People of the Lakes(328)
Black Skull leaned down, shouting in Trade pidgin, ‘ ”t move!” and pointed to the sagging wood.
Star Shell understood immediately and nodded, frightened into motionlessness. The little girl, too, stared down with panicked eyes.
Black Skull muttered under his breath, searching around, looking for something, anything, that would give them a chance.
And that’s when Otter broke out-of the trees. Catcher was dashing along, barking, doing his best to stop Otter, and that touched Black Skull.
“Come on, Otter. Stay on shore. Think of something for me to do out here!”
Another piece of wood broke free, and Black Skull forlornly watched it drop down into the backwash, twirl around a couple of times and finally tumble over the edge.
“Trader? If you don’t think of something, you’re going to have to take on the Khota by yourself. You and Pearl and the fool.” He got another glance at the falls, four body-lengths behind him, and shook his head. One thing was sure, it would be quick, no lingering bleeding, suffocating, or hurting. Just that sick sensation of the long fall, then smack! And a person would be gone.
He bent down, bellowing into Star Shell’s ear again. “If what’s left of the raft starts to go, I’ll jump off! I’m the heaviest.”
He pointed to where Otter was running along the shore, now followed by Pearl. “My friends will find a way to save you!”
She looked up, and he couldn’t tell if those were tears in her black eyes or just the water from the spray of the falls. “Why?
Why would you save us?”
“It’s part of my friend Green Spider’s Vision. Now I’m going to climb down—get partway into the water. Take some of the weight off before I break it up more.”
Black Skull turned to see Otter unwinding a rope, tying the end around a small rock.
“The crazy fool, he can’t hold my weight!”
Otter slung the rope around his head, the way he might a bola, and it sailed out over the river. The impact on the water knocked the rock out of the knot. The rope came twisting and slithering in the dashing wash. It passed just near enough that Black Skull could clamber down and catch the end.
“All right, Otter. So I’ve got the rope. Now what?” He pulled it tight, fighting the drag as the current caught the taut rope, tugging and straining at his hold. Black Skull glanced up to see Otter tying off on a slim maple—not the best, but the only anchor available.
Another bit of their raft broke free, jarring them, and bringing forth sharp screams from the girl. Black Skull growled, and, battling with the rope, beckoned Star Shell to him. She crawled forward carefully, clutching the child under one arm.
Black Skull bent down, shouting into her ear. “I’m going to tie the rope around your shoulders.”
“What about you?”
“Next time! I don’t think it will take the three of us!”
He leaned back, taking up slack, and with Otter’s help, managed to pull the rope tight. Star Shell helped him as he took a figure-eight loop around both of her legs, adding, “It will hurt, cut off the circulation to your legs, but as long as you hang onto the rope, my friends will get you to shore.”
She nodded uncertainly.
“You must hold on! No matter what. Even if you go underwater.
“Yes!” she cried.
Black Skull gave her a nod, then signaled Otter, who held up a hand in acknowledgment and started working on the rope, stretching it tight again before tying off.
Black Skull took a deep breath. “Ready?”
Star Shell nodded, clearly scared out of her wits. She twisted the rope around and around her arms while Silver Water crawled onto her back.
“Take a deep breath!” Black Skull ordered. “Both of you.
And kick if you can. Stroke if you can. Fight! You must fight with all your heart!”
“All right. We’re ready!” Star Shell nodded, but she was clearly afraid to let go of their precarious driftwood raft. Black Skull whispered a prayer to the ancestors and eased her into the water.
Star Shell whipped away from him, twisting around, immediately pulled under.
“Hang on, girl! Don’t let go of your mother!” Black Skull’s heart leaped as Star Shell and Silver Water bobbed up to the surface, then sank again. Would the little girl have the strength to hold on? Or would she panic and be swept over the edge?
Otter and Pearl dragged the rope in as it swung shoreward.
No one could work the rope hand to hand in that powerful current, but Star Shell seemed to be trying. The maple tree bent under the strain. Pearl went knee-deep into the river, catching the rope, hauling their prize to shore. A wet, bedraggled Star Shell—her half-drowned daughter no doubt strangling her—was washed against the sand at the very edge of the falls. From his vantage, it appeared to Black Skull that Star Shell’s feet hung over the edge.