Thank you Terry, careythomas and snow for all your help in editing and improving this chapter. I couldn't have done it without you.
Like almost all of my series, this one will only be understood if you have read the chapters before it. Thank you to my readers for going along this journey with me.
Threading the Needle
Chapter 4
Rikki carefully pushed one of the buckets used to bail out the raft into the water that splashed back and forth in the bottom of the boat. On its side, the bucket began to fill up. When it was a quarter full, she sat it up. She looked around the raft. Indigo was busy explaining a detail about reading the river to Winnie. The Wenatchee was a very different river from the Skykomish. Things that were true last week were no longer relevant and there were new things to consider.
"She is totally distracted," Rikki thought to herself. A little part of her felt bad. While not as cold as last weekend, Eastern Washington still didn't have the hot weather people typically expected. It was still early spring with overcast skies. It was better than Seattle was where it was raining, but still in the mid-40s. When she threw this water on Winnie, it was going to be bracing. "Serves her right," Rikki thought. While guiding earlier, Winnie maneuvered the raft right into a big wave and turned it so that it drenched Rikki. She could still feel the cold water that ran down the front of her wetsuit and pooled in her crotch.
Stealthily, Rikki grasped the bucket and tested the feel. "Just right," she thought. "Not too much so it will fly." She got ready. Just as she turned and started to lift the bucket, a stream of water hit her head and chest. Slightly off balance already from holding the bucket, Rikki fell backwards into the raft pontoon, dropping the bucket. Without her foot in a strap, her momentum kept her going. She slid backwards off the pontoon and into the river. The shock from the cold water made her open her mouth in a big gasp, and she swallowed a mouthful of water.
Popping up in the water, Rikki sputtered and looked around. Almost everyone was laughing, but Liz most of all. She had a bucket of her own in her hand. "I couldn't let you get poor defenseless Winnie, could I?" Liz called to her.
"Goddamn you, Elizabeth!" Rikki shouted. "It's fucking cold!" She turned over on her belly and swam back to her raft. Jasper grabbed her life jacket and hoisted her into the boat. She avoided the indignity of falling into the bottom of the raft. As she regained her spot on the raft, she glared at her best friend. "When you least expect it, I'm getting you back!"
Shaking her head to get some of the water out of it, Rikki heard the rest of her raft snickering. She looked around and glared at them too, except Winnie. Rikki found that she couldn't glare at her intended victim. Winnie's sky blue eyes stared at her with a hint of being hurt at the thought that Rikki wanted to ambush her in the way that Liz just did. As her lip slowly extended into a pout, she became even cuter. For a moment, Rikki almost felt like she should be the one to apologize. Then she shook her head, remembering how it all started.
"Don't try your innocent act on me. You deliberately put me into that wave!" Rikki said. "Just like with Liz, I'll get you!"
Her innocent look turning mischievous, Winnie smiled at Rikki. "Ohhh! And what will you do with me when you get me?" Winnie asked. Her voice was seductive in a way none of them had heard before. Rikki's jaw dropped and she turned red with embarrassment. She couldn't tell if the rest of the raft was laughing more at how Winnie zinged her back or from how red her face got from Winnie's mock flirtation.
Even as she tried to stop blushing, Rikki thought about how far Winnie had come over the last couple of weeks. Her natural shyness was disappearing, replaced with a feeling of comfort and confidence. Two weeks ago, she never would have teased Rikki, especially with a come on. The exposure to a wider world was changing her for the better. Rikki even saw it at work, where Winnie was more likely to express her opinion and then defend it. "I'm glad that she wanted to do this," Rikki thought.
Still, that did not stop Rikki from plotting her revenge. As they made their way down the river, Rikki considered her options. The water levels were low enough that everything happened at a much slower pace than when they were guiding with customers. In any case, Rikki knew the Wenatchee well. Including all of the times as either a guest or a paying customer, this was probably her fifteenth trip down it. The Wenatchee was the most popular river in the state because of the big rolling rapids. About two hours away from Seattle, it was an easy day trip over the mountains to run the river and then head home. Having watched Liz so many times, Rikki already knew how to set up and run every rapid.
At the current levels, it wasn't much of a challenge, even for the trainees like Winnie who had no experience with it. In some instances, Indigo just told them where rapids would appear at higher water. In others, the trick was staying in the channel where there was enough water. Indigo mostly focused on their form and how they read the river. The same was true for Liz and Bear. Those were both things they would need on every river.
As they approached the lunch spot the company used, the clouds began to break up and a patchwork of blue began to appear. The group broke out in cheers. Having a bit of warmth from the sun would make the lunch break more enjoyable. Rikki broke out in a wolfish smile. "So much the better," she thought.
It was a hard pull to get into the eddy by the lunch spot. The water was too low for the big wave above it to appear. During the season, it was a fun wave to hit and get a little wet before pulling off in the baking sun. Today, there was a strong eddy line where slow water pooled behind the rock that would create the wave and the fast current of the river rushed downstream.
It was Rikki's turn to guide and she brought the raft into the eddy without much problem. Lena was guiding Liz's raft and had more difficulty. She didn't have the angle and almost missed it. At the last second, Indigo waded out and grabbed the front of Lena's raft. With that help, Lena managed to make it into shore. Bohdi's run was more like Rikki's, although slightly less pretty. Still, he made it without needing any help.
While Bear opened the dry bag and got out everyone's lunch, Liz talked with Lena. Once again, she had troubles throughout her run. She misread where the channel was and was generally late in setting up. Occasionally Bear looked over at them, as if he wanted to step in on Lena's behalf. Rikki watched the interplay between them. She wished Bear would. The way Liz came down so hard on Lena did not seem to be working. Maybe a lighter approach would be more productive.
