Chapter Six

Rapid swirl

Sam knew what they had to do. Even if Herrison insisted they left right away, they couldn't inflate the rafts and set off now. It was late afternoon, so they'd have to walk to the river, set camp and take care of the sailing business the next morning.

"Hey Sam, should I leave William tied up, or should I release him?" Kyle asked.

"Kyle, how can you even ask something like that? Untie the man," Jerry said outraged.

"What if he runs away and gets lost?" Kyle asked

"I think we should free him," Jimmy said coming towards them followed by Rogers. "At least until we set up camp and go to bed. We'll tie him up for the night."

"Yeah, good idea!" Sam said pleased. "Mr. Rogers can keep an eye on him while he's free."

Mr. Rogers frowned, obviously not a big fan of Sam's idea. "Call me Jim," was all he said.

"O-kay," Sam answered picking up his rucksack. He struggled to put it on and almost fell on his back. It felt heavier if anything. "What did you pack in this thing, Jerry?"

"Basic stuff we had in the jungle and some things Herrison sent over. He's also added more stuff to our luggage before we departed," Jerry answered, struggling to equip his own huge rucksack.

"Will you stop moaning?" Kyle asked raising his rucksack with extreme ease and putting it on his back. "They're not that heavy."

"Oh, well, excuse me, Mister Super-strength," Tom mumbled, trying to regain his balance after burdening himself with Herrison's latest addition to their luggage.

"Strangely, I don't find my rucksack extremely heavy either," Jimmy said, running circles around Sam, already equipped.

"Well, you're strange then." Sam stuck his foot out.

Jimmy tripped and landed on his front, almost getting squished under his own weight. Sam bit his lip, looking at his brother apologetically. He'd been sure Jimmy would jump over his foot. Fortunately, Jimmy got on his hands and knees and laughed along with Tom and Billy.

Sam expected Kyle to laugh along too, but his brother stared at Jimmy with a slight frown on his face, as if he felt something was wrong. His look of concentration was broken when William raced past him and pushed him to the ground.

Kyle got to his hands and knees, swearing under his breath and for a moment, Sam thought he'd smack William, but instead he started searching inside his rucksack.

"Hey, look what I have here," he said causing William to stop running and look back at him. "It's a yummy chocolate bar," Kyle continued as though talking to himself. "Oh, this must taste great, and I am a little hungry. But who to share it with? Oh, William, would you like a taste out of this chocolate bar?"

Kyle didn't get to finish the sentence because William rushed to him and started jumping up and down with joy.

"Should I tie him up now?" Kyle asked holding the candy bar out of William's reach.

Sam fought a giggle directed more at Kyle for his childish idea than at William for falling for it. "I say you try reasoning with him over it. It would be hard to drag him around."

"Yeah, good point," Kyle agreed, throwing the candy bar to William who shoved it in his mouth and kept it in his cheeks like an overgrown, rugged chipmunk. "If you follow me, I'll give you another one," he said, heading towards the river.

Sam signaled to the others to follow and started off after Kyle wondering how he'd gotten the idea. True, he'd already spent three chocolate bars on William, but the minutes between them were longer. It reminded Sam about a documentary he'd seen on gaining a dog's trust to teach him tricks. Kyle had the right attitude for it.

Jerry however seemed profoundly displeased with Kyle's idea, obviously considering it an insult to William's state. Sam had to agree with Jerry too, but keeping him under control was much more important.

Sam threw a glance at Jim Rogers, but he walked on, stony faced and stoic as though being thrown into a secret agency mission was a usual thing for a geologist. Sam wondered what his deal was, but the scowl on Jim's face didn't invite conversation so he shrugged it off and walked on.

However, mapless and with nothing to plot but their departure the following morning, Sam found himself bored already, which was really weird. He'd never gotten bored during their last mission. He fleetingly wondered what Snitch Gravel was doing at that particular moment.

"Hey Sam, I think we're getting close," Billy said coming next to him.

"What makes you say that?" Sam asked, snapping out of his thoughts.

"Well, Kyle is trying to fish William out of the river." Billy chuckled and ran towards Kyle who was indeed holding out an oar to try and prevent William from going downstream.

"What, already? No!" Sam said outraged, following Billy towards Kyle who'd managed to recover William with a well-placed oar swing. "I think it's time to tie him up."

"Yes, I agree with you this time," Jerry said disturbed watching Kyle chase William around.

"I think we'll be having some difficulties with this guy." Tom grabbed another oar and floored William with it. "Maybe we shouldn't set up our tents. We're leaving next morning anyway, so we could just take out our sleeping bags and spend the night under the starry sky."

"It gets cold in the desert," Jerry pointed out.

Tom huffed. "Yeah, like a thin piece of canvas will make much difference. Besides, we'll be able to move out faster tomorrow."

"That's a pretty decent idea," Sam agreed dropping his rucksack on the ground.

"What, we're going to sleep already?" Kyle asked tying William up carefully.

"We should get as much rest as possible while we still can," Jerry mumbled, throwing things out of his rucksack. "We should take some time to rearrange the luggage, Sam."

"We will, tomorrow evening when we get to the corner of the canyon. We'll rearrange anything you want then," Sam said kindly, trying hard not to laugh as Kyle had just mouthed 'crazy cat lady' with a look of supreme disgust on his face.

"Perfect then," Jerry said joyfully, pulling out his sleeping bag. "What do we do now?"

"How about die?" a rough voice asked from behind them.

Sam whipped around. Van Crooken stood to their right, on the river's edge, six men behind him, cracking their knuckles. The sight of him was strangely comforting, as if the murderous suit-clad man was an old friend Sam hadn't seen in a while.

"I've missed this asshole," Kyle said, coming next to Sam carrying three rucksacks.

Jimmy Tom and Billy lined up with Sam, their knees bent and fists raised. Von Crooked sneered and three of his men took out rifles. Sam noticed they stood closest to the river.

"Isn't that cute?" Von Crooken said lazily. "You think you can­­—"

Kyle spun on the spot and hurled the bundle of luggage at the armed men, knocking them into the river. The rucksacks skidded and stopped right on the edge. Jimmy immediately charged at the remaining three men who had already turned to make a run for it, while Sam and Tom both tackled Von Crooken to the ground.

Sam tightened his knees around the man's thighs, already thinking how best to use him against Snitch Gravel, but his thoughts came to a screeching halt. Tom punched Von Crooken full in the face, breaking his nose.

Sam stared at Tom and almost flinched at the savage look on his twin's face. Could that expression appear on his own face? Tom noticed him staring and scowled back. With a huge jolt, Sam was knocked over as Von Crooken rolled over away from them and scrambled into the river for dear life.

"What'd you do that for?" Sam asked sitting up, his eyes following the dark dot floating downstream.

"Do what?" Tom asked frowning.

"Punch him. It's not like he posed any threat, lying on the ground with the two of us on top of him. It was two against one."

"No it wasn't. It's not like you were doing anything," Tom snarled. Sam flinched and Tom rubbed the bridge of his nose and took in a deep breath before saying, "I'm sorry Sam, but it's harder for me to forget what they've done to us."

"I know." Heat shot to Sam's cheeks. He now felt embarrassed by his hesitation. Von Crooken would've killed them without hesitation. "It just felt weird to hit him. It was like hitting Snitch Gravel."

"Yeah, like you could land a finger on Snitch Gravel, let alone squash him under your weight," Jimmy pointed out.

"What I find weird is that Von Crooken came here with six men. Six!" Billy threw his hands in the air. "And not all of them armed. That should teach him a lesson."

"What I find weird is that he found us so fast," Tom said glaring at the dark sky. "We've been here like what? Ten minutes?"

"And there goes our element of surprise," Sam mumbled banging his fist against the ground. Pain shot into his hand. He'd hit a small cactus.

"He knew we were coming anyway," Jerry said laying out his sleeping bag as though nothing had happened earlier. "He must've had sentinels placed around the canyon, waiting for us." He admired his sleeping bag. "What do you think the chances are that he'd drown?"

"With our luck, none," Sam said staring at the river. He could no longer see any of the men, but he was sure they'd gotten away. At least they had a water source.

*

Jerry stared into the distance. "That's weird. Where did they go?"

Jimmy crossed his arms under his head and looked at the starry sky. The camp fire sent whips of cinder in the air. "They're around."

Jerry shrugged and sat down. "I still think it's weird. Kyle usually takes you along for the ride, not Sam and Tom. And especially not Billy."

"Come on, Jerry? Are you that oblivious? They're obviously planning something for our birthday." Jimmy reached over and nudged Jerry's shoulder.

"You're right." Jerry brought his hands to his mouth in a gesture that would have surely had Kyle rolling. "I can't believe I almost forgot my own birthday." He looked at Jimmy and a fond smile spread across his feature. "Our birthday. We both turn nineteen tomorrow."

Jimmy frowned. "After tomorrow, you mean."

"No, tomorrow," Jerry disagreed.

"It's after tomorrow, Jerry," Jimmy shot back.

"No, it's not. Do you think I don't know my own birthday?"

Jimmy bit back his answer. Jerry probably had the date wrong. "Tomorrow is July 22nd. We're born on the 23rd."

"I'm born on the 22nd." Jerry protested but stopped.

Jimmy stared back.

"What?" they both asked at the same time.

"What?" they suddenly heard Sam and Tom ask at the same time from the darkness.

"Well, apparently we're not the only ones who spotted a problem here," Jimmy said turning back to Jerry. A surge of disappointment ran through him and he wasn't sure why. It was just a stupid date. Who cared if he was born a day earlier, if he'd celebrated his birthday on the wrong day for eighteen years? It's not like he'd ever had the chance to celebrate properly. "I could be wrong. I didn't really have a reliable source, so it must be the 22nd." He tried to smile, but he was sure it came out as a grimace.

"We should ask mom when we get home," Jerry said quietly.

"Yeah, sure. Only she might not know. She didn't even know she had me until recently," Jimmy mumbled and turned away, trying to fight the sense of loss. He glanced in the distance and spotted Jim Rogers staring intently at him. He held Jimmy's gaze for a few more seconds and scowled and turned away into the night.