Camp Clearwater
Chapter 19
Back at the River
“Are you alright?” C. J. asked Jacob.
“My arm is broken or fractured!” he reported. He had the river to calm him and was grateful to be near it, but he was still angry with himself for getting hurt. He didn’t like being injured and feeling helpless.
“I’m glad Cindi and Luna left. Do you think they have made it back to the base camp?” asked C.J. noticing that Jacob was getting edgy.
“I don’t know. I hope so,” replied Jacob. “I have an idea. C.J., I think we should try to use that raft to float down the river and get back to camp.”
“What about your arm?” asked C. J. thinking his idea was a terrible one.
“I’ve still got two good legs and one good arm. Three out of four isn’t bad,” said Jacob.
“What about your head?” C.J. asked worried. He had lost quite a lot of blood. It had stopped bleeding, but Jacob looked pale, and the wounds were still fresh.
“It’s feeling better,” said Jacob.
“They haven’t been gone that long. They will be back, and someone might come looking for us.” C. J. said.
“It doesn’t matter. We need to leave before it gets dark. I can’t stand just staying here and doing nothing,” grumbled Jacob. Using all his strength, he pulled himself up and hobbled towards the water, grabbed the rope which was tied to a pole in the water, and strapped it around his wrist. Then he began pulling the raft towards him. “Come on, C.J. get in. We have to try to make it back to the main camp. Start paddling.”
Against her better judgment, she got in. Just then rushing white foamy water slapped Jacob in the face as the rapids crept towards the raft. Like the hand of an enemy, the blunt force of the wave cast him overboard and dunked him. C. J. was holding a paddle trying to hold on to the raft before it got loose in the rapids. She screamed when she saw Jacob go under. She saw his hand bobbing up. Rapids were pulling at her with brute force, but with sheer determination, she paddled over to Jacob and reached over and grabbed his hand. She yanked him up and then the rapids started pulling them both downstream. She tumbled overboard, but fortunately tried to grab the raft hoping to sling him in, but his hand slipped out of her grip.
“Jacob!” C. J. screamed louder as she searched the waters. She allowed herself to float forward, as she looked for him. The rapids quickly picked up speed, and she felt herself going too fast. Determined, she exerted all her strength and tried to stop herself by grabbing hold of a nearby branch alongside the river.
“Jacob?” Again, she scoured the water and she saw his hand bobbing up and down, and then disappearing. Her hand slipped off the branch and she swam upstream and grabbed Jacob’s hand. With all her might, she yanked him to the surface. Pulling him with one arm, she used her free arm to swim towards the raft which got hung up on a limb before it got away.
Using all her strength, she lunged forward and grabbed hold of a rope on the end of the raft. The two of them were being tugged through the water like a train. Finally the waters calmed down, and she threw her leg over into the raft and pulled Jacob in too. Grabbing an oar, she paddled by herself as Jacob lay in the bottom of the raft. They splashed over another rapid and thankfully the river calmed down. Darkness fell over them quickly like a candle being blown out. Eeriness covered them.
“I think we should go over to the first clearing we find,” said Jacob. “Cindi is going to be so mad that we left.”
“Yeah, I agree. I really thought we could make it, but I think we had better find a place to stop because it’s starting to get dark. I see a place that would be good to stop,” said C.J. as she grabbed hold of a branch that overhung from a large tree like a lifeline sent in the nick of time and she pulled the raft to an abrupt stop. After holding onto the branch tightly, she was able to rest for a moment, and they stopped at a clearing. With tired arms, she paddled over to the shore. Her braid had washed out and the water plastered her red hair to her head. After pulling the raft out of the water, she laid Jacob on a softest mud pile she could find, and covered it with moss. She looked for something to wrap the ugly gash on his forehead and found some long, wide leaves.
Next, she started a fire by sparking a smooth stone with a rough one. Hours went by; the sun had set, and no one had come for them.
Jacob woke up and asked for food. She didn’t have anything but told him she would find something for them to eat in the morning.
C. J. drifted off into a queasy dream. She was in the water searching for someone but she didn’t know who. Was it her dad? Jacob? Dale? Cindi? Sarah Beth? Jorgina? Luna? Eugene? Anyone? Suddenly, she saw all of their heads bobbing up and down heading towards a water fall. “Help!” they yelled. C. J. tried to get to them, but it was too late. They fell over a waterfall.
“No!” she screamed. She got on land and sat on her legs. She screamed to the gray skies and started crying, “Bring them back! Bring them back!” Then shadows crept into her mind, eyes, and the world. “Leave me alone!” The shadows didn’t stop, and she couldn’t hold them back this time. Something wet hit her face. Rain? C. J. shot straight up out of her dream; it was raining. Jacob’s teeth were chattering. She saw a small cave-like area and pulled Jacob over to it to help protect them from the storms.
The wind whistled, and she thought she heard a “Hello.”
“Is anyone there?” she asked out in the empty darkness.
No one answered. She looked at Jacob as he snoozed away. Has Dale forgotten about me? I feel so responsible for Jacob. Is he going to die? I should have never listened to him and let him talk me into leaving. I know Cindi told us to stay. I wish we would have listened, she thought.
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