Hellbender (Murder Ballads and Whiskey Book 2) by Jason Jack Miller Read Free Book Online

the straps on my life jacket, and gestured for Alex to do the same. Even though I’d been down this river five hundred times, at least, my heart beat a little faster right about here on every single trip.
    “This is Dimple.” I pointed at the big rock sleeping in the shade on a submerged ledge just downstream and to the left. Sunlight rarely fell onto the rock. It was cool and dark all day long. “Some of the river washes around and some goes beneath it. This is the big one today. It is undercut and dangerous. Basically, there’s a room beneath the rock. A boat flips and you have to start counting heads to make sure they all pop up. This is the real thing, right here. Ropes, radios… No slacking or somebody’s going to get hurt. Just don’t stop paddling until I say, okay? But when I say stop you have to stop. That’s about it. Easy, right?”
    I dropped my paddle into the current, jammed my foot beneath the cross tube and leaned out over the river to pull the raft into position. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of Duff pulling into the current behind me.
    As he passed, he said, “Just follow the bubbles, right?”
    Alex looked at me for some sort of affirmation.
    I said, “Should’ve waited until we were past the rock to tell you about the undercut and all that, huh? Let’s go easy forward.”
    She tensed up, holding her paddle like it was a battle axe. Like she was fighting zombies. Upstream, Smurf began his talk-up.
    “Relax, it’s all good. Give me a few strokes easy forward, okay? Three strokes easy.”
    The boat gained speed as the river narrowed. I leaned on the paddle, ruddering to point the nose of the raft toward Pinball, the big rock just upstream of Dimple. Hitting Pinball wasn’t a great idea either.
    “You’re going to stop now. Just stop.”
    I kept talking mostly just to hear myself. The whoosh of the pillow got louder. “Threading the needle, Alex. Nice and easy forward now.”
    Pinball got close fast, and she tensed up.
    “We’re fine. This is where I want to be. I need you to keep it nice and easy forward. Three more,” I said, nearly yelling.
    She started to lean toward me.
    “Two more then we’re going to dig it in.” I back-paddled to keep our angle, then gave a few quick forward strokes again.
    “One more, then…” I held my paddle just above the water.
    The front of the boat drifted right past Pinball and I hollered, “Go! Go! Go!” Dimple got huge—seemed to double in size as we hit the big aerated pillow of whitewater that formed in front of the rock. I reached into the river and took two big J-strokes. The back of the raft was so close to Dimple I could’ve reached over and smacked the rock with my paddle.
    I started back-paddling and, catching my breath, I said, “Easy, right?” She smiled and her shoulders dropped.
    I said, “Not yet, I need you to back-paddle. I have to go up on the rock and give hand signals. Getting the rest of the trip through is the tough part.”
    We hit the rocky shoreline, and after a quick scan for snakes, I pulled the boat onto the rocks. I handed Alex the bull rope and a throw bag. I said, “Give these to Isaiah and just hang out for a bit.”
    She shrugged, mostly because I hadn’t given her any other option. “Sure thing.”
    I took a few steps upstream before realizing this was kind of a ‘moment in the spotlight’ for me, so I said, “Or, you can come up and watch me?”
    I stuffed the throw bag into my life jacket and led Alex up the rocky shore to a ledge where she could sit. She put on her sunglasses and clasped her hands over her knees. She looked tiny sitting in all that rhododendron at the base of the cliff.
    As I climbed onto Dimple Rock, Smurf paddled into the current. I got situated as he eddied out behind Pinball. While I sat on Dimple, I ran my fingers over the cool sandstone. One of my first lessons as a guide came at this very spot. After flipping here trip after trip—with guests, with lunches, in