Holly's Heart Collection One (31 page)
To
Julie Marie,
my number one fad ’n’ fashion expert,
and a “hearts-and-flowers” girl.
SEALED WITH A KISS
“Holly!” called my best friend, Andrea Martinez. “Come up here.”
“No way,” I said. “I don’t want to fall into the Arkansas River!” I plunged my paddle into the frothing white water for stability, holding it like the balancing pole of a high-wire acrobat.
“Aw, don’t be such a scaredy,” Andie hollered back. “Shooting the rapids up here is the only way to go!” She was sitting on the bow of our raft, showing off for Billy Hill, who worked the paddles with Danny Myers and Andie’s dad. She put down her paddle and held up her hands. “Look, no hands!” she squealed as Billy grinned.
“You’ve gotta be crazy,” I said, watching the boulders coming up on the left.
Danny shook his head, obviously disgusted with her antics. He relaxed his grip on the paddles as we floated into calmer water.
River rafting on the mighty Arkansas was the most excitement I’d had all summer, not counting the weeks I’d spent with my dad in California two months ago.
“Hold on now, Andie,” her father warned. “The current’s picking up.” A river runner from back in his college days, Mr. Martinez knew this river. But that was twenty years ago. Now he was our paddle captain.
Brett, the
real
pro, our guide, sat next to Andie’s dad. He was blond and tan, probably from a Colorado summer of river trips.
If Danny hadn’t been paddling next to me in the raft, I might have been tempted to ask Brett for a crash course in white-water rafting. Not that Danny wasn’t as good-looking. He was! He had thick, auburnish brown hair, and eyes a toss-up between gray and green, depending on the color of his shirt. But Brett wore a look of mature confidence.
Stealing another glance at him, I figured he was probably halfway through college—not exactly someone who would hang out with a bunch of eighth-graders like us in his free time.
Danny turned to see how I was doing on my first river ride. With Billy and Andie along, the adventure was twice as much fun. I still could hardly believe Andie and I had talked our parents into allowing Danny and Billy to come along.
Entering a wild stretch of river, the guys strained to control the paddles. I managed to steady mine. So far, it wasn’t too hard, only because the real work was being accomplished by the others.
Andie took the big waves with ease as she rode up front, grinning from ear to ear. “C’mon, Holly,” she called again. “You should try it up here. The view’s great.”
“No, thanks.” A spray of water made me jump. “I’d like to live long enough to become a published writer.”
Andie just laughed.
The rapids came every half mile or so, like clockwork. And on cue—in the middle of the churning white water—Andie hammed it up. Probably for Billy’s sake and anyone else who might pay attention.
After the white water, we drifted downstream as gentle breezes cooled my sunburned face. Andie’s mom chatted with Billy. Now and then she called up to Andie in front. “Hanging on, kiddo?”
Andie tightened her life vest at the waist. “I’m fine, Mom, see?”
Billy told Andie, “White-water rafting isn’t dangerous unless you’re careless.” Pretending to be serious, he said, “So you’d better watch out.” Then he laughed.
“This is only your first run down a river, Billy,” Andie teased. “What are
you
talking about?”
Danny was more sincere. “There’s a certain amount of respect you show a river as powerful as the Arkansas.”
Andie rolled her eyes at that statement and continued to banter back and forth with Billy as we drifted lazily in the warm sunshine. Giant granite walls towered on either side of us, and huge boulders dotted the banks.
Andie’s dad didn’t seem worried about his daughter clowning around, so I tried to relax about it, talking quietly to Danny. Sounds carry on the river like over an amplifier. We could hear voices from another outfitter upstream, so I turned
my
volume down.
I liked Danny. Being here on a twelve-mile raft trip with him and the others in the middle of Browns Canyon, hours from home, was beyond cool. With Danny right in front of me, I felt safe, the way I’d felt when I visited Daddy in California. But as attentive as Danny was, I really didn’t know how he felt about me.
Brett shouted back to us, “Hang on. Turbulent waters coming!”
Up ahead, I spotted some boulders in midstream. Excited, I asked, “Is this the Widowmaker?”
“The river map indicates it,” Danny answered. With his photographic memory, he never forgot anything.
Peering around him, I could see sprays of white water about fifty yards ahead. My five-foot paddle suddenly felt heavy as I gripped it. The Widowmaker!
Water swirled around us like a milky-white hurricane. I felt dizzy staring into the frothing waters. I heard their roar as I paddled with decisive strokes. My adrenaline pumped as a giddy yet courageous feeling struck me.
As we dodged the boulders, I could see the cliffs getting closer.
I swallowed nervously, my arms aching as we fought to get out of the current. The raft climbed a current, then fell, spraying us with icy water. Wiping my face with my arm, I paddled harder than ever.
Just when we cut into the water and were winning the race against the river’s current, Andie lurched off balance. Her hands slipped away from the raft as she screamed. And then she flipped out of the raft into the swirling, icy waters.
“Andie…no!” I cried, lunging toward her, falling against Danny.
But she was gone. Lost in the rapids!
SEALED WITH A KISS
Andie’s dad instantly dove into the river. All of us watched in horror as he tried to swim toward Andie, the current tossing him like a pebble.
Andie’s mom was shouting, “Brett, please get them! Help them!”
His face tense, Brett steadied the paddles, fighting the current. He called to Andie’s father, “Grab her and ride it out.”
Mr. Martinez reached toward his daughter as another series of waves pushed Andie away, below the surface. My best friend in the whole world had disappeared from view.
Seconds passed as I held my breath. Still no Andie.
Let her be safe. Please, Lord, don’t let her die!
Another second or two ticked by. Then I saw her dark curly hair, and her arms smashing against the current.
“There she is!” I yelled as her father fired forward, grabbing her right arm.
The two of them bobbed in the current, narrowly missing the rocks. Soon the rapids became less violent, and Brett tossed out a long line with a throw bag at the end. Andie’s dad seized the white bag at the end of the nylon rope.
My heart pounded a zillion miles an hour. Feeling helpless, I started to cry.
Danny touched my hand. “They’re gonna make it, Holly,” he said.
“Row to the right,” Brett shouted to us. We paddled toward an eddy along the bank to keep from being swept farther downstream.
Brett shortened the line, and the current made it taut. Straining through the bleak waters, grasping the line, Andie and her father inched closer…closer. Then they were close enough to reach out and grab the sides of the raft.
“I’m fr-freezing,” Andie chattered as Billy pulled her on board. Her father slid into the raft, bringing gallons of the river with him.
“Let’s paddle to shore,” Brett ordered.
We made a quick landfall, and Brett began pulling a pile of wool blankets out of the narrow waterproof box secured to the bottom of the raft. “Hurry! Get her out of those wet clothes and wrap her in these.” He handed the blankets to Andie’s mom. “Every second counts. We must get her body temperature back to normal.” Then he turned to Danny and Billy. “You guys scrounge up some dry firewood. I’ll check on Mr. Martinez.”
Brett, carrying a small paramedic’s bag and a blanket, raced over to Andie’s dad. He was sitting on the ground, vigorously rubbing his arms and legs.
I followed Andie and her mom a few yards away, where I held up one of the wool blankets for privacy. By now Andie was shivering so hard she could scarcely talk. Her mother pulled off the wet outer clothes. I was poised for action, with the wool blanket ready to wrap around Andie.
I noticed the strange look in her eyes, like she wasn’t focusing. Her mom must’ve seen how scared I was. “This is hypothermia,” she said calmly. But her hands shook as she helped Andie dry off. We wrapped another blanket around Andie’s body and led her to a crackling fire, where Brett was already heating water for a hot drink.
Andie’s dad was more alert and active than Andie, slapping his arms and moving his feet to get the circulation going. Maybe the weight of his body had given him some insulation against the icy water. But it was obvious they’d both had a thrashing.
Andie slumped to the ground near the fire, shivering. I stared at my friend, who looked like a half-drowned river rat, her lips colorless, her teeth chattering. She was almost too weak to sit up.
Hurrying to her side, I sat cross-legged on the ground. I leaned against her, rubbing her back to help the circulation. Her mom snuggled against her on the other side.
“You’re going to be okay,” I said, trying to convince myself as well as Andie.
She only nodded. It wasn’t like her to be so quiet. She was usually a chatterbox. In fact, she’d talked me into being her best friend before I even had a chance to think about it! We’d laughed our way through grade school together, spent fabulous camping vacations together, and even survived seventh grade last school year. Together.
Andie was my complete opposite: the chattery, uninhibited half of us. Yet in spite of her feisty ways, Andie was my dearest friend. Seeing her nearly drown today had been the next-to-worst experience of my life. Mom and Daddy’s divorce was the all-time worst, though.
I stared into the fire’s tall blaze. Daddy had made a similar bonfire on the beach one night last June when I visited him. We’d talked about life and fear and other difficult things. Just the two of us.
Finally I got around to telling him about my faith in Christ. He didn’t say much more after that. It was like my discussing it ruined the rest of the evening for him.
Just then Andie mumbled something, and her mom wrapped her arms around her shoulders.
Brett stirred powdered Jell-O into the hot water. “Here, this’ll help warm her up.” He handed the mug to Andie’s mom, who held the mug to Andie’s lips, helping her sip slowly.
I watched her face. She still seemed dazed. “Andie,” I said, “your rescue has to be a sign from heaven.”
“Heaven?” she whispered.
“God has something important for you to do here on earth.” I’d always thought that way about successful rescue attempts. People didn’t just get spared or get their lives back for no reason. At least not trivial ones. Surely God had Andie marked for some favored mission.
Billy burst into laughter. “Yeah, Andie, maybe you’re supposed to try out for girls’ volleyball after all.”
I poked him in the ribs. “That’s
not
what I meant.”
Like some miracle, Andie snickered. “What Holly means is God has something more important planned for me than girls’ volleyball,” she said. “Besides, there’s no way they’ll want someone as short as I am on the team.”
Brett flashed a smile our way. “Looks like she’s coming around.” He seemed relieved. So was I.
Danny slid a bit closer. “Why don’t
you
try out for the team, Holly?”
I was dying to. “Perfect idea,” I said. “Besides, I heard Miss Neff isn’t coaching next year.” The gym teacher with a knack for creating lousy nicknames had kept me from playing sports because of her nickname for me:
Holly-Bones.
Verbal disrespect toward slender humanity!
“Miss Neff is a great coach. Don’t you like her?” Danny asked.
Andie cast a knowing smile. “Miss Neff has a bad habit of teasing skinny girls.”
“So who’s skinny?” Billy joked, looking around.
Danny ignored him. “Too bad you didn’t try out in seventh grade, Holly. You could’ve easily made the team last year,” he said. “It might be hard to get on the B team now, without that year of experience.”
“But if I practice after school, won’t that help?”
Danny nodded. “Let me know when you want to practice. I could coach you, too.”
Andie raised her eyebrows. “Who
else
is getting tips from the pro?”
“Just Kayla Miller,” he said. “You remember her, don’t you? She hopes to make the team, too. She played back East at her school in Pennsylvania, before moving to Dressel Hills.”
“What about her twin sister?” Billy asked. “Are you going to put
both
brunettes through their paces?”
“Last I heard, Jared Wilkins is helping Paula,” Danny said.
Jared?
Hearing his name still brought back sad memories. Guess a girl always remembers the first crush of her life.
Having both Danny
and
Jared spend time with the Miller twins made me nervous. Maybe Danny sensed my uneasiness, because at that moment he caught me by surprise. He turned toward me and touched my elbow. His gray-green eyes twinkled and my heart leaped up. Thoughts of Jared Wilkins floated far away.
I smiled back, feeling the warmth in my cheeks. Was Danny’s offer to help me make the volleyball team the beginning of a closer friendship? Or was it just another one of his big-brother routines?
SEALED WITH A KISS
My first volleyball practice session with Danny began two days after the raft trip. We started by working on my serve. A regulation-size net hung between two aspen trees in his backyard. After only two tries, I hit the ball over the net.
“You’re a natural,” Danny said. “Now let’s try spiking the ball when the net’s in your face.”
We worked on techniques like how to get under the ball and how to spike. But just as Danny was about to demonstrate a new move, along came Billy Hill and half the church youth group. Well, actually it was only Andie, the Miller twins, and Jared Wilkins. Some private lesson this was turning out to be.
“Girls against the guys,” called Andie.