“Okay, everybody. The rafts are loaded,” Paula announced. “Now, I’m going to give you a few important instructions.” She pointed toward the rafts, big rubber boats eighteen or twenty feet long and five or six feet wide. One was pulled up on the shore, the other was in the river, moored with a line.
“See those wooden platforms toward the stern, where the oars are? Max and I sit on them. Everybody else sits down inside the raft—no standing up, no clowning around. Wear your life vest all the time, no matter how uncomfortable it gets. Pick a buddy—if anything happens, keep your eye on your buddy and be responsible for each other.” She looked around the group. “Any questions?”
When nobody answered, she said, “Okay, then, let’s get going. The first major falls is only about fifty yards downstream. It’s too dangerous to raft over, so we’ll take the sluice to the left to avoid the worst of it. It’s a sort of natural waterslide along the left shore, and it’s much tamer than the falls. We know what we’re doing, but it’ll be rough going for a few minutes, so hang on.” She eyed Nancy. “I’m assigning you to the raft on the right, Nancy. Climb aboard. There are some life vests stowed under the platform.”
The raft was moored to the shore with a line tied to a stake stuck in the mud. Nancy pulled it toward her and clambered aboard, scrambling awkwardly over a small heap of supplies and equipment stowed in the middle of the raft. The raft bobbed violently under her weight, and she grabbed for a handhold. She could feel the current tugging against the mooring line as if it were trying to tear the raft free.
Suddenly the line gave, jolting her to her knees as the raft swept away. The turbulent current of Lost River was pulling Nancy directly toward the falls!
Chapter
Five
NANCY! HANG ON!” she heard Ned shout.
The roar of the falls was growing louder. Grabbing for the oars, Nancy figured she had only fifty yards or so before she went over, and Paula had said that the falls were too dangerous for the raft to negotiate.
So, Nancy told herself, she’d have to hurry—do something so she wouldn’t be dashed to death on the rocks.
Glancing up, she saw Ned racing along the riverbank. Max and George were running hard behind him. Ned carried a coil of rope. “Row!” he called. “You’ve got to get out of the current!”
Nancy swallowed nervously. The ten-foot oars felt heavy and awkward, and her knuckles were white from gripping them so hard.
“Swing the raft toward the left!” Max yelled, coming up behind Ned. “Push on the right oar and pull on the left!”
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, funneling 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 pla
y 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 bis 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.
Nancy jerked her arm away, staring at Tod. His eyes looked innocent, but she had seen plenty of criminals who looked that way. She would have to keep a watch on him.
But at the same time, she had the feeling that several people were keeping a watch on her. She could feel Paula’s amber eyes constantly on her. And from the other raft, both Mercedes and Max seemed to be watching her, too. Why?
After another hour and a half, Paula began to paddle the raft out of the current, toward shore. “Lunch break,” she called. She beached the raft on the sandy bank, where a small creek came gurgling out of a narrow canyon to join the larger river.
Paula pointed. “There’s a huckleberry patch a little way up that creek, under those willows. If you’ve never eaten wild huckleberries, why don’t you go try some while Max and I fix lunch?” She handed over a bucket for the berries.
“I’m ready for some huckleberries,” George said enthusiastically. “It’s been a long time since breakfast back at that motel.”
“Oh, Ned, this sounds like such fun!” Sammy exclaimed, clutching Ned’s arm.
Ned cast a look at Nancy, but Nancy glanced stubbornly away. If he was going to fall for Sammy’s ridiculous little game, let him! She watched him follow Sammy up the creek. Then she and the others trailed behind. The huckleberry patch was fragrant. Most of the kids feasted while they picked, and their faces and hands were stained with purple huckleberry juice. Bess sighed contently, bending over the dense bushes next to Nancy.
“Almost as good as the beach?” Nancy teased.
“Well, not quite,” Bess admitted. “Still . . .”
Suddenly she was startled by the crackling twigs and the loud rustle of leaves nearby. Bess looked up in alarm. She clapped her hand to her mouth. Then she gave a loud, shrill shriek.
“What is it?” cried Nancy.
Bess gasped.
Nancy whirled around, and there, rising up before her on its hind paws, its teeth bared in a fierce snarl, was a huge black bear!
Chapter
Six
NANCY’S HEART NEARLY stopped beating as she looked, terrified, into the ferocious mouth of the bear, its teeth gleaming yellow against the darkness of its throat. For a moment, like a slow-motion scene in a horror movie, the bear seemed to tower over them, claws outstretched, mouth open, roaring.
Ned and Sammy were a dozen paces away, picking berries. Ned looked up, horror in his eyes. “Get back, Nancy!” he shouted.
“Ned!” Sammy cried as Ned crept toward Nancy. “Don’t leave me!” She lunged for him, and they both fell sideways into the berry bushes.
“Scat! Shoo! Beat it! Get out of here, you stupid bear!” Suddenly Max was in front of Nancy and Bess, between them and the bear, clapping his hands and shouting. He snatched off his cap and flapped it under the bear’s astonished nose. “Scram! Shoo! Go!”
For a moment, the bear hesitated. Then its surprise turned to panic and it wheeled, dropped to all fours, and loped off into the bushes without a backward look.
“Wow!” Bess sank down weakly onto a nearby boulder and mopped her forehead with the tail of her blouse. Her face was white. “I have never been so scared in all my life!”
Nancy let out the breath she had been holding. “Me, neither!” she said.
“Are you all right?” George rushed up, looking anxious.
“Max saved us,” Bess whispered, gazing at him adoringly: “He scared a grizzly bear away just by yelling at it.”
“That wasn’t any grizzly,” Max said as Tod dashed up, panting. “And it wasn’t very big, either. When you’re scared, things have a way of seeming bigger than they are. It was just an ordinary black bear, probably no more than a yearling, taking a morning sunbath and a berry break at the same time.” He laughed. “When it comes right down to it, we’re the ones who are trespassing. This is his berry patch, you know.”
“I wish I’d been there,” Tod said. He glanced at Max. “That ol’ bear wouldn’t have been able to walk away when I got through with him.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Max snapped. “You don’t want to go messing around with bears—not with that toy knife of yours.”
Nancy stepped between them. “We’re just glad this is all over,” she said, interrupting Tod. “And that nobody got hurt.”
Tod threw them a baleful look and turned angrily away. “You think you’re so smart,” Nancy heard him say under his breath as he stormed past her.
She stared after him, puzzled. Was his remark aimed at her or at Max?
Bess looked around. “Where’s Ned?” she exclaimed. “I heard him shouting just a moment ago, but I haven’t seen him since before the bear attacked.”
“Here I am,” Ned said. He limped up to them, covered with scratches. Sammy was still sitting in the berry bushes with a sullen look on her face. “I tried to help, but I didn’t quite make it.” He threw a disgusted look over his shoulder at Sammy. “I’m sorry,” he said.
Nancy couldn’t help chuckling. “By the looks of you, you’d have been better off meeting up with the bear.”
Ned flashed a weak smile, then grew red-faced. Nancy knew he was embarrassed about Sammy, and that it was time to help him feel better about what had happened.
“That’s okay,” she said comfortingly. “It’s the thought that counts. I know you would have helped if you could have.”
Ned came closer. “Forgiven?” he asked softly.
“Nothing to forgive,” Nancy replied, and Ned’s face broke into a wide grin. Sammy scrambled to her feet and walked away without a word, her face stormy. Nancy looked after her. She didn’t think Sammy was the kind to bear a grudge, but it might not be a bad idea to keep an eye on her.
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Max called for attention. “Listen, kids, when you’re out in the woods, make a lot of noise to let the bears and other big animals know that you’re not trying to sneak up on them. If you happen to surprise a mama bear when she’s out for a stroll with her cub, or if you manage to get between a mama and her cub, you’re asking to have a tremendous bite taken out of you.”
“Is that how you got that scar on your face?” Bess asked curiously. “A bear?”
Max ran his hand across his jaw. “No,” he said brusquely. “I got it in a rafting accident.” He picked his cap up off the ground and jammed it on his head. “Got to go see how lunch is coming along,” he said, and left.
Bess looked longingly after him. “I wonder what kind of accident it was,” she said with a sigh. “I’ll bet he rescued somebody, or something like that.”
“Well, it’s obviously something he doesn’t want to talk about,” Nancy said. It concerned her that Bess was developing a giant crush on Max—the kind of crush that could easily blind her to the real person.
Apprehensively, Nancy remembered how Mike and Tod had implied that there might be something wrong with Max’s raft-handling abilities.
“Listen, Bess,” Nancy said, as they started together down the path to the river. “I need to say something to you about Max.”
“Isn’t he wonderful?” Bess asked with a dreamy look in her eyes, her words bubbling over. “You know, I wasn’t sold on this trip in the beginning. But now, well, you should see Max handle the oars on that raft, Nan. He knows exactly what he’s doing. And those muscles—wow!”
Nancy gave her a cautioning look. “You know, Bess, maybe it isn’t a good idea to let yourself fall head-over-heels for this guy. There are some pretty weird things going on on this trip, and Max could be involved in them.”
“He isn’t that kind of person,” Bess said flatly. “He saved us from the bear, remember? I mean, he could have let the bear attack us, and that would have taken care of us for good.”