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experience, but it’s enough to tack the sixty-two-foot
Family Dunne.
I yell at Mark and Ernie to watch for the swinging boom as I furiously spin the wheel. I can’t see Carrie anywhere. I keep checking on Jake’s progress, his powerful arms ripping through the water in pursuit of my daughter.
    Oh, God, please don’t let her drown!
    She must be hurt—it has to be that,
I’m thinking. She was a superb swimmer at her prep school, Choate, first team, all this and that, trophy after trophy. She could tread water for hours if she had to. Now she can’t even stay afloat.
    “Hurry, Jake!” I yell, not that he can hear me out there.
    Mark and Ernie edge over to the side of the boat. All they can do is watch helplessly, same as me. None of us are particularly strong swimmers, and suddenly I’m incredibly guilty about that, and everything else.
    Jake reaches the spot where Carrie went under, although it’s hard to know for sure with the shifting waves. I see him take a deep breath and disappear, leaving the life preserver behind. Why did he do that?
    But then I figure it out—it’s for me to have a target.
    I steer for it as the boat does a full one-eighty, cutting back through the wind. There’s still no sign of Jake or Carrie, though, and all I can do is think about that feeling of hope I had just a short time ago. It’s slipping away, so fast I can’t stand it!
    I strip off my sweater, yanking it up over my head. “I’m going in after them!” I tell the boys.
    “No!” says Mark. “You’ll only make it worse!”
    What’s worse than losing Carrie?
    I know Mark’s probably right, but I don’t care. I step up on the edge of the boat, about to dive, when Ernie shouts, “Look! Mom, look!”
    It’s Jake!
    And, in his arms, Carrie!
    They’re both gasping for air as he grabs the life preserver and pulls it in close.
    “All right!” exclaims Ernie, raising his hand for a high five from Mark. But Mark leaves him hanging. He’s too busy watching something else.
    That’s when I see it too. I was so relieved I almost didn’t.
    Something’s not right. In fact, something is very, very wrong.
    Chapter 10
    JAKE JUST COULDN’T BELIEVE the pain shooting all through his body. His heart was pounding in his chest like a jackhammer. His arms, his legs, his lungs—everything ached.
    From the boat, Carrie had looked so close—a good dive and a couple dozen strong strokes to reach her, that’s it. But in the water she felt much farther away. A million miles!
    No matter.
    He got there somehow. He had her now! This wouldn’t be a repeat of his brother—no, Carrie wouldn’t be another Dunne claimed by the sea. She was alive.
    Only now she was maybe too much alive.
    As Jake struggled to hold her nose and mouth above water, Carrie kicked and screamed wildly in his arms. What was wrong with her?
    “Carrie, I’ve got you. Just relax,” urged Jake, trying to sound calm against her panic.
    That’s what this is, isn’t it?
he thought. Carrie was still panicked from almost drowning. She was scared to death—literally. That’s why she was fighting him.
    He tried again, louder. “Carrie, it’s me. It’s Uncle Jake! Stop fighting me.”
    He was sure she’d snap out of it any second. She’d realize she was safe and calm down.
    But she didn’t. If anything, she was getting worse, twisting and thrashing around like a tornado in his arms. A ninety-eight-pound killer tornado! Where was she getting so much strength?
    Meanwhile, Jake had none to spare. His muscles were spent, his thighs and calves beginning to seize up and cramp. For the first time in his forty-four years he actually felt his age.
    Forget the calm voice. Jake yelled at her. “CARRIE! STOP IT NOW!”
    Her name and a couple of other words were all he could get out of his mouth before it was filled by a swell of salt water burning the back of his throat.
    He managed to hold on to her with one arm; with the other he clung to the life preserver. Carrie was