“But is it Pop’s blood that got spilled? Is Pop all right?”

Sinclair gnashed his teeth at us, snapping like a dog, his body twitching all over.

“There are bodies gathering,” he said. “A feast for the vultures, a feast for me, a feast. The water trickles red. There will be skulls, yes, skulls and leg bones for my collection.”

“Please just tell me this,” I said. “I know Pop lost, but what did he wager?”

“Swim through the pool at the mouth of the cave.” Sinclair’s voice went deep, low, and ugly. “Take a deep breath, mind you children, and swim with all your might.” Sinclair growled at me. In the darkness his eyes glowed red. “Hurry! Hurry! Before I grow too hungry. Before I can’t stop myself.”

I felt Tally’s furry palm on my arm. “Let’s go, Buddy.”

Me and Tally made it to the pool where we first got drug in. Tally dove first and I followed. I swam and I swam until I could see a little flicker of light up ahead. That was it, the sunshine, the sky. It had to be morning by now, I could see the surface of the water, I was almost there. And then something caught my ankle.

It was a vine maybe, some branch of a long-sunk tree snagged right on my trousers. I kicked as hard as I could, but I couldn’t break free.

My lungs were burning, and my muscles ached and I was swimming with all my might, but it wasn’t doing a lick of good. That daylight was so close I could almost feel it, I could almost feel the sun beating down on my wet skin. But I wasn’t ever gonna get there, no sir.

The simple fact of it was I was drowning. Let me tell you, the first thing that surprises you about drowning is how easy it would be to give up, how much your body just wants to shut down and let it go, how easy it can feel to drift down to the bottom and die, right then and there, how you start to want to die, how bad it hurts to hold that air in, how impossibly far away that daylight feels.

I looked up and saw a bug-eyed creature glaring down at me. I nearly screamed, my mouth sucking in water. But no, it was Tally, it was only Tally. She grabbed my hand and tugged and I kicked and my lungs burned and my vision got spotty, and I just about gave up hope. But Tally wasn’t going to let me die. Not no way, not no how. That’s a true friend for you. That’s the kind of friend that only comes around once or twice in your whole lifetime, and that’s a fact. Good old Tally gave my arm a yank so hard it ripped me free from whatever had snagged my leg and Tally pulled me up to the surface, to the good old swamp air, to the morning light burning bright and hot right on my noggin, God bless it.