Back to Salem

by Alex Marcoux

  “Alison, let her go! We need you at your station,” Ted yelled. The raft was out of control.

  “She doesn’t have a lifejacket,” Jessie screamed.

  “Shit. High side,” Ted screamed.

  Jessie gripped Taylor’s hand firmly as the raft began to lift out of the water on Jessie’s side. She laid over raft’s edge clinging to Taylor who now was being pulled from the water. As the men climbed to the high side of the raft where Jessie clung to Taylor, Jessie’s upper arm took a blunt force hit, but pain was the furthest thing from her mind.

  Even with the additional weight from the men jumping to the high side, it was too late. The raft lifted up and capsized, but Jessie would not let Taylor go. She fell behind the raft into the water beside Taylor.

  Jessie latched onto Taylor, the raging water pulling both women under. To Jessie it felt like the women were violently tossed underwater by the unforgiving current for minutes. Though it wasn’t even a minute when they surfaced for a chance to gasp for air. Then they were sucked under again, though seconds later they emerged with Taylor’s back was up against Jessie’s breast. Taylor gasped as Jessie kept her head above water. With the one lifejacket between them, they stayed afloat, continuing downstream, feet first. Jessie’s biggest fear was hitting a hole, which would make both their escapes impossible.

  It was Taylor who saw the calm eddy ahead on the left side and a keeper hole on the right. Mark and Travis stood waist deep in the eddy waiting for them. There was no sign of Ted or Bill.

  Taylor turned her face. “There’s a calm…the left side,” she yelled between mouthfuls of water. “There’s a hole to the right.” The current took the women toward the calm water, and Mark and Travis pulled them to safety.

  Mark took Taylor and helped her to the beach. She was shaken and coughed all the way to the rocky shore.

  Jessie turned to Travis. “Where are Ted and Bill?” She could hear riffles ten feet from them.

  Travis pointed upstream. Ted and Bill guided the capsized raft down the rapids. “They’re going to need help getting that raft off the river before it gets stuck in the hole.”

  Jessie knew he was right.

  Travis and Jessie swam as far as they could without getting taken by the current. They only had seconds to get the raft off the river before the current would take it out of their reach. When the raft met the calm water, they all worked quickly and calmly. The capsized raft was pushed and pulled to the rocky shore where Mark and Taylor stood.

  “I want to flip it,” Ted said.

  Mark, Bill and Travis helped Ted flip the raft. Everyone sighed when they saw the community river bags still strapped in place.

  “Shit,” Ted cursed. “All the paddles are gone.” Ted stomped away from the raft and sat by himself on a rock.

  The others followed his lead, removed their lifejackets, and sat. As Jessie removed her jacket, she tried to look at the back of her upper arm. Taylor, who had been watching Jessie, walked behind her to view the arm.

  “You’ve got a nasty cut. When did it happen?” Taylor asked. Her eyes met Jessie’s for the first time since the morning she found discovered that she may be her harasser.

  “In the raft, before it capsized. It must have been from a paddle…in all the chaos.” Jessie couldn’t see it. “How bad is it?”

  “You need stitches.”

  “I’d settle for a Band-Aid.”

  Taylor went to the raft and opened the rear common bag. She searched among the contents for the first-aid kit. As she removed the kit, she noticed the raft walls on one side were not as firm as they usually were.

  “Who’s hurt?” Ted noticed the first-aid kit in Taylor’s hands.

  “Jessie’s arm is cut pretty bad,” Taylor said.

  “Who’s Jessie?” Ted asked.

  “I’m sorry. Alison’s arm is cut.” Taylor didn’t want to explain.

  Mark and Travis watched as Taylor returned to Jessie, who was now sitting up against a granite wall. Taylor sat next her and opened the first-aid box. She removed a tube and applied ointment to the wound.

  “Does it hurt?”

  “Not too bad.”

  Taylor placed three large gauze pads on the wound; blood quickly soaked through the first two. “Thank you,” Taylor whispered softly. “I owe you my life.”

  Jessie shook her head. “You don’t owe me a thing, Taylor.”

  Taylor finished dressing Jessie’s wound then returned the first-aid kit to the raft. Now, one section of the raft wall was clearly less firm than another section. “Ted, the raft is softening. I think we have a leak.”

  Ted went to the raft and inspected it. “Yeah. Looks like a slow leak.” Ted took his frustration out on Taylor. “Why the hell weren’t you wearing your lifejacket?”

  “I had it on. It fell apart around me when I was in the water.”

  Ted looked at Taylor. “That’s impossible.”

  “That’s what happened,” Jessie attested.

  “Must be a manufacturer defect,” Travis said.

  “Or maybe you just didn’t have it buckled. It doesn’t do us any good to bitch about it now.” Ted looked around at the entire group. “We’ve got to make some decisions.” He canvassed the surrounding area. It was small and there were lots of large boulders and shrubs. “We can’t go anyplace without paddles. And we need to locate the leak, patch it and inflate it. We have a patch kit and a hand pump.”

  “How are we going to get paddles?” Bill asked.

  “Most likely they are downstream, right?” Mark said.

  “You’re right. And hopefully the other groups have a couple of them and are waiting for us.” Ted looked down the river. They could see just shy of a mile, but the other rafts were nowhere in sight.

  “Do you think they’re waiting for us?” Travis asked.

  “Yeah, they would. There’s a good chance the other rafts are just around the corner.” Ted glanced at his watch; it was going on 4:30. “I suggest we split up. One group hikes down the river and is prepared to hike back with some essentials, like food and sleeping bags and hopefully some paddles. The other group stays here and works on the raft. There’s a small camp area that’s right above Grapevine Rapids, that’s where we spilled. It’s not even a half-mile up. After the raft is fixed, the three bags and water bottles should be taken up to the camp area. We need to be prepared to stay the night, and we certainly can’t do it here. Does anyone have any questions? Objections? Perhaps, better ideas?”

  “Is there any way to call the other groups, to guarantee they’re not miles down the river?” Travis asked. “Mark has a satellite phone.”

  “I do, too,” Ted said. “But none of the other groups do. They have a radio.” Ted pointed to the tall granite walls that lined the canyon. “But now that we’re in the inner gorge, the radio is pretty useless.”

  “What are the chances of patching the raft, getting some paddles and still making it to the camp with the rest of the group?” Taylor asked.

  “Not good. If the other rafts are right around the corner, we’re going to need a minimum of two to three hours to get there and get back. It’ll be too late; at eight o’clock, the canyon is dark.”

  “Well then, we better get moving, we’re wasting time,” Travis said.

  “So, let’s split up. Let’s have two stay and three others come with me. The more hands with me, the more we can bring back.”

  Mark suggested that he and Taylor stay behind, while Travis, Bill, Jessie and Ted headed down the river.

  Ted’s group followed the riverbank downstream. Travel was slow. The shoulders of the river were narrow with large boulders, making the hike challenging. At times the group needed to hop in and out of the river to make their way downstream. Then the shoulder disappeared and they were unable to follow the river.

  “We’re going to have to go up,” Ted said as he headed into an inner canyon.

  The group hiked up a steep inner canyon. Tall granite walls lined the trail, until the trail reac
hed a plateau. Rather than continuing up the trail, Ted directed everyone to the right, so they followed the river from three hundred feet above. Under different circumstances they would have paused to admire the canyon view. To their right was a steep precipice, falling to the river below. To the left, the tall canyon walls rose behind an abyss. For the most part, the plateau was flat with occasional irregularities, either jutting rock formations that restricted their view or cliffs that fell to chasms below. An occasional bush, growing from crevices in rock truly demonstrated the will to survive.

  They weren’t on top very long when they heard voices ahead of them. From around a rock emerged Justine and a couple others.

  Ted smiled at his coworker. “It’s nice to see you. We had a bad spill. Everyone is okay.”

  Justine noticed the bloody gauze on Jessie’s upper arm. “How bad is it?” she asked Jessie.

  “It’s fine.”

  “No one else is hurt?” Justine asked.

  “A few bumps and bruises but we’re fine. But we’ve lost all our paddles,” Ted said. “And we have a leak. Mark and Taylor are patching it now.”

  “We found three paddles.”

  “That’s a start.”

  “Let’s get back to my group. We’ll give you what you need to get you down the river,” Justine said.

  At the raft, Taylor and Mark had found the leak and patched it. As Mark pumped additional air into the raft, Taylor rummaged through the common bags. From each common bag, she removed a waterproof dry bag. There were fanny packs, a first-aid kit and articles of clothing that were not in the dry bags.

  Once she had everything lined-up on the rocks, Taylor repacked the dry bags to make room for the other articles. She was having difficulty closing the last of the three dry bags. An object restricted her from sealing it. She opened the bag and rearranged the contents. It was a box that prevented the bag from sealing. Taylor repositioned a box marked “Flare” to lie on top.

  Taylor pulled the large nylon net bag, containing water bottles, from the water and it fell into the raft. She unclamped the bag from the raft and dragged it to the other bags.

  Ted’s group hiked a half-mile then went into another inner canyon, where they descended three hundred feet to reach the other rafts.

  Justine glanced at her watch. “The only campsite downstream from here is four miles away. You’re not going to be able to make it to the campsite tonight.”

  “Yeah, I know. We’ll need food and gear to get us through the night. We’re planning on camping above Grapevine. There’s a small camp area there. I’ll meet you at Phantom Ranch in the morning.”

  “If you’re going to Grapevine, when you hike back on the plateau, stay on it until you reach the second inner canyon. That’ll take you along Grapevine Creek and bottom out at the campsite. You’ll save a bunch of time,” Justine suggested.

  Ted and his group loaded up. Food, essentials and bedding bags were packed among four daypacks. The extra bedding bags and paddles were divided up among the four to carry by hand.

  Before they left, Justine pulled Ted aside. “I have something I want to show you.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I found two items in the river, you should see.” Justine pulled two sections of what appeared to be a lifejacket. “Can you explain this?”

  Ted examined the two pieces of the lifejacket. The outside appeared normal, but inside there was discoloration along the jacket seams. “My God! She wasn’t lying.”

  “Who?”

  “Taylor. She went over before the raft capsized. She said her jacket fell apart around her. I didn’t believe her. I thought she was careless and didn’t have it strapped.”

  “My God, Ted, she’s lucky she’s alive,” Justine said. “Look at the seams. The thread is gone.”

  Ted inspected it. The material around the seams was discolored, as if it was burned. “This was obviously tampered with. Let me take this back. I want to ask the group about it.”

  “Be careful.”

  “You too. You may want to do a lifejacket inspection before you get on the river.”

  It was apparent to Jessie that Ted was quieter than usual on the way back. She didn’t want Travis at her back so she kept to the rear of the line. The hike down to Grapevine Creek went smoothly, and as Justine had said, it brought them right into the small camp area. It was 6:45 when they arrived. Taylor and Mark had brought up the dry bags from the river and placed them together in the camp area. The roar of Grapevine Rapids could be heard just downstream of the campsite.

  “How’s the raft?” Ted asked Mark.

  “We found the leak and patched it.”

  All the backpacks were placed near the dry bags. Ted opened a bag and pulled out a loaf of bread, a pack of sliced turkey and condiment packs. “We have some sandwich makings. Everyone help yourself. I’m going down to the raft before it gets dark.”

  “Want some company?” Bill asked.

  Ted looked briefly at Bill. “Sure.”

  At the raft, Ted found a small patch by one of the seams. The section was still not as firm as the others. He opened the common bag in the rear of the raft. As expected, most of the possessions had been removed. Three lifejackets, used by Henry Clements and his family, remained. Ted was reminded of Henry’s broken leg and his evacuation. He removed one of the lifejackets, then closed the bag. The other lifejackets were strapped together on the front of the raft. Ted unclamped the strap then started to remove them.

  “What are you doing?” Bill asked.

  Ted handed Bill a couple of lifejackets; he took the rest. “I want them closer to camp.”

  By the time Ted and Bill returned, a small tarp had been spread and everyone was sitting around eating sandwiches. Bill and Ted joined them. Daylight was quickly slipping away.

  “Before we lose the light, everyone find their sleeping spot,” Ted suggested. “We have enough sleeping bags for everyone. It would have been too disruptive to the equipment raft to find all the sleeping bags we have been using. Some of your bags were right on top of the pile, so we grabbed them.” Ted went to the pile of dry bags. All of them had names on the outside. “So, if you’re one of those that does not have your bag, use the sleeping bag, but just ignore any personal possessions in the bag.”

  Bags marked “Taylor Andrews,” “Mark Rutledge” and “Travis Sanders” were found, while everyone else took another bag. The sleeping bags and possessions from the raft were distributed.

  “I want to have a meeting before we completely lose the light.” Ted checked his watch. “Let’s meet back here at 7:30.”

  Jessie took her fanny pack and a stranger’s dry bag containing a sleeping bag, and found a small area providing privacy with large rocks and shrubs. She opened the dry bag, pulled out a tarp and spread it on the sand. Without a toiletry bag, she went to the river to freshen up.

  When Jessie made it back to the community tarp, everyone was exchanging war stories about their day. Jessie sat quietly among the group. Occasionally she’d make a fleeting look at Taylor, but Taylor would quickly avert her eyes.

  Ted excused himself for a minute. When he returned he had a daypack and a bunch of lifejackets. He dropped the jackets where he had been sitting.

  “What’s up, Ted?” Travis asked.

  “Justine pulled something from the water this afternoon. I found it quite disturbing,” he said.

  “What is it?” Taylor asked.

  Ted pulled the two pieces of lifejacket from the daypack. “She found these. They’re sections of Taylor’s lifejacket. When Taylor said her jacket fell apart, I didn’t believe her. I’m apologize, Taylor.”

  “No worries, Ted. But how could something like that happen?”

  He turned the lifejacket sections over for the others to see. “There’s no thread holding the sections together, and the seams are discolored. I don’t know how this could have happened, perhaps some type of acid, but it didn’t happen naturally. Taylor, who’d want to hurt you?”

&
nbsp; Taylor remained silent.

  “Perhaps it was your secret admirer,” Travis stated. “Jessie you’re wanted by the police for harassing Taylor, right?”

  Jessie glared back at Travis but remained silent.

  “Why do they keep calling you Jessie? Isn’t your name Alison?”

  “No. I’m sorry, Ted. My name is Jessie Mercer.”

  “Then why the phony name?”

  “Go ahead, Jessie, tell him. I want to see you squirm out of this one,” Travis teased.

  “I used a friend’s name so I wouldn’t bring attention to myself. I was brought in for questioning by the LAPD…they suspect that I’m Taylor’s stalker.”

  “That’s not all they suspect you of…” Travis pried.

  “What else?” Ted asked.

  “I’m a suspect in the murder of Kurk Warner.”

  “Kurk Warner…the movie star?” Ted asked.

  “Yes.”

  “And everyone here knows you?” Ted stated.

  “Except for Bill. Yes.”

  “Taylor, do you think Jessie sabotaged your lifejacket?” Ted said.

  “I think if she wanted to harm me, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”

  “You’re right. Jessie had every opportunity to release you in the river, and no one would have suspected foul play,” Mark pointed out.

  “I brought up our jackets, including one of the extras, and I want each of you to inspect the inside seams of your own jackets. Let’s do this before it gets much darker.”

  Ted called out the numbers marked on the jackets, then handed them to the appropriate person. He had three jackets remaining in front of him. “This one’s mine,” Ted said. He picked up another, “This one is 209 and was used by one of the Clements.” He handed the jacket to Taylor, “Why don’t you use this one rest of the trip.”

  Taylor took the lifejacket.

  “And the last jacket is number 208,” Ted said.

  “Two-oh-eight?” Taylor and Jessie chorused and looked at each other.

  “Yeah, 208. What’s the problem?” Ted asked.