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“Better not be bats.” Marge scowled. “I hate bats.”
“Something Marge is afraid of? That’s a first,” Alice said, peering up at the stalactites jutting out of the ceiling.
“I didn’t say afraid,” Marge corrected. “Just that I hate them. The way they dart and fly at you.” With a shudder, she shook her head. “Don’t like ‘em.”
“Are there bats in here?” Doris stopped paddling and ducked low. “I got one stuck in my hair once. It was horrible. I’m still traumatized.”
“What is it about your head attracting wild animals?” Marge asked, and I struggled not to burst into laughter.
“You’ve got a helmet on,” I answered, though I also looked up for signs of them. “You’ll be fine.”
Alice pushed her paddle against the water. “Helmet or not, I’m not into bats. Paddle faster, ladies.”
We all pushed our paddles into the water, heading toward the light glowing on the other side. When we popped out of the cave, we all blinked against the contrasting sunlight now blinding us.
Grateful we’d made it out without another animal stuck to Doris’s head, we pushed on along the river.
“Hey, it’s speeding up. Anyone else notice that?” I said, noticing how much quicker we moved with almost no effort.
“Oh, yeah! We must be getting to the rapids part of the trip!” Marge practically bounced in her seat.
“I’m a little scared, to be honest,” Doris admitted.
“We’ll be fine,” I answered. “Julio will steer, and we’ll just paddle along. It will be bouncy, and we’ll get splashed, but we shouldn’t face any dangerous rapids. Those are for the experts. This is the beginner’s tour.”
Doris let out a sigh. “Oh, good. That makes me feel better. I’m a beginner.”
“We’re all beginners,” Alice said.
“Look!” Marge pointed, and as we came around the bend, I saw the churning white water and small waves ahead. “Get ready, girls! It’s rapids time!”
Julio started speaking in the back, though none of us could understand him. And if Marge did, she wasn’t relaying information since she was so fixated on the rapids ahead.
“Keep paddling, ladies!” she called out after Julio said something. “He says to keep paddling!”
We followed orders, continuing to paddle as we entered the start of the fray.
“Whoo!” Doris squealed as the raft started twisting and bumping along.
“Don’t fall in!” I called to the girls. “Just keep your feet tucked under the raft. Strong cores!” I’d watched some how-to videos on YouTube the night before, so I at least had some idea of the techniques needed to navigate the rapids.
We all screamed with excitement as we pushed through the choppy water, each laughing and shouting with joy as we bounced and dipped, water spraying in our faces every time the bow of the boat dipped down. After several minutes of navigating our way through the mild rapids, we rounded another bend.
Julio shouted something from the back, and I looked over to Marge, who furrowed her brow.
“What did he say?” I asked.
Marge tipped her head. “I think he said hold on tight. But maybe he said nice work or something like that.”
Alice huffed. “Those are two completely different statements, Marge. Damn you and your horrific Spanish. Which is it? Nice work, or hold on tight?”
Marge shrugged. “Dunno. Maybe hold on tight just in case.”
As we finished rounding the bend, our speeds continued increasing, and when we made it all the way around, my jaw unhinged.
“Holy shit. What is that?” I said when I saw the wild rapids ahead. Waves broke and crashed around rocks jutting out of the river that swept us straight at it.
“What. The. Hell?” Alice whispered. “We’re not going into that. Are we going into that?”
