Aug 30 2009
Trip of a Lifetime—Forlorn Hope?
A Note to the Reader The gang lost their chance to to catch a plane out of Ontario. Now Crazy Dog’s come through for them once again. They hope he’ll help them all get home. But is it a forlorn hope?
Our story continues…
Chapter Thirty-Two
The outboard roared along at full throttle, running south before a freshening breeze. Ed and Brenna’s Old Town XL Tripper tugged at the tow line, darting back and forth in the Rupert House canoe’s wake. Every few seconds the motor canoe’s bow would slam into a wave, throwing a rooster-tail of salty spray back along its twenty-four-foot length. Crazy Dog shouted to make himself heard above the noise: “We been lucky wit’ the weather so far. But ‘less I miss my guess, that’s gonna change real soon now.”
Ed looked around. An overcast sky mirrored the leaden water of James Bay, the only evidence of land a faint charcoal smudge on the horizon to the right, far beyond the endless expanse of foreshore flats. A rich stench of decay rose from the newly uncovered mud. Ed wanted to say something to Brenna about “the perfume of the flats,” but just then the boat slid over the crest of a big roller. The prop lifted clear of the water, and his words were drowned out by a tortured whine. By the time they were in the trough of the wave, the joke didn’t seem so funny.
They were all traveling light now, their personal gear limited to rucksacks and whatever else they could easily carry. Sergei and Pavel kept their Kalashnikovs. Ed clutched Jack’s sextant, and Brenna still had her portfolio of drawings and paintings, double wrapped against the wet. Of the rest of the gear they’d brought downriver, only the packs of sturgeon roe remained. “Best Albany River beluga,” Sergei had said as he lashed them into the canoe, pausing only long enough to tap the side of his nose and wink. “Better than an American Express card. Don’t go home without it!”
Jack was also scanning the horizon. He looked north, and he didn’t like what he saw.… Read more…
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.
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.
