Rocky Mountain Mayhem (23 page)

The other boat launched soon after and pulled
alongside. A burly guy in his fifties sat across from his wife, who
snapped pictures as he posed with his paddle. Crazy Kendall shouted
instructions, which the couple ignored. “Quit posing and get
paddling.” Kendall’s chin-length, strawberry-blond hair curled up
around his helmet and a few strands hung in his face.

Fast Eddie told them about their first set of
rapids which were coming up. “This is a Class IV called Spike
Buck,” he said. “And if you don’t listen to me, it’ll buck ya right
outta this raft.”

The water moved faster, and the sound of
rushing water grew louder.

“This is so fun!” Vivian said. “I need to pee
again, though!”

“There’s no potty breaks on this river ’til
lunch,” Eddie said, then he called, “Everybody forward three!”

They worked together propelling the raft
through the rapids. As they hit the first big drop, a wave of water
crashed the front of the raft. It washed over Vivian, taking her
breath away, but the worst of it was the water that made its way
inside the neck of her splashguard and trickled down her back.

Motherfudrucker
!
That’s worse than
the giant splash I just took
.

Eddie yelled, “Back left, back left.” But it
didn’t stop them from crashing into a car-sized boulder, spinning
them around.

They all screamed, and were now going
backward, but Eddie kept his cool. “Left back three,” he yelled,
“right forward three!” He steered them out of the rapids and into
slower moving water.

He had them coast while the second raft went
through Spike Buck. Crazy Kendall was yelling and screaming at the
burly man, who had hunkered down in the bottom of the raft. “Get
your ass outta there, you’re going to pop us!”

The man steadied himself on the side. “I
slipped.”

Everyone safely through the first rapid, Fast
Eddie started up again with the commands. The landscape
transitioned from forest and flat to steep cliff walls and red
rock.

The river narrowed and Vivian scanned both
sides of the cliffs for Craig. She shrugged off an ominous feeling,
then glanced at Kate.

“We got ya covered.”

Vivian tried to relax.

“Listen up, people,” Eddie called out. “We’ve
got three big ones in a row, and one of ’em’s a monster called
Shark’s Tooth. If you don’t follow my instructions, I guarantee
we’ll be eaten alive.”

VIVIAN steeled herself. She was ready for
this, she could do this.
Yeah
!

Fast Eddie called out command after command
and they sailed through the first set of rapids, no problem. The
second set posed more difficulty, but with everyone working
together, they made it without incident. Then came Shark’s Tooth.
The current grabbed them and slammed them head on into the pointed
boulder. Out of the corner of her eye, Vivian saw someone become a
projectile. They were long gone. The raft taco’ed against the
boulder and everyone in it was the meat. The water continuously
slammed against one side of their “taco shell” and had them
stuck.

“Everyone get up on the rock side, up on the
rock side!” Fast Eddie shouted and shoved Kate and Lucy that
direction.

Shick helped Wendy move over and Vivian threw
herself on top of the dog pile, which created enough leverage to
dislodge the raft. Everyone rolled around, getting footing and back
into place.

“Hot tamales!” Lucy said, adjusting her
helmet.

“Little late for that,” Wendy said.

“Who’d we lose?” Eddie asked. “I saw someone
fly out.”

“Smith went for a swim,” Shick said.

“There he is!” Vivian pointed to a
waterlogged Smith, who clung to a rock downstream.

As they approached, Lucy put down her paddle,
braced herself against the side and reached down to grab him. She
dunked him, then pulled with all her might, propelling herself
backward, and he landed on top of her. He scrambled up, thanking
her.

Shick handed Smith his paddle, which had been
plucked from the river. “Way to go.”

Smith’s teeth chattered too much for him to
make a remark.

Eddie called to Lucy. “That was textbook. He
outweighs you by at least a hundred pounds, and you pulled him in
like he was nothing.”

Lucy nodded coolly, acting quite satisfied
with herself. “I work out.”

“Hey, man, you okay?” Eddie asked Smith, who
just nodded. “Your ass flew. You’re lucky you didn’t do a header
into the shark’s tooth.”

“I barely missed it,” Smith said. “I’m
good.”

“Paddle’s up!” Eddie said, raising his, and
they did a group paddle high-five.

Vivian heard a whistle and looked over to the
right bank. The group in the other raft had stopped for lunch.
Crazy Kendall waded into the water and helped pull their raft
ashore.

“I’ve heard of the raft taco but never seen
it with my own eyes,” he said. “That was freakin’ awesome,
man!”

“Yeah, that was great,” Wendy said, following
Lucy up the bank.

Kendall slapped Smith on the back. “And you,
the human cannonball!”

Still shivering, Smith said, “That was my
favorite part.”

Eddie and Kendall started making super long
submarine sandwiches for lunch and set out some fruit. The girls
huddled together by a picnic table, freezing in the cool air, the
sun still covered by clouds.

“Holy shit, I’m a Popsicle,” Vivian said.

“Your lips
are
blue,” Kate said.

“I’m not getting back in the front. I don’t
know who’s getting up there, but it ain’t gonna be me.”

“I have hypothermia,” Lucy said softly,
hunched over, fists balled up to her chest. “I’m not getting back
up there, either.”

“We took the brunt of the splashage,” Vivian
said, “and it’s just too damn cold.”

“Let’s make the guys get up there,” Kate
said. “That’s sure to shrink things up!”

“Dammit, just when I’d quit thinking about
it,” Wendy said through chattering teeth. “Great idea on stickin’
them up front, though.”

“They can shield us from the splashes,” Kate
said.

Wendy glanced at the portable toilets. “I’m
so cold right now. The thought of taking off this wetsuit in the
cold air, nuh-uh.”

Vivian looked down at the mud around her
feet. “Just pee in your wetsuit like I did.”

“What?” Lucy said. “When did you do
that?”

Vivian laughed. “Sorry, I had to go and
didn’t want to take all of this off. It warmed me up for a minute,
but now I’m cold again.”

Lucy moved between Wendy and Kate. “How am I
friends with you?”

“And you have to wear that all day,” Wendy
said. “Gross!”

“I was cold. I dare ya to get your ass in
that Port-o-Potty and take it all off.”

Wendy groaned. Kate, too.

Lucy handed Kate her life preserver. “I’m
going in.”

The other girls sat down at the bench and
Kendall passed them plates. “Lunch is ready. Dig in.”

For two guys with summer teeth, they prepared
a nice spread. A watermelon bowl held an assortment of fresh fruit,
baked chips, three kinds of sandwiches and brownies for dessert.
Only water and lemonade to drink, though, nothing hot.

They served themselves and picked a picnic
table. “I would die for a cup of hot chocolate right now,” Vivian
said, swinging her leg over the bench.

“Don’t say that kind of stuff,” Kate said,
alarmed.

“What? I’m probably going to die of
hypothermia anyway!”

“No, you’re not.” Kate put her arm around
Vivian.

“Aww, you love me even though I peed.”

Kate whispered in Vivian’s ear. “I did,
too!”

The two guys from the other raft sat down at
their table. They introduced themselves as Brian Finck, a red-head,
and Mike Hayes, a cute, brown-haired, blue-eyed guy. Brian needed
to reapply sunscreen to his freckled face and Mike did his best to
disguise the shivering in his 5-foot-8 frame.

“Having a good time?” Vivian asked.

“Freezing my ass off,” Brian responded and
Mike asked how they were enjoying the trip.

Vivian laughed. “A little less cold would be
nice. It’s been an adventure so far, that’s for sure.”

Smith sat down. “Yeah, yeah, I did that on
purpose. Needed to cool off.”

Everyone laughed.

“We’re going to let you really cool off,”
Wendy said. “In the front of the raft. That’ll put things in
proportion.”

Vivian nudged her with her elbow, but not
before Kate spewed water across the table.

“Oh, I mean perspective,” Wendy
snickered.

Lucy rejoined them. “What’d I miss?”

“Shick and Smith have agreed to take our
spots on the raft. We’re in the back of the bus now.” Vivian took a
big bite of her sandwich.

Lucy slapped Smith on the back. “Good job,
guys. Way to be chivalrous.”

The girls finished their lunch and helped to
clean up.

“Back to business,” Kendall said, pushing his
raft off the bank. “Big water awaits.”

The groups got into their rafts, Vivian
making damn sure she and Lucy were in the back, with Shick and
Smith up front. Fast Eddie shoved them off and explained what was
next.

“We’ve got a little bit of calm followed by a
few rapids, but then we hit the Narrows. We have to hit it on the
left side to enter the Boat Eater in the sweet spot. It’s fast,
it’s furious, and it can be a total fuck-up if you fail.”

Lucy lifted her paddle for a high-five. “To
no fuck-ups!”

The rafters slapped paddles and turned their
attention to the task ahead.

Eddie slapped his paddle on the water. “Make
sure you smile real pretty for the camera. He’s usually sittin’ on
a rock in the middle of the Boat Eater. Gets paid the big bucks to
sit on his ass all day. Works his index finger real hard, snapping
pictures of you folks trying not to die on the river.”

THE canyon walls closed in and the water
moved faster as the rafts approached the Narrows. Crazy Kendall
maneuvered into a calm spot behind a rock, giving Fast Eddie’s crew
first shot at this set of rapids.

“It’s time for the ride of your life, so
listen up, folks,” Eddie said, then called, “Everyone forward
three.”

The raft rode the waves and everyone paddled
forward per instructions. Vivian’s paddle struck a rock, but she
got back in rhythm on the next stroke. The raft bounced off
boulders, and they continued to paddle through whitewater. They
maneuvered through two more sets of Class IV rapids and then
cruised underneath the Royal Gorge Bridge. Spanning more than 1,000
feet above, it signaled they were within the national park.

Halfway up the cliffs on the left, a gondola
descended to the scenic overlook. People milled about on the
platform and at the railing.
I wonder if Craig is up there
,
Vivian thought.

Shick watched the overlook as they coasted
swiftly past it. The whitewater started again and Eddie yelled more
commands to keep the raft going left, toward the mouth of the Boat
Eater rapids.

The group paddled in sync, and Vivian felt
good about making it through. After the first drop, a curtain of
water washed over them and unhinged that feeling, but their
momentum and the continued paddling carried them forward. Next
drop, they hit a rock on the left side but kept moving. A minute
later, the right side of the raft slammed up against a boulder.
Pop! Air hissed out the side below Vivian. She screamed as she lost
her balance and fell in. Wendy also fell backward into the water,
grabbing Smith, taking him with her.

Damn, this is cold
! Speeding
downstream out of control, Vivian’s leg smacked into a boulder
underneath the surface. Ouch, that hurt! Don’t panic, don’t panic.
She remembered to face downriver and put her feet out in front of
her, like Eddie had showed them. She tried to turn and look for the
raft and the rest of the group, but the force of the water was too
much. She tumbled over a three-foot drop and got sucked under,
breathing in the Arkansas River.

I’m going to drown
.

She churned, flip after flip, in the falls,
unable to get above water.

No
!
I can’t die, the SPS
cannot
raise my children
.

A tug on the back of her life vest had
Vivian’s head above water. She sputtered and coughed, lungs burning
from the influx of water.

“Swim left!” Shick was in her face, yelling
above the roar.

Vivian kicked her legs and gasped for air. He
hauled her up onto the bank and she collapsed on the sand. She
heard a scream and saw Kate whiz past, holding her paddle. Wendy
wasn’t far behind, still clinging onto Smith.

Shick scrambled back into the water, yelling
for them to swim over. He tried to reach them, but the current
pushed them downriver too quickly. Kate crawled onto their side of
the bank 30 yards down. Wendy and Smith wound up on the opposite
bank even farther down.

Vivian sat up, still coughing up water.
“Where’s Lucy?” She scanned the river but didn’t see her.
“Luuuuuccccyyyyyyyy!” She looked for a yellow helmet to pop out of
the water but didn’t see one. She stumbled back into the river.
“Luuuuuuccccyyyyyyyyyy!”

“There, over there!” Shick pointed across to
the other bank. Lucy stood on top of a rock, paddle in hand, waving
it furiously.

Vivian fought off tears of relief and waved
back. Then realization sunk in. How the hell were they going to get
off this river?

Kate picked her way along the boulders,
making her way to Vivian.

“You okay?” she asked.

“I’m going to have a killer bruise on my leg,
but I’m okay. You?”

“I’m fine, and look, I saved my paddle!”

Vivian looked across the river and heard
shouting. Fast Eddie hung off the side of Crazy Kendall’s raft,
yelling at the group to paddle over to his crippled raft, which had
wrapped around a boulder. Mike grabbed the rope of the
semi-deflated raft and hauled it with them as they pulled to the
right bank by Wendy and Smith.