“Together then,” he shouts, and they run to the face of the cliff as a volley of gun shots flies past them. When he glances over at her, he’s stunned to see her grinning at him.
“Nahma!” Together, she shouts.
Two of the Indians chase after them, skidding to a stop at the edge and screaming in rage when they leap. They watch in horrified fascination as the two bodies drop over seventy feet to the raging river below.
What can only be a few seconds seem like an eternity as they plunge into the icy water with a smack. Vanessa loses her breath from the impact, and the bubbles surround her. The pull of the river is strong, but she’d learned not to fight it. Immediately, she begins to kick and swim towards the surface, following the directions of the bubbles. When she can break the surface, she gasps in a breath of air and lifts her feet as her father instructed her.
Harris? She looks around desperate to find him only to see him struggling to break the surface. A scream from above and the Indians begin releasing arrows and wild gun shots.
“NO!” Harris’s body is pushed past her and is sinking under! Vanessa takes a deep breath and dives, struggling to reach him. She’s able to grab one arm and pull him to her. With an arm wrapped around his neck, she prays for help and kicks towards the surface. When she is finally able to break through the surface, she flips and holds Harris’s head up.
“Harris, wake up!” She coughs and stops fighting the current, allowing it to carry them. She is beginning to think they have a chance to escape until the arrows and bullets begin splashing in the water all around them.
Vanessa screams when one slices into her arm.
“Harris, please!” she struggles to hold them above the water.
“Grab the rope!” A voice yells from the shore. Vanessa looks over and sees three riders thundering along the shore. Pierce Rivers stops and shoulders his rifle. He fires at the cliff face above, forcing the braves to back away. His brother Steele stops and joins him, and they shoot together, hoping to give them the cover they need to escape the grip of the rapids.
“Kimani!” Dane Rivers shouts, calling her attention. The rope slaps in front of her, and she reaches with one hand, but almost loses hold of Harris.
“I can’t!” she screams, sucking in a mouthful of water as they are pulled along by the fast-moving water, into a section of raging rapids.
Dane drags the rope back, cursing and creates a lasso as he watches them sweep into a section of rapids and boulders.
Vanessa’s muscles are burning as she struggles to keep his head above water and fights to keep herself upright. “Please, Harris, wake up!” she coughs out.
Harris jerks awake and opens his eyes with a groan of pain. He coughs and fights against the current, causing her to shout his name. Relief at the sound of her voice has him gripping her tightly.
“Your Dad is here!” She shouts as they drop down a funnel point in the river. Vanessa tries to grab a boulder to help slow them down, and this time with Harris’s grip they are able to hold on for a minute.
A wave rolls over them. When they surface, he looks at the shoreline and sees his Dad and brothers racing alongside. His father rides ahead and leaps down, running along a big boulder ahead of them. Relief rips through his soul.
“Grab the rope when he throws it, Nessa!” Harris orders, watching his father begin to swirl the lasso over his head.
“No! You’re hurt,” she shakes her head and sobs his name, “Harris!”
“Do IT!” He roars at her away and shoves her away from him.
“Harris!” She screams when he pushes her into the fast moving water.
Dane watches and tosses the lasso, dropping it around her upturned hand. Pierce thunders past Dane, riding ahead to help Harris.
“Steele!” Dane shouts pulling on the rope. Steele runs next to his father’s side and reaches for her.
Pierce thunders away wrapping a rope around the pommel on his saddle and rides as close to the shoreline as possible. The other end of the rope is tied around his waist, and he says a quick prayer as they watch Harris float down-stream on his back and disappear beneath a large wave in the rapids.
“Damn!” Pierce hisses.
“Dad?” Steele shouts watching Pierce go after Harris.
“Go!” Vanessa coughs, and rolls over, expelling more water. Dane runs, back to his horse and rides downstream. He rides as fast as he can and watches Harris break through the surface of the water.
Pierce positions himself in front of Harris on the shoreline and dives into the fast-moving water, swimming aggressively to reach the spot he thinks his brother will surface. Steele reaches his horse and grabs the reins and begins backing the horse up knowing the jerk will come as soon as the rope reaches the end.
Harris struggles with the power of the rapidly moving whitewater. He barely makes it to the surface before he is slammed back down again. Pierce swims and is ready when Harris’s body slams into his. He wraps up on his brother, counting on Steele to handle the extraction.
Steele drives the horse back away from the shoreline the moment the rope goes taut. Vanessa stumbles to her feet and runs, praying that Harris will be okay.
“Yah!” Steele shouts forcing the horse to back up, and Dane leaps down grabbing his rope, knowing they will need a second rope to pull the weight of two bodies from the grasp of the river.
Vanessa watches in horror as Harris and Pierce are towed from the river. Dane waits for the perfect moment and drops a second rope
