Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“Harlow,” Vienna called, and jerked her chin toward the two older women.
Harlow followed her without hesitation back up the stairs. Vienna smiled at the two women. “I’m Vienna, this is my friend Harlow. Would you like help? The stairs are extremely steep. We don’t mind carrying your kayak for you.”
“Would you? I’m Elsa Robinson,” the one with the silvery hair said. “This is my friend Verma Shaley. I had no idea it would be so difficult. I do know how to use a kayak. We’re both looking forward to seeing the Emerald Cave.”
Vienna and Harlow took the kayak, aware that Benny and the other guide, Clay Fontaine, were waiting. As they approached the others with the two older women trailing behind, Vienna became aware of Zahra holding court. The two men, Benny in particular, seemed completely enamored with her. It wasn’t unusual. Zahra didn’t do anything more than smile her mysterious smile and men seemed to fall at her feet. She had an accent that managed to sound sultry, and her eyes were so dark they were almost black. In this case, Vienna knew she was deliberately distracting the two men so they wouldn’t be impatient with the older women.
She flashed a grin at Zahra as Benny helped her into the kayak. No one was going to help Vienna, or the two older women, that was for certain. Zahra took it as her just due, looking up at Benny with her dark eyes and soft, mysterious smile. Harlow got into her seat behind Stella. Everyone else was in the water and ready to go, just waiting on them.
They set out for Sauna Cave, their first stop, which was less than a mile from the dam. Vienna hung back to allow Elsa and Verma to stay ahead of her kayak, just to ensure that they knew what they were doing. Surprisingly, they were extremely good at maneuvering their kayak through the water together, perfectly in sync. They hadn’t been exaggerating when they said they were experienced. The paddles cut smoothly through the water.
Vienna knew she didn’t have to worry about the two older ladies at all. On the other hand, there were two young men—brothers, if she remembered correctly from the van, Burt and Blane Watson—celebrating Blane’s graduation from glass-blowing school. They seemed to be turning their kayak in circles and whooping and hollering every few minutes. Blane, in the front of the kayak, continually threw water at his brother, who retaliated.
Vienna didn’t mind anyone having fun, and the two boys seemed to keep up, but there was a young woman by the name of Liza Fremont who had assured everyone over and over that she was very experienced. She was in a kayak by herself. She didn’t appear to be very strong to Vienna, and Benny dropped back several times to check on her when she lagged behind the others.
They parked their kayaks, pulling them onto the bank, until everyone was there with the exception of Liza. She couldn’t seem to dock. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t angle in against the current. She paddled and paddled, and her kayak would go backward, not forward. Benny went out to tow her in, but Vienna could see Liza was more of a hindrance than a help. Benny had to give up trying to pull her kayak straight through the current. He circled around her and tried a different angle. This time, Liza put a little more effort into paddling, but the current defeated them.
Without Liza being able to dock, the rest of them couldn’t explore Sauna Cave. They had to stick together. No one expressed disappointment, they simply got back into their kayaks and joined Liza and Benny in the water and began paddling toward their next destination—Goldstrike Canyon.
The morning was already very warm, with sun hitting the water and bouncing off the rock walls rising on one side or the other. Vienna was grateful she’d thought to wear her sun hat. It had a very wide brim that shaded not only her face but her shoulders and chest. She knew she’d have to eventually pull on her swim shirt, the one that protected her arms, back and neck as well, but for now, she appreciated the breeze and the cool air coming off the water, and the sun wasn’t that high yet.
In spite of the antics of Burt and Blane, the river was peaceful. She enjoyed the fact that Arizona was on one side and Nevada on the other. It seemed such a strange phenomenon.
“You do realize that Goldstrike Canyon has been known to kill people, right, Vienna?” Zahra asked, turning to look back at her. “I read about all the various stops last night. Aside from the fact that Liam Gram was buried feetfirst in the desert so he was like some weird statue, did you know that Lake Mead actually has more dead bodies than any other national park, including Yosemite?”