“Sure thing,” said Chad. He then went to Riyan’s pack and removed the map. Carefully unfolding the soaked material, in no time he had it drying near the fire.
While he was doing this, the twins had erected a spit upon which the fish Soth’s quick reflexes had skewered was starting to roast. When the droplets from the fish hit the fire with a hiss, the resulting aroma cramped everyone’s stomach in hunger.
Bart had the boat upturned on the beach and was inspecting the bottom. Kevik noticed what he was doing and walked over. “What are you doing?” he asked.
Glancing up, Bart said, “We hit a rock and I was checking the damage.” He pointed to a six inch crack that appeared along the midsection of the boat. Several other cracks radiated out from it like spidery tendrils.
“Will it float?” asked Kevik.
“Should,” he replied. “The crack isn’t very large, I’m sure there’ll be some leakage. Hopefully not too bad.” Then his stomach rumbled as the odor from the roasting fish wafted his way. He grinned at Kevik whose stomach had just done the same thing.
“I got one!” yelled Riyan.
They both turned to see Riyan standing in the water, a foot from the edge. The piece of driftwood he was using for a pole was bending as he tried to pull the fish from the water. Chad bolted up and raced to his aid.
“Don’t pull too hard,” Chad advised as he entered the water.
“I’m not,” replied Riyan. “It’s a big one.”
Chad reached the string and began working his way further into the water toward where it passed beneath the surface. Even before he reached where the string entered the water, he could see a large shape at its end. He pulled out his knife and waded out even further.
“Be careful,” Bart warned Chad as he came to stand beside Riyan.
Too intent on the struggling fish, Chad failed to hear what Bart said. Moving closer, he came within a foot of where the fish fought to free itself from the hook. Just as he was about to strike, his foot slipped on a loose stone lying on the riverbed and fell face first into the water.
“Chad!” exclaimed Riyan.
Bart quickly entered the water and rushed to where Chad was thrashing about. Reaching out, he grabbed hold of Chad’s cloak and pulled him up. When Chad broke the surface, he had the fish impaled upon his knife.
“Got him!” he exclaimed proudly.
Bart laughed and clapped him on the back. “Good job,” he said.
Chad held up the fish as he walked back to the beach. In a matter of minutes, it was on a second spit roasting beside the first. “There might be enough left over to take with us,” he commented. Shivering from his dunking in the water, he huddled close to the fire. But such was not the case. By the time everyone had been completely satiated, both fish had been reduced to skeletal remains.
They remained on the beach for another hour until their clothes and packs had dried somewhat. Then they flipped the boat back over and set it on the water to get underway once more.
Bart was the first to enter the boat and he kept his eye on the crack along the bottom. A small trickle of water began seeping into the bottom as the others climbed in. The last to enter was Riyan who pushed the boat from the shore as he hopped in.
Once in, he pulled out his map while Chyfe and Soth rowed. Sitting next to him, Bart noticed Riyan perusing the map and asked, “How far is it until the next river joins this one?”
“Not sure,” came the reply. “Maybe an hour or so.”
Bart gazed to the sky and judged there still to be two or three hours of light left. Here at the bottom of the canyon, it tended to get dark fast once the sun started going down. “Be nice if we could get past it before nightfall,” he said. “Then we could see about making our way out in the morning.”
Riyan nodded. “Then things get interesting,” he said.
From the front of the boat they heard Chad say, “Not too interesting.”
They grinned. “But interesting makes life fun,” replied Bart, egging him on.
“I wouldn’t mind a touch of boredom here and there on occasion,” stated Chad.
Bart laughed. “I’ll see what I can do,” he replied.
They steadily made their way southward and had soon passed from the lake. The river was now wider and seemed to flow deeper. It was peaceful on the river, almost as if there were no cares in world. Birds flew overhead adding to the restful mood, their cries at times disturbing the quiet of the canyon.
And so things remained calm for the next hour or so until once again, they began to hear the now unmistakable sound of rough water ahead. “Can we be there already?” asked Seth.
“Maybe,” replied Riyan.
Though what was making the sound continued to be out of sight, the sound coming from up ahead promised a less than relaxing experience. Chyfe and Soth rowed on as the roar gradually grew louder.
When they finally saw the rough water ahead, it didn’t look all that bad. Some time in the past the right side of the canyon had slid into the river. Now, boulders of varying sizes caused the water to ripple and crash as it made its way through the debris.
Bart, who was on rudder duty, began angling them toward the left side of the river, as far away from the worst of it as he could. “Just take it easy and we’ll be fine,” he said encouragingly. Then to the two rowers, he said, “Main thing for you two to worry about is keeping us pointed downriver.”
Chyfe nodded his head in reply.
The water began to grow rough as they neared the age old landslide. Waves and eddies caused their little boat to pitch and yaw. The two rowers worked hard to keep them in proper alignment with the flow of the river while Bart steered them around the more prominent obstacles.
They dipped into watery valleys only to be thrust back upward with jarring force. Smashing back down onto the water with jaw rattling force, they maneuvered their way through the obstacle course.
Then they were past and the river grew calm once again. They were just congratulating themselves on making it through when Chad, who was now at the prow, saw the beginnings of another stretch of whitewater approaching. Unlike what they had just passed through, this time there was mist clouding the air beyond it.
“Bart!” Chad hollered. When he had Bart’s attention, he directed it to what was coming ahead.
“That might be where the last river converges,” Bart said, when he saw the cloud of mist.
As they left behind the roar of the whitewater where the canyon wall had collapsed, they began to hear the roar of turbulent water ahead. Drawing closer to the mist enshrouding the river, Chad was straining his eyes to pierce its concealing mass. When they reached the point where the roar of the water ahead of them drowned out that which was behind, Chad saw the water drop out of sight.
“Another drop coming!” he hollered.
“How bad is it?” shouted Bart from the rear of the boat.
Chad strove to determine the severity of the drop but couldn’t see past where the water dropped from sight. As they drew nearer, fear came over him as he realized why he couldn’t. “Waterfall!” he cried out.
“What?” hollered Bart.
“Waterfall!” he replied, pointing ahead. “We’re heading for a waterfall!”
Seth, who sat next to Chad in the prow, indicated a stretch of land not far off on their right. “There!” shouted Seth. “Take us there.”
Soth and Chyfe began rowing for all they were worth for the safety of the shore.
“Come on brother!” Seth exclaimed, encouraging his brother to greater efforts.
As Chad watched the fast approaching lip of the drop-off, he could hear the oars of the two rowers striking the water over and over in rapid strokes. “Faster!” he yelled. Turning back to Soth and Chyfe he said, “You must row faster.”
“Going…as fast…as I…can,” replied Chyfe.
Returning his gaze to the fore, he saw the drop-off approaching at a fast pace. Faster in fact than the stretch of shore they were tying to get to. “We’re not going to make it!” he hollered.
Bart glanced up and gauged their speed. Immediately, he knew Chad was right. “Straighten us out!” he shouted over the roar of the water. “We’re going over!” Using his oar vigorously, he worked with Soth and Chyfe as they struggled to straighten the boat out before reaching the drop-off.
“Hang on!” shouted Seth as the prow of the boat neared the drop-off.
