Olivia goes West

Chapter 12

Past the waterfall the water began to calm again. It was then that Fievel's face broke the murky green surface of the river. He coughed and spat, but he was swimming, and alive.

"Olivia!" he called out.

As he looked around he could see a trail of bubbles along the surface. He dove down blindly, before he finally felt Olivia's hand. He grabbed on tight and swam for shore, as best as he could with the current still pushing them along. He dragged Olivia out of the water.

"Olivia, you okay?" he asked desperately.

Olivia moaned and coughed up water, choking and sputtering. Fievel hugged her tight, and she weakly put her arms around him in return.

"W-we made it..." she gasped. Her body ached in places and her wounds stung, but otherwise nothing was broken.

"I'm so sorry I let this happen Olivia," Fievel said sadly, "Guess I'm not much of a hero."

"I'm not a good swimmer Fievel, ye mighta saved me life just now..." Olivia panted, coughing the last of the water from her throat.

Fievel smiled a little, "If you hadn't tried to help when we were going down the rapids, we might have smashed against the rocks. You're my hero."

"I'd say we're even," she said.

"I told you about when I got washed overboard on the boat, didn't I? That's why I got scared..."

"It's okay Fievel," she patted his back, "I understand."

It was almost nice, she thought, to see that Fievel wasn't completely the fearless hero he always pretended to be. She felt like she knew him much better. He wasn't so different.

"We gotta decide what we're gonna do now," Fievel said, letting go of the hug finally, "Waul and Ratigan probably told everyone we're dead."

"They think we're dead too," Olivia said, "That can work to our advantage if we can sneak into the mine again."

"But we're far away from Green River now," Fievel said, looking around at their surroundings, "I don't know where we are."

"We know we have to follow the river up. But, we have get past that waterfall first. I'm a bit too exhausted for that right now."

Fievel sat beside her. His sweater was torn open and his pants ripped. Olivia hadn't fared much better, the rocks had ripped at her sleeves, and she had an embarrassing tear on the side of her skirt that she tried to cover with her arm. They were both dripping wet.

"Hey, you've got some cuts..." Fievel said, looking her over, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thank ye," she said, though she was in pain.

"I've got cuts and bruises too..." Fievel said, "I dunno if I could walk much right now..."

"Me neither," she sighed, "Maybe we ought ta camp here fer a bit before goin' on our way..."

"But my family is gonna think we're dead," Fievel said worriedly, wishing he could be back before the end of the day, just in time for dinner like he always was. But that was impossible. They may have been miles away now.

"I'm sorry, Fievel," she took her arm off her skirt and hugged Fievel from the side, "I know you can't stand bein' away from yer family..."

"I just get lost a lot."

"It ain't the first time I've been separated from me father either," Olivia said.

"Maybe Tanya will know I'm alive," Fievel said, "When I was lost in New York she said she always knew I was alive. She said it was just a feeling she had."