Chapter Fourteen #2
Signing the waiver. That was clue number one that this might be a more dangerous and unpredictable activity than suited Lulu’s comfort zone.
And she did not have to be much of a detective to understand that flying on a wire over the valley beside a volcano, whether she could see it or not, contained inherent dangers.
Wait a second, she thought, recognizing for perhaps the first time since they arrived in La Fortuna that a volcano was a volcano.
Like with lava and scalding magma. Nature’s powder keg that could blow with little warning at any second.
She slid her eyes to the cloud cover that concealed the beast. According to Alejandro, after years of daily eruptions, Arenal had been dormant for the past several years. But who knew with volcanos?
Clues two and three that she was over her head in potential risks: Why were they waiting in line?
Because each of them was being fitted for harnesses and helmets.
A harness! A simple reminder that she would be flying through the air connected to a cable by only a tiny sling and some dental floss.
And a helmet? Who were they kidding? The only protection a helmet would serve would be to spare the helmet itself from being squashed by a falling human.
A keen-eyed zip guide noticed her helmet strap dangling and snapped it for her, then adjusted the straps on her harness.
He was introducing himself and asking her where she was from, but it sounded like he was speaking under water until she sharpened to alertness when he handed her clue number four: a metal handheld trolley.
“You’ll use this to brake. And these, if you have to grab the cable,” he said, handing her the leather gloves that had clue number five written all over them.
She did not need a PhD in risk assessment to conclude that Zip-lining and Danger were both card-carrying members of the same club.
Lulu steeled herself. This was the final challenge of the week, and she was determined to give it her best shot. She had come to stretch herself, and this would do it.
With all of them outfitted, they moved to the loading platform for the tram ride up the jungly mountain beside Arenal Volcano. She stood on the narrow grate, her brain swimming with apprehension, when she felt eyes on her.
Behind her, right behind her, she sensed Tyler in line.
She turned her head and when their eyes met, his expression opened like she was Christmas.
He looked so gleeful, so eager to soar on the zip lines, and so happy to be beside her that his energy infused hers.
Positivity osmosis. A portion of her nervousness took flight, replaced by the bubbly spirit of Tyler Demming.
His voice vibrated with anticipation. “You ready to fly?”
The tram, a glass and metal funicular, slowed to a stop on the rails before them. She swallowed. “I’m gonna give it a try. But I’m nervous,” she said.
“Then it’s lucky I’m here with you. I’ve got enough nerve for both of us.
” He gave a self-conscious laugh. Catching her hesitant expression, his voice grew serious.
“I’m gonna fly right behind you.” His words calmed her and, at the same time, stimulated her.
His scent. His voice. Why were her senses so heightened by everything Tyler?
The tram began its climb up the rail. The car rose smoothly, traveling level with the trees, and she marveled at the lush greenery and the smell of damp earth, the vines and leaves, and the sky making a valiant effort to be glimpsed in flashes through the thick jungle.
And although her nerves still simmered below the surface, she floated through the scene with her senses awakened.
Awe vibrated through Lulu, as palpable as the rainforest around her.
When they reached their destination, Alejandro slid the tram door open to the launching platform.
They were on top of the world. A wooden deck overlooked the treetops, a patchwork of greens and gray blues.
Overhead, the clouds tangled against bright swaths of blue, each fighting for dominance in the sky.
She strode to the banister at the end of the deck.
They were high. High. Probably the highest she’d ever been if she didn’t count airplanes.
Through the haze of her nerves, she heard one of the zip guides calling the group together for a tour photo.
As the photographer snapped their picture, Lulu had the vague thought, This is one photo I am never going to buy because my smile probably looks like I’m constipated.
She gathered her wits. Many people went zip-lining every day and they were all fine, right?
Wait. Should she Google that? Definitely not.
But lots of people were fine. It was probably like the same number of people who ate potato chips every day.
She wasn’t scared of potato chips, so why should she be nervous about this?
Her brain was so occupied with twisted logic that when the three zip guides introduced themselves, Lulu promptly forgot every name.
The guides tugged at the tourists’ harness straps, tightened the waist belts, tested helmet security, and double-checked the trolleys and gloves.
Numbly, Lulu followed the backs of her groupmates to a small clearing in the jungle.
“This is a little practice zip line. A five-second taste of flying. And remember,” the guide said, gesturing at the line strung just ten feet above the soft earth.
And this time Lulu wrangled her thoughts to attention.
“When we signal, wiggle your metal hand trolley and spread your legs to brake. Okay? How about you go first,” she said, gesturing at Tyler.
He didn’t need further encouragement. Tyler leapt up the stairs to the small platform. The guide hooked his harness to the trolley and waved. In moments, with an air as casual as tying his shoes, Tyler had zipped to the other end.
Actually, it didn’t seem so bad. She could do that, easy. “Me. I’ll go next.” Lulu lifted her shoulders in a no-big-deal kind of shrug. A lying-ass shrug.
Before she could change her mind, she mounted the steps and held her breath as a cheery female guide clipped her in. From the opposite side of the line, a second guide waved to her. “Javier is waiting for you at the other end. Ready?” Lulu nodded.
The guide gave her a gentle push and Lulu barely had time to be afraid when she noticed Javier on the far platform spreading his arms in a grand gesture. “Brake!” he was calling.
She powered into him, her shoulders landing hard against the man’s palms. Setting her feet on the platform, she relaxed. “That wasn’t so bad,” she said. And she meant it.
Javier unhooked Lulu’s trolley from the practice zip line. “You did great. But you have to brake. Next time, don’t forget.” The zip guide gestured. “Open your legs.”
Behind her, she heard a throaty chuckle.
Turning, she spotted Tyler. Affecting a look of innocence, he nodded his agreement with the guide’s suggestion.
And pinning her with his gaze, Tyler executed a slow-motion version of the zip guide’s spreading gesture.
“Open,” he mouthed. And the worst part was, when he did it, her reaction swooped like a dropping roller coaster, dipping down her core and sending a tingling right down to her center.
Lulu swallowed hard.
With a brisk shake, she forced her head back into focus.
“There are seven cables down the mountain,” Javier explained.
“Each one a different length and speed. This first cable is short and fast, but there are others that are a mile in length. If we’re lucky, the skies will clear.
If that happens, then we’ll get amazing views of Arenal Volcano. ”
Lulu took in the departure platform: The trunks of the twisted trees, the enormous leaves, and the thickets of ferns led her eye along the jungle foreground to where the land dropped off the horizon. Then, she got her first good look at the zip line.
The cable stretched high over the canopy of trees, a thin, reaching line hanging over the depth of the valley.
Lulu pressed herself to notice how lovely the scene was.
In the vale below the cable, a dense layer of pillowy fog nestled among the treetops.
The jungle, from this bird’s-eye view, looked like a fairytale setting, but the smell of the recent rains, the distant trill of an oropéndola, plus the dip in her belly when she looked down all assured her that this was very real.
By her foot, a tiny red and blue dart frog hopped away and hid beneath the dried leaves.
Her heart still thrummed in her ears, but the lush landscape mesmerized her.
Lulu watched a lanky young woman in a Arenal Canopy guide shirt adjust the trolley on the cable. Javier nodded to her. “Carolina, show us how it’s done.”
Without a word, the female zip guide lifted her knees to her chest and zipped away, crossing the length of the cable in a flash and appearing on the distant platform. From afar, Carolina gave the ready signal.
Javier explained, “Once you zip across the valley on this line, you’re on your way.” Lulu processed this information. All she had to do was get through the first zip and she’d be invested.
“Well, alrighty then!” Gwendy, eager as all get-out, rumbled past Lulu. “Outta my way. This girl’s gotta fly!”
Bill’s hand shot out and grabbed Gwendy’s fingers. “Oh,” Gwendy said, and planted a racy kiss that lasted a little longer than Lulu would have liked to have witnessed. “I’ll see you on the other side.”
Javier clipped Gwendy in as she gripped her trolley with her gloved hands.
With a ready glance to the guide, Gwendy nodded before lifting her feet and swooping off along the cable.
As she soared, her voice sailed over the canopy.
“See ya, suckers!” And she grew smaller and smaller, dipping at the center of the cable and then rising up to the braking platform.