Escape Velocity

Chapter Five

Typical, Kate thinking everybody else should jump when she snapped her fingers. I slung my backpack onto a bench and plopped down next to it. She went off with what's-his-face and I was stuck waiting around. At least it was less time I had to spend around Kate. Good riddance to both of them. He wasn't that cute anyhow.

To my right was the depot, a red brick building that someone hoped would make a tourist attraction with its attempts at quaint signage. I wandered over to the one with the heading "Shoppes" in an old-fashioned font. The town looked kind of interesting, but the touristy stuff gave me hives.

The Hidden Springs van pulled in front of the station. A lanky man hopped out, asked my name, and loaded my bag in the back. He looked at his clipboard. "Where are the other two? Duncan and Kate?"

If I could have gotten away with it, I would've said they had already left. It had an element of truth. While working out my options, I heard Kate's annoying giggle. I glanced at the driver and nodded in their direction.

Claiming the front seat, I slumped with my head resting on the window. I opened my favorite podcast, Every Little Thing, to binge on a bunch of episodes I'd missed. One of these days maybe they'd answer my burning question about why people liked okra.

Two hours was a long time to ignore everyone but with the help of my earbuds and the podcast, I'd manage it. I turned the volume up when a laugh from Kate wormed its way through. And if I could do it without getting carsick, I'd read more of the diary.

With my earbuds in.

~~~

After the last curve before heading down toward Green Bank, we broke through the trees hugging the road. The driver pointed out Hidden Springs, a group of buildings set down on a large clear-cut area surrounded by woods. Then we were back in the thick of the forest again before turning left down a tree-lined road.

And by tree-lined, I mean trees planted by people. They were groomed to perfection, arching so the edges of their canopies brushed each other like a latticed ceiling. Boxwood topiary took over and framed the large cream-colored sandstone building we approached. The middle section above the entrance was a few stories higher than the wings. Dormer windows peeked out along the central mansard roof and expansive lawns spread to the sides and back to the forest. White paths cut across the grass to a variety of outbuildings.

I said to the driver, "It looks a little institutional to me. Kind of asylum-ish, but in a French kind of way."

He cackled with a slow, Southern musicality. "From what I've heard, there have been crazy goings-on over the years. If you're staying long enough, you might hear the stories. The original owner was from France. Come over after the Revolution. The American one. Built that tall section and then later it was expanded into the side wings."

"I'll be here six weeks with Parallax," I said.

"Right. You're staying in the Arouet Suite and all. That's special." He let out a low whistle. "No time for my nonsense now. We're here."

A uniformed man with a fleur-de-lys badge opened the door and reached out a white-gloved hand to help me like I was some tee-shirted, blue-jeaned princess. "Welcome to Hidden Springs, miss."

Kate glided from the van, dragging Duncan behind her. "Duncan promised to give me a quick tour. See you later."

The bellman ushered me up the steps. A gnawing uncertainty took root. "Is there a dress code here?" I asked.

"Not so much anymore. But some of the families who've been coming here for generations still stick to the traditions."

There were men in brass-buttoned blue blazers and women in those dresses with the giant tropical Palm Beach prints. A bride rushed across the room, her bridesmaid racing behind, scooping up the lacy white train. An elegantly-attired crowd trailed after them and then I was alone. No one noticed me at all.