Valley of Dry Bones by J.F.Penn

Author:J.F.Penn [Penn, J. F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Curl Up Press

14

Louisiana bayou, USA.

Naomi gasped, a sharp intake of breath. Her hands clutched tightly around her paddle, and she froze, even as the gentle current carried her closer to the alligator.

Fabienne paddled gently forward, barely touching the water, angling toward the bank.

“Stay over this side,” she called softly. “They’re used to the tourist air boats feeding them, but they don't usually bother kayakers.”

Jake pulled his kayak up next to Naomi. Her eyes were wide with fear, fixed on the approaching alligator. She was breathing fast.

“It’s OK,” he said. “It’s just curious.”

The alligator swam closer and bumped against Naomi’s kayak. She let out a small cry.

Then she made a break for it, paddling frantically for the closest island, her eyes fixed on the safe haven of the shore.

“Stop!” Jake reached for her kayak, his fingertips brushing the side, failing to get a hold of her.

The splashing drew the creature on, each stroke of its tail pushing it closer to her. Jake saw the full length of it as the weed parted, eight feet of powerful muscle with jaws that could rip a man in two. It could easily reach Naomi if it chose to, but it was still just curious. Orange plastic was not prey, but if the tasty flesh inside were to come close to its jaws …

Jake couldn't wait any longer. He splashed the surface with his paddle, banging it down, moving it through the water in the likeness of a dying animal.

The alligator slowed and changed direction, slipping through the water back toward him.

Naomi reached the shore, making panicked noises as she tried to get out of the kayak.

“Stay inside,” Fabienne shouted, paddling toward her. “The gators are fast on land, not just in the water.”

Naomi didn’t hear the words. Her eyes were huge, wide with the fixed stare of terror. Jake knew it well – narrowing vision, sound as if underwater, shallow breathing, the pounding of a fast heartbeat. The sense of near collapse. Naomi could not hear Fabienne’s warnings. She was trapped in her own nightmare.

He banged his paddle down again.

Naomi put a hand out onto the bank to steady herself, but she found only swampland beneath. She tipped out into the shallows, splashing in the water, covered in stinking weed as she frantically tried to pull herself out onto the land.

The sound of her struggles drew the alligator’s attention. It swerved away from Jake back to the shoreline, this time thrashing its tail and covering the distance incredibly fast.

Fabienne paddled swiftly toward the bank as the alligator crawled out of the water, its short legs hefting its huge body forward as its head swiveled to fix on its prey. Teeth poked out from powerful jaws, yellow with age, thick and sharp. Its tail thrashed from side to side as it stalked forward.

Naomi backed away, never taking her eyes from it, her fingers reaching behind her until she came up against a cypress tree.

The alligator closed in.

Fabienne paddled to the bank and pulled a chicken wing from her cooler bag.

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