daddy drowned?” Rianne’s eyes were big, horrified, filled with tears.
“Don’t even think it. I’ll find him. I know this lake, honey.” Dropping her sweatshirt on top of her sneakers, Sylvie took the time for one quick touch of Rianne’s chilled face. “I need you to be brave. You’ll see me dive and come up, and dive again. Promise you won’t move an inch away from Oscar. There’s just you and me to help your dad. We don’t have time to call anyone else.”
Though tears ran silently down her face, Rianne signaledthat she’d heard and understood. She sat with the dog, where he’d stretched out in the sun to dry his sopping coat.
Sylvie trusted Rianne to keep her word. Had to, because she’d already hit the water in a shallow dive before verifying that Rianne had followed all her instructions. The shock of the cold lake water drove the breath from Sylvie’s lungs as she tried to pinpoint exactly where Joel had gone down.
In the shadow of the pier the water below was inkier than she would have guessed. She’d fibbed to Rianne about knowing the lake. Kids used to sneak out here from town to swim, until a classmate a few years older than Rianne had drowned, and Iva posted No Trespassing signs. Except for a few rowdy boys, kids always obeyed the postings.
She shivered, coming up for air. Rianne’s thin voice, asking if she’d found her dad, rang in Sylvie’s ears. Saving her breath, she dived again, refusing to consider that Joel had gone in steeply enough to hit bottom and break his neck.
Her lungs near bursting, Sylvie thought she glimpsed a dark shadow off to her left. A bulky shadow that could be a man. But she had no choice other than to go up to refill her aching lungs. Taking care to dive over the shadow, she felt like sobbing in relief when her fingers grasped fabric that could only be Joel’s shirt.
Aware that he wasn’t safe yet, she kicked hard with all the strength she could muster, taking them both into sunlight and blessed air. The question remained—how much water did he have in his lungs? How many precious minutes had ticked past?
Rianne’s happy cry and Oscar’s approving bark gave Sylvie the impetus to swim to the dock hauling Joel’s dead weight even though her arms ached. She attempted to heave him up onto the planks, but the dock was too high and Joel was too heavy. He was unresponsive, which added to Sylvie’s panic. She refused to consider that he might already be dead. She’d witnessed his fall. Granted, it happened fast, but he and Oscar had just sort of toppled off the pier. At the timeshe’d almost laughed. Right now, she felt that nothing would ever seem humorous again.
“Sylvie, can I come help pull Daddy up?”
“No! No,” she repeated, less harshly. “I’ll take him to where the lake’s shallower.” At that point, she was able to roll him onto the grassy slope. As she climbed up beside him, the sun warmed her icy bones. Every bit of exposed skin was covered with goose bumps.
Careful to move so that her body shielded him from Rianne, she turned Joel on his stomach and turned his head, then checked his airway. She didn’t think he’d been chewing gum, but he might have been. Flinging a leg over his hips, she desperately tried to recall remnants from a long-ago life-saving class. The instructor’s words flowed into her head. Place. Press. Release. Rest. Then repeat the process until the victim’s breathing. She went through the sequence several times, but nothing happened. Rising above him to provide greater pressure to his chest, she went through the actions again. For all Sylvie knew, the method was obsolete. What if she should be doing something else? A newer method? All at once, his abdomen convulsed. Joel’s eyelids fluttered, then opened. He gagged and spat out a stream of water. Then he coughed three or four times.
“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you,” she chanted, and tears fell.
Those words rained down on Joel. He couldn’t figure
“Don’t even think it. I’ll find him. I know this lake, honey.” Dropping her sweatshirt on top of her sneakers, Sylvie took the time for one quick touch of Rianne’s chilled face. “I need you to be brave. You’ll see me dive and come up, and dive again. Promise you won’t move an inch away from Oscar. There’s just you and me to help your dad. We don’t have time to call anyone else.”
Though tears ran silently down her face, Rianne signaledthat she’d heard and understood. She sat with the dog, where he’d stretched out in the sun to dry his sopping coat.
Sylvie trusted Rianne to keep her word. Had to, because she’d already hit the water in a shallow dive before verifying that Rianne had followed all her instructions. The shock of the cold lake water drove the breath from Sylvie’s lungs as she tried to pinpoint exactly where Joel had gone down.
In the shadow of the pier the water below was inkier than she would have guessed. She’d fibbed to Rianne about knowing the lake. Kids used to sneak out here from town to swim, until a classmate a few years older than Rianne had drowned, and Iva posted No Trespassing signs. Except for a few rowdy boys, kids always obeyed the postings.
She shivered, coming up for air. Rianne’s thin voice, asking if she’d found her dad, rang in Sylvie’s ears. Saving her breath, she dived again, refusing to consider that Joel had gone in steeply enough to hit bottom and break his neck.
Her lungs near bursting, Sylvie thought she glimpsed a dark shadow off to her left. A bulky shadow that could be a man. But she had no choice other than to go up to refill her aching lungs. Taking care to dive over the shadow, she felt like sobbing in relief when her fingers grasped fabric that could only be Joel’s shirt.
Aware that he wasn’t safe yet, she kicked hard with all the strength she could muster, taking them both into sunlight and blessed air. The question remained—how much water did he have in his lungs? How many precious minutes had ticked past?
Rianne’s happy cry and Oscar’s approving bark gave Sylvie the impetus to swim to the dock hauling Joel’s dead weight even though her arms ached. She attempted to heave him up onto the planks, but the dock was too high and Joel was too heavy. He was unresponsive, which added to Sylvie’s panic. She refused to consider that he might already be dead. She’d witnessed his fall. Granted, it happened fast, but he and Oscar had just sort of toppled off the pier. At the timeshe’d almost laughed. Right now, she felt that nothing would ever seem humorous again.
“Sylvie, can I come help pull Daddy up?”
“No! No,” she repeated, less harshly. “I’ll take him to where the lake’s shallower.” At that point, she was able to roll him onto the grassy slope. As she climbed up beside him, the sun warmed her icy bones. Every bit of exposed skin was covered with goose bumps.
Careful to move so that her body shielded him from Rianne, she turned Joel on his stomach and turned his head, then checked his airway. She didn’t think he’d been chewing gum, but he might have been. Flinging a leg over his hips, she desperately tried to recall remnants from a long-ago life-saving class. The instructor’s words flowed into her head. Place. Press. Release. Rest. Then repeat the process until the victim’s breathing. She went through the sequence several times, but nothing happened. Rising above him to provide greater pressure to his chest, she went through the actions again. For all Sylvie knew, the method was obsolete. What if she should be doing something else? A newer method? All at once, his abdomen convulsed. Joel’s eyelids fluttered, then opened. He gagged and spat out a stream of water. Then he coughed three or four times.
“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you,” she chanted, and tears fell.
Those words rained down on Joel. He couldn’t figure
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