A Note to the Reader Last time, after days of hard traveling, Pete Neary unexpectedly found himself between a rock and a hard place. Has time run out for Pete?

 
Our story continues…

 
Chapter Twenty-Two

 
Ed stumbled along the shore, slipping on rain-slick cobbles. Water beaded on his glasses, turning the sodden landscape into an impressionist painting. He wiped the back of his hand across the lenses, but that only made matters worse. The dancing points of light and color were now replaced by a greasy blur. Still, he could see enough. And he didn’t like what he saw

Karin Neary was crawling slowly up the rocky shore, her soaked clothing weighing her already-exhausted body down. And there was no sign of Pete. His head had disappeared below the water’s surface. Only the Neary’s big, green Explorer was visible, pinned against a mid-stream boulder. With each surge in the current, the boat tugged at its only remaining link to land—the drum-tight bow painter that Pete had tied off to a riverbank spruce just before he jumped in the water. Looking far downriver, Ed could see occasional splashes of color that he knew to be the Neary’s packs.

But there was still no sign of Pete. Ed guessed that he lay under the heaving, gray-green pillow of water near the bow of the pinned canoe, trapped between the boat and the painter.

Then Ed saw something break the surface. Pete’s head! His arms flailed out in all directions as he struggled to hold his mouth above the pummeling water. He gasped involuntarily, gagged, and gasped again. His empty, probing hands found the boulder. He clawed at the rock, tearing his nails to the quick as he tried to gouge a purchase in unyielding granite. But the cold water had already taken its toll. Pete weakened. His hands relaxed, and his head yielded again to the smothering pillow. Water, rock, and rope held him fast.… Read more…

 

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Hooked? A new chapter in our serial adventure novel, Trip of a Lifetime, will appear every Sunday. If you’ve missed a chapter, or if you’re coming aboard for the first time and want to catch up, just use the hot-linked title to go to the archives.

 
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A REMINDER This is a work of fiction. All the characters are figments of the imaginations. It’s NOT a paddling guide. If you’re planning a trip on the Albany River—or any other body of water, come to that—consult the most recent edition of a good guidebook and be sure you’re thoroughly familiar with all applicable regulations. While maps of Ontario show some of the waterways mentioned here, the places depicted in our story exist only in our minds—and in yours.