Freefall by Jill Sorenson Page B

chirped twice.
    “How does it look?” Paula asked.
    “Hairy,” Ron replied, giving the boat a push and hopping in.
    Caleb howled like a coyote, splashing Ted with his paddle.
    Faith exchanged a glance with Jay. He looked worried.
    “Your radio beeped,” Paula said.
    “Yeah, they’ve been paging me all morning. Must be something important. I’ll answer it when we stop for lunch.”
    Faith was looking forward to lunch. She might never get back in the raft. As they approached a huge drop between two boulders, her worst nightmare materialized. The left side of the raft lifted high in the air and she went with it. Screaming, she tumbled over the edge, gripping the wet guard rope in her clenched fist.
    Ron had both hands full paddling, so he couldn’t assist her.
    Jay lunged across the space, grabbing the front of her life jacket and hauling her inside. Her eyes locked with his. “Okay now?” he asked.
    When she nodded, he let go.
    He’d risked his own safety by standing to help her. As he returned to his side of the raft, they hit another huge wave.
    Jay toppled overboard, just like that.
    Faith screamed again, throwing herself across the raft. She searched for him in the whitewater, her arms outstretched.
    This time, it was Ron who hauled her backward. “You can’t help him,” he shouted. “Stay on your side and paddle!”
    They still had a treacherous run to complete. Faith paddled as well as she could, sobbing in dismay. She scanned the rapids as they rushed by, praying for a glimpse of Jay’s red helmet or a flash of his yellow life jacket.
    She couldn’t see him anywhere.
    “We’ve got a swimmer,” Ron said, alerting the other paddlers. They redoubled their efforts to reach an eddy behind a boulder. From there, they combed the water in all directions. “Look for him!”
    There was no sign of Jay.
    “I’m going in,” Caleb said. He was the strongest swimmer, besides Ron, and they needed the guide to stay in the boat.
    Before he jumped overboard, Paula pointed to a blur of color by the shore. “There!”
    Faith could have wept with relief. Jay was clinging to a group of wet rocks near the opposite bank. Ron ordered them to paddle that direction. As they got closer, it became clear that he was injured. He was waist-deep in the water, his helmet askew, left arm hanging at an awkward angle.
    Ron tied down the raft and leaped out. He got a grip on Jay’s life jacket and dragged him toward the shore, his face contorted from the effort. Faith and Caleb came with him, sloshing through the icy shallows.
    “Where are you hurt?” Ron asked.
    “My shoulder,” Jay said, wincing. “It’s dislocated.”
    Faith stared at his left arm in horror. It looked detached from his body, like a limb on a scarecrow.
    “Damn,” Caleb said. “I’ve done that before. Hurts like a bitch.”
    “I’ll call Dispatch,” Ron said. “Emergency services has a helicopter—”
    “I don’t need a fucking helicopter,” Jay interrupted. He took off his helmet and tossed it on the muddy bank. “I can walk.”
    “It’s at least twenty miles, either direction.”
    “I’ll live.”
    Caleb nodded, as if this sounded reasonable. “You can walk, but you can’t carry gear. Someone will have to come with you.”
    He scowled at the suggestion, but Faith perked up. “I can do it.”
    “No,” Ron said. “Your sister will have my ass.”
    “Your sister?” Jay asked.
    “She’s a park ranger,” Faith said, waving away Ron’s concern. “Don’t worry about her. It’s my fault he fell overboard, so the least I can do is help him. I’m also the weakest paddler. You need the others on the raft.”
    “She just wants to jump his bones,” Caleb said with a smirk.
    “Shut up,” Faith said. “I’m not going to jump his bones.”
    Jay shuddered. “Please. Stop talking about bones.”
    Ron couldn’t think of a solution that didn’t involve emergency transport. Jay refused his repeated offers for a helicopter on the