the letter. "Let's see... Attach your blah, blah, blah, to the carabiner on the parachute." Meghan froze.

"On the what?"

"Carabiner," Meghan scrambled. "It's one of those-"

"No. The other word." Ice stirred through Quinlan's veins.

Meghan sucked in, then blurted, "Parachute. But, it's no big deal, I'm sure-"

On her feet, Quinlan's eyes bulged like a toad. "Parachute?" It was not news that her earthly fear of heights had not been eradicated. And fear of heights walked hand-in-hand with free-falling from a parachute.

Meghan opened and closed her mouth like a fish and s.h.i.+fted her eyes back to the duffle bag.

"Oh-h-h-h. No-o-o-o-o." Quinlan's chin trembled. "That's...a parachute?" Cold, flat-a.s.s fear crept up Quinlan's neck and tightened around her throat.

Meghan pinched her bottom lip together with her fingers. "Looks like it."

Her legs no longer able to support her, Quinlan sat before she fell. All the air suddenly vacuumed from her lungs. "I can't breathe." Quinlan grasped her throat with clammy hands.

Meghan, bolting to the kitchen, returned with a brown paper bag and held it over Quinlan's face. "Take it easy. Slow breaths."

The lunch sack covering her face, Quinlan sat lifeless for several minutes before feeling the panic subside as air moved in and out of her lungs. Her heart slowed to a low roar. She pushed the makes.h.i.+ft mask away, her eyes locking in on the blue duffle bag. She grabbed the lunch sack and slapped it back across her face.

CHAPTER 25.

QUINLAN.

"It's stupid to be afraid of a silly carnival ride," her mother yelled loud enough to shame her in front of her sister Ruth, her dad, and anyone else within shouting distance.

"Please don't make me do it." Kathryn's seven-year-old tearful pleas resulted in a stone-cold glare from her mother.

Her father walked her up the scaffolding ramp to one of the cars then slid in beside her. He pulled down the rail across their lap, locking them into place.

"It'll be okay." His eyes were sad.

Shortly, the ride began; forward, then upward. The front car reached the top much too quickly, tipping and pulling the trailers downward toward the ground.

Kathryn hated the free-falling effect...it made her feel sick. Her iron grip on the security rail across her lap did nothing to squelch her ear-piercing shriek. She'd heard people scream purely for the thrill of riding a roller coaster: not her. She hated, hated, hated roller coasters...more than liver and onions.

The ride ended. Her throat burned. She felt dizzy. Her father raised the bar from their laps, stepped to the scaffold, and helped her out. Approaching the exit platform, her lunch projectiled, soiling the front of her dress and splattering bits of hot dog on her father's shoes.

"I'm sorry, Daddy."

Pulling a handkerchief from his back pocket, her father wiped her mouth and, as best he could, her dress.

"It's okay, Sweet Pea," he whispered.

Kathryn's watery eyes scanned the crowd and found her mother pulling Ruth away from the roller coaster. Although only seven, Kathryn had seen that walk before. Disappointment would have been bearable. Disgust made her want to throw up again.

Quinlan awoke. Her hand shook as she placed it over her heart. A chill washed over her. It was a trip down memory lane she had no interest in taking. She hated that dream. For decades she'd successfully suppressed the awful memory from her mental library.

Why resurface now? she wondered.

The rest of the night Quinlan laid awake, fearful that sleep would lull her back to the nagging dream featuring horrible memories of her mother.

Dressed at an unG.o.dly early hour, Quinlan sat at the kitchen table, drumming her fingers, still disturbed by the dream. At 6:00 the messenger arrived for her belongings, and Ruby had her delivered to the transport station with fifteen minutes to spare.

"Hey Eddie!" Ruby yelled through Juicy Fruit chomps.

The blare of Ruby's voice coursed through Quinlan like an electric charge. Her nerves were shot, her panic b.u.t.ton nonfunctional from overuse.

"Quinlan, meet Eddie," Ruby said. "Your travel escort."

The young man nodded, "Ma'am," his affect flat.

Eddie, clearly a no nonsense, strictly business type of guy, sported spiked, bleached white hair, a stark contrast to his thick-rimmed black Clark Kent gla.s.ses. The badge on his travel vest read Eddie-Escort of the Friendly Skies.

"h.e.l.lo," Quinlan said, although Eddie had already turned his attention elsewhere. She glanced at Ruby.

The hefty woman eyed Eddie. Her Juicy Fruit chomps increased to full throttle. "Yeah, well." Ruby waved him off. "He'll be fine. C'mon."

Quinlan's swallow felt like a golf ball inching down her throat.

Stopping at the transport gate, Ruby pointed to the "blue" gold card and ID bracelet Quinlan held. "Show her those."

The woman in uniform ran both under a blue light before waving them through.

"Okay, that's done." Ruby patted down her cargo pants as they moved through the gate. "What else? I feel like I'm forgetting something."

Quinlan pulled her silver cell phone from her jacket. "I guess I won't need this."

"That's it!" Ruby retrieved a cell phone from her vest pocket. Cobalt blue. "Here ya go."

"It's blue." Quinlan said.

"Uh-yeah," Ruby duh-answered.

"Why is everything blue?"

Ruby shrugged. "Beats me."

"Do I even need this?" Quinlan examined the phone in her hand.

"As a matter of fact, yeah, you do." Ruby beamed, her chest puffed. "Got a call last night from the Ice Prince...." Ruby's jaw dropped open. She snapped it shut and cracked her knuckles. "I mean, Mary called last night and said I'll be your weekly contact."

"She did?" Quinlan's eyes widened. "That makes me feel so much better." Emotions getting the better of her, she pulled a Kleenex from her pocket and dabbed at her eyes. "You'll be a familiar voice."

"Ah, come on now. Don't do that." Ruby's chin quivered. In one swift motion, she swooped Quinlan up in a bear hug, lifting her off the ground.

The vice grip around Quinlan's body deflated her lungs. "Ruby...I...can't...breathe."

"Sorry." Ruby replaced Quinlan and wiped at her nose with the back of her hand. "Did I ever tell you you're my first a.s.signment?"

"Really?" Quinlan checked her eyegla.s.ses to ensure they hadn't crushed under the pressure of the monster squeeze.

"Yeah. And I thought I'd blown it for sure with the CI card thing." Ruby rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry if I got you in trouble."

Ruby waved a hand. "Ah, that's okay." Her Juicy Fruit chewing slowed to normal chomp mode. "We must be doing something right. I mean, they're sending you back on special a.s.signment and I haven't been demoted." Ruby cleared her throat. "Yet."

"I hope you're right." Quinlan felt doubt creeping in.

A voice crackled through a nearby loudspeaker.

"Hey, they're calling your name. Have a safe trip. I'll be in touch," were Ruby's last words before disappearing from the platform.

With the parachute strapped to her back and a headset equipped with microphone securely fastened, Quinlan followed Eddie and two attendants to a launch pad with separate but adjacent module-like capsules. Quinlan fought the urge to wave to the crowd like an astronaut before a shuttle launch. She'd always wanted to do that.

She slipped into the compartment. "It is like a s.p.a.ce shuttle." Quinlan breathed relief. "The parachute must be a safety device, right? Like life jackets under airplane seats?" She caught the attendants exchanging glances. Eddie remained quiet. The door to her compartment closed. A bolt slid into place.

"This isn't so bad." Feeling a sense of safety, her body relaxed for the first time in, well...a while. "I'm finally on my way." She tucked her eyegla.s.ses into a side pocket of her bag and nestled down as best she could with a parachute tied to her back. Her eyes moved up the walls of the capsule.

"Now, isn't that clever. Someone's painted a sky-scape on the ceiling. There's clouds and...." Quinlan's eyebrows drew together when several birds flew by.

"All clear," she heard through the headset.

Her heart dropped.

"Ten, nine, eight...." As each number ticked down, the module tilted a notch. Quinlan death-gripped sweaty palms to her blue parachute straps. "Oh s.h.i.+t."

"Zero."

POOF!.

A humongous thrust propelled Quinlan into the morning sky.

After a few very long moments, a loud pop forced one of Quinlan's tightly squeezed eyes to open. Clouds of cobalt blue nylon unfurled around her. The bold-colored swirls caught the wind and yanked her upward. Her stomach lurched then she settled into a descent. At least it's a descent...she hoped.

Surprisingly, Quinlan experienced none of the free-falling terror she feared. She found if she focused anywhere but down, the descent seemed...bearable. She did a quick sneaky-peek out to her right and saw her travel escort some thirty feet away. Unlike hers, Eddie's parachute beamed canary yellow.

Later, Quinlan would be forever grateful for three things.

One. She wore slacks instead of a dress. How embarra.s.sing would that have been?

Two. Wind didn't seem to be a factor in the descent. How? She didn't know or care as long as she didn't have to fret about her hair being a mess. She seemed to be inside a protective invisible bubble, which suited her just fine.

Three. She had learned absolutely zilch, zip, zero about the parachute procedure ahead of time. If she had, this whole trip could easily have been scrubbed.