Natural Instincts by M. Raiya

Author:M. Raiya
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Three

I FOUND the paddles and life jackets right where Hal had said they’d be, in a little wooden building on the edge of the sand near where seven aluminum canoes, three rowboats, and two paddleboats were resting. I’d read up on canoes, so I chose a wooden paddle that was a little longer than my torso, took a second one because it was recommended in case you dropped one overboard, took a cushion for my knees, buckled on a blue life jacket, and walked over to the boats. I was glad the beach was deserted. Somehow I had the feeling that just having read about how to paddle a canoe wasn’t going to be quite the same as knowing how to do it. Reassuring myself that I did know how to swim—a little—my phone was in a watertight case, and the lake was dead calm, I rolled over the nearest canoe and dragged it to the water. It floated reassuringly when I pushed it in. That was a good sign.

Now I needed to determine which was the bow and which was the stern. I studied the boat. Both ends were pointed. There were two aluminum seats. There were three aluminum bars going across the boat. Thwarts, they were called. The upper edges of the boat were gunwales, because they had once been used to support guns. But they were pronounced “gunnels.” I did not have a gun. I rubbed my eyes. Concentrate.

Okay, the pointy end closest to me had to be the bow. I knew this because one sat facing forward to paddle a canoe, and there was plenty of space between this seat and the pointy end for a person’s knees, but there wasn’t in the other end.

That settled, I put my towel, water bottle, and paddles on the canoe’s bottom, within easy reach, and pushed it all the way into the water so it was floating freely. The lake bottom was smooth sand and shallow, so I waded out ankle deep and then, as I’d read, entered the canoe by putting one hand on each gunwale, inserting my right foot first, steadying myself with both hands, and smoothly swinging my left foot in. Kneeling was the most stable position. Stable was what I wanted to be while I got the feel of this.

I picked up one of the paddles. Everything certainly felt very stable. Too stable, actually. My weight had pushed the canoe down to sit on the sandy bottom. Shit. I gave a little push with my paddle. Nothing happened. I tried rocking forward. That didn’t work either. I was going to have to get out and start over, farther from land.

“Hey, mister, do you want a push?”

I looked up quickly. Two kids, a boy and a girl about ten years old, had walked out on the beach. I could see several women standing on the edge of the road, talking, their hands full of beach stuff. I had nothing to lose except my pride, so I gave a nod.

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