Wedding Captives

A stocky, middle-aged man huffed and puffed his way up the path toward the gondola house.

“Hey, dude,” Travis bellowed, “you’re late if you’re here to take us up to the castle.”

The man paused, red-faced from his exertions. Before he spoke, he planted both feet and corrected his posture. His shoulders squared beneath his black parka. He assumed an attitude of dignity. “Please accept my apologies for the delay.”

The ruddy man carefully removed his knit cap and smoothed the thinning strands of his black hair. “I am the Rosemont butler. My name is Lawrence. May I suggest that before we proceed with further introductions, we step inside?”

Back inside the gondola house, Thea found herself standing beside Spence. If she made a point of moving away, he might think she feared contact. Did she? Was she afraid of him? Quickly, she polled her emotions. First and foremost, she felt antsy. Nervous to be around him. Angry that he looked so fine. More angry that the simmering rage over what he’d done to her five years ago, rage she’d been certain would not cool no matter what, seemed to have cooled in spite of her.

No matter, she assured herself, distracted by Travis’s whining, she would never forgive Spence, even if…or when the old rage turned stone-cold.

“May I have your attention,” Lawrence said. He pulled out a cell phone. “Anyone else got one of these?”

Everyone nodded, even wizened little Doctor Mona.

“How about computers? Any palm-tops? Laptops?”

The Reverend Joshua Handy bleated. “Is there a point to all this? I need my computer—”

“Sorry,” Lawrence interrupted, “but before we make the ascent to Castle in the Clouds, Mr. Rosemont has requested that all computers, pagers, cell phones and other electronic devices be left behind.”

“Why?” Spence demanded.

“The heating and electrical systems in the castle are run by highly sophisticated electronics which might be severely disrupted by interference.” He shrugged as if to make light of the need to divest. “You’ll find there is no cellular service available in any case.”

“No way,” Travis protested, though he’d already proved what Lawrence said was true, trying to dial up the castle. “I need to be in contact with my people.”

Lawrence replied, “There are, of course, computers and telephones in the castle which will be available for your use.”

“I don’t like it,” Travis said.

“Terribly sorry, but I must insist.” Lawrence had caught his breath. He strutted toward the corner of the room and stood beside the large metal safe. “I’m certain you will all be pleasantly enough occupied for the weekend and by the wedding that you won’t even miss your own devices. Please do give me all electronic items, and I will secure them here for you to retrieve when you leave the castle.”

Grumbling, the wedding guests divested themselves of pocket planners and cell phones. The reverend even unzipped his suitcase and gave up the laptop he had brought along.

Thea stepped back beside Emily and Jordan. “Seems weird,” she said.

Emily looked to her new husband, “You’re the computer genius. What do you think?”

“I doubt a cell phone could mess up Rosemont’s electronics, but you never know.”

“What about the computer thing?” Thea asked.

“Paranoia,” Jordan said. “A guy like Rosemont might think one of you is a spy, planning to download his programs.”

A spy? Paranoia? Seeds of foreboding took root in Thea’s fertile imagination. She’d known that Rosemont was eccentric, but locking up the cell phones seemed obsessive. “What happens if the phones in the house break down?”

“Unlikely.” Dr. Mona was beside her once again. “Rosemont’s attention to detail seems to border on the compulsive. He’ll have back-up systems for his backups.”

The tiny psychologist seemed almost pleased by this turn of events. Thea had the idea that Dr. Mona viewed this wedding as a research project on aberrant neuroses. Speaking of which…

Thea glanced toward the fiberglass gondola car. The moment of departure was rapidly approaching, and she wasn’t looking forward to traveling, suspended by a thin steel cable above a thousand-foot plummet into the forbidding, nearly arctic landscape. Surely, that was an exaggeration. The chasm wasn’t a thousand feet. Nor was the cable excessively slender. Did it matter? If they fell, the crash would certainly be fatal.

“Nervous?” Emily asked.

“I don’t like heights.” With a glance at Dr. Mona, Thea hurriedly added, “I’m not acrophobic.” But even though she could ride the chair lift to go skiing, as she carefully explained to Dr. Mona, Thea knew she was not telling the truth. “It makes me a little tense.”

Spence joined them. “It’s okay, Thea.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She hadn’t meant to snap, but she didn’t want to appear weak in front of him. “I’m not scared.”

“You’ll be fine.”

“I know.” To prove her courage, she grabbed her suitcase and the garment bag and went to stand, first in line, to board the gondola car.

As soon as the soles of her boots touched the skid-proof flooring, her knees turned to rubber. There were windows all around the ten-person car, which seemed much like a minibus, except that it would be suspended in mid-air.

“Hurry up,” Travis called out.

Concentrating with all her might, Thea stumbled to one of the bench seats and collapsed. The molded plastic seat was so slick that she might have slid onto the floor if her muscles hadn’t suddenly tensed. She shuddered into a full-body spasm. The ratcheting noise of the machinery deafened her. Was this thing safe? When was the last inspection?

Thea clutched the garment bag against her body. She was probably wrinkling the frothy bridesmaid dress, but she didn’t care. Through blurred vision, she sensed Spence’s approach. If he made a snotty comment, she’d kill him.

He sat beside her. “Can I hold the garment bag for you?”

“No.” If they fell, she could use the dress as a parachute.

“Is everyone ready?” Lawrence asked.

Her lips pinched together, fighting the urge to scream. What if they fell? Whether it was a thousand feet or five hundred or five thousand, what did it matter? These might be the last people she ever saw in her whole life. The thunder of her heartbeat would be the last sound she ever—

They swooped away from the stone house, suspended from a thread and climbing. Don’t look down!

But she didn’t even have to look down. An awful sensation, of the earth dropping away, her stomach falling, her heart racing, rushed over her. Frantically groping, Thea clutched Spence’s hand.

And before she knew what she was doing, her face was buried against his shoulder. This was wrong, all wrong. And yet, in her heart, she knew if Spence hadn’t been beside her, she’d have found herself in the throes of a full-blown panic attack.

In her heart, she wondered what Spence had to do with it.

JORDAN AND EMILY stood beside the stone house, waving at the gondola as it climbed slowly across the precipitous chasm toward the castle which was entirely hidden by dark January clouds. Jordan pulled Emily closer, protecting her from a chill that wasn’t entirely due to the weather.

“There’s something about this wedding,” he said, “that makes me uneasy.”

“Leaving the cell phones behind seemed odd. And why was the butler late?” She shrugged. “Maybe we’re the ones who are paranoid, imagining a threat at every turn.”

After the fugitive hunt that had brought them together, Jordan wouldn’t be surprised if he and Emily were overly sensitive to danger. Especially when Spence was involved. If it hadn’t been for the good doctor’s help, Jordan would probably be in jail on death row. “Spence will be okay.”

She frowned. “I’m sure you’re right. I hope things work out for him and Thea. I liked her.”