Page 56 of Mirror Image

At the start of week five, we traded in miles of hiking and sore feet for miles of paddling and sore arms. This was where Sam’s confidence faltered—in the water. And this was where we ran into problems because an insecure Sam was a nasty Sam. Nobody liked a nasty Sam, especially not me.

It had been six months since my twin and I discovered each other, and the honeymoon was most definitely over. I had been willing to overlook every little irritating thing she said or did, chalking it up to her tough upbringing. But spending twenty-four seven together under grueling conditions for weeks on end—without a single hot shower—can drive even the most patient, mild-mannered person to consider homicide. Today, for whatever reason, she’d woken up on the wrong side of the tent, and I found my stomach clenching tighter in anticipation of the meltdown I could feel coming a mile away.

Because of the amount of gear we towed, the seven of us split up in two large rafts—me, Sam, and Izzy in one, and Nan, Martin, and Naomi in the other. Leo alternated between the two. We perched up on the sides of the mammoth blue inflatable, one hand on the T-bar grip of the paddle, the other several inches down the shaft, pulling the blade forward through the water.

“Use your whole body, ladies!” Leo yelled at us from the back of the second raft. “If you just use your arms, you’re gonna be hurtin’ later!”

“Yeah, I’ll use my whole body to club him in the head with this thing, then we’ll see who’s hurtin’,” Sam muttered.

“He’s right,” Izzy commented. “Spend eight hours doing it the wrong way, and you won’t even be able to lift your water bottle tonight.”

“Gee, thanks, Captain Obvious. Got any more tips and tricks for me?” she shot back at him.

Still clutching his paddle, Izzy held up his hands in surrender but didn’t offer any further comments.

“I think once we get into some dry clothes and have a hot meal, we’ll all feel better,” I said in my best diplomatic tone.

“Whatever you say,” my sister sneered.

“What’s up?” I asked evenly. “You’re super grumpy. Are you not feeling well today or something?”

“I feel fine!” she snapped loud enough to catch the attention of our teammates in the other raft. “Not everyone has a great day every day, Little Fucking Mary Sunshine.”

I couldn’t see her eyes through the sunglasses, but I could tell from the way her brows drew down into a deep V that they were narrowed in a glare. “I don’t know what the hell your problem is but—”

She cut me off, her tone turned mocking. “Wow, listen to you dropping the old ‘h-e-double-hockey-sticks’! Ooooh, you must be really mad! Good thing ‘Mother Theresa’ can’t hear you!”

“You need to stop it. Right now,” I gritted out.

“Or what?”

“Or what?” I echoed, incredulous. “What are you, like nine years old? Do you even hear yourself?”

I caught Izzy glancing at us over his shoulder nervously, but he wisely kept his mouth shut.

“Mary, Mary, quite contrary . . .” she taunted in a singsong voice.

“Sam . . .” I hissed out a warning.

“How does your garden grow?”

“It’s no one else’s fault that you’re not comfortable in the water. Just because you’re not the camping, hiking superstar anymore doesn’t mean you get to act like a bitch to the rest of us.”

The taunting smile slipped from her face, and she wasn’t mocking my choice of expletives now. “Yeah, well, not everyone had access to a heated saltwater pool twenty feet from their back door,” she countered.

“You know what? I’m done,” I told her coolly. “I’m sick and tired of hearing all about poor little Sam and her miserable life. I’m sorry it sucked for you—I really am. But I’m not going to spend the rest of my life apologizing for something I had no control over. So either get a better attitude or just shut up already, because I’m not listening to this anymore.”

I knew I’d gone too far as soon as the words were out of my mouth. Not that they weren’t true, and not that she didn’t deserve them. But because I’d just backed a wild creature into a corner. And, as I should have anticipated, she came back at me, claws and fangs bared.

Literally.

There weren’t more than a few feet between us when she threw down her oar and launched across the raft at me, but she somehow managed to gain enough momentum to propel us both to the bow—with me pinned underneath her on the raft floor. Before I could react, she had my braid wrapped around one hand, while scratching at my face with the other.

“Get off me!” I yelled, struggling to buck her off.

She was like a rabid animal, and I could feel the raft listing to one side as Izzy jumped up to try to separate us. Meanwhile there was a lot of shouting from fairly close by as the rest of the team watched the events unfold. I heard Leo demand Sam let me go, but she just doubled down, shouting in my face as we wrestled on the raft floor.

“You have no idea! No fucking idea, you—”