Part 24 (1/2)

”Do you think JT would kill me if I took just one teeny tiny chunk of this lava rock home with me?” Susan whispered to Amy as they climbed up the hillside.

Lena peered down the steep drop-off ”It doesn't look that big,” she said.

”Shouldn't Amy buckle the bottom buckle on her life jacket?” Evelyn asked Abo.

JT stood at the edge of an outcrop, tight-chested from the intense heat that radiated off the black rocks. In the five minutes it took to get up here, his s.h.i.+rt had already dried. Down on the river, one of the kayakers headed for the drop.

”Too far left,” JT said. But he was wrong; the kayaker bulleted through the rapid, spinning in triumph at the bottom.

”Anyone else having trouble with the eggs from this morning?” Abo inquired.

”Because-I don't know, I'd just feel more comfortable, riding with the boys,” Jill said to Mark.

”I totally understand,” he replied.

”Oh golly,” breathed Mitch.e.l.l, gazing down at a tiny raft in the maelstrom of waves. ”Yikes.”

”No wonder it's a ten,” said Evelyn.

”Holy f.u.c.k,” Mitch.e.l.l said.

38.

Day Eleven Lava Mile 179 A my tried to keep up with the group as they hiked up the short trail to the scouting point, but with her feet so swollen, every step made her wince. She felt like she was walking on cacti. The rocks were black and hot, and the trail was overgrown with p.r.i.c.kly bushes that clawed at her legs. When she reached a small lookout, she stopped. Lena was right; Lava didn't seem all that big. From the way Mitch.e.l.l was talking the night before, Amy expected something along the order of Niagara Falls. This looked like any other rapid, only wider. my tried to keep up with the group as they hiked up the short trail to the scouting point, but with her feet so swollen, every step made her wince. She felt like she was walking on cacti. The rocks were black and hot, and the trail was overgrown with p.r.i.c.kly bushes that clawed at her legs. When she reached a small lookout, she stopped. Lena was right; Lava didn't seem all that big. From the way Mitch.e.l.l was talking the night before, Amy expected something along the order of Niagara Falls. This looked like any other rapid, only wider.

Then she watched a fat white pontoon boat slide down into the mess and plow through a standing wall of water, and she calculated that the wall was as high as the boat was long.

Oh.

Peter, who had been up with the rest of the group, now came slapping back down the trail to join her.

”Go up and see it from there,” he urged her. ”You get a much better view. Hey. You okay?”

Amy didn't want to tell him about her feet. She didn't want to draw attention to them. She crossed her arms. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s hurt, and she felt off balance. ”So where's that stupid ledgie thing?”

Peter pointed to a long irregular interface near the top of the rapid, where the dark, smooth-flowing river exploded into white chaos.

”The dark part's the Ledge,” Peter said. ”And all that white stuff below, that's the Hole.”

”And the Hole is where we don't want to go?”

”Where we definitely don't want to go,” he said. ”Even if you can swim. Like I can. If you remember, I learned to swim on this trip. But I don't want to swim in that hole.”

”I just want to get it over with,” said Amy. ”Its so hot here.”

”How many shots do you have left in your camera?”

Amy took the waterproof camera out of her f.a.n.n.y pack. It was school bus yellow, sheathed in hard plastic, with a blue rubber wrist strap. She squinted at the dial. ”Seven.”

”Well, listen. This thing is bigger than I thought. There won't be much time. Twenty seconds, JT says. If you get a shot of Mitch.e.l.l, great. If not, no big deal. We've got a lot of other good pictures of him.”

”I definitely want a picture of him in Lava,” said Amy. ”He's been talking about it the whole trip. If there's going to be one picture of him that sums it all up, it'll be Mitch.e.l.l at the helm in Lava Falls.”

”You are such such a b.i.t.c.h,” Peter said proudly. a b.i.t.c.h,” Peter said proudly.

”Thank you,” said Amy.

Back at the boats, JT gathered everybody together and waited for their full attention. A hush fell over the group.

”Okay now,” he said, looking around. ”From the looks of it, things seem pretty normal. There's a lot of hype here at Lava. And for good reason. This is big stuff. But I want everyone to stay calm. Keep your wits about you. Listen to your paddle captain. Listen to Dixie. Listen to me.”

”Where's Blender going to ride?” Sam asked. He stood hopping from one leg to the other. The dog had ridden in the paddle boat that morning, much to Sam's delight.

”My boat,” said JT.

”Who's in your boat?” asked Sam.

”I've got Ruth and Lloyd, plus Amy and Mitch.e.l.l.”

Sam stopped dancing. ”So who will hold on to the dog?”

”Well,” said JT, ”well, I guess Mitch.e.l.l will.”

”Moi?” said Mitch.e.l.l. said Mitch.e.l.l.

”That's right,” JT told Mitch.e.l.l. ”You're going to be riding up front, so you're in charge of the dog.”

(Way to make things as hard as possible, he thought.) But Mitch.e.l.l shook his head somberly. ”Well then, this hombray will rise to the occasion.”

Once again, JT reminded them to check their life jackets. Solemnly they all boarded their respective boats as the guides stood knee-deep in the water and coiled up their bow lines. There was a kind of informal queue among the parked boats, and their group was next.

When Amy, Mitch.e.l.l, Ruth, and Lloyd were in their seats, JT pushed off.

”Here's the deal,” he said, rocking the boat as he climbed up and settled himself on his seat. ”Main thing is to just stay low and hang on tight.” He reached back and tightened the retainer strap on his sungla.s.ses. ”And listen closely! We're going in on the right and in two seconds I'm going to shout 'V-wave!' 'V-wave!'”

”What's a V-wave?” asked Amy.

”It's just a huge backward wave. Anyway-when I yell 'V-wave,' 'V-wave,' I want you to duck-and then I want you to I want you to duck-and then I want you to immediately immediately start bailing. I mean start bailing. I mean immediately! immediately! And with the buckets-don't bother with the bailing pump; there isn't time. Just bail like h.e.l.l. Then there'll be another huge wave, and then we're through. Whole thing takes twenty seconds. Pretty simple. Not a lot to remember.” He snapped the latch on the ammo box at his feet. ”So, Amy ... What is it you're going to do?” And with the buckets-don't bother with the bailing pump; there isn't time. Just bail like h.e.l.l. Then there'll be another huge wave, and then we're through. Whole thing takes twenty seconds. Pretty simple. Not a lot to remember.” He snapped the latch on the ammo box at his feet. ”So, Amy ... What is it you're going to do?”

”Hold on? Duck when you say 'V-wave,' and bail?”

”That's what I like,” said JT. ”A pa.s.senger who listens.”

”What do I do with the dog?” Mitch.e.l.l asked. ”Should I hold on to his bandanna? Put him on a leash? What should I do?”