Carolyn Keene - White Water Terror

Bracing her feet, Nancy followed Max’s instructions. The oars cut into the water. After a moment, the raft swung left, responding like a huge, sluggish whale. She began to row forward, toward the bank. But the current was much too strong.

“She’ll never make it!” Bess yelled.

“Maybe we can get a line to you,” Ned shouted. “Row to the left. The current’s not so bad closer to the shore.”

Mustering all her strength, Nancy pulled hard on both oars, trying to keep the bow of the boat moving left. She frantically looked for a life vest, but couldn’t see one on the raft. If she fell in the water, she couldn’t fight the current.

“Closer!” Ned ran along the bank to keep up with the raft. “The rope’s too short. I can’t reach you!”

Then Nancy remembered the sluice. Hadn’t Paula said something about avoiding the falls by taking it? She peered downriver. There, near the left shore, was the natural waterslide, tunneling the river along safely in a milky white froth, neatly avoiding the falls. “I’m heading for the sluice!” Nancy shouted to Ned. She was still rowing energetically, but her endurance was fading.

Despite her aching shoulders, Nancy held on. She focused every ounce of will on getting away from the pull of the falls.

Finally, the swifter current seemed to yield to her power. Almost magically, the raft swung toward the sluice, and now, at least, she had a chance.

On shore, Ned vaulted over a fallen tree, still trying to keep pace. “There’s a sandbar ahead,” he called. “Beach the raft on it!”

For an instant the raft was balanced on the lip of the long slide. Nancy raised the oars and lay far back, icy water spraying her face. With a giant whoosh! the raft dropped over the edge. Nancy squeezed her eyes shut and prayed. It was like being on the giant waterslide at the amusement park-but without any guarantee of safety.

The raft was completely out of control. It hit the turbulent water at the foot of the sluice with a giant splash, completely drenching Nancy. Then it bobbed along more quietly as she grabbed for the oars again and began to steer toward the sandbar. There was Ned, with George and Bess. He still had the rope in his hand.

“Here,” he shouted, tossing the end of the rope to her. She grabbed it and let him pull her ashore.

When the raft was safely beached, Nancy stumbled out. Ned caught her in his arms and held her for a minute, shivering.

“Well,” Max said with a grin as he caught up to them, “that wasn’t exactly the way we planned to get started. But now you know what rafting is all about.”

“We’ve got to get you some dry clothes, Nancy,” Bess added.

“Forget it,” Paula said, joining them. “Before the day is over, everybody will be wet.” She frowned at Nancy. “Where was your life vest? How come you didn’t put it on?”

“Life vest?” Nancy asked. “There weren’t any in the raft!”

Paula shrugged. “I guess they hadn’t been loaded yet.” She looked around at the rest of the group that had gathered. “So now you know. Accidents are a matter of routine on the river. You’ve got to be prepared for the worst.”

Accident? Nancy wasn’t convinced. She bent over the raft to examine the mooring closely. The stake was still attached to the line.

“What do you think?” Ned whispered to her. “Was it done deliberately?”

Nancy straightened up just in time to catch Paula’s intense gaze. Had she heard Ned’s question?

“I can’t be sure,” she replied in a low voice. She took Ned’s arm and walked casually away. “The mooring line hadn’t been cut or damaged. It looks like the stake just pulled out of the mud. So maybe it was an accident.”

“The other raft was pulled up partway on the shore,” George pointed out, hurrying to them. “That looks like a safer way to load people. And after the missing barricade…”

“Yeah, I know,” Nancy said grimly. “It’s beginning to look like we’re awfully accident prone.”

Half of the group, including Linda and Ralph, went back upstream to board Max’s raft. Linda seemed very frightened and kept saying that she wanted to back out, but Ralph put his arm around her comfortingly, and after a few minutes she calmed down. Nancy could hear Bess talking to Max. “Are you sure the raft is safe?” she was asking anxiously.

“Couldn’t be safer,” Max assured her confidently. “There are only two things that can destroy one of these rafts. One is to hang it up on a sharp rock. The other is to take a knife to it.” He laughed. “We’re going to make sure the first thing doesn’t happen. And I can’t imagine anybody being stupid enough to do the second. Can you?”

Nancy and George, Ned, Tod, and Sammy stayed behind on the sandbar to board Paula’s raft. As they got on, Sammy managed to settle down cozily in the bow next to Ned.

“Paula said to choose ‘buddies,’ ” she reminded him, edging closer to Ned. “I choose you!”

Ned cast a quick glance at Nancy, who was sitting farther back in the raft. Nancy shrugged. She wasn’t thrilled about the idea of Sammy being Ned’s “buddy,” but she wasn’t going to make a big thing about it.

“Well, okay,” Ned said. He seemed flattered. “For now, anyway.”

“Oh, that’s just wonderful!” Sammy exclaimed happily. She pulled her life vest over her head. “Will you show me how to buckle this, Ned?”

Nancy turned away. The last thing she needed was giggly Samantha making a play for Ned!

“Don’t worry,” George whispered, squeezing Nancy’s hand. “Ned’s not going to be taken in by an airhead like that.”

“I don’t know,” Nancy said doubtfully. Ned looked as if he were enjoying himself, bent close to Sammy, fastening the straps of the life vest around her slender waist. “She is awfully pretty.”

At that moment, Max’s raft came over the sluice, everyone screaming at the top of their lungs. It bounced into the pool with a giant splash. “Okay, here we go,” Paula said to Nancy’s group. She and Tod gave the raft a push off the sand and into the current. “Everybody hang on!”

With Paula seated on the platform and rowing strongly, the raft swung slowly out into the current and then picked up speed, following Max’s raft. Since it was nearly ten o’clock, the sun was high overhead, but the air was still cool. Nancy settled back comfortably. This stretch of Lost River was broader and deeper, and for the next half hour or so, the rafts rode smoothly and easily. Pines and spruce trees crowded both banks. High against the blue sky a hawk soared powerfully, and somewhere deep in the woods a woodpecker drummed a staccato beat.

“Isn’t this terrific?” George sighed. She was wearing her binoculars around her neck and suddenly raised them to her eyes. “I think that’s a bald eagle in that tree!” she said, awed.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Tod said casually from his spot next to Nancy.

“I thought they were rare,” Nancy said.

Tod shrugged. “To the rest of the country, maybe. Not around here.” He grinned. “One of my buddies had one for a while.”

George’s eyes got round. “A bald eagle? You mean as a pet?”

“Yeah, a little one. For a while. He had a coon, too, but it got to be a pest.” He grinned broadly, and Nancy noticed that he was missing a tooth. “Made a nice cap.”

“A cap?” Nancy asked in disgust. “He skinned it?”

“Naw.” Tod grinned. “ I skinned it.” He pulled a six-inch switchblade out of his pocket and began flicking the blade in and out. “Butchered and skinned it, all with this knife.” A flick of his hand brought the blade out again. “Sharp as a razor.” He grabbed Nancy’s arm and turned it over. “Bet I could kill a bear with this knife,” he boasted, touching the sharp-honed blade to the blue veins of her wrist.