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Ellie forced her shocked limbs to move. Every instinct screamed for her to swim directly for land. With Bates’s words fresh in her ear, she resisted, and instead let the river propel her forward as she pulled ferociously for the shore.
Her flailing hand brushed against a slick, protruding root. Ellie grasped it. The force of the water pressed her up against the wood.
Bates slammed into place beside her, hitting the extended roots of the tree with a thud. He hauled himself up and reached back to pull Ellie after him.
They fell against the leaf-strewn earth of the bank and lay there, breathless.
Ellie stared up at the flickering green leaves of the trees overhead. The rush of the water still sang in her ears. Slowly, she forced herself to stagger back to her feet and look out over the river.
The waterfall was just ahead of them. Through the cool, damp mist, Ellie could see just how far away the ground below it lay.
The drop was dizzying.
As she watched, theMary Leereached the edge, spun in a lazy half-circle—and then toppled over the brink.
A sickening crunch sounded from below.
She looked down at where Bates lay on the ground with his eyes still closed.
“That was my boat. Wasn’t it?” he asked quietly.
“I’m afraid it was,” Ellie replied.
She waited for his reaction, wondering whether it would be anger or dismay.
Bates laughed.
He sat up with the force of it, coughing, and pounded a hand to his chest.
The laugh was contagious. Ellie fought back a bubbling, wild hysteria—and then succumbed to it. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes.
“How are we going to get back?” she demanded, forcing the words out through the spasms in her chest.
“I have absolutely no idea,” Bates replied, wheezing.
Laugher consumed her in another helpless fit until she slumped down against the trunk of a nearby tree, sprawling her legs out in front of her.
“Are we going to die out here?” she asked mirthfully.
“Naw,” Bates replied. “I’ve been in worse scrapes. We’ll figure it out.” He frowned. “Well. Maybe notworse…”
That threatened another outburst of hysteria.
“Come on,” he said at last. He hopped to his feet and crossed over to her. “Let’s see what we might be able to salvage…”
His voice trailed off. His eyes locked on the space beyond Ellie’s tree. Ellie quickly rose and whirled with alarm as she wondered whether a jaguar was in the process of sneaking up on them.
She saw only the place where the river fell away and, far below it, the cloud of mist that covered the rocks where theMary Leehad been smashed to splinters.
When she turned back to Bates, his skin was looking distinctly clammy.
“Is something the matter?” she demanded.
“Nope,” he mumbled. “Just great.”
“Did you hit your head in the current?” she pressed. “You look as though you might be showing signs of a concussion.”
“Head’s fine. Everything’s fine,” he numbly and unconvincingly assured her. “Just going to… sit on down here for a minute. Look at some trees.”
