Wild River Read Online Free PDF Page B

the dry bag loose. It would have saved me a lot of cold work.
    I tried not to think about it. I’d done things the hard way. But at least Tanner was out of the water.
    I stayed next to the rocks and waded out as far as I could. The spray from the chute spattered my face. I reached out with the paddle and jabbed atthe kayak. It didn’t move. Then I shoved the paddle underneath the kayak and tried to pry it loose. That didn’t work either.
    I shoved and jabbed for a long time, but the kayak stayed where it was. I started thinking about video games again. And about wasting time doing something that didn’t work.
    Finally I gave up and stepped back to rest. Standing there, I watched the bear rope bob up and down on the water.
    Right away, I thought of another way to get the kayak loose. It meant getting soaked again. But I wasn’t getting anywhere with the paddle.
    First I went back to shore and put on my life vest. Then I waded out and used the paddle to bring the rope over. Keeping hold of the rope, I threw the paddle toward shore. “Here goes nothing,” I mumbled, and put the knife handle in my mouth.
    I held on to the rope and waded into the water. When I was chest deep, the life vest lifted me offthe rocks. I squeezed the rope and kicked toward the log. Water beat down on my head and shoulders. I got one leg over the log, then worked my way higher. I kept scooting up until my head bumped the kayak.
    I wrapped my legs around the log and held tight to the rope with one hand. With the other, I took the knife and started slicing. First I cut around the spot where the log had gone through. I made the hole bigger and bigger. Then I sliced up the side.
    It was slow work. The icy water was pulling at me, and I couldn’t see what I was doing. But I kept reaching out and slicing. And slicing some more.
    Then, all at once, the kayak gave way and smashed into me. I flopped backward and went underwater. The kayak was on top of me, holding me down.
    It was like something out of a nightmare. I tried to dive down to get free, but the life vest held me up. I pushed and yanked at the plastic on top of me. My lungs ached for air, but I was trapped.
    A thought flashed through my mind:
This is the goofiest thing I’ve ever done. I’m going to be drowned by a flat kayak
.
    Then my brain started working again. I’d been flopping around like a fish out of water. I knew better than that.
    I reached up with both hands and shoved the kayak to one side. Then I shoved it again. On the third shove, my head finally popped above the water. I sucked in tons of air.
    My foot banged against rocks. I put both feet down and stood up. I was waist deep in the water. The kayak was off to my right, hardly moving.
    I stood for a minute and caught my breath. Now that I was safe, the whole thing was almost funny Almost.
    I dragged the kayak toward the far shore. It was heavy—flat now but partly full of water. Once I hauled it onto dry land, most of the water drained out.
    I was ready to cut the kayak into strips to makemy HELP sign. Except for one thing: the knife was gone.
    I turned and looked at the pool below the chute. Somewhere in there was the knife. The pliers too.
    I flopped down on the rocks. I was too tired to do anything else.
    After a few minutes, I jumped up. Then I caught myself. This was like playing video games. When I got in a hurry, I made mistakes. And I didn’t need any more of those. So I stood there on the bank until I had a plan.
    First I checked to be sure the rope was still there. It was bobbing on top of the water, just like before. I went downstream and crossed where the water was shallower. Moving upstream, I stopped to check on Tanner. No change.
    Then I went on and got my paddle again. I took off my life vest, waded in, and used the paddle to snag the rope. I kept trying to see into the pool. All I could see was bubbles, caused by the crashing water. But the knife had to be there somewhere.
    After a minute I spotted something