"Let's wait till morning," Karen suggested. "Even if you find them, the sleeping bags'll be soaking."
"Most of the food should be okay," Nick said. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm starved."
"Nick, you'll freeze."
"We've got a good fire." They followed him to the place where they'd left the packs. "If she threw them in, she probably took them straight over from here." He sat on the ground, put down the hatchet, and started to untie his boots.
Julie sat down beside him. "If you're going in, so am I."
"There's no point in both of us getting wet."
"I don't care."
"Julie." His voice was firm. "I mean it. You wait here."
She looked at him. Her mouth opened. Then it shut. Her shoulders slumped a bit. "Okay," she muttered. "If you don't want me to."
With his boots and socks off, he stood up and took off his flannel shirt. He lowered his jeans and stepped out of them. He left his jockey shorts on, and walked stiffly to the edge of the lake. He rubbed his arms. "Well," he said, "here goes." He charged forward, feet slapping into the water, splashing it high until he was knee-deep. Then he dived, hitting the surface flat out. Karen and Julie kept flashlights on him as he slid along silently below the waves. After a few seconds, he came up. He swung around, and wiped water off his face.
"You standing up?" Julie asked.
"Yeah." The waves reached his chest.
"How is it?"
He answered with a groan of pain. Then he started walking.
Julie's light stayed on him. Karen aimed hers at the water just ahead of him. They walked slowly along the shore, keeping to his pace.
He stopped. His shoulders wobbled slightly. "What do you know!" he said. Then he ducked below the surface. His back was visible for a moment, pale in the flashlight beams, rippling and quivering. Then it sank out of sight. Benny stared at the murky water. He counted silently to ten, and then Nick burst to the surface holding a gray bundle in front of him. He raised it from the water. It was Karen's pack. "They're all right here," he said.
"Fantastic," Julie called.
He lifted the pack overhead, and took a step forward, and just behind him the water seemed to explode. His eyes bulged. His mouth sprang open. The pack fell from his hands. It pounded down on his head, driving him under the surface.
The flashlights clattered to the rocks. Karen and Julie, side by side, dashed into the lake. One flashlight was out. Benny snatched up the other. He saw Karen dive. She swam out fast, vanished under the surface, and came up pulling Nick by his arm. Julie splashed to his other side, grabbed his other arm. Nick's head came out of the water. They pulled him along between them. He was conscious. He was choking. When they reached shallow water, Benny saw that his legs were working.
"What happened?" Benny asked.
Nobody answered. Supporting Nick, the two women walked him onto dry land and lowered him to his knees. They eased him down flat.
The shiny red handle of a pocketknife jutted from his back.
Chapter Forty
"Oh, my God," Julie muttered. "Oh, my God." She tugged the knife. Nick went rigid and cried out, but the blade, embedded a few inches below his right shoulder, wouldn't come out. She pulled harder. The handle slipped from her wet grip.
"I'll try," Karen said.
"It must be in the bone," Julie said. "It's awfully deep."
"Keep an eye on the lake, Benny." Karen rubbed her right hand on her sweatshirt and clutched the knife. She pressed her left hand against Nick's bloody back.
"Aaaah!" He shuddered and dug his fingers into the earth as she yanked on the knife. She worked it back and forth and jerked it free. Nick's muscles unclenched. He lowered his face to the ground. He was gasping and sobbing.
"Let's get over to the fire," Karen said.
He pushed himself to his hands and knees. Julie and Karen, gripping his arms, lifted him. He staggered between them as if his legs were too weak to support his weight.
When they reached the fire, they sat him down on a stump with his back to the blaze. Julie plucked at the knot of the wet bandanna around her neck. She loosened it, took off the kerchief, and squeezed out the water. Gently, she patted the wound. The gash was less than an inch in length. It bled freely, but the blood wasn't pumping out.
Karen said, "It doesn't look too bad."
"It doesn't feel too good," Nick said. His voice sounded tight and shaky.
Julie folded the bandanna into a thick pad and pressed it firmly against the wound. Nick flinched.
"I'll get his clothes," Karen said. She hurried away. Benny went with her.
Holding the pad in place, Julie leaned close to him. She pressed her face against his wet hair, kissed the top of his head. Her free hand reached down and rubbed his chest. He was trembling badly.
"I guess I lucked out," he said.
"Real luck," Julie muttered.
"She couldn't get the knife out. She blew it."
"Sure."
"This time," he added.
Karen returned, holding Nick's clothes bundled in her arms. Benny had the hatchet.
"You did luck out," Julie said. "You've got dry clothes."
"We've gotta rig something to keep the bandage tight," Karen said. "Won't be easy. It's in a bad place." She tugged Nick's belt from its loops. "You'll have to keep your arm down." She wrapped the belt around his upper back. Julie pressed it to the bandanna while Karen slipped one end under his left armpit. She pulled the other end over his right arm just below his shoulder, and buckled it tightly at his chest. "How's that?"
"It's okay if I don't lift my arm."
"Don't lift your arm."
"Okay. Unless I have to."
"I'll get him dressed," Julie said.
"Fine." Karen and Benny stepped away.
Karen sat on a rock so close to the fire that steam curled off the wet legs of her jeans. The heat felt very good, but it only warmed her front. The back of her sweatshirt and pants were frigid against her skin.
Benny, on the other side of the fire, stared at her through the flashing lenses of his glasses.
"Keep a sharp eye out," she told him. "We don't want anyone sneaking up."
Nodding, he swung his legs sideways and stared toward the lake.
Karen stood up. She turned away from the fire, and peeled off her sweatshirt. She sighed as the warmth soothed her back. Scanning the darkness beyond the fire's glow, she wrung water from her sweatshirt. When she finished, she glanced over her shoulder at Benny. He was watching her. He quickly looked away, and she turned around. She held her sweatshirt over the flames. Steam rolled off it like smoke and was whipped away by the breeze.
Nick, to her left, had his flannel shirt draped over his back. One arm was in its sleeve. He stood up. Julie, crouching in front of him, pulled down his jockey shorts. He held onto her shoulder to steady himself while she pulled the shorts off his feet and helped him into his jeans.
Karen turned her eyes to Benny. He was staring at her. "No fair peeking," she warned, and he looked away.
The sweatshirt was still damp when she put it on, but at least it felt warm. For the moment. Sitting on the rock, she took off her boots and socks. She opened her jeans, and drew them down along with her panties.
Julie was putting socks on Nick.
The rock felt cold and gritty under Karen's buttocks, but she stayed seated as she wrung out her panties. She held them close to the fire while Benny continued to scan the shoreline and Julie finished with Nick's socks and boots. Then Karen stood, brushed some grit off her rump, and stepped into her panties. They felt warm and dry.
She turned around to heat up her back, and did her best to twist the water out of her jeans. The stiff material was difficult to work with. Finally, she gave up. She faced the fire and held them over the flames.