Suddenly, two fish popped out from the water in front of them. One Lily recognized as a Flotsam,
the other a Jetsam. The Flotsam was the one who had spoken. Luke's Quest Part 4: River Crossing
"Great. Just great." Luke groaned.
"We’re just meeting obstacle after obstacle, aren’t we?" Lily said, shaking her head.
This time, after another three days of traveling, they stood in front of a huge, rushing river. Over one hundred feet wide, the river roared along, the water churning and pounding in their ears.
"Please, please, please don’t tell me we’re going to have to cross this." Lily groaned.
Luke shrugged. "How will we get to the Coliakim, then, huh?"
"You tell me."
"We cross the river." Luke said, satisfied.
Lily mumbled. "Here we go again. What are we going to do this time? Wade across?"
"I have no idea." Luke replied promptly.
"Did I hear some beast say they’re gonna cross this river?"
The voice seemed to come from nowhere. Lily and Luke jumped, startled.
"Who – who’s there?" Luke asked.
Suddenly, two fish popped out from the water in front of them. One Lily recognized as a Flotsam,
the other a Jetsam. The Flotsam was the one who had spoken.
"Why, hello. I’m Wavefin, and this is my friend Waterflash. Do you need to get across the river?"
Luke grinned. "I’m Luke and this is Lily. Yeah, we need to get across, and quickly."
Wavefin studied them carefully. "Well, you’re too big for us to carry you." Waterflash nodded and said wickedly, "Not that I would."
"Oh Flash, shut up. Now, I have an idea, Mister Luke. Do you have some rope, or a long vine?"
Lily groaned. "The rope again?"
Luke gave her a look, then took out the rope from his pack.
"Here."
Wavefin nodded. "This’ll work well. I’ll take one end and pull you across while you tie the other end to you two. Okay?"
Luke glanced at Lily before nodding. "Okay."
They tied the end of the rope around their waists and had Waterflash carry their packs across the water so they wouldn’t get very wet. Then, Wavefin took the rope in his mouth and dove into the water. The two young lupes were practically thrown into the river. Water rushed over their heads, and they fought to keep their heads above water.
Wavefin fought against the current, struggling to get across. The water was so strong they couldn’t even dog-paddle as the water tugged and pulled at their legs.
Finally, they just held their breath and let the water pull them. Wavefin tried to avoid underwater boulders, but several times the young lupes crashed against the rocks, startling them enough to get to the surface and take a breath.
Water rushed and pounded in their ears as they struggled time and time again to get the surface. Other, smaller fish rushed past, staring at them. One big Flotsam joined Waterflash to talk as they watched Wavefin swim across.
Luke and Lily managed to pull their heads above water for a minute and cough out water. Then they took quick, deep breaths before they plunged underwater again. Wavefin was clearly fighting to stay on track.
Luke glanced at Lily as they surfaced once again, and she nodded. Then, as they dove back under the water, they began to really swim.
Lily had often sneaked out of the palace to visit her friend, Amna, and go swimming. Six years of secret swimming lessons showed evidently as Lily fought the current, taking advantage of every chance to surface. Her strong arms fought the water’s current as she pulled and struggled to reach the shore.
Luke had obviously been taught how to swim before. He swam like a fish, diving and kicking and pulling with his arms. I wonder why we didn’t think of this sooner, he thought to himself with a wry grin as he took another breath at the surface, then again, we’re past the strongest current.
Lily choked on some water as she rose to the surface, but managed to cough it up before taking a short breath. It wasn’t enough to last her very long.
She reached a small bit of river that was a tad bit slower. She rose to the surface and took a long breath before the current tugged her underwater again. It seemed to take forever – rising, taking a breath, diving, swimming, rising, breath, dive, swim, rise, breath, dive, swim . . . Lily repeated the pattern over and over again in her mind as she fought to keep it.
Suddenly Lily felt hard, sturdy ground beneath her paws. She stopped in the middle of a dive and rose again to the top. Luke felt it also, and rose to the top. It was indeed the bank!
Panting, their chests heaving, the two young lupes managed to stand and walk up to the dry, warm, sandy bank Then they collapsed.
After a few moments of resting, Luke sat up to notice Wavefin resting in a small, quiet pool. He crawled over to the Flotsam and grinned at him. Wavefin nodded.
"Thank you so much, Wavefin. We – we couldn’t have made it without you. I can’t tell you how thankful we are."
Wavefin flapped a weak fin in his direction. "Oh, go to sleep, y’big Lupe. Let a fish get some rest."
Grinning, Luke crawled over to dig a small hollow for himself, then fall asleep.
The End.
Thanks again! ~toocoolgirl