“All ashore!” Ronan called out. He climbed out of the van and moved to the back to help the driver take their luggage out. Jude was right behind him.
“This is a nice place.” Ten said, with Ezra in his arms. “I’m feeling nothing but good vibes.”
“Me too,” Cope agreed. “Spoiler alert, Aurora is not only going to take the boat ride, but will want to do it again.”
“I saw the same thing. Everly’s talking her into it now.” Ten pointed to the two girls, whose heads were bent together. Aurora started to laugh.
Cope loved how different the three first graders were. Wolf was a leap before he looked sort of kid, while Aurora was the complete opposite. Everly, was solidly in the middle, balancing everyone out.
Scooping Lizbet into his arms, Cope led the kids off the bus and into the lobby of the hotel, where their luggage was waiting for them. Up ahead, he could see Jude, Ronan, and Fitz in line to check in. “What do you think, little girl?” he asked his daughter.
“Ohhh!” Lizbet cooed. Her eyes widened as she took in the new sights and sounds of the hotel.
“I’m glad we checked in online,” Jude said, coming back to Cope. He pressed a kiss to Lizbet’s head. “All we had to do was show our ID and they handed us the room keys. We’re on the tenth floor.”
“Elevators are this way.” Ronan pointed to the left. “Kids, grab your bags and follow me.”
“Oh! I see stuffies!” Everly called out and pointed toward the gift shop at the other end of the lobby. “I can’t wait to go shopping!”
“Me too!” Aurora agreed.
“Elevator’s here.” Ronan waved everyone forward. It was a bit of tight pinch, but they all fit into the same car.
When the doors pinged open on the tenth floor the kids spilled out, their attention caught by a black and white picture of aiced up Niagara Falls. All of the jagged rocks below were visible and coated in layers of snow and ice. “What happened?” Everly asked.
“This was from when the falls froze in 1917, over a hundred years ago,” Fitzgibbon said, as he read the caption beside the framed photograph. “Pretty neat, huh?”
Everly shook her head. “I feel cold just looking at it.” She shivered and followed Fitzgibbon down the hall.
“Me too,” Jude agreed before turning to Cope, who had his arms wrapped around himself as if he were cold. “You okay?”
Cope shook his head. “Seeing this picture made me think of Cannonball.”
“The daredevil from the commercial?” Jude asked.
“Yeah. Wikipedia said his father’s barrel went over the American Falls instead of the Canadian. Look at those rocks.” Cope traced his finger over the glass. “He never stood a chance. Neither does Cannonball. We need to find him Jude. Find some way to talk him out of this crazy idea.”
“If anyone can do that, it’s you.” Jude wrapped an arm around his husband and led them down the hall toward where the others were waiting.
“It has to be done in a way that won’t make him dig his heels in against our help.” Cope’s mind spun with how to talk the daredevil into standing down.
“I agree. When we get everyone settled in the room, I’m going to find out how we can get into that press conference tonight, so that we can meet with Cannonball and find out where his head is on the matter.”
Cope didn’t need his psychic powers to know the man would be immovable. It might be different if Cannonball were about to attempt a stunt his father hadn’t lost his life trying to complete, but Cope knew the young man was going to go through with it and die trying. It was up to him to find something to make the young man change his mind and his destiny.
4
Jude
If Jude had thought the view of the falls from his hotel room was incredible, it was nothing compared to standing across from them. The roar of the water was almost deafening. It was almost impossible to believe that much water could flow over the falls without them running dry. “What do you think, buddy?” he asked Wolf
“It’s super cool,” Wolf said, his eyes glued to the sight in front of him. “I want to ride down them like in a waterslide!” Wolf held a hand in the air and made a motion like he was going over the falls. “It would be the biggest splash ever!” Wolf’s eyes danced with excited.
Watching the awesome display of nature through his son’s eyes gave Jude a bit of insight into why men and women had tried to brave the falls themselves over the last century and a half. The idea of man triumphing over nature was a tale as old as time. It was the reason men had gone off in search of the South Pole, to explore the depths of the Mariana Trench, and into space. While all Jude could see was extreme danger, all Wolf could see was an adventure. He had a feeling Rooster Jackson saw the same thing when he stood here marveling at the falls himself, never once thinking his attempt to make history would result in his own death.
Cope had been right on the money when he’d said they needed to find a way to talk to Cannonball that wouldn’t involve trying to appeal to his common sense.
“Hey,” Ronan said, breaking Jude out of his thoughts. “I got us tickets. All we have to do is get in line for the funicular, which will take us to the loading platform.”
