9:31 A.M.
THE GROUP CAME TO a stop. “How are we supposed to get across that?” Marco asked. Part of the water was white, presumably from rocks just underneath the surface.
“Isn’t there some kind of bridge we could use?” Lisa appealed to Wyatt.
He was checking his map. “We’re off-trail now, so there isn’t a crossing anywhere nearby. I think we’re going to just have to figure out the best place to ford it.”
“It doesn’t look that deep.” Ryan narrowed his eyes. “That lake you guys got across was way deeper.”
“Yeah,” Wyatt said, “but this is moving water, not still. Which means physics are not in our favor. Water weighs something like sixty pounds per cubic foot. If it’s moving, the pressure increases with the square of its velocity.”
Darryl tilted his head. “Can you say that in plain English?”
“It means that if the water is moving twice as fast in one section as in another, then it’s exerting four times as much force. If it’s moving ten times as fast, that’s ten times ten, or one hundred times the force. It’s tempting to cross where it’s narrowest, but then the water will be deeper and faster. And the deeper the water is, the more we’ll float, which means it’s harder to stay upright. We want to find the shallowest, slowest part.”
AJ grimaced. “Even then, for some people it’s going to be tough.”
Wyatt was looking at each of them in turn, weighing how difficult it would be. “We’ll have the strongest people form a human chain, and then we’ll have the others go over one at a time in front of the chain. That way if someone loses their footing, the people in the chain will catch them. After they’re done, the rest of us will finish going across.” He took a deep breath. “But it’s worth taking a few minutes to look for the best place. And that includes making sure there’s nothing immediately downstream that someone might run into if they get swept away.”
“Like a waterfall?” Beatriz asked. “That always happens in movies.”
Wyatt nodded. “Exactly. Or something like that that boulder.” He gestured at a big gray rock shouldering out of the water. “That could break a bone or knock someone unconscious.”
Ryan pointed upstream. “What about where it turns? It looks calmer there.”
Wyatt pinched his lips between index finger and thumb as he considered it. “It does, but sometimes that means there are deep pools or undercurrents. It’s all a trade-off. A straight stretch might have faster water, but it’s also more likely to be a consistent speed and have a flat bottom.”
He kept walking downstream while the others followed in a strung-out, exhausted line. Finally he found a spot he liked. “What about here?” In the middle of the water was a tiny island, about two feet across. A few leggy weeds grew from it. “That could give people a resting spot. And with luck, it could mean the current is cut in two and weaker on both sides. I’ll check it out first.”
Before going across, Wyatt asked to borrow Lisa’s trekking pole. She gave it to him and then lifted Trask out while Wyatt borrowed the other pole from Susan.
“Should you take off your shoes?” Marco asked.
“That made sense when we were swimming and didn’t want to get weighted down. But going across the stream barefoot means it is easier to slip and fall—or just hurt your feet.”
Wyatt scrambled down the bank until he was standing next to the water. When he stepped in, rather than cutting straight across, he faced upstream and began shuffling sideways at a diagonal. Natalia’s breath went shallow as she watched him test each step, first with the pole and then his foot. Carefully, he began to cross, making sure one foot was planted before moving the next one. At the center, it was a little less than three feet deep—but that would be chest-deep for Zion.
Once Wyatt got to the other side, he reversed the process, still moving deliberately and carefully. After he got out of the water, he didn’t climb back up the bank. “The current’s definitely pushy, but the bottom is rocky and didn’t feel too slippery. I say we go for it.” While they jumped or gingerly picked their way down the three-foot-high bank to the narrow shore, he looked them over, and one by one they joined him on the shore. “For the chain, let’s have me, AJ, Natalia, Beatriz, and end with Marco. Then the rest of you can cross in front.”
Darryl puffed out his chest. “I can be part of the chain.”
“We need you to go over with Zion. It’s going to be the hardest on him.”
“What about Trask?” Lisa asked. “Who’s going to carry him?”
Natalia realized that none of the choices were good. The people on the chain were the strongest, but also at the most risk. That left Zion, Darryl, Susan, Lisa, and Ryan.
“I’ll do it,” Ryan said.
“No,” Lisa said. “Your shoulder is burned.”
Ryan shrugged. “Just on the outside. Not where the straps hit.”
“Wait a minute,” Wyatt said. “I haven’t been thinking straight. If anyone falls into the water, the best way to survive is to shed your pack, get on your back, and point your feet downstream. But you obviously can’t do that if you have a baby on your back.”
“My sister was big into wearing her kids,” Beatriz said, untying her beach towel–turned–cape. “I think it’s possible to use this to tie Trask to Ryan’s front.”
It took a few tries for Beatriz to remember how it was done, but eventually the towel was snugged under Trask’s butt and wrapped around Ryan’s torso, and the ends of the towel were tied around his unburned shoulder.
After putting back on the empty child carrier, Wyatt had them link arms on the narrow shore. “We’ll be moving on my count at an angle so we can help break the current for the person behind us. Don’t cross your legs. Just keep shuffling sideways.”
Was he afraid? Natalia couldn’t tell. Since he was in the lead, he would be bearing the brunt of the current. Feeling each step with the pole, he waded back into the water as he began to call out their steps.
“Left foot. Right foot. Left. Right.”
Natalia’s arm was threaded through AJ’s on one side and Beatriz’s on the other. She stepped into the water. It was immediately as high as her calves. She let out an involuntary gasp at how cold it was. Behind her, she felt Beatriz’s arm tighten as she slipped a couple of inches before catching herself. But they kept bulling their way forward, until finally the five of them spanned the width of the stream.
“Good job!” Wyatt called. “Careful not to lock your knees.” Then he yelled for Susan to come across. She moved a little uncertainly without her pole but still made it across. Darryl and Zion crossed together. Lisa was next, using the pole to steady herself. Ryan went last. Trask kept patting his dad’s face and babbling, but Ryan didn’t let himself respond until they were safely on the other side.
Once everyone was across, Marco detached himself and made his way carefully across the stream. One by one, the line unpeeled, until finally only Wyatt was left standing in the stream.
“We did it!” Smiles broke through their exhaustion. Natalia felt her spirits lighten.
Wyatt put Trask on his back again and returned the trekking pole to Susan. Their boots sloshing at every step, the group moved forward in scattered clumps. For once, Marco’s Tevas served him well. Beatriz’s booties were still on her feet, but looking worse for wear. When they came upon an old fallen log, most went around it. AJ elected to go straight over. He grabbed hold of the stub of a branch poking up from the top, then set his right foot on the curve of the trunk. With a grunt, he pulled himself up until he was standing on top, about three feet off the ground. Bending his knees and swinging his arms, he got ready to jump down on the other side.
Suddenly there was a splintering crunch as part of the log gave way. He lurched sideways as his left foot disappeared.
An angry hum filled the air.
AJ desperately yanked his foot free. He fell backward off the log, landing on his butt.
From the hole he had punched in the rotten trunk, tiny yellow bodies began to rise up. First dozens, then hundreds, then possibly thousands massed in a dark and angry swarm around the log that had once held their nest.
“Bees!” AJ yelled.
Shrieking, everyone scattered. Everyone but Zion, who had frozen. And when AJ desperately scrambled to his feet, he accidentally knocked Zion off-balance. Face-first into the log.
Right into the bees’ nest.