Still Waters

we don't have so much to carry later.'

'Oh. Okay.' She fumbled in her pocket for the keys to her car. 'Zack… bring back my purse, okay? I left it in the trunk.'

'Sure.' He gave her a lingering, upside-down kiss, and whispered, 'Sweet dreams…'

Maddy woke suddenly, with that sweaty, shaky, adrenaline surge that accompanies an already-forgotten nightmare. She sat up trembling and disoriented, staring around her, terrified without knowing why.

Then suddenly, with shattering clarity, she knew why.

She was alone. The blanket was empty. Theresa was gone.

The nightmare terror ebbed slowly with the return of full consciousness, leaving her concerned and mildly annoyed, but not really worried. Theresa couldn't have gone far-wouldn't have gone far. She'd just gone off, in her independent little way, to do some exploring on her own.

'Can I go by myself? I'm big enough.'

No. She wouldn't try to take out one of the boats by herself. Zack had expressly told her to stay away from them.

Maddy stood up and walked a little way down the slope toward the docks, shading her eyes against the glare of the setting sun. Could Theresa get past the men who managed the canoe rentals? Probably she could. But she wouldn't disobey Zack… would she? Then Maddy remembered Carleen saying, 'Sometimes she doesn't mind…' And she remembered that stubborn little chin…

She looked around for Zack, then recalled that he'd gone to the car. How long ago had that been? She had no idea how much time had passed, how long she'd been dozing. Long enough, certainly, for a little girl to wake up and completely vanish from her sight.

Maddy began to call, 'Theresa? Theresa!' as she walked down toward the lake.

There were several canoes still out on the water, dark silhouettes on a surface of rippled bronze, but she couldn't see against that glare. She called again, cupping her hands around her mouth to make a mega-phone, sending her voice across the water.

A thin, childish voice answered. One tiny figure lifted an arm to wave, then stood up. 'Hi, Maddy. Look at me! Look what I can do!'

'Theresa! Oh… God.' Maddy clapped both hands over her mouth and looked frantically around her. Several people were glancing her way, apparently wondering what was happening. 'Theresa, honey, stay there! Sit down! Do you hear me? Sit down!'

Some of Maddy's urgency seemed to reach the little girl. Suddenly she appeared confused. As she wavered uncertainly between standing and sitting, her paddle slipped from her grasp and fell into the water. She reached for it-an automatic reflex-and then, frightened by the canoe's wobble, tried to regain her balance. It was too late. As Maddy watched in stony horror, Theresa toppled into the gilded water.

She made a pathetically insignificant splash. Maddy's anguished cry covered it completely. Maddy remained frozen, nailed to the end of the dock, until she saw a dark head bob to the surface. Then she closed her eyes tightly, held her nose, and jumped.

As she hit the water she had only one thought: Not again. Zack can't lose another child like this. Dear God, not again…

Zack was coming down the slope through the sycamore trees when he heard Maddy's scream. It took him a fraction of forever to locate her, poised there on the end of the dock, and another eternity before he'd identified the reason for her cry. When he saw Maddy jump, he whispered, 'No…!'Maddy's purse slipped from his hand as he began to run.

He flew down the hill and thundered onto the dock, scattering the gathering crowd like so many pigeons.

Theresa was treading water, bless her heart, just the way he'd taught her. Zack shouted at her, 'That's it, baby, you're doing fine. Just hang in there. I'm coming!'

Hang in there, baby. Please.

Maddy was floundering through the water with a kind of frantic resolve that had already carried her far beyond her limits. Zack swore with the kind of virtuosity that only comes with sheer emotional overload. The idiot! The crazy idiot. She'd learned a lot in three weeks, but there was no way in the world she'd ever make it out as far as that canoe, much less back again with Theresa! What did she think she was going to do? They'd both drown!

They'd both drown.

'Call the paramedics!' he bellowed at the nearest bystander, and launched himself into the water like a human torpedo.

He'd never pushed himself so hard in his life. He wasn't swimming for gold or records now-he was swimming for two people's lives. The lives of the two people he loved most in the world.

As he churned through the water, Zack was torn between the need to keep those two heads in his sight, and the knowledge that he'd gain speed by keeping his head down. He tried to locate them whenever he took a breath, but it was so hard to see.

Theresa's eyes were his beacon, his lighthouse. Hang on, baby, he pleaded silently. I'm coming. Don't let go. Don't give up. …'

He'd lost sight of Maddy. He couldn't see her anymore.

He reached Theresa, and she clung to his neck. Her thin little body was shaking with cold and fear.

'Easy, sweetheart,' he said. 'Take it easy. I've got you.'

Her voice was a frightened whimper. 'Maddy's drownding.'

'No! No… she's not gonna drown. You hang on here, okay?' Two powerful strokes carried him to the drifting canoe. He hoisted Theresa into it, sent up a fervent prayer, and dove.

The water was murky; he couldn't see a thing. All he could think was, Dear God, she must be terrified.

It had to be sheer luck that he found her. He felt something brush his leg, and, reaching for it, managed to grab a handful of Maddy's hair.

She came up coughing, choking, retching- making terrible, wonderful noises that told him she'd be all right. Theresa, when she saw Maddy, began to howl at the top of her lungs-and that was a wonderful noise too.

Dimly Zack heard the wail of a siren. Other boats were arriving. Strong hands reached down to pull Maddy from his arms. And then all three of them- Zack, Maddy, Theresa-were huddled in the Parks Department rowboat, wrapped in blankets.

No one spoke. Theresa wailed, Maddy coughed, and Zack sat in stony shock as they were rowed back to the shore.

As Zack stepped onto the dock, someone put Theresa into his arms. He held her silently while she wrapped her arms around his neck and hid her face from the crowd. A voice spoke with quiet authority.

'All right, folks. Let's move on back out of the way now. Let us get through here.' The fire department's two paramedics helped Maddy onto the deck, then knelt down beside her.

Above the folds of her blanket Maddy's eyes went wide with dismay. 'Oh, no,' she managed to rasp out. 'Zack-you didn't… call the paramedics?'

It was suddenly too much. Like magma building below the surface of the earth that finally erupts in volcanic cataclysm, Zack's emotions reached the breaking point. He set Theresa down-not gently- and exploded.

'What the hell did you expect me to do? You bet I called the paramedics! Of all the stupid, asinine stunts-What the hell were you trying to do? You can't swim well enough to keep yourself from drowning! Hell, Theresa swims better than you do!'

Maddy stared at him while the paramedics went about checking her vital signs with calm efficiency. Zack thought his vital signs were probably in worse shape than hers were right now. He took two steps away from her, then whirled back. 'What are you trying to do-kill me?'

'Kill you?' she whispered.

He covered his face with one hand, then threw both arms wide. 'Yeah! Kill me. Do you think I could survive losing the two people I love most in the whole damn world… twice?'

One of the paramedics gave him a compassionate glance and held an oxygen mask to Maddy's face. She pushed it away.

'Zack-' Her voice collapsed into a wheezing cough. 'Stop it. Look at Theresa. You're scaring her!'