House of Guardians

by Beatrice Sand

  I look up and stare at the black diamond run. Somewhere up there, Maude—with all her charm—is showing Sam her tricks. Finally, she has pulled it off—getting attention from the boys from Chaos. Today, Sam is teaching her how to board. At least that is the story. Her story, but I have no reason to doubt it. Of course she is going to pretend to fall. Oh, yeah, just like our dance last night, she probably rehearsed some sort of act. I can already visualize how Sam tries to get her up only to fall right on top of her. Suddenly, I can see their bodies in front of me, entwined in the snow.

  I feel my arms and legs tense and cramp up. I take a deep breath, erase the image from my head, and try to get a grip. I am overreacting like a jealous school girl. I am seeing things that are not there. Am I?

  “There you go, a double cappuccino.” The waiter lifts the cup and saucer from his tray and puts it on the table in front of me.

  “Sorry,” I apologize and grab some change from my pocket. “I ran out of time.” I place the money on the table and take off. I have to know what is going on on top of that mountain before I go insane.

  Huge clouds move in front of the sun, and with a shiver I zip up my jacket and hurry up. I have to get to that mountain slope.

  It’s quiet at the ski lift and I’m being stared at by the lift operator. “Is it possible to go up without skis?” I ask. “I’ll walk back.”

  The man looks up. “The weather is getting pretty bad, but you can still go for now. Just don’t stay up there for too long.”

  Even before he finishes talking, something hard bumps against the back of my legs and before I know it the chair is lifting me up. I hold my breath.

  “Safety bar down!” the operator shouts.

  With my heart pounding, I pull the metal rod down. When I’m finally settled into the chair—all safe and sound—I let out my breath. I’m glad it is going much slower than I had envisioned, and I softly breathe in and out. I’m so neurotic.

  “Coward,” I say to myself, slowly opening my eyes. I am swinging at least sixty feet above ground, and all I can hear is the soft buzzing of the benches. The view of the valley looks like something out of a fairytale, and up here, it is calm and peaceful. Only, icy gusts of wind beat against my face and make my cheeks sting.

  After a short while, it suddenly gets dark and my serenity comes to an abrupt end. It even starts to rain and to lighten. At that moment, I am passing a steep mountainside, and the only thing I want right now is solid ground beneath my feet. A lightning bolt flashes right past me.

  In the valley below, all panic breaks loose, and screams of fleeing people reach me. “Oh, God…” I grip the safety bar with my sweaty palms and force myself to calm down.

  I look around me and notice something strange—we’re not moving forward anymore. The ski lift is not moving whatsoever. “We will move soon, we will move soon…” I say out loud like it’s some kind of mantra. If only the rain and lightning would stop. But then I notice something else—the two-seaters in front and behind me are completely empty. It’s just me…

  Suddenly, I hear a scraping and grinding sound, and I slide to the right side of the bench with a scream. Frantic, I grab hold of the bar in front of me. I look up past the cable to which my chair is attached. The wheels have gone off track, and I am dangling by only one piece. The chair begins to sway, and I squeeze my eyes shut. I tighten my fingers around the rod so hard that they become completely numb.

  Crying makes no sense. Even if it did, I can’t, I am petrified.

  With my eyes still closed—thinking I am drawing my last breath—I suddenly hear the voice of an angel. An angelic creature, who is asking me to jump down.

  “I’ll catch you,” the sweet voice says again.

  Cautiously, afraid that every move I make will throw the bench and me onto the ground, I turn my face and look down. I spot the outlines of Olivia and I could cry from happiness. I thought everyone abandoned me.

  “I can’t jump, really,” I shout, “we would both die.”

  “That won’t happen. Trust me, Laurel.”

  I now hear light panic in her clear voice and peek down again. Immediately, I look back up. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”

  “Okay, we’ll think of something else. Try not to move.”

  “I am not, that’s the wind.”

  “Hang in there, sweetie. The guys are on their way.”

  A rescue team!

  In the distance, I can already see some dark spots moving fast in the white landscape. I think it’s odd that they are not arriving by helicopter, but then I realize that the weather must be too bad to fly. I wonder how they are going to get me down.

  When they move closer, I see it’s Sam and Don. They talk to each other for a few seconds and then they split up. My eyes follow Sam, who is racing to a pole. At lightning speed, he climbs up, and what he does next makes my stomach turn 360 degrees. One slip, one split second of losing his balance by a gust of wind, and he will fall straight into the ravine.

  I want to shout at him, scream if he is in his right mind, but I’m scared to death that he might lose his balance. Instead, I turn my eyes away from Sam so I don’t have to witness him balancing on the steel cable. I try to keep as still as I possibly can in the lopsided chair. I start to breath heavily. I squeeze my eyes shut again and hope this nightmare will be over soon.

  “Hey beautiful, going up?”

  My throat makes a weird sound when I hear Sam’s soothing voice. From the tilted chair, I crack my eyes open and see that Sam has squatted down on the cable. We are far above the tops of the spruce, and the wind has free play up here. The benches rock up and down restlessly and the metallic sound is making me nauseous. With one hand, Sam holds onto the cable he is sitting on, and with his other hand, he holds the cable of the chairlift. His tight jaw and torrid eyes make my stomach clench.

  “Rescuers…” I gasp in a whisper. “Olivia said a rescue team is on its way.”

  Sam glances my way. “We will get you down safely.”

  I lick my chapped lips. “You don’t have to do this for me.”

  Sam doesn’t answer.

  Suddenly, I feel a tug on the chair and the next moment, everything happens so fast that I can hardly keep up. Both the bench and I are picked up and I hear metal and steel scraping together. Moments later I hang straight again—stable. Sam swings his body down next to me on the bench, and after a lot of creaks and groans we sway on quietly, as though it’s any normal Thursday on the ski run.

  Sam grabs me by my jacket and roughly pulls me into his arms. “I’ve got you, baby,” he says softly. “I’ve got you.” Then he cups my chin. “You’re hyperventilating.”

  “I don’t have enough oxygen,” I pant.

  “You do, you just have too much. Try to hold your breath for ten seconds.”

  I suck in the thin air and start counting in my head. I breathe out again.

  “Now do it again.”

  By the time we reach the top of the mountain, I’ve got my breathing under control—but not my heart rate.

  “Feeling better?”

  I nod. “Yeah.” Sam pushes against the bar and helps me get out of the chair. I am finally standing on solid ground again, but I’m still shaking like a leaf.

  Olivia hugs me. “You’re safe, Laurel.” She sounds relieved.

  “Thank you for not abandoning me, Olivia.”

  She rubs my back. “I’m glad I was around and saw you dangling.”

  Don steps out of the lift station, and I can see the relief on his face too. My rescuers.

  I pull away from Olivia’s embrace and stagger toward Sam. I stare up at his beautiful face and I feel fresh tears welling up. Driven by a deep, raw emotion that I barely understand, I bring up my hands and begin to hit his chest and arms with clenched fists.

  “What was that all about?” I yell in a huff. “Why didn�
��t you call for help?”

  Tears are rolling down my face, and I’m losing it completely, but Sam doesn’t budge. Without even blinking, he allows me to blow off steam and to hit him, until he finally grabs my wrists to stop me.

  “Enough,” he says hoarsely. “You’ll hurt yourself.” He wraps his arms around me and holds me tight. “I was never in any danger, Laurel,” he says softly. “But you were.”

  I produce a muffled sob.

  “You okay?” Sam’s eyes scan my face. He loosens his grip.

  I clear my throat. “Yeah, ready to go?” I ask in a friendly tone, as if the yelling and hitting a moment ago never took place.

  “Yeah, I’ll take you home,” Sam says.

  “Home? You mean the inn?”

  “I mean home, to Sooke.”

  Aghast, I stare up at his face. “Why? No! I am totally fine. Martin can’t find out about this. He would be scared to death if I arrived home earlier than Renee. Besides, we are leaving in a day.”

  Sam narrows his eyes. “Do you think you can keep this incident to yourself?”

  “Apart from Olivia, no one knows I was up there. And no one has to know.”

  “She’s got a point,” Olivia says, “everyone fled, even the operators. They must have thought that the seats were empty.”

  After Olivia’s supportive plead, I look at Sam.

  “Okay then,” he agrees. “We’ll go back to the inn, but you will not go out again today.”

  “What?”

  “Sam is right,” Don says, his face rigid. “You can no longer go outside. It’s too dangerous.”

  Slightly annoyed, I look from one friend to another. “Dangerous? The sun is shining, the bad weather has passed. Shortly, it will be full of people.”

  Olivia mumbles something unintelligible.

  “I’m sorry?”

  “It’s not dangerous for them,” she speaks up.

  “Why not?” I ask in surprise as the sun breaks through brighter and warmer than before.

  There is no reply.

  Sam motions with his head toward his friends. “Why don’t you guys go ahead, we’ll be there soon.”

  Full of fear, I look up at the boy in front of me who has just saved me from a certain death.

  “What just happened is because of me.”

  “Yes, you saved me.”

  “I mean the incident.”

  If he hadn’t sounded so serious, I probably would have laughed. “I know you don’t like sharing information with me, but you do understand you have to be more specific this time?”

  He nods. “We can’t see each other.”

  That is as clear as I will ever hear it, I just don’t understand what the ski lift incident has to do with that. I stare downward and scrape some snow from one side to another with my boot. “You’ve made that pretty clear to me over the past few days.”

  “Laurel, look at me. I want you to stay inside for the rest of the day, I can’t guarantee your safety outside.”

  “But that is just…”

  “I’m sorry, but this isn’t up for debate. Let’s go.”

  In awkward silence, we arrive at the inn and inside the busy lounge, Sam makes me promise once more not to get near any runs or ski lifts. I am not allowed to even look at a ski pole.

  “Those slalom skis have long since been returned. Don’t worry.”

  “Smart girl. What are you going to do?”

  “Read a book, I think. You don’t leave me much choice.”

  “Where?”

  “Where?”

  “Where are you going to read?”

  “Probably here in the lounge, if it’s not against the law like going outside,” I say in a sarcastic tone. “Would you also like to know the title of the book?”

  “No.”

  “Sam, there you are… You were gone all of a sudden.” With pursed lips, Maude walks up to us and then notices that I am there too. “Oh, Laurel… Hi.”

  “Hey, Maude.”

  “God, I hate rain.” She tosses her wet hair over her shoulders and turns her large, dark blue eyes back to Sam. “The sun is back, though. Shall we continue?”

  Sam stares at her for a while. A slight frown appears between his brows. “Snowboard lessons are over,” he says bluntly.

  Maude glances my way, as if I’m the one to blame for Sam just ditching her. “Very well. See you later.” She turns and walks away.

  So it was true about the snowboarding. I glance sideways. Sam is rubbing his forehead. “So, you taught Maude how to snowboard?”

  “Yeah.”

  “How come?”

  He shrugs his shoulders. “She asked me last night and I said yes.”

  How come, I want to ask for the second time. “That’s nice of you. How did she do?” Sam suddenly looks like he has a severe headache, and I feel guilty for making things difficult when he has just saved me. “Are you feeling okay?”

  He nods slightly. “Get that book, Laurel. Stay away from Maude.”

  I almost laugh. “Well, that’s going to be a problem, since we share a room together. Oh right, and she’s my friend.”

  “Then just leave her alone,” he says unflinchingly.

  Now he is just pissing me off with his absurd demands. “I don’t see why I…”

  “This conversation is over.”

  “But how…” I bite my lip when Sam furrows his brows, as though warning me not to say another word. I turn on my heels and walk to the front desk to get the room key.

  I dive into the corner seats with my friends. After a short while, Olivia and Bastian join us and a little later Don and Andreas join us too, although they keep their distance. I smile, thinking of the familiarity that occurred at the last minute between my own friends and Sam’s normally so distant group. Who would have thought? Fortunately, karaoke fever is over and the stage is now used for dancing.

  Charles drags me out onto the dance floor to a song of Robin Thicke. It reminds me of Beethoven’s Fifth.

  Ava and Bastian suddenly stand beside us, and my eyelashes start to flutter when Bastian starts moving. My own partner suddenly comes across a little stiff. I can’t take my eyes off Bastian’s sexy moves. He really only has eyes for Ava and grabs her by the waist. His lower body rubs…

  With a smile, I look back at Charles before I turn just as red as Ava. I turn us around so I can look toward our table. Sam is still not there, and it leaves an unsettling feeling in my belly.

  When a slow song starts and I want to sit down, Charles pulls me closer to him. Bastian and Ava leave the dance floor.

  “The next three minutes you’re mine,” Charles chuckles.

  “Great,” I say with a bored face. “I will suffer in silence.”

  “What’s the deal with you and that Laurens-guy?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “Because of the way he looks at you. And you at him.”

  My heart starts to beat faster. “Where do you see him then?”

  “I mean yesterday, and the day before.”

  “How did he look?”

  “Predatory.”

  “Predatory?”

  “Take last night for example. We were all here, and you came in later, but even before you entered the room, his senses were already on edge, as if his hunting instincts are suddenly stirred up when you’re close. Like he smelled you. Very slowly and concentrated, I saw him turning his head to the entrance. Out of curiosity, I followed his gaze, and seconds later you stood in the doorway. I swear, Harper, that guy heard you coming from afar, despite the loud music and Maude’s bleating in his ear. If you ask me, there’s something seriously wrong with his senses, overdeveloped maybe.”

  I think of what happened the first night, when Sam overheard my conversation with James. It was impossible, I knew it, but
I didn’t think too much about it and assumed that there had to be a logical explanation.

  “And he can run, whoa! Did you know he gave Maude a board lesson this morning?”

  “I heard something like that, yeah,” I say grimly.

  “It was very strange actually. One minute they are still on the board, and the next, Sam was gone, dissolved into the mist.”

  “What do you mean, dissolved?”

  “Figuratively spoken. I saw he got a call. He suddenly looked terribly worried, as if the person on the other line just told him that his mother had an accident. He called that friend of his, what’s that big one’s name again?”

  “Don?”

  “Yes, him. I’ve never seen anyone run as fast as those two this morning.” Charles chuckles. “You should have seen the pout on Maude.”

  I let his words sink in. “Didn’t you guys have to hide from the bad weather?”

  “No, with us it wasn’t so bad. Just some rain and rumbling. There seems to have been a really bad storm on one of the slopes. Everyone had to flee from the thunder and lightning.”

  “Ah.”

  When we return to the others, I’m done with the casual small talk. “Is Sam all right?” I ask Olivia in a neutral voice.

  “Yeah. He’s just tired and said he couldn’t bear to hear one more disco song,” she says laughing.

  “No wonder he’s tired, he made a big effort this morning,” I reply.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Which room is he in?”

  “Why do you ask?” She looks at me suspiciously.

  “I want to thank him for what he did,” I say softly. I don’t want to take the risk of someone hearing us.

  “He knows you’re grateful.”

  “I punched him, Olivia,” I whisper.

  “He’s tough, he can handle it.”

  “You’re not going to give it to me, are you?”

  Olivia’s eyes penetrate me. “Let him catch his breath, Laurel. He’ll come down when he feels like it.”

  But my gut tells me he’s not going to show tonight. I sit down a grand total of ten seconds before I jump up. Aristocrat or not, I have to see him. My whole body is screaming for him.