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His concentration was broken by a strange sound behind him, like a flap of enormous wings. His animal instinct screamed at him to turn around, fighting against his cadet discipline that insisted he not take his gaze off the rapids.

The boat bumped and rocked, and when they hit an especially rough rapid, Ellie screamed.

He looked over quickly to see if she’d fallen out of the boat, but to his shock, it wasn’t the water swallowing her up.

It was a bird flying her away.

A giant red-tailed hawk had swooped down and plucked Ellie from the watercraft, digging its talons into the sack on her back. With a screech, it flapped its massive wings, escorting her into the sky above. They disappeared over the ledge of stone above.

“Ellie!” Brett screamed, unable to do anything to help her as the rapids sucked him in. What were the odds of this happening right at this moment? Miniscule. No, this hadn’t been a coincidence. This was more like someone had planned to kidnap Ellie the second Brett would be stuck navigating the choppy water.

He backpaddled hard, steering the raft away from the sharp rocks on the water’s edge. Bubbling white water threatened to tear Brett from the raft. He paddled vigorously, trying to focus his mind on the path Ellie had reviewed with him.Stay left. Veer right, her voice echoed in his mind.

Brett let the rapids pull him to the left. He focused downstream where the lacy white water foamed before him. Just as Ellie had said, to the right of a large boulder peering out of the river, the water wasn’t as rough. He switched his grip on the paddle, digging it into the left side of the raft. This would have been difficult to manage with Ellie, but now he was alone and tired. His shoulders ached. The bursting blister burned as the skin ripped open. He ignored it, digging his paddle in harder, pushing the raft to the right, to calmer waters.

Just as he hoped, the water sucked him over. The raft bobbed over submerged rocks, flowing through the white water. A spray of water splashed in his face as he narrowly missed running over a tree stump. The bottom of the raft bubbled beneath him as he flowed over the rough waters.

The gravelly rocks at the side of the river were a welcoming sight ahead. It was right where Ellie had said it would be. Digging his paddle into the water, he pushed with all his might. Pain from the blister on his thumb bit into him as the wooden shaft continued to agitate his skin. Brett barely noticed. All he cared about was that the nose of the raft pointed to the shore. He paddled until the tip of the craft slid over the rocky shore. Quickly, Brett hopped out, using his remaining strength to pull the boat onto the shore.

He collapsed onto his back, not caring how the stones dug into his sore muscles. The white of the blinding sun cut into his skin with a searing heat. Brett covered his eyes with his arm, not sure what to do next. Ellie was gone.

When he finally found the strength, he sat up, peering into the treetops where Ellie had vanished across the river, wondering if he should wait for her to find him or brave the wilderness to find her.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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