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She’d been right. As soon as daybreak hit, we heard helicopters circling in the distance. It had taken about an hour for them to get close enough for a chance to see our smoke signal, and now that they were hovering nearby, we waved and fanned, screaming our heads off, hoping they’d spot us.
Finally, the search helicopter flew right above, hovering long enough that we knew we’d been spotted. A man descended a rope with a first-aid kit, and when he landed, we tackled him with a giant group hug.
“Oh, thank God you found us!” I said, hugging him tightly.
“Is anyone hurt?”
We pointed to Julio, who had regained consciousness in the night and was doing well, but Marge worried he may have a broken arm.
“He could use an airlift out of here,” Marge said, then started rattling off all the medical jargon she’d used to treat him.
“Wow. Nicely done,” the man said, his English crystal clear even with his accent. “We’ll get him out of here first then. I’ll send another helicopter for you ladies. It should be here in about twenty minutes. You okay holding out that long?”
“Yeah. We’re okay,” I said.
“Just thank the Lord you found us!” Doris squeezed him again. “I was so scared!”
“I bet. Your raft was found banged up down the river. We knew you must have wrecked up somewhere along one of the worst rapid sections, so at least we knew where to start. Man, brave ladies taking on a Class Four rapid.”
“Class four? What does that mean?” I asked, tipping my head.
“You know. A Class Four rapid.” He waved a hand at the river gurgling beside us. “They are rated one through five, with five being extremely dangerous. Four is for serious experts, and one is for beginners. This is a Class Four.” He furrowed his brow. “Are you not experts?”
“No.” Doris, Alice, and I echoed, then all turned to stare at Marge. “No. We arenotexperts. We arebeginners.And Marge was supposed to pick a nice, relaxing river.”
She sucked the air through her teeth. “I just thought I was picking the fourth river. The pretty-looking one. I didn’t know four meantlevelfour. Whoops.”
The rescuer looked at her and shook his head with a smile. “Well, lesson learned. And maybe get someone who speaks Spanish next time to help you book so you don’t end up in dangerous territory.”
“Yeah, Marge.Someone who speaks Spanish.”Alice planted her hands on her hips. “Someone who is most definitely notyou!”
“I really thought I had it this time.” Marge shrugged, then shrunk a little lower. “Sorry.”
“You ladies just hang tight and don’t move. Help will be here shortly.”
He used his mic to call up to his pilot, and a few moments later, a basket descended. Marge helped him hook up Julio, then he waved as he ascended with our guide. Shortly after, the thumping of the blades quieted, and I sat down with my widows awaiting our rescue. When they came, we got lifted up one by one, and then I watched out the window at the wild jungle below, shocked we’d managed to survive a night in it.
After being brought back to our resort by the rescue crew, we all went back to our rooms and collapsed. I called Tom to tell him what happened, so happy to hear his voice again before I passed out and slept for most of the day. When I awoke, I messaged the girls and then called Marge’s room since her phone had been lost in the rapids. We all agreed to meet at the restaurant to make our plans to get home in time for my wedding.
I slid into a bar stool and flagged the bartender down, ordering an oversized margarita while I waited for the widows to arrive.
“Vodka martini. Straight up. Two olives. Extra dry,” Alice said to the bartender as she slid into a seat next to me.
“How are you feeling?”
“Happy to be back in civilization.”
“Same.” I licked the salt off the rim, then took a sip and finished with an, “Ahhhh.”
“How we doing, ladies?” Marge asked, popping onto the stool on my other side. Doris sat beside her.
“Tired but happy to be alive,” I said. “And finally ready to get home. I get married in three days. We should head out tomorrow, so I have a day to unwind before all the wedding stress starts.”
“There won’t be any stress,” Alice said. “I hired the best damn wedding planner in the state, remember? She’s handling everything. All you need to do is show up and get married.”
“That was such a thoughtful wedding gift.” I reached over and touched her hand. “Michelle is wonderful. She’s going to be a lifesaver, especially with how hot we will be coming in.”
“I’m excited to see Axel.” Doris smiled. “He’s going to fly in and meet me right at the wedding. I’m going to hug him so hard, if he wasn’t a brick of solid muscle, I’d hurt him.”
