Chapter 21 #2
Travis chuckled. “I don’t know, seems you’ve got a rather squirmy eel.”
“It’s me, Daddy!” Wren said.
“Oh, in that case, you’ve got a deal.” The men made the trade. “I’ve always loved a challenge.” Travis tossed Wren over his shoulder. Her squeal was far sharper when he swatted her ass than the whistle he’d heard earlier had been.
David was aware of the others as Littles were discovered hiding among the reeds that grew close to the bank across the river.
His smile at the shouts and laughter as fish were caught and often exchanged, slowly dimmed.
He was glad Travis had proven correct in that it was a prank, but the uneasy feeling he’d mentioned hadn’t dissipated.
In fact, it had flared into concern which only grew with each Little found because his otter was still missing.
Aware of someone beside him, he turned and fought not to look disappointed when he discovered Tula was not draped over her uncle’s shoulder.
Moses shook his head. He hadn’t had any luck either.
Within minutes, the others became aware that one of their own was missing.
All squeals and giggles stopped as they began calling Tula’s name.
“We were all right here, Master David,” Sadie said. “She has to be close.”
“We’ll find her,” Derek said.
“Do you think the current carried her downstream?” Jayne asked, speaking and signing at the same time.
When Moses looked downriver, David said, “I don’t know, something’s telling me no. But—”
“It won’t hurt to check,” Derek said. “Half of us will look downstream. The rest of you keep looking in this area and upstream.”
“Maybe she lost her straw,” Eloise said, her bottom lip trembling. “We were using them like reeds but she showed us how we can also make a reed into an emergency whistle by notching one end and blowing across it. Tula was going to use her straws to whistle so you’d know we were in the river.”
“The whistling we heard”—Travis looked at David—“I thought it was a bird, but you thought it sounded strange, remember?”
“Yes, and it also cut off mid-note. That usually only happens when an animal becomes another’s prey.”
A sharp cry had Blake reaching out to hug Elise. “Eloise is probably right and Tula just dropped it when she whistled. But we all had two, remember?”
“That’s right!” Payne said. “Tula made us take two in case we needed an extra.”
“Then where is she?” Elise cried.
“I-I don’t know,” Payne said, looking to David.
“She’s here,” David said. “All we have to do is look and listen. Even if she dropped the whistle, she might be making some noise to guide us.” Leaving the others to continue the search, he took a moment to look closer.
He lowered himself into the water to swim rather than continue to walk.
All their activities had churned up silt and bent some of the reeds, making it impossible to see beneath the surface, but everything in him was saying she was close.
The bed of reeds was far denser than it had looked from the opposite bank and following it, he discovered it was broken by a tree that had lost its hold on the earth.
Half of it lay on the bank, its dried roots and split trunk testament to the fact it had been felled by lightning.
The fact reeds had grown up among some of its branches told him the storm had occurred long ago.
“Talk to me, otter,” he said softly.
He saw nothing on this side of the tree.
Climbing over the tree would require he exit the water which would disturb things even more.
Swimming around would take longer than swimming beneath it to check the other side.
Taking a deep breath, he did a surface dive and disappeared from view.
Visibility was hampered by the amount of reeds and algae growing along the bank.
Instead of depending on his eyes, David used his hands, parting the growth and feeling along the tree’s submerged branches.
He resurfaced, took another breath and dove again.
On his next breath, he took the time to mutter, “Babygirl, Daddy needs you to tell him where to find you.”
He dove a third time, pulling himself along the tree and his heart stopped when his hand encountered waving strands.
Not the slightly rough texture or tubular shape of the plants and reeds.
These were soft and had the fluidity of silk.
Even in the murkiness of the river, the color stood out as if a bottle of India ink had been spilled to stain the water.
To stain it the same color as his otter’s hair.
He’d found her, but still couldn’t see her.
It made no sense. Not until he felt something touch his hand.
If he’d not been underwater, he would have shouted with joy as fingers tapped against his skin.
Still, it took him a moment to realize she wasn’t trying to hold his hand, she was doing exactly what he’d asked. She was signing.
When her fingers stopped moving, he took a moment to flip his hand over to better turn hers so that he could sign against her palm.
He made a single gesture. Making a fist, he stroked it against her hand as if he were nodding his head to let her know, yes, he understood.
He’d rather die than leave her but he needed to breathe and would have to approach from the opposite side of the tree.
Squeezing her fingers, he lifted her hand to his cheek and kissed her palm. It almost killed him to release her hand but knew he had to if he wanted to hold the rest of her and he wanted that more than anything in the world.
He found a new strength as he surfaced. No longer concerned with stirring up the water, he pushed through the reeds and pulled himself up onto the bank. He scrambled over the tree and was taking another breath in preparation of diving when he heard his name. Looking across the river, he saw Jayne.
“She’s here!” David yelled. “She’s here!”
He didn’t wait to hear her response. The only voice he needed to hear was waiting for him to come for her.
Slipping into the water, he approached the tree from the opposite side and saw that the split caused by the lightning ran along the entire length of the trunk.
He felt his way along until his legs brushed against the roots of plants.
When he began to shove them aside, he jerked back as something touched him.
Not a fish, but a man. David pointed upward and when they both surfaced, he quickly explained the situation.
“She’s okay, but she can’t move. Her foot is stuck, but, thank god, she can breathe.
We just need to untangle her from the roots.
” Though pretty sure he’d messed up more than one of the words, he knew Moses had understood.
When he signed back that he’d pull from his side while David followed them down to find what had trapped Tula’s foot, David nodded.
Taking a deep breath, the men slid beneath the water again.
His lungs were burning but there was no way he was going to release his hold.
His fingers had just wrapped around Tula’s ankle but it was still not free.
He hated to tug hard as he knew it would hurt her or possibly scare her into dropping the only thing that was keeping her alive.
Suddenly a large hand slid beneath his and within a few seconds, instead of being taut, her foot was slack.
Moses had snapped one of the forks in the branch of the tree where Tula had inadvertently stepped, trapping her foot.
When her ankle slid from his hold, David made a grab for it but discovered he didn’t need to as Tula was suddenly in front of him.
Wrapping his arm around her, they surfaced together.
By the time Moses’ head broke the surface, David couldn’t breathe, but again, he didn’t care.
He didn’t need oxygen, he needed to kiss his otter.
Needed to assure himself that he wasn’t dreaming.
That she was indeed in his arms, that her lips were on his as he thanked the universe that she was okay.
When he looked up, he saw Moses smile and nod before he signed, “Your hearts are one.” Before David could respond, Moses turned and disappeared into the water again.