“Gracious. Someone must not have put sugar in her tea today,” Laine said.
Riley’s head snapped to Laine, and she raised a finger. “Not a word from you. Do you hear me? Not one word.” She pulled the inner tube toward the conveyer belt that would send them to one of the towers, down a course of waterslides, and into the wave pool that coursed through the entire property of the hotel. It was a favorite of most guests, but she could tell by the look on Tamyra’s face she could have left and never missed it. She grabbed hold of Tamyra’s legs, which dangled from the inner tube. “I will be with you the whole way. You’re going to be fine. Just breathe.”
Then she hopped onto her side of the tube, convinced that she hadn’t convinced Tamyra at all. So she didn’t plan on telling her that she was surrounded by twenty million gallons of water or that this was a pretty long ride.
The technology was rivaled by very few: inner tubes laced their way up conveyer belts, through meandering funnels of water, up water escalators, and were pushed through canals by water surges. The scenery was breathtaking, and the color in Tamyra’s face and knuckles had even begun to come back. Right until another conveyer belt came into view that looked as if it ended at the throne of God Himself. That was when the slow, guttural moans began.
Riley turned to Winnie. “If she jumps off, you’re going after her.”
Winnie crinkled her nose. “It’s okay, Tamyra. Just imagine you’re in your bathtub.”
That was about the time that something unleashed, and a prison door broke open inside Tamyra. The tiara came off, and with it self-control. “This is not my bathtub! This is death! You are sending me to my death!” Her voice was shrieking and her terror was unmistakable. “I know I’m dying already, but my word, woman, I wasn’t planning on doing it today!”
Riley reached over and tried to grip her hand. Tamyra jerked it away but then seemed to realize that also removed it from the handle she had been grasping for dear life. She flung it back onto the handle and gave Riley a dirty look. Riley withdrew her hand and looked back at Laine and Winnie. “You two are unbelievable.”
Laine tilted her head in that cocky way she had. “Well, you’re here, aren’t you?”
If Riley were in the habit of flipping people off, this would have been the prime opportunity. Tamyra’s groaning started as they came to the top of the final conveyer belt that would deposit them at the waterslides. “Honestly, Tamyra, it will be over in a minute. And you don’t ever have to get back in water again.” Riley hoped the words would soothe her.
But Tamyra was no longer responding. She had gone to the place of fear where breathing was altered and eyes were glazed. A young lifeguard pushed them to the top of a chute that would propel them down a waterslide. Riley had wisely placed them in the lane that took them to the most elementary slide, but she knew that it would still be far more than Tamyra had ever wanted to experience.
Without time to say a word, they shot through the darkness of a tunnel, their inner tube bouncing and colliding with the walls, the water surge beneath them carrying them through the blackness until it pushed them into the open slide. Riley looked back and saw that Tamyra’s eyes and fists were clenched so tight, she wasn’t sure what it would take to eventually pry them open. The tube continued to bounce and careen down the slide with rapid speed, and Riley felt the adrenaline of the thrill rush through her. Gabby loved this ride. She would fly through here with the shrill squeals of a six-year-old and beg for more when they finally came to the bottom.
As the tube made its final plunge from the slide into the wave pool, Riley reached over to touch Tamyra’s hand. “It’s over, Tamyra. Now it’s just the wave pool.”
About that time she heard Winnie and Laine scream as they were spit out a few yards behind. She turned and couldn’t help but smile at the rapture on the faces of those two mongrels. She looked back to see Tamyra opening her eyes.
“It’s over?” Her voice was barely audible.
“Yeah, it’s over.”
“I did it?”
Riley patted her. “Yeah, honey, you did it.”
“I did it? I really did it.” The excitement grew with each personal revelation.
Winnie called out. “Way to go, Tamyra baby! I knew you could do it!”
Tamyra was slightly laughing now. She turned toward Winnie. “I did it, Winnie. I did it!”
Riley watched as Tamyra’s eyes grew huge. Riley looked back and saw a large wave headed straight for them. She had forgotten about that. The ride was far from over. Now came the wave pool.
“What’s that?” Tamyra’s voice squeaked.
“Um, you might just want to hold on.”
That was when the wave came up underneath them and projected them heavenward and then placed them back down with a massive, but somewhat-gentle, surge. It brought Laine and Winnie alongside them.
Tamyra’s eyes were huge. “Whew!”
Laine and Winnie were cackling like hens.
Riley couldn’t help but laugh too.
About that time Tamyra’s eyes grew wide again. No one had to look this time. The next wave overtook them and lifted them again with reckless abandon. That was when Tamyra screamed and then slowly raised her hands in the air as if she were riding a roller coaster. Riley studied the delight that
