The Midnight Sun by Nene Adams

Author:Nene Adams [Adams, Nene]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Gay & Lesbian
ISBN: 9781594933523
Publisher: Bella Books
Published: 2013-01-03T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

“Oh, my God, woman, you keep checking out on me like that, I’ll start to think I’m boring you to death,” Diana said, looking pinched around the eyes.

Tabitha sighed. She had only lost consciousness for a few seconds. “I’m fine,” she said, concealing her uncertainty, “just tired. I didn’t pass out. I fell asleep.”

Diana eyed her skeptically. “First safety boat I see, I’m flagging it down.”

“Of course,” Tabitha agreed. “In the meantime, we need to start bailing. We’re swamped, in case you haven’t noticed. If we take on any more water, we’ll be swimming.”

Bending forward made her head throb viciously, but she managed to retrieve the pack from amidships. It felt distressingly light. A quick rummage revealed the extent of their supplies: an empty plastic bottle, one freeze-dried meal and the survival kit. She still had the kukri, so she severed the bottle through the middle, offering half to Diana.

The water in the canoe had come to within four or five inches of the gunwale. Tabitha began bailing, scooping water in the halved plastic bottle and flinging it over the side in a motion that taxed her back and shoulders, which already hurt like hell.

After a few minutes, Diana stopped and shook her head. “Hey, sugar, why don’t we ground the canoe on a sandbar, tip it over, and dump everything out?” she asked, looking at the improvised scoop with disgust. “At this rate, we’ll still be bailing until next week.”

Diana’s suggestion made sense, but after they’d had so much difficulty getting out of the woods, Tabitha resisted leaving the river now.

Before she had a chance to respond, Diana went on, “Besides, you’re soaking wet. You need to dry off, and we sure can’t build a fire inside the canoe.”

Realizing her teeth were chattering, Tabitha firmed her jaw. Immersed in freezing water, her feet, ankles and calves had lost feeling a while ago. Not exactly numb, she thought. More a disconnected feeling, like the muscles surrounding the bones no longer belonged to her body. Worse, her heart seemed to quiver in her chest, an epicenter of cold that sent subtle shivers rippling under her skin in a way that reminded her of the queasy, creeping flesh sensation she’d suffered while staring into a psychopath’s dead eyes.

She sent several more scoops of water flying, but her heart wasn’t in it. “Fine,” she said at last, “but let’s do this quick, okay?”

“Works for me,” Diana said. She dropped the bottle to begin paddling toward the nearer shore, her movements stiff and slow.

Tabitha helped as much as she could, chagrined not to have realized that Diana must be cold and hurting too.

When the keel finally crunched on sand, Tabitha levered herself out of the canoe, took hold of the gunwale, and pushed. Nothing happened. Ahead of her, she saw Diana tensing. Still, the canoe didn’t move. She tried once more, a massive effort that left spots dancing in her vision. Her breath exploded out of her mouth as she heaved with all her might.

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