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“Come closer and splash me with that nice, cold water,” he called.
Her smile seemed genuine, and she smacked the surface with her paddle to try to hit him with the water. He smacked his, too, and managed to send a stream shooting at her arm. She shrieked when the cold hit her, but it was a happy sound.
“No fair,” she called. “You’re stronger.”
He paused and looked out over the blue water. “Right through here there have been multiple sightings ofMishipeshu.”
“I heard about it in school,” Kylie said. “That’s the big lizard fish. Pressie.”
“Two steamer crews in 1890 reported seeing it. Supposedly it’s seventy-five feet or more long and has scales on its tail. Its panther-like head is topped with copper horns.”
Her blue eyes huge, Kylie nodded. “And a long, greenish-black neck.”
It might be best to change the subject. He pointed to the shore with his paddle. “Bridalveil Falls.”
She turned to admire the waterfall cascading down the colorful rocks. This area of the North Woods held the magic of sandstone cliffs, beaches, and wild shoreline, and there was no more iconic spot than the falls. In a few more weeks the water flow would slow to a trickle, but the recent rain filled the falls to a roaring beauty. It plunged seventy feet over colorful sandstone cliffs into the cold waters of Superior.
Her mouth dropped open. Kylie sat still in the bow of the kayak as they paddled past.
It was turning out to be a great day. Maybe he’d bring Annieback here once he had that ring in his pocket. He could propose right here when things started to go right with Kylie. A guy could dream, right?
A scream echoed over the water, and he jerked around to see Kylie standing up in the kayak. She began to peel off her flotation device. He spotted a writhing snake drop into the water as she flung away her PFD.
“It was biting me!” She flailed her arms. “It was Pressie, and it bit me!”
“Kylie, sit down!” he yelled. There were no poisonous snakes in the cold U.P., so it couldn’t hurt her. He probably shouldn’t have been talking about the mythical creature in the lake.
Annie reached out her arms toward her daughter as Kylie pirouetted on the seat, and in the next moment, she plummeted toward the water. A sickeningthudsounded as Kylie’s head hit the side of the kayak and her eyes closed. She disappeared into the water without another sound.
Jon was on his feet and dove overboard in a flash. The cold water hit him like a blow, even with his wet suit on. He treaded water while he kicked off his shoes, then dove down to find his daughter. She was floating lifelessly in the water under the kayak with her head occasionally hitting the hull. He grabbed her arm and pulled her out from under it and then kicked up toward the sunshine.
When his head broke the surface, he spotted Annie in the water on the other side of the group of kayakers. The guide was in the water as well, and neither of them saw that he’d found her.
“I’ve got her!”
He didn’t wait for them to come his way but towed the little girl toward the beach. It was the longest two hundred yards he’dever experienced as he kept looking anxiously to see if Kylie was breathing. He had to get her to shore. CPR couldn’t be performed out here if she needed it, and so far, he’d detected no rising and falling of her chest. Her lashes rested on her cheeks, and she was pale and blue.
As he swam he prayed for her to open her eyes and yell at him. For her to try to jerk away. He’d even take some mean words right about now. Annie couldn’t lose her daughter. Not now, not like this, not ever. She’d been through so much. Andhecouldn’t bear to lose Kylie when he’d just started getting to know and love her. And he did love her. Prickly or not, she was his daughter. She’d come to love him if the Lord gave them time together.
His knees hit sand, and he struggled up to his feet, then pulled her into his arms. The waves hit his legs, and he nearly fell, but he staggered on to drop onto the beach with his daughter.
She wasn’t breathing. He grabbed a nearby piece of driftwood and draped her over it on her stomach. He had to get the water from her lungs before he tried CPR.
“Come on, honey, stay with me,” he begged.
Was it too late? It couldn’t be. This beautiful day couldn’t end this way. She had to live.
***
Kylie lay limp on the sand at Mosquito Beach with Jon on his knees beside her. Annie was immobile, her heart nearly pounding out of her chest. Her breathing labored, she couldn’t think or force her frozen limbs to move.
Please, God, don’t let my baby girl die.
He rolled Kylie over a nearby log and water ran out of hermouth. “That’s it, honey. Get it all out.” He rolled her onto the sand again and gestured for Annie to come help. “I’ll do chest compressions, and you breathe for her. You know CPR, right?”
She nodded, but in that moment, she couldn’t remember when she’d last had to perform it. Surely Kylie was breathing. She had to be breathing. But Annie saw and heard no signs of air from her daughter. This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t lose Kylie.
She knelt on the other side of her daughter and tipped her head back to begin CPR. She clamped Kylie’s nose shut with one hand and administered two breaths, then waited for Jon to do the compressions.
