"The water is dropping that fast?" Max asked. "You guys were just here a while ago weren't you?"
Darlene stared at her husband. "Well, that's about how fast the water dropped while you were asleep."
Paul started off again. "We should be close, let's keep moving." The others followed.
Around the next bend was the section where Greg had swerved and both girls were thrown out of their seats. The water had drained this section too. Julie wondered if Mars would look similar. She had seen pictures of Mars and its rocks. The orange rocky landscape seemed exactly the same.
When they passed the boulder, they could see around the next bend. Although most of this section had also drained, a hundred feet away was the receding shore of the lake. Julie looked back and guessed in total the water had dropped twenty-five feet since they had left Greg. The sight of water ahead gave all five hikers a boost of energy and they picked up the pace. When Paul reached the water, he walked around it along the left shore. The canyon continued for another hundred feet before the next bend.
"Where is he?" Erika asked.
Paul cupped his hands. "GREG."
They listened, hoping he was just around the corner. No answer.
They continued hiking until they reached the bend. Vertical cliffs down to the water prevented them from avoiding getting wet.
"I'll swim around this bend and see if I can see him." Paul said.
"Crap." Erika sat down on another muddy rock. "I thought he'd be down here."
"He's probably just around the corner a little bit," Julie said, although she felt as disappointed as Erika.
Darlene sat down on a rock. By this time Paul had waded into the water. He waded out until the water was up to his chest then put his head in the water and started swimming. The bend wasn't too far and Paul reached it in a few minutes. He stopped for a second, treading water. He turned and started swimming back. He walked up the bank and ran his hand back through his hair. He motioned at the expanse of water they had just walked around. "This is just a hole." His voice came out winded from the swim. "The water has drained on the other side. We'll have to swim through, then hike again for a while."
"What?" Julie said. "This is just a pond?"
"Yeah. I saw more wet rocks around the bend.
Julie wanted to complain, but she knew it wouldn't help. Darlene groaned.
Paul started rolling the blankets tight like a sleeping bag. Julie realized they would need to swim while holding their possessions over their heads to keep them dry. She motioned to Erika that they should get ready too.
She spread out two shirts and rolled everything else into them. Julie tied her car keys to the strings on her swimsuit.
Paul tried to keep the group focused. "Are you ready?" He held the roll of blankets over his head and waded into the water.
The others followed. By the time Julie got to the other side, the muscles in her arms were burning from holding the clothes above her head while swimming. Paul came down and took the clothes from her, and helped her up.
"Thanks," she said.
He helped Erika and Max, then Max held Darlene's hand as she climbed out. They were off again. Paul picked up the pace slightly which Julie didn't mind. She felt anxious to find Greg again. They had been gone a long time. She hoped nothing else had gone wrong. The thought of him not being there when they arrived kept popping back into her head. She tried to push it out, knowing that he would be waiting, but she kept picturing an image of him screaming as the Mastercraft floated over the Glen Canyon Dam. In the image, she was looking over the edge of the dam and the boat kept falling and falling until she lost sight of Greg in the mist of the waterfall.
Paul had put a little bit of distance between himself and the group. He turned and yelled for the others. "We made it. I see him."
The tired feeling seemed to subside as Julie covered the distance. As she rounded the next bend in the river, she saw a pool of water that this time seemed to go on forever. Greg was floating about a hundred feet from the edge. He apparently hadn't seen them yet.
"GREG, WE MADE IT."
His head cocked and he smiled. "About time." He fired up the boat and idled it over to where all five hikers were now standing. "I was beginning to wonder if you guys were ever coming back."
Julie saw Greg look them over, especially Erika and Darlene. Erika was starting to look like a ghost. She didn't have any color in her face except for the red dirt and dried blood. Her eyes were lifeless. Darlene was breathing heavy. Julie looked down at herself and decided she didn't look very good either. She had the red dirt on her legs and swimsuit. Paul, on the other hand, looked fine.
"What happened to Erika?" Greg asked.
While Max handed bundles of clothes and blankets to Greg in the boat, Julie gave a brief description of the events at the houseboat including Erika's last second jump to safety. Erika didn't peep for the whole conversation. Max then gave a short explanation of his and Darlene's aborted kayak trip. When finished, Julie reached up to climb in the boat. Greg raised his eyebrows, and told her to rinse off first, a testament to how dirty she was. The other four followed Julie's example, cleaning and refreshing themselves in the water, before climbing in the boat.
A few moments later they were under way. The padded seats and the breeze felt wonderful. Julie took a long swig from the water jug and passed it back to the others. She had a clear view back at Erika. She was falling asleep, the poor girl.
"Right side paddle. Left side paddle. COME ON. Becky, don't give up."
David was exhausted. "We're trying Keller."
"One last burst. NOW. Paddle. Right side. Left."
The current moved them quickly along a rocky shore toward a sandy canyon inlet just up ahead. They needed to be in perfect position or they would miss it, and they were going too fast. Keller had tried to maneuver the raft so they could land in the big campground. But the current was pulling them away from the beach, out into the river.
Becky started to cry, "We're not going to make it."
Keller stood. "WE ARE GOING TO MAKE IT! Come on folks. Give me all you got. NOW!"
All six rafters dug in with the paddles and pulled as fast as they could. David's arms were burning. If anything, the raft seemed to be a few feet farther from the shore. The beach swept by at an alarming speed. Then the beach was gone, replaced by rocks.
"Damn it!" Keller sat down. "Okay, right side paddle a little and let's get away from these rocks."
The rafters gasped for breath. Becky sobbed in slow convulsions. Sam put his hand on her shoulder.
The beach was the raft's second failed attempt at a campground in the last fifteen minutes. Keller kept commenting that the speed of the water was increasing dramatically as it rose. David didn't think the group needed Keller to keep reminding them. It was obvious. It made timing the landings much more difficult. Three other campgrounds Keller wanted to stop at had been completely underwater when they passed. David was beginning to wonder if they would be able to land the raft at all.
Afram swiveled and looked at Keller. "How far's the next one?"
Keller looked around, rubbing his forehead. "Forster Canyon is the next big one, but it's on the other side of the river." He stood up in the raft and looked across. "But it's only about a half a mile. We'll never make it in time." Keller sat down as the raft slid through a rapid splashing the left side of the boat.
"What about past Forster?" Afram asked.
"There's a couple small ones around the bend, but I bet they're under water too."