Carolyn Keene - White Water Terror

However, after a few minutes of conversation, Nancy had found out some essential details about their companions. Except for Nancy, Ned, Bess, and George, everyone seemed to be from the area, which struck Nancy as a little odd. Hadn’t George said that the contest was national ? If that was true, why weren’t there any winners from other parts of the country? Mercedes turned out to be Paula’s cousin, a fact which didn’t surprise Nancy, given the nervous energy they seemed to share. Linda and Ralph were both from Great Falls and appeared to be close friends-also not surprising, Nancy thought, since they, too, seemed alike, both quiet and shy. Tod and Mike came from a nearby small town and, according to them, were experienced rafters.

“There’s not much about Lost River that we don’t know,” Tod bragged. “We’ve made half a dozen trips down it in the past couple of years. We could handle these rafts ourselves, without any trouble-and all the gear, too. Like the radio, for instance. Isn’t it a beauty?” He jerked his thumb toward Mike. “Mike here is the expert on this baby. Right, Mike?”

Mike nodded. “Yeah, I guess so,” he said. “Radios are my hobby.”

“Is rafting dangerous?” George asked excitedly. She sounded as if she wished it were, but she wasn’t sure she should. She cocked an ear. “It sounds dangerous,” she said, listening to the thundering of the falls.

Mike shrugged. “Not if you know what you’re doing.” He cast a meaningful glance at Max, who had just joined the group and was busily talking to Bess. “Of course, if you’re careless or just plain dumb, somebody’s going to get hurt-or worse.” Nancy thought that Mike sounded as if he were challenging Max’s raft-handling ability. She wondered if he knew something about Max that the others didn’t.

Max turned to Mike. “Lost River is always dangerous,” he said flatly. “It doesn’t matter how much skill you have. The worst thing you can do is take it for granted.”

Linda and Bess looked frightened. “You mean the rafts aren’t safe?” Linda said haltingly.

“A raft is always safe as long as it is right-side-up and everybody stays on it,” Mike replied, with another challenging look at Max.

“Do they capsize often?” Bess asked, glancing at George and putting special emphasis on the word capsize . Nancy hid a smile. Bess was learning the vocabulary.

“Hardly ever.” Max tipped his cap toward the back of his head.

“As long as you don’t get careless,” Tod put in. “If you do…”

“Right,” Max said, avoiding Mike’s eyes. He put his hand casually on Bess’s arm. “Listen, Bess, if you’re scared, ride along with me, and I’ll show you what to watch out for. That way, you’ll understand what’s going on.”

A happy smile lit Bess’s face. “Sure,” she said. “I’d love to.”

Nancy and George exchanged worried looks. Why did Bess have to give away her heart on a moment’s notice? They’d have to talk with her first chance they got and warn her.

For the time being, Nancy just wanted some answers to the questions that had been bothering her all along. How much did the others know about the contest? George couldn’t remember entering it-could they? She turned to Linda. “So,” she said, “another lucky winner. Tell me how you won the contest.”

Linda shook her head. “You know, it’s funny,” she replied timidly. “When the letter from Paula Hancock came, I was completely surprised. I couldn’t even remember entering a contest.”

“Me, neither,” Ralph volunteered. “Linda and I have talked about it, and neither one of us can figure out exactly how we got here.”

Nancy looked at Mike and Tod. “What about you?” she asked.

Tod shrugged. “Who knows? I don’t remember entering, but I might have. You know how it goes. When you see a contest at a store or something, you always put your name in the box. I figure that’s what happened here. I probably entered it at the sporting goods store.”

“Yeah,” Mike put in. “When we got the letters we couldn’t remember exactly.” He glanced around with a slightly puzzled look on his face. “In fact, neither of us could remember ever hearing about White Water Rafting, which is kind of funny, since we live so close by. It must be a new company.”

“What does it matter how any of us got here?” Mercedes interrupted quickly, stepping forward. “We’re all going to have the time of our lives-and White Water Rafting is paying for the whole thing! What’s the point of asking all these questions?”

Before Nancy could answer, Paula hurried over to them, followed by Ned and Sammy. Nancy noticed that Sammy was casting very interested glances at Ned-and that Ned didn’t seem at all reluctant. In fact, he was laughing at something Sammy had said.

Nancy gave an inward sigh. This was supposed to be a time when she and Ned could get reacquainted with each other. But with all the distracting questions and frightening events, it was beginning to look more like a case than a vacation. And Sammy was giving her something else to worry about.

“Okay, everybody. The rafts are loaded,” Paula announced. “Now, I’m going to give you a few important instructions.” She pointed toward the rafts, big rubber boats eighteen or twenty feet long and five or six feet wide. One was pulled up on the shore, the other was in the river, moored with a line.

“See those wooden platforms toward the stern, where the oars are? Max and I sit on them. Everybody else sits down inside the raft-no standing up, no clowning around. Wear your life vest all the time, no matter how uncomfortable it gets. Pick a buddy-if anything happens, keep your eye on your buddy and be responsible for each other.” She looked around the group. “Any questions?”

When nobody answered, she said, “Okay, then, let’s get going. The first major falls is only about fifty yards downstream. It’s too dangerous to raft over, so we’ll take the sluice to the left to avoid the worst of it. It’s a sort of natural waterslide along the left shore, and it’s much tamer than the falls. We know what we’re doing, but it’ll be rough going for a few minutes, so hang on.” She eyed Nancy. “I’m assigning you to the raft on the right, Nancy. Climb aboard. There are some life vests stowed under the platform.”

The raft was moored to the shore with a line tied to a stake stuck in the mud. Nancy pulled it toward her and clambered aboard, scrambling awkwardly over a small heap of supplies and equipment stowed in the middle of the raft. The raft bobbed violently under her weight, and she grabbed for a handhold. She could feel the current tugging against the mooring line as if it were trying to tear the raft free.

Suddenly the line gave, jolting her to her knees as the raft swept away. The turbulent current of Lost River was pulling Nancy directly toward the falls!

“Nancy! Hang on!” she heard Ned shout.

The roar of the falls was growing louder. Grabbing for the oars, Nancy figured she had only fifty yards or so before she went over, and Paula had said that the falls were too dangerous for the raft to negotiate.

So, Nancy told herself, she’d have to hurry-do something so she wouldn’t be dashed to death on the rocks.

Glancing up, she saw Ned racing along the riverbank. Max and George were running hard behind him. Ned carried a coil of rope. “Row!” he called. “You’ve got to get out of the current!”

Nancy swallowed nervously. The ten-foot oars felt heavy and awkward, and her knuckles were white from gripping them so hard.

“Swing the raft toward the left!” Max yelled, coming up behind Ned. “Push on the right oar and pull on the left!”