Four days had come and gone since they had begun their trip through the mighty Amazon. They had reached Brazil just as predicted on the second day early in the afternoon. It was nothing spectacular really, Brandon has been watching his GPS since noon, rarely paddling while Jeremy did most of the work. They hit Brazil at about two thirty where Brandon instantly jumped out of his raft and danced happily. Everyone just stared at him as if he was nuts. After the first few miles downriver; they floated across a small village where the natives waved back at them, happy to other people besides their own.

By now everyone's muscles were sore from paddling all day, and Homer's was no exception. He was one of the older fathers of the group, most of them were in their late thirties to early forties, he was nearing fifty. Maggie arrived late in his life and now he was feeling the full brunt of his age by paddling up river for a good seven hours or so, taking a break here and there to let the other three paddle and watch them from the sidelines.

Riley was okay with this, even though he was about ten years younger, he was already starting to feel age sneak up on him, especially later in the evening as he was setting up the tent. Maggie and Celia of course thought Homer was just making an excuse and Maggie even slapped him in the shoulder on a few occasions once they landed for the evening. Homer was not in the best mood after that happened.

On the fourth day of their trip, Maggie awoke to the pitter patter of rain falling on the roof of the tent. At first it was a light rain and she lay there listening to the sounds as she searched for any rhythms that the rain made such as a "doop doop do," or a 'tap a tap a drip." It wasn't long though before she found a rhythm that was accompanied by her father who was letting out a light snore. She would watch as his chest rose, making no sound before he exhaled and made a small grunt that sounded like air blowing out of a vent. After a few moments, Maggie got the rhythm down to a 'dut blip blip doo,' along with Homer's random breathing noises in the background.

Maggie listened for a good ten minutes before Homer suddenly let out a jerk and smacked his lips as he adjusted himself to another position. For the past three days, Maggie learned that this was her father's way of slowly waking up in the morning; he would most likely be up within a half an hour, or whenever Jeremy decided to bang pots and pans together as loud as he could. But then Maggie began to wonder, Jeremy hadn't made much movement since she woke up, either than or she had been listening too intently to the raindrops to notice. Was the weather nice enough to raft for even half the day?

Still Maggie knew that it was better just to wait, let herself wake up, it was still a bit early and it was nice enough to think about the adventures that lay ahead. It made her wonder if Alexander Steele woke up the way she was doing, and if Milo Sanchez would be up before her waiting for another exciting day. At that moment though, it made her wonder like many times before what happened to Milo, was he still alive and in hiding, or did he really do the most selfish thing a person could do to themselves and the people they loved. It was just a heartbreaking thought.

"You awake yet Maggie?" Her father's voice called from beside her breaking her from her trance.

"Yeah, just about," said Maggie with a sigh.

"Do you smell what I smell?" Homer asked as he sat up with a grunt. Maggie could see that he was a little sore that morning but her concern changed as she sniffed the air.

"Do I smell pancakes?" Maggie asked.

"I didn't know Jeremy would make any for us," said Homer with a smile before slowly getting up and peeking outside the tent. Maggie joined him as both their heads poked out.

They looked around until they saw a tarp to keep the rain from falling on a small fire that was burning in the middle and where Jeremy was flipping pancakes with the other guides. Some of the club members were up eating or sitting by the fire watching the rain fall. Everyone seemed so quiet though, most likely due to the weather changing, it hadn't rained hard on them yet so today was going to be interesting.

"Good morning, Maggie, Mr. Simpson. You should both stop acting like curious puppies and come have breakfast," Jeremy yelled from where he was sitting.

Homer did not need to be told twice that he was invited for breakfast and before Maggie could even look around for her shoes; Homer was out of the tent in a flash. It didn't take Maggie long though to follow close behind him. There was a small stack of pancakes waiting for them already and Homer quickly grabbed his plate and chowed down. Maggie laughed at her father as if he was a baby bird and then turned to Jeremy who had a fresh plate in his hand.

"Are we still going on the river today?" Maggie asked.

"Oh definitely, this is not a bad rain, it will most likely stop before we have to land again in the evening. If it was a downpour with thunder and lightning we would probably wait it out and see what it does, but according to Brandon's weather map it's just a light rain for the time being," said Jeremy.

"What would happen if it was raining harder?" asked Maggie as she squirted some syrup on her pancakes.

"We would wait it out, but we would at least try to move a little bit further, there really is no sense in staying in one place here, plus we have a schedule to keep," said Jeremy as he grabbed some more pancakes as Haley arrived with her father for a good breakfast. "But we will talk more about it once everyone gets up."

Maggie gave a quick shrug, she was willing to wait and hear more in a bit, apparently Jeremy had a plan and he didn't seem to want to repeat himself. She made her way over to Homer who was now conversing with Riley who had just woken up. Celia was still in the tent, having problems getting her pants on. Maggie of course could not resist joking with her as she untangled herself inside the tent.

It wasn't long before everyone in the club was now up and eating their pancakes while Jeremy relayed the news for a day that promised nothing but clouds and some rain, hopefully nothing too big.

"Okay just keep your rain poncho's on through most of the trip, the rain is expected to pick up later in the day but I don't see it causing too much of a trouble, we will just have to figure out how to dry off once we land again. There will be some tributaries on this trip but they should be easy to spot, they are much smaller so directions won't be too confusing. Other than that, finish your meals and lets pack up, we leave in thirty minutes."

Once again the club was on the river, heading to wherever they could go in the rain. Maggie and Celia were the main paddlers that day and both had their bright yellow rain ponchos on so they could keep the rain off of them. Homer and Riley were wearing ponchos too, but Riley was too busy trying to defog his glasses every five minutes to actually help with the paddling. Homer would try his best, but Maggie and Celia insisted that they had everything under control so Homer just talked and pointed out the birds and the plants. After a while though the rain fell more steadily and the birds retreated to the jungles and the plants were usually the same ones they had seen before.

As the day progressed, the rain continued to fall, sometimes drenching, sometimes in a misty fog that made Riley's glasses even harder to deal with. He didn't have the best eyesight but he could still see a little ahead of him, and after a while he simply tucked his glasses on his shirt collar and spent the rest of the time squinting. He would often jump at the first sudden movement that was near him, usually Homer moving his arm close to him in a very sudden way or a water bird landing in the river to catch a fish.

The group landed on the side of the river around midday to take a quick break and have a nice lunch. Everyone was soaking wet and tried their hardest to stay dry under the tent as they had their meal. Most did not want to go back into the river, but Jeremy insisted they should continue on for another three hours, he promised it would go by fast and that he would build a nice big fire once they landed again.

The little group of four followed the club through the river once more; Homer had stopped talking now and tried his hardest to paddle fast for them. He was in no mood for talking; it was now one of those days that he just wanted to finish without catching a cold.

Since no one was into talking, Homer began to think of home and what Marge was doing at the moment, all alone in the house with just the dog to keep her company. The idea of sitting by the fireside with her sounded wonderful, just the two of them together sharing their love without a care in the world. Sure it was fun being with Maggie and it was nice to accompany her on this trip but he was really starting to wish that Maggie had chosen a more fun adventure that was not so far away and that he could easily get a hold of Marge. He had not been able to talk to her since they left Iquitos and they would not again until they reached Manaus.

Homer was so deep in dream world that he did not notice that a fog had started to envelope the river and it wasn't long before Maggie suddenly jumped up and looked around worriedly.

"I wonder if Jeremy was expecting this," said Maggie as she tried to peer through the fog without much success.

"And where is he any way, we can't see much past that one lily pad field," said Celia with a bit of nervousness in her voice.

"I don't know, I don't even hear the group anymore," said Riley.

"Uh oh, Celia, remember that Amazon Trail game we played?" asked Maggie.

"You mean the one where we passed through a fog and got lost in another time and place?" asked Celia.

"Yeah that one," said Maggie.

"What do you girls mean?" asked Riley.

"Well in the game, you travel upstream to the Andes Mountains so we are going the wrong way for the game, but in every level you pass through another time, like during the fifteen hundreds where you meet a conquistador or something," said Celia.

"So has it ever happened to anyone in real life?" asked Homer nervously.

"Not that I know of, but it feels like it almost," said Maggie.

Homer looked around him nervously; his feeling of homesickness was now growing as he began to wonder where he was and if they would find the rest of the club without a problem. They were all silent as they moved through the river for a good ten minutes looking and listening for any signs of their compatriots. They were unsure if they had taken a wrong turn or if they were way behind from the others. By now someone would have yelled out to make sure everyone was with them, but the call did not come. Finally it was Riley who noticed something about the river.

"Uh Celia? Did Jeremy say we would hit any rapids?" he asked.

"I don't think he did, he said we would move through some parts of the river that were a bit swift but nothing to be worried about," said Celia.

"Did he mention rocks, because I am starting to see them," said Homer.

"Yeah and the river is getting narrower too," said Riley.

Maggie was about to respond when the raft suddenly nosedived down a small wave of water causing both Riley and Homer to fly out of their seats, sending them head first into the bottom of the raft. Homer let out a grunt as he tried to balance himself back up, along with Riley who kept falling back on his face for a good minute. Both were finally able to get their bearings straight when Maggie and Celia helped them back up.

"I think we did take a wrong turn and went through a tributary, stupid fog," said Maggie as she balanced herself back into her seat and tried to paddle away from a rock only to hit another one that she had missed.

"What should we do Maggie?" asked Celia nervously.

Maggie looked over at the banks to see if they could land there. She noticed how rocky they were, and in some places completely covered by trees, making it hard to find footing. You could easily slip and fall and hurt yourself on those rocks.

"I would say get off and head back but I have no idea how far we have gone through here and then we would be way far behind from the others," said Maggie.

"We could cross through the jungle," said Homer with a hopeful voice, he really did not want to be there anymore.

"We could but we have no idea which wrong way we went and it's dangerous in that jungle," said Maggie.

"Uh guys," said Celia in a panicked voice.

Maggie looked at Celia and saw her pointing up ahead; the fog was now starting to lift and was now revealing what they had to deal with next. The river was now moving fast, waves were hitting up against the rocks, and dips were beginning to appear just behind them. This was definitely not the right way to go, and all the four could do was hope that they could get through this without being thrown overboard.

That hope seemed impossible now as wave after wave battered the side of their raft and sent water flying into their boat. Soaking them even more from head to toe. Everyone was now steering from left to right as they tried to avoid every rock they came across. Once they almost tipped over, but were saved when Maggie remembered to lean against the raft to help it slide off the rock. Their adrenaline was now pumping as they tried to find a way out of the mess they were in, Homer was even paddling harder than he ever had been and Riley could hear him panting as he tried his hardest to help keep everyone afloat.

"Okay everyone, hold on for this one!" exclaimed Maggie as they made their way down a waterfall that was not too big, but large enough to fall out of if you were not properly prepared.

Everyone screamed as they flew down the falls, holding on for dear life. It was a ten foot drop, not the biggest in the world but one that would cause anyone to not want to go through it again unless they knew what waited for them on the other side.

They landed safely and they all sighed with relief now that they realized that the rapids had ended. The river was still moving fast but it was smoother and less rocky.

"Well that pumped up my blood," panted Maggie as she leaned back on her seat to rest for a second.

"I hope we can find our way back though, it makes me wonder how far we've gone, how about you Homer?" asked Riley as he nudged him.

Homer did not respond, his eyes were open wide and staring straight ahead of him. Maggie noticed this too and turned to see what her father had seen. It was a horizon of open sky. It was not something they were prepared for, no one had warned them about waterfalls. Maggie fought the current as she tried to move the raft to a safer place; she did not care where, just somewhere without a long drop. Celia right beside her doing her best to follow Maggie. Homer and Riley tried to fight the current as well, pumping the paddle into the water as hard as they could.

They battled for what seemed like hours but it was really only a few minutes and they only progressed by a few inches thanks to the swift moving current. Maggie was now getting scared and remembered how Alex Steele was last seen in rapids like this, was there any hope? It was Riley who finally stopped paddling, he knew there was no winning in this fight and he was now exhausted. He threw his paddle down and wiped his brow before turning to Homer who was still trying but he looked even more exhausted. The kids were still fighting and had not noticed that Riley had set his paddle down.

"Celia," Riley called.

"Not now Dad, we need to get out of this," said Celia her back still toward him.

"Celia, stop, it's not going to help!" Riley said in a stern and tired voice. Celia had heard her father say those words before, and it was from a memory she would rather forget.

"But Dad! We can do this!" Celia cried her eyes now brimming with tears.

"We've tried and we haven't gotten very far, the current is too strong," said Riley.

"Even with our adrenaline pumping there is nothing left we can do," said Homer as he set down his paddle once he also noticed that they haven't gotten very far.

"Dad?" Maggie called worriedly as the raft began to move forward. Her father was known to give up on things, but she was not expecting him to give up on something as serious as this.

"Just hang on Maggie, I'm right behind you," Homer said in his best fatherly tone.

"I'm right behind you too Celia, it might not even be a big fall," Riley said in a voice that was more scared than reassuring. Celia said nothing but turned to Maggie who looked back at her with concern and dread.

"I guess I will see you on the other side," said Celia.

"Godspeed my friend," Maggie said as she remembered her saying that to Celia after both went on a hike with a different group.

Homer, Riley, Maggie and Celia braced themselves as the raft inched closer toward the falls; it wasn't long before the moment of impact came as the raft ran straight into a rock protruding out of the edge of the falls. The impact was one of the worst feelings Maggie had ever felt in her entire life, a few seconds later, she felt herself flying in the air toward a long drop and into the waiting rapids below.


A/N: Alright this is the moment I have been waiting for, the start of the adventure. So I left you all with a nice cliffhanger and hopefully the suspense won't take so long, I know you all want to know if all of them got out safely. Looks like my workload is not going to be too bad for the next few weeks, so I should get some updates in. Oh yeah and sorry about the long descriptions at the beginning, I liked writing them.

So when you all get a chance please review, and I would really like to hear what you guys think not just "This was a great chapter I liked it, please update soon" but please tell me what you liked or what I need to work on or heck what you think will happen. I like those. Well that's all for now, see you all in about a week or more.