Justin listened, then he heard it… splashing sounds, followed by strange whimpers, coming toward them from their right. "Sounds almost like a baby crying."

Amber leaned out over the bow. "Oh my God, look! It's a deer… no, it's a herd of deer."

Justin moved next to her as the heads and slender necks of a half dozen Sika deer appeared out of the fog. "Excellent. The deer know their way, we'll just follow them in to shore. Told you I'd get us back to Foyers."

"How do you know they're headed to Foyers? They could be swimming towards the western shore."

"At this point, who cares?"

The first two deer paddled past the Zodiac's bow, their hoofs churning water in a frenzy of movement, their nostrils lathered in foam with the effort.

"Justin, do they seemed frightened?"

"They're probably cold."

Another deer appeared from out of the fog. Suddenly the animal let out a high-pitched, "nehhhh—" tossed its head back… and disappeared in a froth of waves.

Amber clutched Justin's arm. "Did you see that? Oh my God, something huge just dragged that deer underwater!"

Justin searched the surface. "No. It… it must've got tired and drowned, that's all."

"It didn't drown! Something ate it!"

"Easy, girl. I was just teasing you before about Nessie. There's no such thing."

"Hey, I'm not stupid. I'm telling you, something big just took that deer. Start the engine!"

They grabbed one another as the Zodiac rocked violently, then spun counterclockwise several quick revolutions before drifting sideways.

"Okay, what the hell was that?"

Now Justin was trembling. "Let's just get out of here."

"Justin, watch out!"

Emerging from the mist, a panicking buck veered for the Zodiac, lunging its front hoofs out of the water and over the edge of the rubber raft.

"Shit!" Grabbing the wild animal by its neck and antlers, Justin fought to shove the two-hundred-pound beast back into the water without being lanced. "Amber, help—"

The buck continued thrashing and kicking, intent on climbing out of the water, when it was seized by its hindquarters by an unseen force and dragged below.

Pulled off-balance, Justin Wagner tumbled overboard after it.

"Justin!" Amber knelt on her bench seat, looking in every direction. "Justin? Justin, where are you?!" She heard splashing sounds behind her and turned to the source. "Justin?"

"Ambhhhhhh—" Justin's head poked free of the freezing waters, his arms slapping frantically at the fog-covered surface. "It's fuuuuckinnng freeeezing!"

"Hold on!" Amber climbed back to the stern. "Okay, you can do this." She pushed the tiller out of her way, then stood behind the outboard and attacked the starter cord with both hands.

It took her several awkward jerks before the engine started. But as the revving propeller caught water, the bent tiller sent the raft lurching sideways, spilling Amber Korpela headfirst into the Loch.