Max spread his hands out over the fire for warmth. “I don’t know,” he said slowly. “There’s this V-shaped rock just upstream of the falls, hidden under the water. The raft can’t go over it, and somehow, we got hung up on it and the current shifted us broadside to the falls.” He shrugged. “You know the rest.”

“Yeah, we know,” Sammy said in a low voice, poking the fire viciously. “We’re lucky to be alive, that’s what we know.”

Nancy looked at Tod. For a minute she thought he was going to tell the others what he had told her. When he didn’t she breathed a little easier. It would only make things more difficult if the others knew about the first accident.

“Listen, I know you’re all upset,” Paula said. “But you’ll feel better in the morning, when you’re not so tired.” She glanced at the grove of willows behind them. “It’s going to get dark before long. I suggest we gather enough firewood to last the night, fix ourselves some supper, and bed down early. Tomorrow morning we can decide what to do.”

“I want to decide right now,” Sammy said sullenly.

Ralph spoke up. “I think the girls ought to be the ones to go out tomorrow on the raft. The guys can stay behind and wait.”

“I don’t think that’s fair,” Tod said. “I think we ought to draw straws to see who goes out.”

“But I thought Paula said we could all go in one raft,” Bess pointed out.

Ned turned to Paula. “Is that safe? I don’t think we would have made it over those falls if we had been loaded any heavier.”

Paula looked grim. “I wouldn’t really recommend everybody going in one raft,” she admitted. “Of course, if we had to, I suppose we could.”

“There’s another big rapids about three miles downstream,” Max said, looking very tired. “I think we’d be asking for trouble if we all tried to go in one raft.”

“How about a vote?” Nancy suggested.

When they raised their hands, it was six to four in favor of splitting the group.

“So, that leaves us with the decision of who to keep and who to throw away,” Mike joked.

“We can draw straws-or twigs,” Sammy said.

It was decided that George, Nancy, Sammy, Mike, and Ralph, would be going downstream in the morning with Max. The others would wait.

“Well, I don’t know about the rest of you,” Nancy said, “but I’m hungry.”

“Food’s got my vote,” Bess said.

“Firewood first, then food,” Paula said. “And we’d better check what kind of sleeping gear we have.”

An hour later, a huge pile of driftwood was stacked on the beach, a pot of Mercedes’s thick stew with dumplings was simmering on the fire, and a stack of peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches sat on a plate nearby. A pot of hot chocolate was perched next to the fire on a flat rock. The gear had been pulled out and inspected: there were four sleeping bags and six blankets. Nancy’s and Ned’s packs were wet, but otherwise unharmed; George’s and Bess’s had been swept away in the capsize.

“Well, at least we’ll sleep with a full stomach,” George said, leaning back against a rock, her feet to the fire. “That stew was great, Mercedes.”

“Yes, it was good,” Nancy added.

“Thanks,” Mercedes said, sounding preoccupied. She was sitting on the other side of the fire with a surly Sammy. “I’m glad it wasn’t Paula’s raft that went over,” she went on. “At least tonight’s supper didn’t get dumped.”

“What is our food situation?” Mike asked.

“We lost what was in Max’s raft, of course,” Paula said. She and Max were sitting together. From time to time Paula had looked at Nancy intently, and once Max had seemed to be getting very angry. He had looked over at Nancy at that point too, as if they were talking about her. “But we’ve got enough for one more day, if we’re careful. We’ll leave most of it with the group that’s staying here, since it’ll be a day or so before we can get back with another raft.”

Tod reached in his pocket for his knife. “We can always go hunting,” he said, flipping the knife open and running his thumb down the edge of the shiny blade. “Last year I got a squirrel with this thing.”

“I wish you’d keep that knife in your pocket, Tod,” Linda said irritably. “It makes me nervous.”

“Everything makes you nervous, little lady,” Tod teased, leaning toward her.

Ralph put his hand on Tod’s shoulder. “Give me the knife,” he said softly, “or I’ll take it away from you.”

“You and who else?” Tod scrambled to his feet.

Without warning, Ralph stepped forward easily, his open hand ramming Tod in the chest. Tod’s arms flew up as he tumbled backward. His knife fell at Ralph’s feet.

“Just me,” Ralph replied pleasantly, picking up the knife. He turned to Mike, who was sitting open-mouthed. “Here. Why don’t you keep this for your friend. He’s a little careless with it.”

“A smooth karate style,” Nancy said, staring admiringly at Ralph. “He reminds me of a certain mild-mannered reporter.”

Ned laughed. “Yeah, Clark Kent in disguise.”

Tod had picked himself off the ground and was brushing himself off. He snatched his knife out of Mike’s hand and glared at Ralph. “Next time,” he threatened, “it won’t be so easy, hotshot.”

“Well, I know what’s going to be easy for me,” Ned said, yawning. “Sleep.”

“Good night, Nancy,” he whispered tenderly, bending over to kiss her. “And remember, no matter what happens on this crazy vacation, at least we’re together.”

“Right,” she said softly. “At least we’re together.”

Nancy, George, and Bess bedded down close to the fire, huddling under blankets. “I’m beginning to wish I’d listened to Bess,” George mumbled.

Bess pulled her blanket up over her chin. “I’m glad you didn’t. If we’d gone to the beach, I’d never have met Max.”

George sat up. “You can still care about that guy after what he did to us today?”

Bess sat up, too. “How do you know that the capsize wasn’t an accident!”

“How do you know it was?” George asked, folding her arms.

“I wish you guys would go somewhere else to argue,” Nancy said.

In the distance, an owl hooted eerily, and Bess dived under the blanket. Nancy and George laughed, and they all fell into a restless sleep.

There was no moon that night. The faint star-shine hardly penetrated the deep shadows of the gorge. So, when Nancy awakened to the sound of footsteps crunching stealthily on the gravel, her eyes opened to darkness.

Then, an odd ripping noise and a muttered curse. Had a man spoken-or a woman?

Nancy slipped from between George and Bess, who both were sleeping soundly, and headed for the noise. She’d almost reached the river when she saw a figure-little more than a deeper shadow in the darkness-moving in front of her.

“Who is it?” Nancy asked.

The only answer was a blow to her shoulder as the figure rammed past her, to melt into the night and disappear.

Noiselessly, Nancy tried to follow, but after a few moments, she had to admit that she had lost whomever it was she had seen and had no choice but to crawl back under the blanket and try to get some sleep.

She was awake as soon as the sun touched the lip of the sheer cliff on the other side of the river. Quietly, trying not to disturb Bess and George, she crept out from under the blanket and pulled on her tennis shoes, which were still damp from the day before.

George stirred reluctantly. “What are you doing up at this hour?” she asked sleepily.

“I heard footsteps last night, and a funny noise,” Nancy replied, tugging a comb through her tangled hair. “I’m going to look around and see what I can find.”

“I’ll come with you,” George offered, throwing off the blanket. She had slept in the jeans and sweatshirt she had put on after the dunking, but she was still shivering. “It’s cold!” she exclaimed, rummaging in her duffel bag for her red jacket.