Page 84 of Deadly Misfortunes

With the wind in their hair, she and the other ladies were lifted higher and higher until they were about 600 feet. They sat back and floated effortlessly in the bright blue sky, dotted with white clouds, as they were pulled along.

Sascha felt light like a bird and loved every minute of it.

Seagulls and pelicans were flying high above them. Sascha couldn’t imagine being that high, anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000 feet. Though seagulls could fly up to 16,000 feet! Six hundred feet was quite enough.

“I’m having a blast,” Lucy said. “It’s a thrill to fly so high above the water, and it is so tranquil.”

“Like soaring as a bird on a breeze,” Sascha said.

“Yeah, just like that,” Lucy said.

Rose noticeably didn’t comment. She was still holding on for dear life.

Sascha hoped that she was enjoying herself, despite being scared. Sascha was taking videos and still pictures of them up so high in the sky, and a selfie of the three of them, though she knew Henry would be taking video and pictures as they started their ascent and while they were way up above.

But taking pictures up here was fantastic, though she worried she might lose the phone Rose had given her. And dropping it from this height could be dangerous if anyone were beneath it. No one was out this far, though; no other boats, and swimmers couldn’t go out that far.

Then she saw the outline of a black-tip shark swimming in the clear aqua water below them. She snapped several photos of it. She noticed Rose wasn’t looking down, which was good. Lucy was watching the birds, but finally looked down at the water, wondering what Sascha was so interested in, and saw the shark. Then she looked worried, a frown appearing, and she was gripping the harness straps on her chest, which she hadn’t been before. Sascha was having a terrific time, but she was glad she wasn’t in the water right now.

When the fifteen-minute ride was over, the captain used a hydraulic winch to reel them gently back down onto the boat deck. Their feet splashed in the water, cooling them off before they were lifted onto the boat.

They were unharnessed, removed their life jackets, and joined the other ladies on the beach.

“Oh, wow, that was fantastic,” Aunt Meg said, giving them a hug.

Both Kat and Mrs. Landry hugged them too.

“Next time, well, after the babies are born, I want to do that,” Kat said.

That made Sascha realize the importance of trying new things before she had kids, since it would be more difficult to arrange once they were a little older.

“I took videos of all of the adventures you ladies had,” Henry said, holding up a camera.

Sascha realized that while he was providing security for her, he could take clear, long-distance photos of anyone who seemed like a menace. That was good.

“We were guarding down here,” Omar said, chuckling.

“You were both doing a great job,” Sascha said.

“You were up so high,” Mrs. Landry said. “How did you do, Rose? You look a little pale. If she didn’t tell you, she is afraid of heights.”

Rose laughed. “It was so much fun, but I have to admit that when we were going up and up and up, I was terrified. Even now, my legs are a bit wobbly.”

Sascha hugged her. “You were doing great up there. I’m so glad you did it with me. I’ll tell you a secret now that we’re down on firm ground. You weren’t looking at the water, but I was taking pictures of the Gulf and saw a large blacktip shark swimming around in the water practically below us.”

Kat smiled. “At least you were so far up in the sky, you didn’t have to worry about that. I’m so glad you finally got to parasail.”

“Me too. I loved it, and I saw the shark too. Now that got to me!” Lucy said. “It wasn’t close to shore where people were swimming, but it did make me feel nervous about staying up in the air, not losing the wind under the parasail, and dropping into the Gulf.”

“Thanks for not telling me.” Rose shuddered. “I would have died if I had seen it, afraid even more of falling.”

“Yeah, I was thinking the parasail better not lose the wind while we were gliding over the shark,” Sascha said.

After that, Sascha pulled off her cover-up. “Do you all want to swim in the Gulf to cool down?” She figured everyone who had waited for them on the beach could have gotten hot, even though ocean breezes constantly whipped over them.

“Yeah, let’s do it,” Mrs. Landry said, “but we’ll swim close to shore.”

“I’ll watch all your things,” Henry said, camera in hand.