Scarred Beginnings by Jackie Williams

bound to be no shortage of small emergencies arising. She had already proven her worth when tending to Adam during their week away.
    David took a few deep breaths as his car rattled over the gangway and into the bowels of the huge vessel.
    While his heart may be broken he didn’t seriously think it would kill him if she rejected him and in any case the future of the hotel was far more important than a few of his tender feelings.
    He would have to keep his emotions under wraps until he was sure of hers. It would cost him another few day ’s agony but he thought he could stand it if only to keep his own heart protected.
    He parked his car where directed and picked up his overnight bag from the seat beside him. He made his way up the steep flights of stairs to the cabin deck and dropped his bag on the narrow bunk. He lay down and stared at the ceiling as the ferry’s engine began to whir beneath him. Only a few hours longer and all his questions would be answered.

Chapter Eight
     
    David began to roll up his shirt sleeves as he looked up at the huge machine standing in front of him.
    “Jeez Ellen. This is fantastic. I don’t remember anyone suggesting a zip wire or cable car. What a brilliant idea. When did you decide to put it in?”
    Ellen looked at her brother as he admired the massive contrapt ion she had installed at the head of the ravine.
    “You just try walking up and down those steps to the canoe school or fishing huts, David and you’ll soon know why I did it. They’re way too steep and narrow for me let alone anyone with even minor problems. Slippery too when they’re wet. It was an accident waiting to happen. I had an electric cable run from the fishing huts and another to power the pulleys for all this. I’m running it all from a generator powered by the river.”
    Impressed beyond measure at her ingenuity, David reached up and pulled on the T-bar of the zip wire. The line moved with the pressure.
    “It’ll need tightening if you want it to give a thrill.” He strode into the cabin that housed all the machinery. He returned a few minutes later and tugged on the bar again. There was a lot less slack in the wire. “That’ll be about right until I know how it’s going to run. I can get it going faster if needs be.”
    Ellen stood with her hands on her hips and glared at him.
    “I put that in for the kids. The adults are meant to go down in the cable car.”
    David grinned at her and shook his head.
    “You have to be joking. I haven’t done anything like this for years.” He grabbed hold of the bar and pulled it towards the edge of the ravine then peered over the precipice to the river sparking a long way below.
    Ellen gaped at her brother.
    “You are meant to wear the safety harness and crash helmet too and there’s an auto brake. You’ll hit the water if you…” She threw her hands up in the air and gave up arguing with him as he pulled a face at her. “Your legs will get wet if you don’t use the brake,” she called as he let out a giant whoop and disappeared over the edge of the ravine.
     
    He hit the water with a huge splash a few seconds later, wrenching his arms in their sockets and twisting his back. For a moment he thought he’d hurt himself when he couldn’t feel what was left of his lower body but then he sighed in relief as he realized that it was just the icy river numbing his senses. The surging water came nearly to his waist and was a lot colder than he imagined it would be. He scrambled out of the river and held back a deep shiver as Ellen arrived at a more ladylike pace in the cable car. He spoke to her reassuringly as she looked at his soaked clothes in horror.
    “That’s brilliant. I’ll have to tweak it a bit more to get it real fast but it’s a great idea. It must have cost a fortune; did it take us over budget? ” He questioned, diverting Ellen’s attention from his wringing wet trousers as he bit back the shudders which threatened to overtake him.
    She stared