as coaches, both agreed they felt a little cheated—they’d worked so hard alongside Amy that they felt personally vested in this new family, and now they had nothing to show for it.
“I just wanted to hold him a little more,” said Jill wistfully. “He was so tiny!”
“I thought he was dead,” Peter declared. “Are all babies that gray?”
Then, of course, there was the matter of the dog. Sam and Matthew refused to give up hope that he would come loping over the rocks, tail wagging, panting, in a scene straight out of a Disney movie. They were certain he’d survived the swim, and no one really wanted to convince them otherwise.
“They shouldn’t get their hopes up, though,” JT told Mark. “I think he would have shown up by now if he came ashore in this area. My guess—my hope—is that he got carried farther downstream. He had his life jacket on good and tight. With some luck, we’ll find him downstream tomorrow.”
The fact that he hadn’t seen the dog go overboard disturbed JT greatly. As an experienced guide, he prided himself on knowing where each and every member of his party was at all times—especially when they were on the water itself. But he’d been so focused on Amy going overboard and then getting his boat safely through Lava, that he hadn’t even noticed the dog was gone until they’d pulled onto shore.
“What are the chances?” Jill asked. “Be honest.”
“I don’t know,” he said.
Jill nodded somberly. “I just want to be prepared,” she said. “I just want to know what we might be dealing with if he doesn’t show up. The boys haven’t had anyone or anything die on them before, and I want to be able to say the right thing.”
Mark drew her close. “We don’t need to cross that bridge.”
Everyone just felt so off. Mitchell and Lena quarreled publicly over who had lost the eco-shampoo, and Ruth and Lloyd retired to their tent for a nap that went on for so long that JT eventually went and rustled the front flap. Oh dear god, he thought, then realized he couldn’t finish the thought. Fortunately, Ruth peeked out and groggily confessed that it was the margaritas, and JT, who usually didn’t let himself worry too much about his guests’ alcohol consumption, felt like scolding them as though they were Sam and Matthew. You’re on medications! You’re old and thin and fragile! What were you thinking?
For dinner there was Thai food, and Abo got a little slapdash with the recipe and added a big dollop of peanut butter to the green beans, which caused Lena’s throat to start itching. JT was angry at Abo, not just for being careless, but because now he had to figure out whether they should give Lena the EpiPen; she was over there coughing, and the Benadryl didn’t seem to be working, and Mitchell was going to blow, just blow; but then Mitchell came walking up, the light from his headlamp jittering in the dark.
“I gave her the EpiPen,” he told them. “She threw up, and she’s breathing better. She says her throat doesn’t hurt anymore. I’ll stay up with her tonight,” he told JT. “She’ll be fine.”
“I’m really sorry this happened,” Abo said.
Mitchell shrugged. “We all make mistakes. I’ve certainly made my share.”
JT was so surprised to hear this that he couldn’t come up with a gracious response.
“I gotta say,” Mitchell went on, “I was so impressed this afternoon, watching you guys deal with Amy and all.”
“We just called for help,” said JT. “The paramedics did everything else.”
“But the real hero is Amy, isn’t she?” Mitchell said. “I have to hand it to the girl. She really rose to the occasion. Not that she had a choice. But what a trooper. Seventeen years old. I just hope it doesn’t get in the way of her college plans.”
“Are you going to put this in your book, Mitchell?” Dixie asked.
“No,” said Mitchell. “Nobody would believe it. Well, I’m going to go sit with Lena. But I really think she’s going to be okay.”
JT watched Mitchell walk off into the darkness. He thought to himself that if they’d given out awards that night, Mitchell certainly would have earned the award for Most Changed Passenger. Because to go from someone who refused to follow directions and insisted on scaring the shit out of everyone and threatened to sue the guides when things didn’t go his way—to go from that to someone who could lift the iron chains off