Downriver by Will Hobbs

Author:Will Hobbs
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

11 //

Al’s eyes went from Pug’s buck knife in its sheath to Pug’s face. “Good case of poison ivy you’ve got there, Pug. I see you discovered the falls at Vasey’s Paradise.”

Pug only grunted. Then Al looked into our eyes, one person at a time. It was obvious he wasn’t afraid of Pug or any of us. It was more as if he was asking how we could do this to him. He shook his head. “So what do you guys think you’re doing?” he said.

“What are we doing?” Adam repeated melodramatically. “What are we doing? We are . . . searching, that’s it, we are all searching for something. Some are searching for justice, others for lost honor, others for gold, glory, or enlightenment. Some of us are searching for the Northwest Passage, some the Lost Continent of Mu, others a mislaid toothbrush. Some of us are searching for the cure to cancer, others seek to mend broken hearts—”

“How ’bout the San Juan River?” Al suggested wryly. “Are any of you searching for that?”

“We were afraid of it,” Troy said sarcastically. “We thought you were going to kill us all. We thought we should tune up first.”

“Yeah,” Pug added. “Get in some practice.”

Al pointed to the big water. “Hance Rapid should be a good tune-up. At this water level, it’s about a nine on a ten-scale.”

“Done fine so far,” Rita blurted out.

“Look,” Al said decisively, and his hand made a quick karate chop in the air, “this is Hance, and it’s only the first of the Big Drops.”

Adam responded to the karate chop by springing to another boulder and adopting a ninja pose. As we giggled at the sight, Al pointed downstream and raised his voice even higher over the roar of the rapid. “That’s the Inner Gorge down there. Sockdolager, Horn Creek, Granite, Hermit, Crystal, Lava . . . you ever hear of Lava Falls, the steepest navigable rapid in North America?”

“Sure,” Troy answered nonchalantly, “you told us all about it at Westwater.”

This time Al pointed to the sky. A ribbed layer of high, thin clouds was racing toward us from downstream. “Add weather,” Al said. “I think the weather’s gonna change—think about that. This is October we’re talking about, and when it rains, you’re gonna freeze. Late October and no wetsuits—you have no idea what it can be like down here. So far it’s been a picnic. It’s October, folks, no commercial trips running anymore and hardly any private trips, either. No one to rescue you if you get into trouble. You haven’t run even one of the Big Drops yet.”

The Big Drops. The name alone made me feel sick.

“Thanks a lot for the advice,” Troy said. “Now butt out.”

Al gave Troy a quick appraisal, and shook his head. “So you’re the leader, Troy. That’s what I’d guessed. Your idea to begin with?”

“Mine,” Pug declared.

“No, mine,” Rita said.

“Who’s rowing the gear boat?”

“Troy is,” I said, “—and he hasn’t had any trouble.”

Troy shot me an approving glance, while

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