Riddle Me This?

Chapter 19

The rushing of the water was definitely louder now. The trees began to thin, giving way to a riverbank ahead, and calmer waters here. At lease we wouldn't be trying to cross rough waters, though they were close by.

"Wait." Noam held up a hand. "I hear something else."

We stopped. Just over the sounds of the river, something creaked and water slapped against some surface. I crouched against the nearest tree.

Like this'll help if someone comes up behind us. The back of my neck prickled. What if the person on horseback had followed us this far? I glanced back.

Nothing visible, as usual. No use trying to see the invisible hunter, though, not now. I turned back around, trying to ignore the feeling that maybe I should pay attention and try and hear any snuffling coming through the trees. I pushed that thought away. Scaring myself wasn't going to help.

A boat slid into view, the wooden hull gliding smooth over the water. It was unremarkable, except for a small shape at the stern of the boat, carved into the wood and splashed with white paint. The same shape I'd seen a few other times, a wheel with eight spokes. Three canoes was roped to the side, and the deck looked empty. Two other boats were close behind it.

Meris stared at the boat. "We need to get on one."

Matt raised an eyebrow. "How?"

Meris kept her eyes on the boat. "Swim to it and climb on."

Noam reached out. "Meris—"

She cut him off. "I doubt they'll see us."

Or they might. "I doubt they'd appreciate us just showing up on their boats."

Noam moved forward. "Why don't we just hail them?"

"No," Meris said. "We need to get on one of those canoes." Before anyone else could protest, she waded into the river.

Noam headed wordlessly toward the bank, splashing as he entered the river and swam after her.

"We're gonna freeze," I said.

"We don't really have a choice," Matt said.

He was right. Another separation from them would be deadly. "Okay." And this is just as risky, regardless of what's on the side of that boat.

The water flowed over my shoes, soaking my feet instantly and splashing up as I went deeper into the current. Moving fast helped a little, but I couldn't ignore the stark cold cutting through me as the river got too deep for wading. The boat was too far away. The river hadn't seemed that fast when I'd been looking at it; why was it rushing in such a hurry now? A ripple of water broke on the top of my head. Faster! I surged, trying to remember all the stuff me and Matt taught ourselves at the pool in the summers. Closer now. Just a few feet, just a few strokes. You can get there.

My hands closed down on the side of the strapped in life boat, and I was tumbling in, impossibly cold, but out of the water. I need a blanket now. The blankets would be soaked, though. Matt climbed in. Meris didn't look as confident about her idea now, not as we all sat shivering in what I thought had been a light breeze before.

"Keep your heads down," Noam said, a tremble in his voice. "Stay out of the wind."

No problem there. I curled up on my side, trying to keep my teeth from clacking together so loud. Thoughts of summer back home, of steaming air and heavy humidity, tumbled around in my head.

The sky moved by over us, and I dozed off, fighting down the fear of hypothermia or being caught. What if the folks on this boat weren't too friendly? It didn't matter what was carved on the hull if this boat was stolen. I'd realized that possibility too late.