I was pushed farther away. For an instant I thought about just quitting, letting the current push me back and then pulling myself up the stairs. I could still do that if I had to, but I didn’t have to yet. They were so close. I dug in with my arms and kicked my feet with all my strength. I was just a few feet away.

“Dad!” I screamed.

He turned around. His eyes opened in shock and fear. He reached out and grabbed my arm and pulled me over to the tree.

“What are you doing!” he yelled.

“I came to help.”

“The best way you could have helped was to…what’s around your…a fire hose?”

“I couldn’t find a rope so—”

“Here, let me have it. Hold on to the tree, wrap both arms around it.”

It was just a small palm tree, and I was practically on top of the woman. She had that same glazed look that her baby had. Her eyes were wide open but she was staring at nothing. Despite the warmth of the air and water she was shaking violently.

My father took the hose off my waist and tied it around the woman, making sure the knot was tight.

“We’re going to swim back,” he told me. “Me and you.”

“But what about her?”

“She’s staying here for a minute.”

“But you can’t just leave her!”

“I’m not leaving her. Keep one hand on the hose and let the current push you along. Just try to aim for the stairwell. I’ll be right beside you.”

“But—”

“No time to argue. Now!”

He grabbed me by the arm and practically ripped me off the tree. “You’ve got a grip on the hose?”

I nodded.

“Then let’s go!”

We dove in. The current was fast and we were pushed along. I kept a hand on the hose to guide me, and my father was right there at my side. There was no time for fear. Within seconds we’d hit the stairwell, and I put both hands on the hose, pulling myself up and onto the stairs. My father was right there, pushing me up until we bumped something solid and I was standing.

“Go up a few steps and get ready to pull!” he ordered.

“What?” What was he talking about?

“The hose…get ready to pull the hose…we’re going to pull her off that tree and over here to safety.”

“Does she know we’re going to do that?”

“She doesn’t know anything. She’s in shock, and she can’t stay there. That tree is about to be washed away.”

My father started to pull in the slack on the fire hose. I did the same until we were both holding it, stretched taut across the open water to the woman. I couldn’t see her, but I could just imagine what was going to happen, her panic when we’d start to pull her, and her terror when she’d feel herself being dragged through the water.

“Now!” my father yelled.