Life Raft

I quickly lathered up with sunscreen, then began to work the little pump. I hadn't been at it for more than a minute or two when I noticed that the girls were having their own troubles. There were four ratchet straps holding their tubes to the roof rack of the Suburban. Jessica was the only one tall enough to reach, but she didn't seem to know how they worked. I walked over to help.

Jessica was really tall, like maybe six foot two or three and had straight black hair in a ponytail down to the middle of her back. She towered over her friends.

"My boyfriend loaded the tubes last night," Randi explained. "None of us have ever used this kind of strap, though."

Having grown up on a farm, I'd been using ratchet straps from the time of my weaning, so I walked up next to Jessica. It was a novel experience, standing nearly eye-to-eye with a girl, and I kind of liked that.

"May I show you?" I asked, hoping that I wasn't coming off as the swaggering hero type.

"Please. I'm usually better than this with gadgets," she said with a chagrined smile from under a huge straw coolie hat. Despite having relatively dark skin, she was clearly taking the sun protection thing very seriously.

I showed her how to squeeze the little slide to release the handle, then how to move the handle straight out to release the ratchet.

"Got it," she said.

"I'll get the two on the other side," I said.

By the time I'd released the ratchets on the driver's side, she'd released the other one on the passenger side. Each of us lifted a tube off the roof.

"Our hero," Trish said, but I didn't miss the edge of sarcasm in her tone. I handed my two straps to Jessica who tossed them in the back with hers.

"Thanks, Sean," she said.

"My pleasure."

It looked like the girls had everything else unloaded, so I turned to walk over to my raft.

"Hang on a second," Jessica said softly to me. She turned to the other girls. "Maybe Sean could go with us," she suggested. "We're not going to be ready for a while, anyway."

"Jessica," Randi said, sounding a bit exasperated, "this is a girls-day-out trip, remember?"

"Yeah. Sorry." Jessica turned and gave me an apologetic look.

"That's okay," I said. "I wouldn't want to intrude." I went back to my raft and resumed pumping.

When the girls got done unloading, Randi walked up to me. "I can still give you a ride back to the landing area if you don't want to blow up your raft. It would serve your friend right if he had to find his own way back to town."

I thought about it for a moment. "No thanks," I sighed, "I just can't see myself doing that to him."

"Seriously? After the way he just screwed you over?"

Randi was right of course and Alex had it coming in a big way, but the very thought of him yelling at me later for leaving him was really unpleasant.

"Yeah, I'll just inflate the raft and see if I can catch up with him."

"Well, okay, if you're sure." Her expression said that she thought I was pathetic. I couldn't help but think that she was right.

"I'll be back in a few," Randi said to her friends, hopping into the Suburban and rolling away.

I went back to inflating the raft, but kept watching the three remaining girls out of the corner of my eye. "Kim and I will take two tubes each," Trish said. "You grab the last tube and the cooler, Jessica."

The two grabbed canvas ditty bags, then slung a tube over each shoulder. They headed down the wide gravel path to the water. Jessica bent down to pick up the cooler.

It was tall and round and looked like it would ride perfectly in the middle of their fifth tube, but to have enough drinks and ice for four girls, it would have to be heavy. Jessica was able to pick it up, though. She headed for the river, a hundred yards distant.

She made it about a quarter of the way, then set it down heavily. Her body language said that she wasn't sure she was going to make it. Kim and Trish were still walking away and didn't see her.

I was on my feet immediately, ashamed that I hadn't offered to help right off the bat. Four years of college feminism had taken a heavy toll on the common courtesy I'd been brought up with. Trish's sarcastic comment when I'd helped with the straps would have been typical on campus.

"Mind if I give you a hand with that, Jessica?" I said, almost hesitantly, as I walked up.

She looked at me gratefully. "Yeah, I'd really appreciate that."

I bent to pick it up, but she stopped me. "I don't think it's designed to be carried by a single person," she said.

"Oh, okay," I said. I grabbed one handle and she grabbed the other and we lifted it between us.

I immediately realized that Jessica was a whole lot stronger than she looked. "Gee, I hope you guys have enough in here to avoid getting thirsty on the way down," I said, almost grunting.

"Yeah, I think we may have overdone it a bit," she said.

We carried it straight to the river, then walked back up the path so that she could snag her tube and bag.

"I really appreciate your help, Sean," she said, picking up her tube.

"Don't mention it."

I was maybe a third of the way into the inflation job when a car dropped Randi off. The highway was right next to the parking lot and she walked by maybe thirty seconds later.

"You guys have fun," I offered. "Maybe I'll see you on the way down."

She stopped and looked at me. "How long is it going to take you to get your raft blown up?" Her tone said she hoped it would be a long time.

"Uh, probably at least another half-hour."

She nodded, then turned abruptly and walked down to the river. They pushed off, but I caught Jessica looking back at me. I waved at her and she waved back, though surreptitiously, like she didn't want the others to see her do it.

I realized with a pang that I really hated seeing her go. She wasn't the prettiest girl I'd ever met -- hell, she wasn't even close to being among the top three prettiest girls I'd seen in the last thirty seconds -- but there was something about her that I really liked. And, of course, I wasn't exactly Brad Pitt myself.

I returned to inflating the raft with renewed vigor. I worked the little pump until my hands started to cramp up, but kept right on going. I was soon sweating like crazy and already on my second bottle of rapidly warming water. I pulled off my T-shirt and floppy beach hat, sitting them on the recycling bin behind me and quickly smearing on more sunscreen. I had a reasonable tan for someone so light skinned, but if I was going to be out in the sun all day, I needed to take full precautions.

The raft was maybe two-thirds inflated when a warden pulled up next to the gate in his dull green pickup. He got out and walked toward me. I got to my feet to meet him.

"Son, you can't launch after one o'clock," he said to me, pointing at a large sign next to the gate, listing all of the park rules. With everything else going on, I hadn't read it. My divers watch said it was twelve fifty-seven. I wouldn't be ready in time.

"Sir, the rest of my party is already on the river. I need to catch up." That was kind of true, in a way.

"Sorry, but the rule's the rule. Why don't you deflate your raft and throw it in my truck. I'll give you a lift to the landing area where you can wait for them." He started walking back to his vehicle.

I decided that it would have been nice if he'd stopped me before I'd put so much effort into the task, but I reached down for the deflation valve. I was just starting to work it loose when he called out to me.

"Hey, hang on just a second there." He was walking back over. "Look, would you, um, be willing to do me a favor if I let you go down the river after all?"

"Absolutely I would." Maybe the rule wasn't the rule after all.

"Well, see, you look to be a bit older and more mature than a lot of the folks here and I'm in a bit of a situation. I like to run the Jet Ski up and back in the evening to make sure no one is stranded on the river, but I tweaked my back pretty good this morning. I won't be able to get to my chiropractor until tomorrow and running the sweep tonight in my condition just isn't possible."

I nodded in sympathy.

"Here's the deal," he continued. "If you can make sure you're the last one on the river when you get out, I'll sleep better tonight."

"I'd be happy to do that for you, sir."

"Very good. Now here's my card. I'll need to hear from you before seven so I can report that the river's clear. Not that the weenies at headquarters would do anything themselves if I told them I didn't know."

"You can count on me, and I really appreciate this."

"Likewise. I'm going to go ahead and lock the gate behind you, but I'll swing by in a bit to make sure you got onto the river okay."

He shook my hand, then locked me in. Between the tall gate and the five foot barbed wire fence, it was a sure thing that no one else would get in the river behind me. He waved as he drove away.

Ten minutes later, I decided there was enough air in the raft to safely keep me afloat at least. The inflation stem was conveniently located on the top of the raft so I could finish inflating while I was on the river. I carried it down to the water, then made a second trip for the oars and my backpack. I'd beaten the estimate I'd given Randi by half.

I was almost ready to push off when I saw a Zip-loc bag sitting on a small boulder next to the river. I stopped and picked it up, looking its contents over. A smile slowly came over my face.

I used the oars to get myself out into the middle of the current, then resumed pumping. As I went down the river, the steep rock walls of the canyon rose up on both sides until it felt like I was drifting through a stone tunnel. It wasn't the Grand Canyon by any means, but it was still impressive as hell.

There was a stiff breeze coming from downstream and I could tell that it was slowing my progress. Why not? Everything else was delaying me today. I tried to pay it no mind.

My hands felt like they were going to drop from my wrists by the time I finished inflating the raft, but at last it felt really firm. I looked down the river. It made a slight bend to the right and I could just see a group of dark-haired girls, who I assumed to be Randi and company, kicking and paddling out into the center of the river. Within moments, they'd entered the rapids. They hadn't been anywhere in sight two minutes before, so I had to assume they'd stopped for a while. Sure enough, as I came around the bend a little further, I could see the first jump spot, right on the inside of the bend.

There was a small outcropping of rock sticking out from the canyon wall and a good-sized gravel beach just upstream. I could imagine that earlier in the day it would have been swarming with tubers, drinking and cheering the jumpers. The river itself was smooth and slow in this section, meaning that it must be deep. Other than the girls', there wasn't a tube in sight.

Now that the raft was fully inflated, I could concentrate on catching up. Randi had made it plain that I wasn't welcome to float with them, but frankly, it hadn't seemed to me that Jessica was all that welcome with them either. I had a vague hope that she might decide to travel with me instead. I stuck the oars in the locks and began to row downstream.

I was almost to the rapids when I thought I heard a noise over the sound of the rushing water. It was very faint and I almost ignored it, chalking it up to the acoustics of the canyon. Then, almost on a whim, I looked over toward the rock outcropping.

To my shock, there was a bare arm waving from the water, and below it, a female face with dark hair. The lack of a sleeved suit told me that it had to be Randi, Kim or Trish. Whichever it was, without a tube and with rapids downstream, she was in trouble. If I didn't pick her up, she would be stuck there for however long it took me to get to the bottom and get someone to her. How on earth had she been left behind? That had been a near thing. I'd almost missed her.

I spun the raft with the oars and started rowing with a will. I was close enough to the rapids that the water beneath me was running faster, and I quickly realized that I wasn't making any progress upstream. I couldn't row any harder than I was, so unless I figured something out quick, the poor girl was going to be stuck until I could get to the bottom and call the warden.

I knew I wouldn't be able to row flat out for much longer, so in a last ditch effort, I aimed the raft toward the river bank a little, hoping that the water would be slower there. The immediate effect was to start moving me downstream and I nearly gave up, but then I realized that it was working as I got closer to shore. I started making progress little by little and with a last burst of energy, I entered the deep, still pool of water under the outcropping.

Winded, I glanced over my shoulder just long enough to locate the jumper, then rowed over and turned myself to speak to her. The face that looked up at me wasn't one of those I'd been expecting, but it was the very picture of abject misery.

"Jessica," I exclaimed, "are you okay?" I got to my knees in the raft and reached out, ready to pull her up out of the water. Instead of taking my hands, though, she hung her head and sobbed.

"Hey, are you hurt?" She was obviously standing on the bottom, so at least she wasn't about to drown.

She shook her head.

"Hey, you're okay now. Nothing's going to happen to you." She managed a small nod of her head.

I wanted to ask her how it was that she'd been left behind, but there were more pressing issues. "We need to get you aboard. No one else is coming down the river today."

"But Sean," she sniffed, "I'm... well... naked."

"Oh, wow." I really should have expected that. The water had enough silt in it to be mostly opaque, but I could just make out the tops of her bare shoulders. "Well, here, you can wear my..." I was going to pull off my T-shirt and hand it to her, but suddenly remembered that I was already bare-chested.

"Jessica, I stupidly left my shirt back at the launch area. I've got nothing for you to wear."

She managed to stop crying, but I could tell she was still on the ragged edge. "I know I'm going to have to come out of the water, Sean, but I can't grab on to you. When I was climbing the rocks, I slipped and wrapped both of my hands around a really nasty cactus. I can't touch anything."

"I've got tweezers," I said.

She finally looked up at me. "With you?"

"Sure. I never go off into the wilderness without a decently equipped first aid kit. You never know what can happen."

"That's good, but believe it or not, I've got an even bigger issue."

"What's that?"

"I wasn't just wearing that ridiculous suit to cover up what at pathetic body I have. I've got a really bad sun allergy. Even a mild sunburn can give me a truly painful rash and hives that go on for months."

"Well, I brought a big bottle of 50 SPF, but you obviously can't apply it with your hands full of cactus needles. It's going to take me at least an hour to pull them, but I guess you could stay in the water in the meantime if you want."

She shook her head. "The water's too cold. I'm already starting to shiver."

I didn't want to be the one to suggest the obvious solution, but we both knew what it was. I could see her weighing the cost of months of rashes and hives against having to ask me to do something that was apparently going to cost her some major dignity.

"Sean," she said, the tension in her voice thick enough to cut with a knife, "I hate to even ask, but I really don't have a choice. Would you be willing to put the sunblock on me?" I was privately pleased to see that she could put logic before emotion.

"Yeah, I could do that." Well twist my arm, but I figured that making light of her predicament would be almost cruel so I kept a straight face. "Since we're going to do this, I'm thinking it would be a lot easier on land than in the raft."

"Okay," she said hesitantly.

"Look, why don't I beach the raft over there. You can stay in the water until I'm ready for you if you'd like. We don't want you in the sun any more than necessary until you've got some protection."

"Okay."

So I quickly rowed over to the beach and pulled the raft up onto the sand. I quickly glanced around to see if there might be a shady spot, but the sun was almost directly overhead. Then I realized that there was a narrow space between two rocky outcroppings that might be just the perfect distance apart.

I lifted my backpack out and picked up the raft, carrying it to the crevice and wedging it upside down between the rocks above my head. It fit perfectly and provided the only shade in the canyon. I pulled the sunblock out of my backpack.

"Okay, Jessica," I called out. "Ready when you are." Trying to be a gentleman, but really only just delaying the inevitable, I turned my back to her.

I heard the swishing of water as she approached, then a gasp as she came around the corner. "Oh wow. Thank you, Sean. You're saving my life here."

"It was the least I could do. Tell me when you're ready."

I heard her walk up behind me into the shade. "Okay," she said, her voice cracking.

I turned to her. She had her back to me and the edges of her hands were up against the rock wall. I almost gasped.

"Jessica, what's this about your having a 'pathetic body'? You're gorgeous," I blurted.

Jessica was, like me, very long and lean, but she was no stick figure. She had really nice muscle tone, from her rippling calves and thighs, to her strong shoulders and biceps. She'd handled that heavy cooler amazingly well, and now I could see how.

Jessica's neck was long and slender, her back sleekly feminine, and while she had only the slightest curve to her hips, her butt cheeks were beautifully rounded.

She obviously spent no time outdoors in anything but a full cover up, because her skin was uniformly light brown, from head to toe.

"Please don't make fun of me," she pleaded, so low I could barely make it out.

"I'm serious, Jessica."

She didn't say anything, but gave a small shake of her head like my words were beyond the pale. It wasn't something I should probably argue with her about, so I decided to just go ahead and get down to business.

Jessica's long ponytail was in the way so I reached out to take it in my hand. I was intending to move it around to the front, but as soon as I touched it, she flinched. Hard.

"Jessica, I'm..."

But she was dropping to her knees in the sand where she scrunched into a fetal position and covered herself with her hands. Then she began to cry in deep, wracking sobs that nearly broke my heart. Something told me that this was about a whole lot more than getting caught without her suit.

I got down on my knees and reached out to her, thinking I would put a comforting hand on her shoulder. I hesitated, not sure how she would feel about my touching her naked body at this point, but I went ahead and did it anyway. She flinched again, but after a long moment she tipped her head to place her cheek on the back of my hand. We stayed like that for a couple of minutes until she finally got herself stopped with a last sniffle.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Not your fault. Sean, I really need to apologize to you. This wasn't your doing in any way and you didn't ask for any of it. You've been a perfect gentleman to me ever since we met, and here I am, acting like it's the end of the world if you see or touch me, even though I asked you to. The thing is, I've never let a man see me naked and I'm, well, really uncomfortable about that since I'm so ugly."

There it was again. How could she possibly think that? Sure, I'd noted that her face wasn't as cute as her friends, yet she'd been the one I was attracted to. I decided to go out on a limb a little and tell her the truth.