“Lay it on us,” Ronan urged.
“If we can’t stop him from going over the falls, we need to figure out a way to help him do it safely.”
“You’re crazy,” Cope shook his head. “There’s nosafeway to go over Niagara Falls.”
“Everly,” Fitz said, seemingly ignoring Cope’s comment. “While Daddy and Uncle Cope are doing their readings today, we’ll need you to go through the stunt step by step with us. We need to know everything that went wrong. Can you do that?”
Everly nodded. “Yup, you can count on me.”
“I know we can, honey. I just want to make sure you’re okay reliving the event.” Fitz eyed Ronan, who nodded his agreement.
“I don’t mind seeing it all again so long as we can use my vision to save Cannonball. CJ deserves to have his Daddy. There’s so much they can teach each other.”
“Each other?” Wolf asked. “What can a kid teach a parent?”
“Lots of things. CJ is good at math, like really good. He’s gonna design things that make crashes safer, in cars, footballs helmets. He’s a real genie!”
Jude snorted. “A genius, you mean?”
Everly rolled her eyes in a perfect imitation of Ronan. “Yes, whatever, Uncle Jude.”
“I was asking because if he was a genie, we could get three wishes and use one of them to save Cannonball.” Jude grinned at his niece. He didn’t mind her sassy answer in the slightest.
“What would we do with the other two wishes?” Wolf asked. “I’d wish for more pancakes.”
“That’s why you don’t get to make the wishes.” Aurora giggled. “I’d like a real unicorn.”
“I want to feed people,” Everly said. “Everyone should go to bed with a full belly.”
Aurora gasped. “I’d like to change my answer to Everly’s. We don’t have a big enough yard for a unicorn. They need space to run wild and free.”
“Good point, honey,” Fitz said, wearing a proud look.
“Do you really think we can save Cannonball using what we already know?” Ronan asked. “I’m not a mathlete or anything, but maybe there’s someone we can call who is?”
“What worries me,” Cope said, “is that if we change something in his trajectory, not only do we avoid the future Everly saw, but we possibly add new complications. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.”
“I’ve been with you all these years and I never knew you were Bill Nye, The Science Guy, in disguise.” Jude chuckled. Leave it to Cope to remember high school physics class twenty something years after the fact.
“He’s right, Jude,” Ten agreed. “Everly saw him getting stuck under the falls after he went over them. If you change the course of his route, then who’s to say he won’t slip over the American Falls and crash on the rocks below.” Ten’s eyes were on the falls which they could all see from the windows.
“Can you see different scenarios?” Ronan asked his daughter.
“What’s a scary crow?” Everly asked.
“It’s like a movie scene. If we change Cannonball’s course on the river, can you see what would happen to him as a result of the change?”
“Maybe,” Everly said with a frown. “All I can see now is what I’ve seen since yesterday. We haven’t changed anything. If you, and Dad, and Uncle Fitz change something, I might see it then, but my gift doesn’t always work the way I want it too.”
“There are so many variables. Maybe the wind kicks up or a bird craps on the barrel and that changes the weight distribution, or CJ wants one more hug.” Ten shook his head. “I’ve been telling you for seven years that the future is fluid. This is a perfect example of that idea.”
“We’re going to try to talk some sense into Cannonball this afternoon. If that doesn’t work, we’ll try to figure out how we can alter the trip over the falls, so that we get a more favorable result.” Jude dug into his pancakes.
“Fitz, you’re the one who’s done all the research on Rooster. I know you said search and rescue was there to recover the body after the fact, but were any boats on the river before and during the stunt to be able to rush in and help the minute the barrel hit the water?” Ronan asked.
“No, I didn’t read anything about that. In fact, in all of the trips over the falls, there was never a rescue boat standing by.”
“Not even the Maid of the Mist?” Jude asked. From his hotel room window, Jude could always see two boats on the river, one Maid of the Mist vessel, which operated from the American side of the river, and one from Hornblower Tours, which operated on the Canadian side.
