I really don’t think my nerves can handle it.
The wind seems to intensify as the carriage rises into the air, leaving my stomach somewhere down below.
I want to ask Hunter if it’s safe to be riding this thing when there’s supposed to be a storm on the way, but I don’t want to scare Hannah, so I squeeze my eyes shut tight and concentrate on the light drizzle that’s dusting my skin; rain so light you can barely even feel it.
‘Look, Rosie! Look at the lights!’
Hannah’s voice, a few minutes into the ride, prompts me to open my eyes again.
‘Oh, wow,’ I breathe, risking a glance down to the square below us, which has been transformed into a magical little model village, with lights cobwebbed above it, and music drifting faintly up through the damp air.
‘I thought you said it wouldn’t go too high,’ I gasp at Hunter, who laughs, and then reaches for my hand.
‘You’re fine, Rosie,’ he says, reassuringly. And, miracle of miracles, I realise Iam.
I’m perfectly safe, up here in the sky, with this lovely man and his little girl. Far below, I can see the throng of people in the square, while, just beyond the funfair, the streetlights of the village stretch down to the sea, like strands of gold leading to its inky dark blue.
This place is wild and wonderful, and only occasionally scary; and, even in the short time I’ve been here, it’s somehow already wormed its way into my heart.
It’s just a shame I’m leaving soon.
The thought bursts into my happy thoughts like a firework into the night sky; only, instead of leaving me excited and filled with awe, it just makes my stomach plummet abruptly – although that could also be because the carriage we’re in has reached the top of the wheel.
‘You OK?’ Hunter says quietly, squeezing my hand.
‘Sure,’ I reply brightly, smiling over at him in spite of the dull ache that’s started up in my chest at the thought of never seeing him again. ‘Never better.’
And yet, I definitelycouldbe better, couldn’t I? Because, at the exact moment I’m starting to get close to him – and to Hannah, and to everyone else I’ve met here in the Highlands – I’m about to go home, to my very average life, my money worries and the problem of finding somewhere to live other than my sister’s sofa.
I may not be the wrong Rosie, but I’m definitely living the wrong life.
‘Could you take a photo for me?’ I ask impulsively, handing Hunter my phone.
‘Still trying to win that competition, are you?’ he says, taking it reluctantly.
‘No. I don’t care about the competition. I wanted you to take a photo of all three of us,’ I tell him shyly. ‘I’d do it myself, but your arms are longer.’
He hesitates for just a moment, then a slow smile spreads across his handsome face.
‘Aye,’ he says, holding up the camera. ‘Aye, why not?’
Hannah and I both lean in to him, all three of us grinning cheesily at the camera as Hunter presses the button to take the shot.
And that’s the exact moment the lights go out.
Chapter 26
It seems this is, in fact, Danger Night after all.
‘What’s happening?’ says Hannah, leaning over the side of the carriage as the square below us erupts into chaos. ‘Is it fireworks? Is that what that bang was, Daddy?’
‘Er, no. No, I don’t think so,’ replies Hunter, grabbing her coat to pull her back to safety. ‘Here, sit still. Let me try to figure out what’s going on.’
The Ferris wheel stopped moving at the same time as the lights went out, and our carriage hangs there, rocking gently from side to side in the wind, as Hunter peers over the side, while Hannah and I shuffle carefully towards each other for safety.
‘Whatisgoing on, Hunter?’ I ask, my voice shaking as Hannah crawls onto my lap. I hug her tightly to me, not quite sure who’s comforting who.
‘It looks like a power cut,’ says Hunter, pulling his head back inside the carriage. ‘As far as I can see, all the power in the village is out. There’s not a light to be seen.’
