Chapter Five
The next morning, Little Joe woke an hour early and hollered at the top of his lungs until the rest of the family rushed into his bedroom.
"Joseph!" Ben declared, his eyes wild and his silver hair sticking out at all angles. "What is it? What's wrong?!"
Little Joe threw back his blankets and pointed to the dingy cast on his left leg. "Get this off of me!"
Ben and Adam glowered at Joe for alarming them, but Hoss and Josie chuckled.
"Don't worry, Joe, I'll get you out of there," Josie said. "Just as soon as I've had some breakfast."
Everyone ate quickly and then returned to Little Joe's bedroom, Adam bearing Josie's small box of surgical tools.
"I don't have a plaster saw," Josie said as she dug through the box. "So I guess this will have to do." She straightened up, brandishing her large bone saw – the same type of instrument her father used for battlefield amputations.
Little Joe's eyes went wide, and with a little squeak, he fainted dead away.
"Shortshanks!" Hoss cried as he rushed to his little brother's side. Despite his alarm, Hoss remembered all of the training Josie had given him and immediately checked Joe's pulse and breathing. He sighed in relief. "He's all right. Guess the sight of that saw was a bit much for him."
"That's ok," Josie said. "He's easier to deal with when he's unconscious anyway." She studied the cast for a moment, deciding on just the right angle, and then set the blade of the saw against the edge of the cast nearest Joe's knee. Everyone held their breath as Josie began grinding away with the saw, but Josie was clearly having fun sawing on Joe's leg, so when her arm began to tire, Ben enthusiastically asked for a turn. A cloud of plaster dust enveloped the bed and its immediate area, and Josie giggled as she looked at her cousins and realized that their hair was now as white as Ben's. After a few moments, Adam nudged his father and gestured to the saw. Grinning, Ben handed it over, and Adam sawed away happily for several minutes before handing the tool to Hoss to finish off the job.
Hoss very carefully cut through the edge of the cast nearest Joes toes and then dug his meaty fingers into the split they had cut and began prying the cast apart. He hadn't made much progress, however, when his forehead crinkled and he looked over at Josie.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"It's stuck."
"Stuck?" Josie slid over next to Hoss and peered down at Joe's leg. She blushed and said "Oops."
"Oops?!" Ben exclaimed, going pale as he imagined his son's leg permanently mangled, or worse yet, rotted. "What do you mean 'Oops'?!"
Josie bit her lower lip and glanced over her shoulder at the family. "I forgot to wrap a bandage around his leg before we set the plaster."
"So?" Ben asked.
"So it's all glued into his leg hair."
Adam excused himself and bolted from the room. The other Cartwrights heard him step on the creaky floorboard outside his own bedroom, where Adam unsuccessfully attempted to muffle his hysterical laughter. Josie scowled but turned back to Joe.
"Nothing for it," she sighed. "Hoss, grab my chloroform. If he starts to come around, put him back out."
Adam reentered the room just as Josie began yanking at the plaster, and the three conscious Cartwright men cringed as all the hair was ripped out of the lower half of Joe's leg. As Josie had predicted, the pain stirred Joe, but Hoss grabbed the chloroform and sent him right back to sleep. Josie's arms started to wear out again from the effort, so Hoss took over pulling at the cast and soon had Little Joe's leg free. They all gazed at the inside of the cast, which was now quite hairy, and then down at Joe's emaciated left leg, which was not.
"That's gonna sting," Adam said, shaking his head.
Hoss removed the chloroform-soaked rag from Joe's face as Josie retrieved some soap and water from the washroom and bathed Joe's left leg for the first time in a month. She ran both hands up and down his shin several times, checking the bone, and then she smiled. "Feels good!" she announced, grinning up at Ben.
Joe fully regained consciousness just as Josie finished up. Hoss helped him sit up, and he looked anxiously down at his leg. Horror crossed his face as he saw how much muscle he had lost during his convalescence.
"It'll be ok, Joe," Josie assured him. "Once we get you back up and walking, you'll get that muscle back."
"Why does it sting so bad?" Joe asked.
"Oh, that's just your nerves reacting to the air hitting your skin for the first time in so long," Josie replied in a rush. Hoss snickered behind her, and Josie swung her leg backward and kicked him in the shin.
Joe nodded. "Can I try it out?" he asked nervously.
"Of course," Josie answered. "But it's going to be quite a while before it feels and works normally, so don't get frustrated."
Ben rolled his eyes. Asking Little Joe not to get frustrated was like asking a river to run backward. He watched as Joe sat up and swung his legs over the edge of his bed. Hoss grabbed his arm to help him, but Joe shook him off. Tentatively, Joe stood up and eased a little weight onto his left leg. He grimaced a bit as he took a few shaky steps across his bedroom, Hoss hovering behind him in case he fell. Halfway across the room, Joe turned and stepped carefully back to his bed, where he sat down heavily, sweat glistening on his forehead.
"How does it feel, son?" Ben asked.
"Felt better with the cast on." Little Joe's face screwed up in irritation.
"Like I said, it's going to take a while," Josie said, laying a hand on his shoulder. "But the best thing you can do is use it as much as you can. Just don't attempt the stairs for at least a few days. I don't feel like setting any more of your bones."
Remembering what Josie had told him about following her instructions to help his leg heal properly, Little Joe did as he was told and tried his best to walk normally. He limped badly for the first week and often had to resort to leaning on one of his crutches when it felt like his weakened leg would no longer support him, but as the weeks passed, his limp faded, and by the time Ben, Hoss, and Adam were ready to leave on the cattle drive to San Francisco toward the end of the month, Joe's gait was nearly back to normal. But walking still took more effort than usual, causing Joe to tire quickly, and a few days before their departure, Ben wondered aloud if he should leave Hop Sing at home in case Josie needed extra help.
"I suppose it's not too late to talk to Hallelujah Hicks about driving the chuck wagon," he mused.
"Oh, don't do that, Uncle Ben," Josie replied. "You know how much Hop Sing looks forward to the drive every year. It's the only time he gets to see his cousins in San Francisco. Besides, you hate Hallelujah's cooking."
Ben chuckled. "And his bellyaching," he agreed.
"If I need help, I'll send for Sally or Patience," Josie said.
"All right. But you be sure to send for them if you need to, ok? Don't try to handle everything yourself if it's too much."
"I promise I will," Josie replied.
Ben was worried about Josie. A few days after the Battle of Gettysburg, they had received a telegram from one of Jacob's assistants assuring them that he was all right, but the outcome of the battle had shaken the entire family – and the nation. Over the course of three days of fighting in Pennsylvania, more than 50,000 men had been killed, injured, or captured in what would be the bloodiest battle of the war. Because the Union won, the Confederate Army was not able to reclaim its dead, and the unpleasant task fell to the citizens – mostly women – of Gettysburg. It would take them a week to clear the battlefield of human remains and longer still to clear away the 3,000 dead horses. Josie had wept as she read the reports of the battle, streams of tears silently running down her cheeks and smudging the ink of her newspaper. She had then put herself to bed immediately after supper, a victim of the same sleepiness that had been plaguing her off and on since Simon's departure. Combined with her worry over Adam going on his first cattle drive since his capture by Peter Kane the previous summer and her still-mending heartbreak, Josie had been a mess for several days, and more than once Ben had awoken in the middle of the night to the sound of her sobs.
Ben now gazed intently into his niece's eyes and saw the sincerity there. He had noticed that Josie had perked back up over the past week, and he prayed that there would be no more upset. He credited his sons for cheering her up. The Cartwright brothers had taken special care to spend extra time with their cousin: Adam had taken her on a picnic so they could plan their upcoming trip to Sacramento, Hoss had taken her fishing at Lake Tahoe, and Little Joe had had Josie helping him with some mysterious project in the old bunkhouse that had served as Josie's first clinic.
It was this project with Joe that had really taken Josie's mind off her troubles. Because riding long distances was still difficult for him, Little Joe was excused from the usual pre-cattle-drive roundup duties, leaving him plenty of free time to fix up and finish the half-built canoe he and Hoss had begun a few years ago. Josie followed him out to the old bunkhouse to help whenever she could. She didn't know anything about shipbuilding, but she was happy to help coat the canoe in pitch to seal it, and when the craft was nearly finished, she swiped one of the branding irons from the barn so she and Joe could emblazon their canoe with the Ponderosa brand. They had a great time one afternoon burning the brand into their boat in six places – three on each side.
Meanwhile, Josie had been kept busy at clinic. After the Fourth of July, word had spread that Dr. Cartwright was no longer spoken for, and one morning about a week after the festival, Josie strolled out to her clinic to discover a line of at least a dozen young men, all claiming various injuries and ailments and requesting her attention. Josie took a quick inventory and discovered that only one of them, the banker's son, Thomas, had a genuine complaint. He had slammed his hand in the bank's safe and dislocated a finger. Josie took him in first, and the wail he sent up when Josie popped his finger back into place sent all but two of the other young men scarpering off. She humored the remaining two with quick exams and then sent them both away with clean bills of health. When Josie closed up the clinic that evening, she was tempted to add a note to the bottom of her "Doctor is out – Please call at the house" sign that read "Unless you're trying to court her, in which case, go away."
The evening before the three oldest Cartwrights departed on the cattle drive, Adam pulled Josie out onto the front porch.
"You sure you'll be all right while we're gone?" His hazel eyes brimmed with concern.
"Yeah. Joe's good company, and we're meeting with Fionn, Sally, and Patience soon to get started on the library. And Molly invited Joe and me over for supper tomorrow. I'll be fine, Adam, really."
Adam smiled; he hadn't known about Molly's invitation to Josie and Little Joe. After the final news of Gettysburg came in, he had expressed his concern to Molly about Josie, and he was touched that she had reached out to her, knowing that Josie might be lonely while Adam was away. Molly's birthday was coming up next month, and Adam now thought he might use some of his share of the cattle drive money to get her a nice gift.
Josie, however, didn't return her cousin's smile. She held his gaze for several long seconds, and Adam saw her eyes glisten. "What is it?" he asked.
"Are you sure you'll be ok?"
Adam sighed and dropped his gaze. "I promise, I won't go off on my own," he answered sheepishly. "And I'll wire you as soon as we reach San Francisco, and then again before we set off for home."
Josie nodded and leaned into him. Adam wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, resting his chin on the top of her head. They stood there silently for a long time until at last Josie stepped back, and Adam led her back into the house.
The next morning, Josie and Little Joe stood in the front yard and waved goodbye to Ben, Adam, Hoss, Hop Sing, and a dozen of the ranch hands as they set out on the drive. A knot of apprehension settled in Josie's stomach as she watched Adam ride out of the yard, but Joe saw the concern cross her face and reached out and took her hand, and the sensation faded.
As soon as the oldest Cartwrights rode out of sight, Josie and Little Joe grinned at one another and bolted back into the house – Josie managing to keep a bit ahead of Joe as his leg was still a bit tetchy. They scampered into Ben's office alcove and pulled a big map out of a bottom drawer and spread it across Ben's desk. Unlike most maps in the house which showed the borders of the Ponderosa, this map focused on Lake Tahoe and its immediate area. Little Joe jabbed his finger at a point on the southern tip of the gargantuan lake.
"I know we were talking about going east-west across the lake," he began, "but I'm thinkin' it would be more of an adventure to start here at the southern point and paddle the full length, all the way north. We could camp a couple nights just on the Nevada side, then paddle back."
Josie frowned. "Isn't it twenty-two miles south to north up the lake? That's an awfully long way."
"Only twenty miles the way we'll be going," Joe replied. "It'll take the whole day, but we can do it. Unless you're scared."
Josie glowered at him. "I'm not scared! Just worried about you getting tired halfway across."
Little Joe grinned at his cousin. "I was thinking we could leave first thing on Wednesday. That gives us today and tomorrow to talk to Baxter about taking care of the place while we're gone and to find someone to drive the wagon."
"Drive the wagon?"
"Yeah. We gotta get the canoe down to the lake somehow, and we can't leave the horses standing around for three or four days until we get back. Only problem is almost everyone else is away on cattle drives, too."
Josie thought for a moment. "How about Fionn? He's harvesting his summer crops, so he's at home. I bet we could talk him into slipping away for a morning to help us down to the lake."
"So long as he swears not to tell Molly," Joe said. "She'll blab to Adam, and he'll get all bent out of shape that we left the ranch when we were supposed to be in charge."
"Fionn won't tell. He loves making trouble."
Little Joe snickered as he rolled up the map and carefully replaced it in Ben's desk drawer. "We'll ask him tonight, then, when we go over there for supper."
The cousins grinned at each other once more before Joe moseyed out to the barn to speak with Baxter, and Josie slipped into the kitchen to start gathering supplies for their trip. She collected enough jerky, coffee, cheese, biscuits, and apples for a week and put them all in a big burlap sack she found in the pantry. Then she skipped up to her bedroom to pack up some clothes – and a book, of course – for the upcoming adventure.
Late that afternoon, Josie and Little Joe washed up and headed over to the O'Connells' with Pip following along behind them. Little Joe had offered to hitch up a buggy, but Josie decided she'd rather ride – a decision Joe was only too happy to accommodate. He had missed riding Cochise while he was laid up, and he and Josie chatted cheerfully as their horses lumbered along the road toward Molly and Fionn's. When they were about a quarter mile from the O'Connells' little house, they detected the scent of roasting chicken and urged their horses to move a little faster.
As Josie, Little Joe, and Pip trotted into the front yard, Fionn rolled up in a wagon laden with freshly picked corn.
"Hey, You!" he called cheerily, waving at the cousins. "Hope you like corn!"
Josie grinned at him as she reined Scout to a stop alongside Fionn's wagon. "Love it!" she replied.
Fionn hopped down from the wagon seat as Josie and Joe slid off their horses. Joe grimaced a little as his healing leg touched down – this was the farthest he'd ridden since Josie had removed his cast – but after a few stiff steps, his gait smoothed out. He and Fionn shook hands, and, as had become his custom, Fionn kissed the back of Josie's hand. Pip having forgiven him for his previous indiscretion, Fionn scratched the giant dog behind the ears before leading the cousins into the house.
Molly greeted them in the living room with glasses of lemonade and then excused herself to the kitchen to finish preparing supper, including a dozen ears of the corn Fionn had just brought in. Josie asked her if she needed help but was glad when Molly declined her offer; she wanted to be part of the conversation with Fionn about driving their wagon down to the lake. Fionn slipped out to the back porch to wash up, but he returned shortly, his face scrubbed and his hair rinsed of the dirt and sweat it had accumulated during the day. His eyes danced as Josie and Little Joe pulled him in close and revealed their plans to him.
"Aye, I can do that," he said when Joe asked if he'd drive their wagon to the lake and pick them up again four days later.
"But don't tell Molly," Josie interjected. "Adam would have a conniption if he found out."
"We can't have that, now can we?" Fionn replied, smiling at Josie.
Molly called them in to supper just then, so the three friends gave each other knowing grins and scampered over to the kitchen. Molly and Fionn didn't have a formal dining room like the Cartwrights did, so the quartet crowded around the small kitchen table, which was all but groaning under the weight of the food Molly had piled onto it. There was roast chicken, potatoes, corn on the cob, green beans, biscuits, and freshly churned butter, made from the milk of the cow Molly kept in the barn. In a prayer shorter than any Ben Cartwright knew, Fionn blessed the food, and the quartet dug in.
After polishing off his second plateful, Fionn turned to Josie. "We've had a brilliant idea for the library, Hey, You."
Molly's mouth dropped open and she slapped her brother upside the back of the head. "You mean I've had a brilliant idea for the library, you dolt!"
"Well, I helped-"
"You did not! You weren't even home when I thought of it!" Molly glared at Fionn until he clapped his mouth shut, and then she turned to Josie. "What I was thinkin', Josie, was that we could approach some of the business owners in town and ask if they'd be willin' to donate some of their profits, say, one percent to start, to the library. In return, we could give them a sign to hang in their window that says 'I support the library,' or something like that. I thought it might help the town to rally around the idea."
"That is brilliant!" Josie cheered as her face lit up. "I'm sure Doctor Martin would do it, and I bet we could talk Widow Hawkins into it, too."
"Especially if we can talk Pa into asking her," Joe quipped, setting everyone to laughing.
"Of course, I would," Molly said. "Do you suppose Mr. Grayson would as well?"
Joe and Josie said that yes, they thought he would, and the foursome spent the rest of the meal brainstorming a list of business owners in town to approach. Later that evening, after stuffing themselves full of Molly's excellent cooking, Josie and Little Joe bid the O'Connells goodnight and set off for home, excited about both the library and their upcoming trip.
Wednesday morning dawned clear and bright, and Josie sprang out of bed early, too excited to sleep any longer. She hustled into her jeans and her favorite blue-checkered shirt and dashed downstairs, boots in hand, to cook breakfast. Little Joe wasn't far behind her, and within thirty minutes, the two of them were sitting at the small kitchen table and wolfing down their pancakes. They were too busy eating to hold a conversation, but they looked up frequently to exchange maple-syrup grins.
They had just finished washing the dishes when they heard Fionn's wagon roll into the front yard. Josie and Little Joe rushed out to greet him and then ran back inside to collect their food, canteens, clothes, and bedrolls. When they reemerged in the yard, Fionn laughed at their excitement and helped Josie up onto the wagon's seat. Little Joe and Pip hopped in the back, and Joe gave Fionn directions to the old bunkhouse where they had been storing the canoe out of sight of the rest of the family. When they got there, Josie and Little Joe proudly showed off their vessel, and Fionn laughed at all of its Ponderosa brands.
"In case anyone needs to identify the wreckage, yeah?" he teased. The Cartwrights scowled at him, and Fionn's laughter immediately cut off. "Just a joke," he muttered. He and Joe hefted the craft onto their shoulders and carried it carefully out the door of the bunkhouse and loaded it into the back of the wagon.
It took the rest of the morning to reach the southern tip of Lake Tahoe, and the three friends chatted away about their plans for the library, the Fall Festival, and the trials and tribulations of having older siblings. When they finally reached the shores of the sparkling azure lake, Fionn and Joe pulled the canoe down from the wagon and dragged it toward the water. They stopped a few feet from the water's edge so Josie and Joe could load their supplies into it.
"All right, Josie, I think we're ready!" Little Joe declared.
The cousins turned to Fionn and thanked him for the lift.
"Not at all," he said. "But, uh, Hey, You?" Josie looked up at him as Fionn gestured toward the canoe. "You're not actually plannin' to put Pip in there, are you?"
Josie glanced over at the canoe and then back at Fionn. "Why not? There's plenty of room."
"He weighs more than you do," Fionn pointed out. "It'll be like havin' a third person in there who won't even help you row. And if he stands up unexpectedly… Splash!" He threw his arms in the air to mimic spraying water.
Neither Josie nor Little Joe had considered this. They were both so used to Pip accompanying Josie everywhere she went that it had never occurred to either of them to leave the animal behind. Pip looked up at Josie and wagged his tail hopefully.
"I'm sorry, boy," she said. "But Fionn has a point. If you were smaller, it would be a different story." Pip's ears drooped as he understood from Josie's tone that he was no longer invited.
Fionn looked on as Josie's face fell, and he could tell how terrible she felt about leaving Pip behind on an adventure for the first time in the dog's life.
"Tell you what," Fionn said. "How about I watch him for you? He can help me in the fields. Keep the birds away from the corn."
Josie's frown flipped into a grateful smile. "Thank you, Fionn. I think he'd like that." Before she realized what she was doing, she caught Fionn up in a warm hug. He stiffened in surprise, but then hugged her back enthusiastically.
"Have fun," he whispered in her ear. "I'll be back for you Sunday afternoon." When Fionn reluctantly stepped back from the embrace, he and Josie paused, their noses mere inches from each other as they caught and held one another's gaze. Finally, Little Joe cleared his throat, and Fionn and Josie gave their heads a little shake and Fionn reached out to shake Little Joe's hand.
Josie pointed toward Fionn as he sauntered back to the wagon. "Go on, Pip. Go with Fionn!" she ordered. With a final sad look at his mistress, the loyal dog obeyed and leapt into the bed of the wagon.
The cousins waved until Fionn and Pip were out of sight and then turned to their canoe. With one last big grin at each other, they dragged it to the edge of the water. They left the back half of the canoe on dry ground, and Little Joe held it steady so Josie could step into the front. Once she was settled on the plank seat, he shoved off and hopped in.
"It floats!" Josie squealed as their little craft lifted from the mud and bobbed on the water's surface.
"You don't have to sound so surprised," Joe replied, slightly hurt.
"Sorry, Joe, I'm just excited. Gimme my paddle."
Joe handed Josie one of the oars, and the cousins started paddling their way northward up Lake Tahoe.
It was slow going. The water was flat, so they weren't fighting a current, but they didn't have a current assisting them, either, and Little Joe estimated it would take them about seven hours to reach the north shore. Only two hours in when they broke for lunch, Josie was having her doubts. The cool blue water surrounding them provided ready relief from the blazing late-July sun, but Josie's arms were wearing out from all the paddling, and they weren't even halfway across yet. Because there was still no discernible current, Joe and Josie just let the canoe bob on the little waves as they ate the sandwiches they had packed. Josie carefully turned around on her seat so she was facing Joe.
"How you doin', Joe?"
"Great!" he replied with a big grin. "I could do this all day!" Joe had peeled off his shirt a while ago, and he now flexed his sinewy biceps to illustrate his point.
"Oh, that's good." Josie took another big bite of her sandwich and washed it down with a swig from her canteen.
"How about you?"
Josie sat up a little straighter and gave Joe what she hoped was a convincing grin. "I'm great! I could do this all day, too!" She was glad when they had finished their lunch and she could turn her back on Joe.
"I am in waaaaaayyyyy over my head," she thought. And in more ways than one, she realized as she gazed down into the remarkably clear water; Josie estimated she could see down more than a hundred feet. Adam had told her that the lake was nearly 1,700 feet deep at its deepest point, and for the first time, Josie wondered if this excursion had been such a good idea. At the very least, she probably should have told Joe one important fact about herself…
"Golly, I sure could go for a swim, couldn't you?" Joe piped up as they recommenced paddling.
"No," Josie answered, a bit too quickly. "Looks cold."
"That's the idea, genius."
Too tired to do anything more, Josie turned around and stuck her tongue out at Joe, who laughed. Josie wished she could join in his merriment. Her arms were like two iron pipes, and it took all her willpower to keep plunging her oar into lake and pushing the canoe through the water over and over again. Enormous blisters had formed on both of her hands, and her backside screamed for mercy from the hard, wooden plank she had been sitting on all day. Josie distracted herself by admiring the scenery. Tahoe was pretty year-round, but Josie found it most beautiful in the summer. They were a good three miles from the eastern shore now, but Josie could still see the countless pine trees lining the shore, and farther in the distance, the snow-capped Sierra Nevada range. Josie smiled as she remembered Hoss and Adam telling her about the Donner Party when she was just a little girl. This thought led to other happy memories of fishing with Hoss, snuggling up with Adam and a good book, and making mischief with Joe, and the miles of lake began sailing past.
Josie was so caught up in her reverie that she didn't notice the scrim of dark clouds that developed on the western shore as suppertime neared. Little Joe, who had also fallen silent with his own daydreams, didn't notice them either until he heard the first rumble of thunder ripple across the water toward them.
"Uh, Joe?" Josie tried to keep the anxiety out of her voice. "Is that a problem?"
"Of course not!" Joe cheered bracingly. Then his face fell and he pulled his shirt back on. "But paddle faster."
Adrenaline displaced the leadenness in Josie's arms, and she discovered a store of energy she hadn't known she possessed. Little Joe estimated they were about two miles from their destination on the north shore when the thunderstorm reached them. At first, they were simply inconvenienced by a cold, driving rain, but after ten minutes or so, the whipping wind had stirred up waves, and the water got choppy. Lightning flashed all around them, and Josie involuntarily ducked her head.
"Keep paddling, Josie!" Little Joe hollered over the squall. "We can make it!"
Josie nodded, too terrified to speak, as their canoe crested a little wave and crashed down hard on the other side, nearly flinging the cousins from the small vessel. Josie felt water seeping up the left leg of her jeans, and she glanced down.
"Joe! We have a problem!" What at first had seemed like rain coming into the canoe from above turned out to be lake water seeping in through the canoe's portside hull, right through the Ponderosa brand emblazoned near the front. Josie's eyes widened as she realized that she and Joe must have let the branding iron burn too deeply into the wood. When the boat crashed down from the top of that last wave, the weakened lumber had splintered and was now letting in water. It was just a trickle, but Josie knew if they hit another hard wave then that entire section of the hull could collapse.
"What's wrong?" Joe yelled back.
Josie's vocabulary abandoned her as she watched the trickle of water coming through the hull grow to a slow stream. "Water!" was all she could manage.
Little Joe thought Josie had lost her mind. They were on a monstrous lake in the middle of a deluge, and Josie was surprised by the presence of water?
"No kidding!" Joe shouted as he wiped rain from his eyes. He shook his head in exasperation, but then he noticed Josie frantically gesturing toward the bottom of the canoe as she twisted her head around to stare aghast at him. A bolt of lightning lit up the sky just then and glinted off the growing puddle around Josie's feet. The cousin's eyes met, and they stared at each other briefly, both sets of eyes wide with horror. Little Joe broke their gaze just in time to see another wave swell up in front of him. He swore loudly. "Hang on, Josie!" he screeched just as the wave hit the front of the canoe. Josie heard a sharp "CRACK!" from the front of the canoe a split second before she and Joe were hurled, screaming, into the air.