Tom thought of the other raft, noisily approaching that stretch of river, none of them realizing the danger that was lurking in the water beneath them. Worse, if the caiman had attacked and the boat had been destroyed, as their own so easily could have been, probably only one of them would have been killed to begin with, the others scrambling to a hostile bank or swimming helplessly downstream. And Tom and the others could do nothing except wait, but he hoped the first sight of them wasn’t going to be a body.

He checked his watch again, and then Jess, the shortest in the group, said, “I see them.” She pointed to the gap between the bank and the large boulder.

It was a moment or two before he saw the welcome flash of yellow as they passed another rock farther upstream, the boat looking undamaged. The others spotted them at the same time and there was a chorus of agreement as relief spilled out of them. Tom guessed they’d probably rowed past the caiman without even knowing it.

But then Alice said, “I just hope they see us in time.”

They all started shouting and waving, even though the other raft was hidden by the boulder now. The dog barked too, the whole group producing enough noise that the others would probably have heard it even over the hiss and moan of the rapids.

The raft appeared. Joel and Nick were at the front, both rowing furiously, not in an attempt to change course or slow down, but toward the rapids, apparently intent on running them. The others were all out of sight, low down inside the raft.

Both Joel and Nick saw them on the riverbank, the yellow of their own raft no doubt like a beacon, but Joel only laughed, probably thinking they’d run aground by accident and this was a chance for his boat to take the lead again. Nick looked a lot less happy and was shouting something, his words lost to those on the shore.

Getting no response, he pulled at Joel’s arm now, knocking him off balance so he fell backward into the raft. And Nick started rowing even harder, the suggestion that he’d understood even if Joel hadn’t. He was on the left-hand side of the boat and with only him rowing, the boat edged toward the beach, but it was obvious it would never make it in time.

Nick screamed something, his voice audible above the rapids, even if they couldn’t make out the words. It had some effect, because Joel scrambled back up but seemed unsure what to do. In the end, he got behind Nick and started rowing on the same side, but the raft was out of control now, already passing the beach, gaining speed.