Reckless Magic

Once Amory was able to give me hisfull attention, I swung my legs over the edge and found the ladder with myfeet. I began my descent carefully, if not a little shakily. Eventually my feetran out of rungs and my toe swept the river, flooding my navy blue clogs withice cold water. I stretched my leg behind me until my toe bumped against thesolid wood of the row boat and I used the force of my leg muscles to pull theboat closer to the edge of the dirt wall.

Gripping the lower rungs tightlywith my trembling fingers, I placed one foot and then the other firmly on thebow of the row boat. I used my stomach muscles this time to pull the driftingboat closer still and took a step off of the bow and on to the wet, slipperyfloor. Sliding precariously, I let go of the ladder rungs and fell heavily ontothe bench.

Satisfied with a somewhat safelanding, I gripped the sides of the boat tightly as it rocked roughly back andforth. I was positioned on the first bench near the front of the boat, withAmory behind me. He handed me my oars and I slid them through the paddle holes,so that I would not lose them. Their cold wood was wet and slippery. Iregretted taking off my sweatshirt as the river water splashed over the sidesof the boat and sprayed my bare arms and face.

“Are you ready?” Amory askedgravely. I took a quick moment to throw my hair onto the top of my head,securing it with my hair tie. I then gripped the oars, braced my body andnodded in agreement. “Start rowing now, and once I release the rope I will fallinto a pattern with you,” I nodded again and took a big breath. “Eden….” Amorypaused, “however hard this may be, we have no choice but to succeed,” his wordsheld such gravity that I could not even respond.

I focused what little strength Ihad left and began to sink my oars deep beneath the turbulent surface of theriver. I brought them high above the water and then deep beneath over and overagain, fighting the strong current, determined to win.

I heard Amory struggle with theknot and then felt the quick release of the boat. At first we were takenviolently downstream, and I forced my weak fingers to hold onto the oars. Amoryjoined my struggle and eventually we fell into a labored routine; the oarsdipping under and over the water simultaneously.

I began to see progress as weforced our bodies to do the impossible. The cavern shrunk to only a roundedtu

I glanced back at Amory Saintworking with all of his strength to propel us forward. His face was set and hiseyes were hard with determination. I may not have any idea what we were ru

Chapter Forty-Two

Amory and I rowed through the darksilently; the only sound in the narrow tu

The lantern at the stern of theboat, the only light piercing the heavy darkness, cast eerie shadows on therounded walls. Amory had clearly taken this exit before, but I was tooexhausted to garner any details. I had no sense of time, and felt barelycoherent.

Amory said we would row for twohours, he did not say we would be rowing in a dark and claustrophobic tu

The river’s current stayed quickand I never noticed a change in depth, although there might have been one; itwas impossible to tell without testing it for myself. My feet were freezingfrom the ice cold water that made its way over the side and I stopped feelingmy fingers a long time ago. They maintained their grasp on the oars however, asif obeying a command I forgot I gave them.

Amory grunted suddenly with theeffort of another oar stroke. The sound echoed off of the low ceiling and closewalls making me jump. My heart beat wildly, and my already labored breathquickened. Normally easily scared, I was actually grateful my heart was strongenough to still have a reaction.

“Sorry,” Amory panted and I heardthe strained tone in his voice as our oars once again disappeared beneath therough surface of the water.

I shook my head as if to say it wasok, but couldn’t force words out of my mouth. I pushed the oars under therushing ripples and fought with everything I had to push them against thepressure of a force much greater than myself. The river fought back, convincingme to let my oar fall easily into its grip and float away. One more stroke, Idecided; and then again, just one more stroke.

My eyes were focused on the dimcircle of light the lantern illuminated; I could only see maybe ten or so feetin front of me. I centered on what I could to ensure the boat maintained astraight path, although something told me that Amory could have made the entirejourney blinded.

A cool rush of air wrapped itselfaround me and I shuddered violently. Already frozen from the ice cold water, Idreaded the idea of a draft. When another gush of air rushed by me again, Ibegan to hope. Maybe it was not a draft but the wind.

And then finally, the darknesssoftened around me into the midnight sky and a thousand stars twinkled above myhead. The night air was frigid, whipping violently through the trees. The riverwidened once outside of the cave taking two paths, one through the black tu

“Row over to the left bank,” Amorygrunted. I obeyed, grateful to be finished with that part of the journey.

Once near the river’s edge, Amoryjumped over the side quickly, knee deep in the rough current. He pushed the rowboat up the side of the bank and tied the rope to a nearby tree.

When finally the boat was secured,he returned to my side and offered his hand to help me out. I pried myoverworked fingers from the oars and placed a shaking hand in his. I stood upweakly, and allowed Amory to sustain most of my weight, nearly tumbling overthe edge.

My feet landed in three feet ofwater, the violent current still rushing wildly around my shins, doing its bestto knock me over. Amory braced me against his body and continued his supportuntil we were safely on solid ground.

I collapsed onto the river bank,thankful to be out of the boat. I still felt the strange sensation of themovement of water and clutched the cool grass to steady myself. The ground wasrough, and littered with sticks and rocks. They punctured and scraped my skin,but I was too exhausted to care.

Amory walked back to the boat onceagain to retrieve my backpack. He took the liberty of digging my sweatshirt outof the wet pack and tossing it to me. I made no movement for it, unable to findthe strength to sit up.

“We still have a ways to go,”Amory’s voice was tired but determined. I opened my eyes to look at him, hopingI could form words but nothing came. His eyes deepened with anxiety while helooked around suspiciously.

“I can make it,” I finally mumbled.I pulled myself into a sitting position and found the strength to put mysweatshirt on. Although my backpack was wet from sitting at the bottom of theboat, my sweatshirt remained mostly dry.

Once the warmth of my Huskerssweatshirt was wrapped around me, I began to feel better. I pulled the hood upand tied the draw strings tight. Eventually I found the energy to stand up andshoulder my backpack again.