Race through White-Water Canyon by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Author:Gertrude Chandler Warner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Published: 2021-08-11T00:00:00+00:00

ON THE RIVER AGAIN

The next morning, the children woke up early. While they packed up and got ready to go, Jessie opened the window to let in the morning breeze. The birds were singing outside. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.

Liz was waiting for them in the hotel lobby.

“Ready for today’s adventure?” she asked.

“Am I ever,” Benny said. “What are we doing today?”

“Today we’re rafting to one of my favorite stops on the river. I’ve got an afternoon activity planned for when we get there that I think you will all love.”

As they made their way to the dock, Liz added, “The weather is wonderful, and the river is steady, so it should be a nice peaceful morning.”

“What do you mean you want a refund?!” a voice yelled from the dock. It was Jonny, and the young couple on his tour did not look happy.

“So much for peaceful,” Jessie muttered.

The unhappy man crossed his arms. “The Bandit River Tour stuff is fine, but after getting dumped in the rapids yesterday, we don’t want to continue.”

“We’re going to stay here in town and go hiking instead,” said the woman.

Jonny looked like he was going to yell some more. But when he saw the Aldens and others at the dock watching him, he forced a smile. “Why don’t we go into town and figure something out,” he said. “I have better things to do than bring unhappy customers down the river.”

The group headed back to town, and the Aldens loaded up their raft.

“I can’t imagine not wanting to be on the water on such a beautiful day,” Violet said to her siblings.

“I can’t either,” said Jessie. “But I might feel different with Jonny as my guide. He knows a lot about Fred Feriston, but I’m not sure he knows that much about rafting.”

Soon enough the Aldens were back on the water. If there were other rafters out, they must have been elsewhere. The group had the river all to themselves.

“Hey, Violet. Can I see that journal?” Jessie asked as they coasted downstream.

Violet was spending her time drawing in her notebook the scenes she saw along the river. She got the journal out and handed it to Jessie.

Jessie flipped through the pages, reading the entries to herself. They described the area being torn apart by logging and people Christopher knew getting hurt. Through it all, the logging companies didn’t seem to care. The further Jessie got into the journal, the more upset the entries became.

I have to do something to change things—something big, one of the later entries ended. Jessie put the journal down. What had Fred planned to do? And how did taking money from other people help him do it?

“Heads up,” Liz said.

The children looked where Liz was pointing. Along the side of the river was an old lumbermill. Nature had taken its course in the years since the building had gone out of use, with trees and brush growing all around it. A tall blue heron was perched on top of the roof, watching them with beady red eyes.

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