“I’ll be back.”
“She’s in there. She’ll get you.”
Nora pulled on my arms. I was stronger than she and slipped free of her grasp, then thrust myself back in the water. When I straightened my legs and pointed my toes, they barely brushed the silty bottom. I tread water, trying to keep my mouth above it. Its slimy surface coated my arms and neck. Its earthy, sulfurous odor filled my nose and seemed to seep through the pores of my skin.
I turned my head, sniffing something different from river and rot.
“Nora, do you smell smoke?”
I heard her taking in deep, soblike breaths. “Yes.”
For a moment I was so shocked I couldn’t think what to do. It was too horrible — I could not believe that Frank would set the building on fire with us inside.
“Nora, get in. You have to get in the water.”
I heard her pull back against the wall.
“The boathouse is going to burn down. We have to get out of here now. Now! There’s no time. You must come with me.”
“No!”
“I’ll help you. I’ll hold on to you.”
“No!” she shrieked.
It was useless to try to convince her. She wasn’t thinking fire, she was too afraid of water.
“Okay, never mind,” I said quickly, and grasped the edge of the walkway. “Help me get out.”
As soon as her arms were around me, I pulled her into the water. She screamed.
“I’m here. Float on your back. I’ll help you.”
But she was terrified. I fought to get her into a life-saving carry. She clawed at me and tried to climb up on my shoulders. Desperate to get herself above the water, she pushed me under.
I struggled to the surface. Her fingernails dug into my skin.
She was much stronger than I’d realized and pushed me down again. I dropped way down, pulling Nora with me, hoping she would panic and let go.
It worked. I swam three feet away from her, then came up for air.
The smell of smoke was strong, smoke and lighter fluid.
My eyes stung with it. Nora was treading water but was so frightened she kept gulping it down.
“Get on your back, Nora.”
Her arms flailed wildly toward me, and I propelled myself backward in the water, out of her reach. She went under.
I dived and searched frantically for her, then grabbed her and pulled her to the surface, wrestling her onto her back.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a bright flame shoot up a corner on the land side of the boathouse. I heard the crackling. Another flame shot up the second corner, as if following a trail of lighter fluid. I thought I heard barking, but it was too late to hope Rocky would draw attention. Doused with an accelerant, the wood in this house could go up in a matter of seconds.
I swam, dragging Nora toward the river doors, then stopped in front of them. She was coughing and I had to make sure she had air.
“Come on, Nora. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Deep breath in, deep breath out. That’s the way. Deep breath in
—” I sucked down my own lungful of air, then pulled her under with me. I swam toward the light, one arm keeping her next to me, kicking hard for both of us. In the murky water I didn’t see the net, didn’t know I had swum into it, until it was around us. I pulled back quickly, trying to find its edge.
I had to let go of Nora for a moment. Using both hands I yanked on the netting in front of me, tearing at it with my fingers and teeth, making a hole just big enough for one of us. I swam through it, then reached back and pulled Nora to me.
Almost there, I thought, my lungs burning for lack of air. I took Nora’s hand and curled her fingers around the waistband of my shorts, wanting her to hold on to me so I could use both arms to swim. Suddenly I felt her let go. She bolted like a frightened animal, driven by her instincts, swimming directly upward. I saw the net, but she didn’t. She was caught in it — a new net — a plastic one, one that wouldn’t tear.
Nora clawed at it, pulling it around her even more, getting hopelessly tangled inside. I tried to pull it off her. She writhed, desperate for air. My own lungs ached, my body began to cramp.
I felt the net twisting, being wrenched away from me, and I lost my grip on her. I spun in the water till I was sick and didn’t know which way was up.
Then suddenly there was clear light around me. The air was cold against my face, and I opened my mouth and drank it down. Strong arms held my head just above the water. I gulped and coughed, bringing up river water and a bitter fluid from my stomach.
“Easy. Easy now.”
It was Nick’s voice. Nick’s arms. He turned me on my back and swam with me, pulling me to the bank. I heard Rocky barking. Sirens wailed, were getting louder, coming closer.
I tried to speak. Nora, I wanted to tell him, get Nora!
I felt other hands take me from Nick. I reached back, but they carried me away from him and the water.
“Two hundred feet!” a woman shouted. “Get her away.
Go!”
I was finally laid down in the grass. I tried to sit up.
Everything slid past me, out of focus, the world running with water, smelling of river and fire. “Nora! Find Nora!”
Someone crouched next to me. An arm wrapped around my back, supporting me. “She’s safe,” Nick said. “She’s just a few feet away.”
I reached out, trying to touch Nora, wanting to make certain she was there.
Nick caught my fingers. “The police are taking care of her,” he assured me. “Paramedics are on the way.”
I leaned back against him and rested my cheek on his shoulder. I could feel the river water dripping off him.
“Thank you,” I whispered. When I looked up, I saw he was crying.
I asked to speak with the sheriff privately. I had left Nora sitting up, fully alert, and very frightened. It had taken the effort of both Nick and me to loosen her grip on my hand and wrap it around his. Aunt Jule was talking to the medics.