Beck rammed the pole into the water and heaved with all his might. He probably had less than a minute to get them to the bank. Tikaani was kneeling up and staring at the rapids. He reminded Beck of a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming car.
The raft moved towards the bank, but it also picked up speed towards the rapids. Beck swore and heaved again, and again. The bank grew tantalizingly close . . .
The pole hit something on the bottom of the river so hard that it was almost knocked from Beck’s hands. The Ptarmigan moved maybe thirty centimetres to the left and a couple of metres further downstream. That settled it, Beck realized, his heart plummeting. He could steer but not push. The current was too strong. And that committed them to one course of action.
Beck swore. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t get us to the side in time. We’re going to have ride the rapids.’
Tikaani looked back at him with wide-eyed, eloquent horror. The Ptarmigan dipped again and more water sloshed over them.
‘OK,’ his friend said bravely. ‘What can I do?’
‘Hold on!’ Beck told him.
Tikaani nodded, got a grip on the raft and looked forwards again.
The rapids were dead ahead. The raft was bucking in the current and the rocks were almost upon them. Beck wanted to stick to the tongue of the rapids, where the most water was flowing, and keep away from dips where it swirled around the rocks, forming whirlpools. Taking a deep breath, he focused on where he wanted to go and thrust out with the pole. The Ptarmigan shot between two rocks on a smooth ramp of water, down into a boiling pool of white rage.
Water sluiced over the deck. If the rucksacks hadn’t been tied down they would have been washed straight away. The raft surfaced like a submarine coming up for air. Both boys were gasping. The water felt icy as it streamed down their faces.
The raft heaved and bucked beneath them. Beck wiped the water from his eyes and looked around. They were surrounded by rocks and there was no obvious sign of the exit.
But the water knew where it was going and it took the Ptarmigan with it.
‘We’re going between those two!’ Tikaani shouted, pointing to a gap that looked only a little wider than the raft.
Beck could see that the water seemed to dip down on the left. Time to stick to the right!
The raft curved round under Beck’s guidance. One of the floats thumped into the rock on the right and the whole structure jarred. Beck winced. If something had to hit the solid lump of rocks, then he would rather it was that than fragile human bodies, but the Ptarmigan had to hold together. He had made it as solid as he could but he hadn’t had this kind of treatment in mind.
The raft spun round as it fell and plunged backwards into the next pool, Beck’s end first. It was a steep drop. The leading edge went under and kept going. Beck looked up and saw the rest of the raft rising above him. Tikaani was clinging on for dear life as tons of water threatened to push his end over. They were about two seconds away from capsizing.
‘Hold on!’ Beck shouted. He dropped the steering pole and scrambled up towards Tikaani. His extra weight helped push the top of the raft down again. A solid wave washed over the two boys, but the Ptarmigan stayed the right way up.
The pole was bobbing in the foam next to them. Beck grabbed at it and pulled it back in. The raft was spinning again. There was no way of telling which way was forwards, which way back. All Beck could do was fend them off the rocks that loomed in their way.
‘I think . . . I think we’re through . . .’ Tikaani gasped. Beck spared a glance for the way they were going. His friend was right. The water was still rough but they seemed to be through the worst of the drops. Rocks and boulders still lay in their path but the route through was clear. The raft shot between them as if eager to get away. It kicked beneath them like a speedboat. Beck steered again, keeping to where the water looked deepest, steering away from several final holes, and the sound of the rapids receded behind them. They were shaken, and soaking wet, but they were safe.