“Bear Grylls wasn’t a Millennial.” I heard a rustle, then, “Hello.”
“I’m right here,” I muttered, turning to glare at him.
He’d gotten out his phone and spoke into it. “This is Cole Campion. I got separated from the Apex group. Can you direct me to the pickup point?”
Oh. I wrinkled my nose. So hedidhave a solution to our problem. Damn his level-headedness. Oops, I meant,I’m so glad he kept his head in a crisis.I wasn’t jealous at all.
After a few minutes, he thanked the other person and slipped his phone into its plastic pouch.
“That’s how your phone’s still working after our swim,” I said. Even if I’d still had my phone, I hadn’t thought to buy it a pouch. It would’ve been as soaked and useless as the rest of me.
“Eagle Scout,” he reminded me. He tapped the screen through the plastic, stared at it, then looked up. “That way.”
“I can’t believe it. A man asking for directions.”
“Youdowant to rejoin the retreat, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then paddle. That way.” He pointed to the left.
As soon as I picked up my paddle, it was like someone had opened a tap. Cool rain poured down on us, beating onto myhead and my exposed skin. All around us was a white curtain of rain, making tiny craters in the water’s surface.
“How are we going to follow the directions when we can’t see anything?” I shouted through the roar of the rain.
“They sent me a pin. We should be able to find them even if we can’t see well. Angle left a little.”
We kept going through the deluge. After a few minutes, I shouted back, “Cole?”
“Yeah.” He grunted as he paddled.
“Not that I don’t trust you, but I’m a little scared.”
“We’ll be okay. If we run into trouble, they’ll come looking for us.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“I don’t think you want to know.”
“Tell me.”
He waited two strokes of our paddles. “Well, we’ve already discussed snakes. There are also jaguars and crocodiles. They’re unlikely to attack someone my size, but if something happens to me, you might look like prey. Or, this rainstorm could turn into a lightning storm, and we really don’t want to be in the water for that. Finally, although rare, mosquitoes and other insects can carry malaria, dengue fever, or yellow fever. I don’t suppose you had any vaccinations before you came?”
I paddled faster. “Shit.”
“We’ll be fine.”
“Will we?”
“What are you afraid of, Bridget, really?”
While I debated how to answer him, I kept paddling. Finally, I said in a low voice that wouldn’t carry over the pounding rain, “Of everyone finding out how much of a fraud I am.”
“You’re a frog?” he shouted back.
“No.” I turned and spoke over my shoulder. “A worthless fraud.”
“What? You’re not a fraud either.”
