We Dine With Cannibals by C. Alexander London

Author:C. Alexander London [London, C. Alexander]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781101577356
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2011-11-14T05:00:00+00:00

21

WE MAKE A SPLASH

THEY WERE STUCK. The boat had wedged itself into a large rock in the middle of the river.

“This is not a good place to be stuck,” said Oliver, listening to the drums and looking at the rapids ahead of them.

Corey tried to push the boat free with a paddle. It rocked and swayed but didn’t move. He tried to start the engine again. He pulled the cord, but nothing happened.

“Uncool,” he said.

“We’ve got to go,” said Oliver.

“We’re gonna have to swim,” said Corey.

“We can’t swim,” said Celia. “Caiman.” She pointed at a group of the black alligator look-alikes that were now circling their boat. “Try the engine again.”

She got up to help just as Corey yanked the cord back hard. She got a face full of the teen star’s knuckles, which knocked her backward on the boat, right at Oliver.

“Watch out!” Oliver called, but too late. She stepped onto the flashlight he’d set down on the floor. Her foot flew into the air and she went backward off the front of the boat, right past her brother, splashing into the river. It would have been a funny fall if it wasn’t about to turn deadly.

“Grab my hand!” Corey shouted, reaching over the edge to rescue Celia.

“Don’t lean so far out!” Oliver warned. “I don’t weigh enough! You’ll tip the—” But it was too late. Corey leaned out and the boat tipped up on its side, dumping them both sideways toward the water.

“Crud,” Corey said as they rolled out of the boat and into the river. He actually used a different word than crud, but our story is about to get bad enough without adding foul language to its troubles.

Oliver tried to hold on to the boat, which turned sideways and slid right off the rock upside down. The caiman disappeared below the surface to get out of the way. Oliver was being dragged down the river with the boat.

“Let it go!” shouted Celia.

“But your pack’s in there … with the remote control … and the … poop thingy!”

“You know it’s called a khipu!” Celia shouted.

“I like my way bet—” Oliver couldn’t finish his sentence. Something sucked him underneath the water.

“Oliver!” Celia shouted.

He kicked with all his might for the air and broke the surface with a gasp.

“Just the current!” he said.

“Swim toward the shore!” Celia commanded.

The three of them started to swim as hard as they could toward the riverbank, but the current was much stronger than they were. They were getting pulled into the rapids ahead of them and there wasn’t anything they could do about it.

Oliver stopped swimming.

“What … are you … doing?” Celia panted, still fighting her way toward land.

“It’s like a waterslide. We’ve just gotta ride it to the bottom!” Oliver answered.

“You … hate … waterslides,” she said.

“I hate a lot of things,” Oliver replied. “But I’m stuck with most of them!” He let himself be sucked along with the current. It was a heck of a lot easier than fighting a river. Celia lost sight of him in the roiling rapids.

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