A Timeless Place

Chapter 20

We all grabbed our canoes and dragged them into the water before jumping in. Janette and I tried to cover as much distance by getting the canoe as far out as possible while still being able to jump on. Quickly, we pulled the paddles and started a rhythm, paddling as fast as we could.

Jan and I were surprisingly good at working together.

"You're going great! Why were you so scared before?" I shouted over all the splashing of the water. I was seated at the front and she was behind me.

"I've never rowed on my own before," she explained.

"That's actually a good thing right now!" we were gaining speed on everyone. We were neck on neck with Kevin.

However, Wes was already ahead of us all. The front of our canoe just reached the middle of his. I looked behind and saw Eli and Jordan going in circles.

"You need to communicate, you guys!" I shouted at them.

Tyler and Bridgette were a metre in front of Jordan and Eli. In frustration, Eli threw down her paddle. I could see Jordan giving her encouraging words and pointers before they both started up again. It was as if they just somehow clicked. They were easily gaining speed.

We were heading for the left side of the lake as it diverged and soon the rest of the lake was blocked from our view as we glided past the lake island. Wes was still ahead of us! My canoe just reached the back of his now. He was gaining more and more speed. So was Kevin. His canoe was two metres on the left, and a metre ahead. Meanwhile, my arms were starting to ache. Nevertheless, we kept pushing forward.

"Give up now, girls!" Wes called, turning his body slightly to the side to look back at us. "Don't even need to mention Kevin. We all know who's going to win."

"Not if you don't watch out for that!" Jan shouted, pointing at something in front of him.

He wildly spun back around, his arms holding the double-paddle momentarily suspended in mid-air.

"Ha!" I shouted in triumph. Jan and I high-fived as the distance between our canoe and Wes' decreased. This fake distraction served well because Kevin had been directly behind Wes and he too, was slowed.

We were now neck and neck with the boys.

"That was low!" he shouted, bringing back the paddle down into the water and splashing water into our canoe.

"Hey!" we shouted. Our canoe rocked from side to side at our sudden movements. We had almost reached the end of the lake island so we dragged the paddles to the side to turn away from him and around the lake island.

"You've never beat me, Kitty!" he called. "So don't try now."

"Oh, let's not bring academics into this now!" I shouted. That was way out of line to bring up now.

"Oh, let's!" he said gleefully.

"Ignore him, he's just trying to throw you off," Jan reasoned with me.

I ground my teeth together, ignoring him and paddling harder. I couldn't see Eli and Jordan around so I assumed they were on the other side of the lake island. I could faintly hear them shouting instructions at each other from the other side. Louder still, was Tyler's aggravated remarks at Bridgette to keep paddling faster. Meanwhile, she shouted something about her precious manicure. I could tell Kevin was also paying attention at the way he laughed in their general direction and winked at me.

Wes effortlessly caught up to us and we were head to head again. Why was he so damn fit?! I should really start going to the gym. Maybe actually exercise for once. Too late, he was already gaining distance and had drifted past us just as we passed the lake island.