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Nash
The tents were set up. I scanned the area until I spotted Makenna. She was with Don and Jess, down by the river fishing. I couldn’t help but stare. She’d changed into shorts, but left on her pink bathing suit. I figured she’d worn it under the wetsuit. Normally, I didn’t notice a woman’s shoulders, but when it came to Makenna, it seemed I noticed everything. She had nice shoulders.
She was fishing right alongside the two men. Don must’ve loaned her a pole. He usually had an extra. It didn’t look as if this was her first time fishing. Yeah, she was surprising the hell out of me. She looked as if she’d be more comfortable serving tea in a parlor, definitely not shooting the rapids or fishing.
A few minutes passed before she set back on the pole. I watched while she brought out a nice rainbow trout. She laughed at something that Jess said as she grabbed the fish and removed the hook. No, this wasn’t her first time fishing. She hadn’t acted a bit squeamish sliding her hand down the fish to get a good grasp on it and then removing the hook.
“Do you think you might have misjudged her?” Rachel asked as she came up to stand beside me. “She did pretty good out there today for never having gone down the rapids before.”
I was usually a pretty good judge of character. I knew I shouldn’t come to a snap decision about Makenna based solely on the fact that she didn’t look like the outdoors type, but I couldn’t help it. She reminded me of some of the girls I’d come across in college. They’d huddled in groups, then sized up each man when they walked by as if they were at a meat market.
I always thought they were brainless twits. Not that Makenna sized me up when I walked by. She was shattering the stereotypes implanted in my brain by other women. Still, this was only the first day. We had a few more to go. She could still prove me right.
“Well, at least she didn’t fall out of the boat today. We’ll see what she does tomorrow.” I didn’t want to get into a conversation with Rachel about whether I was wrong about Makenna or not.
Ethan had a fire ready to start as soon as they brought the fish up. For dinner, I liked to make sure that everyone had a meal with fresh meat. This would probably be the last one since we would be hiking tomorrow and moving away from the river. Our supplies would be limited to freeze-dried, which weren’t bad, just not as good as fresh caught.
Makenna, Jess, and Don began walking back to camp. Jess said something and again, Makenna looked up at him and laughed. A moment of anger washed through me. Jess was a new guide and maybe he’d forgotten my rule to keep the paying customer at arms-length. He seemed a little too friendly around Makenna. I didn’t like the way he was looking at her either. As if he could devour her in one bite.
“Jess, maybe you and Ethan could clean the fish so we can get it cooked. I’m pretty sure everyone is hungry by now.”
Don looked at me with a question in his eyes. I shook my head, not wanting to get into it right now. Besides, I really didn’t know where my anger was coming from.
“Sure thing, boss. We caught some pretty nice fish,” Jess said.
He hadn’t caught my thin veil of anger. I sighed. Why should he? He hadn’t done anything wrong, except talk to Makenna. Dammit, the woman was going to be the death of me. When I met her gaze, she was frowning and looking confused.
“I’ll grab a couple of knives and help you clean them,” I told him. I had to get my shit together and stop thinking about her so much.
We cleaned the fish and Don did the cooking. Hands down, he was the best camp cook I knew. By the time everything was ready, I felt less like a ticking bomb about to explode. Everyone grabbed their plate, then found a seat around the campfire.
“What was it out there today?” Jared asked. “Class five?”
I liked Jared. He was around my age and worked for a major corporation, but every chance he got, he was outside. The guy loved the outdoors. I hated to burst his bubble.
I shook my head. “Class four. If we’d continued on, we would’ve hit a class five, but it’s dangerously close to the Devil’s Corridor, and that’s a six all the way.”
“Devil’s Corridor?” Makenna asked.
“The point of no return,” Don said.
“It’s a class six. Only a fool would attempt it.” I didn’t like the look of interest on her face. Better to shut her down right now. “Men have died attempting a class six. At the very least, you’d probably suffer a few broken bones.”
“How many bones did you break?” Don asked me.
“You went down the Devil’s Corridor?” Jess asked with awe.
Everyone turned their attention to me. I glared at Don, but he’d been around me too long, and he knew my bark was worse than my bite. He only shrugged.
“You might as well tell them about it,” Don said.
There was a chorus echoing his words. I could see there was no way I would get out of not telling them the story.
“I was young and stupid,” I began. “Not even twenty-one yet, and full of piss and vinegar. Once I’d heard about the class six rapids that no one had been able to conquer, I knew I was going to try. I wanted to be the first one, and no one was going to stop me.
I did everything right. Double checked all my supplies, then checked them again. I even mapped out the route the river would take. Just in case, I told someone where I was going. He tried to talk me out of it, but my mind was made up.”
“I should’ve slapped you upside the head. Might’ve knocked some sense into you,” Don said.
I grinned. “I don’t think anything would’ve stopped me.”
“What happened?” Makenna asked, leaning forward.
I could tell her how I’d fought the rapids. How the devil tried to claim my soul that day. Even though I didn’t make it all the way through, I could have her thinking I was some kind of stud. But that would be a flat out lie.
Might as well burst all their bubbles. “As soon as I hit the class six rapids, I knew it was going to be harder than I’d thought. The first waterfall wasn’t that bad, but I’m pretty sure I heard the devil laughing when I scraped the side of the boulder at the bottom.”
Don nodded. “Worst case of road rash I’ve ever seen.” He was thoughtful for a moment. “I guess you’d call it rock rash.” He chuckled at his own joke.
“Thanks for the input,” I told him.
“Anytime.”
“What happened next?” Scotty asked.
“Other than the scrape on my arm, I was feeling pretty salty by then. I’d made it past the first obstacle. How bad could it get?”
When Don chuckled, I glared at him, but it still didn’t do any good, so I continued.
“The first waterfall was only a small taste of what was to come. If I’d had any sense back then, I would have attempted to find a place to get out of the rapids, but I kept going. There were so many twists and turns that I almost got whiplash. Boulders were coming out from seemingly nowhere. It took all of my strength and perseverance to dodge them. Then I came up on the second waterfall. There was no turning back. I could only go forward. I knew I was fucked.”
“I didn’t figure he’d make it through that one,” Don said. “I’d hiked in, and had camp set up at the bottom of the waterfall. I figured I’d have to pull him out.”
“I’m glad you had more sense than I did,” I told him. “I still remember that day as if it was yesterday. Like the sound of the bone breaking in my arm when it slammed into a particularly nasty boulder.”
“Could’ve heard him yell and cuss for miles.”
“My raft took the worst of it. The devil took it that day. When I heard laughter, I figured I had a head injury and was probably dying.”
“Only laughed when I saw you weren’t dead, just mad as hell.” Don was grinning from ear to ear.
I was glad he at least was enjoying the story.
“Would you do it again?” Jared asked.
“Nope, I was a believer after that. I started listening to people with more experience. I learned a lot over the next few years. I might still take chances, but going on class six rapids will not be one of them. Only someone with suicidal tendencies would go there.”
Over the next few minutes, everyone grew silent. Maybe they wondered if they could go where no man had ever gone. I hoped not.
“What’s the plan for tomorrow?” Rachel asked, breaking the silence. “I’ve never gone hiking in this area.”
“Ethan and Jess will deflate the rafts and head back,” I began. “We have a company vehicle not too far away. In fact, if anyone decides they don’t want to go farther than this, I would suggest you make it known right now. This will be your last chance.” I was kind of glad that no one spoke up. I liked the group, and I had to admit that Makenna was definitely proving herself. So maybe I didn’t want her to leave. She continually surprised me.
We finished eating, and I left the group on their own to join the other guides to bag up the rafts. They weren’t light, but Jess and Ethan would be able to handle them for the quarter-mile trek back to a vehicle. We had different points where we left vehicles along the way, just in case. They each grabbed a raft, slinging the strap across their shoulders, and carried them without any problem back to the camp.
The lights in Makenna’s tent were on. The sun had already gone down. I was staring at the door, willing it to open. When I saw the flap push back, I wondered if my thoughts had reached her. She glanced my way, then hesitated briefly before walking past me toward the river.
I probably should go about my duties. I probably should, but I wasn’t going to. I started walking toward the river.