Sunday Morning—8:30 a.m., On the Deck at The Lodge
A half dozen other guides arrived at Big Water to prepare for the summer season. Most of them had been guiding for a while, but they all were going to get a refresher course of swift-water rescue that day. Jacob was vigilant about training. Many of the guides were ski instructors in the winter and river guides in the summer. No desk jobs for these young people.
The perfect day unfolded with the bright blue sky smiling on the patches of brilliant wildflowers, decorating the landscape around the lodge and the hillside by The River. Blue Flax, Copper Mallows, Wood Lilies, and countless others painted the gray and green terrain. Gabriel, still foggy from falling asleep at The Reflection Pool the night before, lumbered up the steps to join the others. Freddie, Tabitha, and Samuel were sitting at a picnic table on the deck sipping coffee. Freddie cracked a joke and they were doubled over in laughter. Sadie was talking to some of the others who just arrived. Some days it took Gabriel awhile to connect. An introvert by nature, he felt like an outsider, like he was intruding. Everyone was nice enough, but he usually kept to himself around new folks.
“Get your beauty sleep?” Freddie asked Gabriel.
“Hardly.”
Gabriel looked at Tabitha. She rose.
“Anyone want some more coffee?” she asked the table.
The guys shook their heads as she turned and headed toward the kitchen.
“Ouch,” Samuel commented with a smirk on his face.
“Samuel, is it chilly out here? I think I felt a very cold breeze blow by here.” Freddie chuckled at his own sarcasm.
“That was blizzard-like chilly.” Samuel turned to Gabriel. “What did you do?”
Gabriel ignored them.
“I better go get some coffee.” Gabriel headed toward the kitchen as the door swung open.
“Fresh and hot!”
Ezra shuffled out onto the deck holding a pan of his cinnamon rolls. A hearty cheer erupted. They all swarmed the pan and began tearing off pieces. The icing dripped and the steam rose from the dough. It didn’t take long for more reactions to erupt.
“Pure heaven.”
“Oh, man . . . this is as good as it gets.”
“Ezra, I need to marry a man like you,” Sadie said as she took a roll.
“Ezra, can you teach me how to make those?” Freddie didn’t waste the opportunity.
“He’s relentless,” Sadie commented to Ezra.
“You can’t blame the kid for tryin’.”
Gabriel snatched two rolls and entered the dining area. Tabitha stood behind the counter pouring her coffee.
“Could I get a little of that?”
“Get a mug,” she replied shortly.
Gabriel opened the cabinet and pulled out a large white ceramic mug with a yellow daisy painted on it.
She glanced at the mug. “My mom helped me paint that. Be careful with it, please.”
“How old were you?”
“Seven.” Tabitha stared down at the mug for a moment. “I don’t understand you. What was that last night?” she asked, sounding both perturbed and concerned.
Gabriel sighed. “I don’t know. I’m not really sure, to be honest.”
“Was it something I said? You just shut down. That’s not how it works, you know. If you want to have a relationship, you have to relate.”
Gabriel was taken aback by her candor. She always spoke her mind so freely.
“You make it sound pretty easy.” He passed her the cinnamon roll.
“I didn’t say it was easy. Things that are worth it probably aren’t easy, right? It takes work.”
“I prefer easy.”
Tabitha cracked a flirtatious smile as she dipped her finger in the icing.
“You know what’s easy?” she asked him.
“What?”
“This!”
Tabitha smeared the icing on Gabriel’s nose and ran around the counter and out the door laughing.
“No way.”
Gabriel sat in shock for a moment before he hustled out of the kitchen to catch her. He exploded through the door and interrupted Jacob addressing the whole group.
“Welcome, Gabriel,” Jacob said sternly.
“Oh, sorry,” he answered awkwardly.
Tabitha stood on the other side of the deck grinning from ear to ear. Gabriel caught her eye with a flirtatious glare.
Jacob continued, “Okay guys, let’s take as few vehicles as possible, so team up. We’re going to do some swift-water exercises at The Carnival. Everyone know where that is?”
The group nodded.
“Yeah, baby!” Freddie shouted as he slammed his hand on the picnic table. “I love that water.”
“When we get there, I’ll give you more instructions, but we’ll do some technical rope rescue exercises, unconscious swimmer extraction, and some good old-fashioned white-water swimming. Freddie, you come with me.” Jacob looked up from his clipboard at Freddie.
Freddie gave him a thumbs-up.
Gabriel was still new to the white water. Even though his physique was sculpted and strong, he’d wrestled with debilitating fear his entire life. Anyone would with the things he saw as a young boy. The idea of voluntarily jumping in big water made his stomach jump into his throat. He wanted to back out but wouldn’t dare.
The entire Big Water Adventures Team headed down The River in five rafts carrying all the gear necessary for a few hours of training. The morning mist burned off in the canyon as the sun beamed across the water. The temperature was pushed up over eighty degrees.
“I do love this part of The River; it’s like a million tiny mirrors sparkling with the sun,” Sadie commented with wonder.
“It never gets old, does it?” Gabriel responded.
“Nope.”
“How’s your leg doing?” he asked as he glanced down.
Sadie turned her knee inward showing her toned calf.
“Just a scar now. Doesn’t hurt anymore.” She ran her fingers over it.
“Okay, guys, The Carnival is just around the bend, so let’s put out in that eddy over there!” Jacob announced as he motioned to all the rafters.
One by one they all pulled in the eddy and beached their rafts.
Jacob’s tone turned serious and instructive. “Gather over here and take a seat on these rocks. It’s time for a sermon.”
The rafters took their seats on the bank of giant boulders facing The River. Jacob continued, “Welcome to The Carnival, ladies and gentlemen. We’ve got the . . .”
Jacob paused as he noticed Freddie mouthing the words he was saying.
“Freddie, do you have something to say?”
Freddie shook his head violently and put his hand over his mouth.
“You think you know the spiel, wise guy?” Jacob looked serious.
Freddie shook his head again, this time his eyes wide with “uh-oh” written all over them.
Jacob reached in his dry bag and pulled out a folded-up twenty-dollar bill. He held it up so everyone could see it.
“Twenty bucks says you don’t know what I’m going to say.”
The mood lightened, and then Freddie surprised everyone in a shockingly real “Jacob” voice.
“Welcome to The Carnival, ladies and gentlemen. We’ve got the best rides in all of Colorado. Most carnivals are fun, but this section of rapids is no joke. I want all eyes on me for the next few minutes as I point out the attractions here at The Carnival. First, you’ve got the tilt-a-whirl. That’s right, it tilts and it whirls . . .”
At this point no one could contain their laughter. Everyone was in stitches, including Jacob.
“Okay, okay!” He waved his hands in surrender.
Jacob waved the twenty-dollar bill in the air and walked over and tucked it in Freddie’s lifejacket. Everyone erupted in applause as Freddie took a bow.
“Okay, I’ll admit it. That was impressive, Freddie. It’s good to have fun. What kind of life do we have, huh? Look around at your office today, guys. Isn’t this amazing?” Jacob motioned to the surroundings as he smiled and stroked his salt-and-pepper scruff.
Jacob continued to go over the importance of being vigilant during training. He walked them through all the specific rapids that constituted The Carnival. He went over the dangers of a “haystack” that occurred at the “Ferris wheel” rapid, where the current slowed quickly after a big drop causing a massive standing wave. He warned them of a strainer that had formed down past “pinball.” Some dead branches lay across a few rocks allowing the water to pour through, but it was lethal when a person got caught in it. After he finished giving them a verbal tour of the rapids and their challenges, he gave out assignments. Jacob was not only an expert on The River, he was just as strong at imparting his knowledge and explaining the why behind his decisions.
“Okay, guys, we’re going to do a little white-water swimming. It’s only about three to four feet deep here, so I want us to practice getting into the water off of this rock and then ferrying over to that eddy. Before we do that, I want some upstream and downstream safety in place. Sadie, I want you to head upriver about thirty yards where that tree leans out over the water. Watch for any other boats, logs, or anything that might cause trouble for our swimmers. Samuel, you’re one of our strongest swimmers. Why don’t you take Jeff with you down to the Ferris wheel in case someone gets past us. He’s dead-on with the throw bag. Samuel, take the rope down with you. We’ll set up some cross-river lines and do some raft extraction.”
Jacob looked at Gabriel.
“You see I spread the team out in areas of their strengths. This way we have multiple points of rescue instead of all of us being in the same place.”
“Got it.” Gabriel responded through his nerves as he tightened the straps on his life vest.
Everyone got into position upriver and downriver. Now it was time to practice some swims.
“Freddie, you wanna go first?”
“Sure!” Freddie didn’t hesitate. He stepped up on a rock jutting out over the water.
“Freddie!” Jacob yelled.
He turned.
“Your brain bucket?” Jacob pointed to his own head.
“Shoot!” Freddie jumped back down and got his helmet and strapped it on.
Jacob continued instructing. “Okay. Remember, forty-five degree angle to the current. Shallow landing knees; face, feet, and chest hit the water at the same time. Then swim hard.”
Freddie didn’t waste a second. He got up on the rock and dove without hesitation.
“Go, Freddie!” The others cheered him on.
He smacked the water and immediately started a violent swimming stroke. The water was swift and carried Freddie along as he swam. In a matter of just a few seconds, Freddie traversed the forty feet to the eddy on the other side.
“He’s so light and strong he just skips across like a june bug.”
Freddie stood up in the eddy and shot everyone a thumbs-up.
“Sure.”
Tabitha stepped up and splashed in. Her long, lean body darted across the water in perfect form.
“Wow, she made that look easy,” Gabriel commented to Jacob.
A couple more guides followed Tabitha.
“You see how they are doing it? You ready?”
Jacob cinched up the straps on Gabriel’s vest. Gabriel tightened his helmet.
“Stay shallow,” Jacob said as Gabriel took his position on the rock.
He splashed in. His six-foot-one-inch, one-hundred-eighty-pound frame started the short journey.
“Forty-five!” Gabriel heard Jacob shout. “You’re at a ninety. You’re going to miss the eddy.”
Gabriel pounded the water but could sense his trajectory was already off. He knew the water was not that deep, so he put his feet down to try to wade the final fifteen feet or so.
“Don’t stand up! Samuel will get you downriver!” Jacob bellowed, but Gabriel didn’t hear him in time. His adrenaline kicked in, and he was reacting. Gabriel looked back as he stood up in the current waist-deep. He glanced forward to see Tabitha and the others telling him to just let go and let the water take him downstream. His instincts wouldn’t allow him to surrender to the water, so he plodded one more step.
“No, Gabriel!” Jacob shouted.
The next thing Gabriel knew, his head was bobbing in and out of the water. He gasped for breath every time he hit air, flailing his arms desperately, but he couldn’t move. His foot was stuck under a rock, and he couldn’t get enough footing with the other foot to free himself.
Gabriel suddenly saw stars. How long had it been since he’d taken a breath? He tried desperately one last time to free his foot, but the stars were more powerful. He surrendered.
So this is it. The River took my dad, and now it’s taking me too.
Suddenly, he was above the water, gasping for air. Jacob was holding on to the back of his life vest.
“Pull yourself up on the rope!” Jacob yelled. Gabriel flailed as Jacob grabbed his wrist and guided his hand to the rope that was positioned directly over his head, with Freddie manning one end on one bank and the other end tied to a tree on the opposite bank. Gabriel mustered the effort to hoist his face up out of the water again. His strength was waning. Then Jacob positioned himself upstream of Gabriel to create an eddy to ease the pressure. He reached down and grabbed Gabriel’s foot by the heel and jerked it violently back and forth, and it dislodged.
“Let go!” Gabriel released the rope at Jacob’s command, and the two men rode the current feet-first into the next rapid. They cascaded through one hundred yards of white water at the mercy of The River. Jacob held on to Gabriel with his left hand. Samuel cast a throw bag to Jacob and pulled them to safety.
As the two men caught their breath on the shore, Gabriel lay on his back, exhausted. Jacob saved me. He saved me. Gabriel unclasped his helmet and looked up at Jacob who was standing over him.
“Thank you,” he said faintly.
Jacob removed his vest and helmet.
“That was fun, huh? Let’s you know who is in charge out here. That’s why they call it the wilderness.” Jacob smiled. “I should have reminded you about foot entrapment possibilities. Next time, if you miss your mark, just ride the water feet-first until you can swim out. That’s why we have multiple rescue points downstream. Trying to stand up alone in that kind of water can get you killed”—Jacob snapped his fingers—“like that.”
The team worked on a few more exercises over the next few hours. Gabriel was embarrassed at the scare he gave everyone. He participated but was distracted at the thought of his close call. He hated everyone asking him if he was okay, especially Tabitha. It made him question things again, feeling like he didn’t belong. He wondered if he could really do it. On The River, it felt like there was always something that could go wrong. It was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. He hated feeling out of control and fearful. He had a long way to go to follow in his father’s footsteps.