Chapter 58

July 15 - August 5, 2001

Team Three's Summer - 3

It stayed hot through the following half-trip and virtually all of the next one, the last one of the summer season. Although it was the first time that Karin had the responsibility of a raft of her own (despite what Scooter had insinuated to the customers), to no one's surprise she did just fine for the rest of the trip as an emergency replacement -- but then, she had her daughters to set a good example for her.

Around a down-river campfire one evening, she revealed with a little smug embarrassment that Michelle had given her a Wild Wet bikini at a quiet spot on the wedding trip. She wore it one day on the second half of the wedding trip when she and Al were running separate from the rest of the party. She didn't say how that came out, but what was unsaid was unsaid in such a way that everyone figured a sandbar had been visited somewhere along in there.

Four days after the crew swap, they saw Jerry again, this time at the throttle of an S-rig, a big smile on his face. They stopped and talked for a minute, things were going fine and Kelly was a lot happier.

Michelle replaced Karin for the next trip. Like Karin, she claimed to have been stir-crazy from sitting around the office all summer -- she'd actually only missed one full trip cycle, and half of the last one, having filled in a trip on Team 1 when Mike had some unexpected family business come up. She reported that Nanci had been doing just fine with the gear boat after Dan was flown out; Kevin had ridden with her in a couple rapids, including Upset, a top ten for difficulty, but Nanci was at the sticks all the way. Michelle said Nanci was doing so well she pretty well stayed at the sticks the rest of that trip while Michelle lay back on the gear pile, worked on her tan and caught up on her naps. With Michelle riding along, she even ran left at Lava! It was nearly unbelievable for a small, distinctly unathletic, non-outdoor bum of a girl on only her fourth trip, who had never been in a sleeping bag four months before!

Michelle also reported that Crystal and Preach were obviously close but that they were clearly keeping it above board, not merely looking like they were trying to. She said she'd talked to Crystal about winter plans; much was still up in the air and would have to be worked out in the fall. Both she and Crystal had agreed that if Scooter went along with the idea they should confirm the reservation for the Felicity Ann. Who would go and when was still pretty uncertain, but it seemed likely there'd be enough to pay the charges.

The heat broke significantly toward the end of that trip; fall was clearly on the way, and this was the last Team 3 trip of the year since the summer boatmen would be heading back to school as the trip ended. As always, the team shuffle to get into the fall setup was a little complicated. The plan was that Scooter and Jim would hike down to Phantom to replace Duane and Larry. Team 1 was losing everyone but Dave and Mary; Barbie from Team 3 would wait in Flagstaff for a week to join Team 1, and Duane was going to run with them for a trip or two before heading to Spearfish Lake. Either Al, Karin, or Michelle would take the last spot, but after Duane left there'd probably be some fill-ins. "I've seen it a whole hell of a lot worse," Al commented.

In the early morning hours a couple days after they'd come off the river, Scooter and Jim drove Al's Olds to Pat and Rachel's store on the South Rim and headed to the Bright Angel Trailhead to hike down for the exchange. Jim had not previously met Preach, and admitted to being a little concerned about how he'd get along with such a straight arrow. Scooter told him not to worry about it, Preach was cool. Besides, Jim had run with Glenn in the past and liked him; Scooter said Preach was nowhere near as uptight.

Still, she had to admit to some unvoiced concern of her own. In the trip and a half, she and Jim had managed to get much closer than they'd been at the start, even though they were doing their best to keep their romance out from in front of the customers. It wasn't wild, hot sex -- they saved that for the breaks -- or romantic moonlight walks or things like that, it was just being together, talking about things, working together, fitting together. With no great deal of discussion, it was clear they'd be spending the winter together, and hopefully more, no matter what happened with Crystal and Preach. While that begged several questions, they had all fall to work it out.

Thus it was that when Team 2 came around the bend, Scooter and Jim were in the shade of the same tamarisk that he had been sitting under five weeks before when he'd come down to join Team 3. When they pulled in, Scooter and Crystal fell into each other's arms; they had not seen each other since the beginning of May, and now it was nearing the end of August. A lot of water had flowed down the river since then for both of them.

"Scoot," Crystal gushed, "I'm glad to see you. This has been the coolest summer, and I've just been sorry you haven't been around so I could tell you about it."

"Mine started a little rocky but turned pretty cool for me, too," Scooter grinned.

"Hey, we've got bunches to talk about but not much that needs to be done right this instant. I take it the plan is the same as it was a week ago?"

"Right, Al's Olds is at Pat and Rachel's store, Larry or Duane can drive it back to Al's house."

"Good enough, they can stick around for lunch before they head up the hill." By now, the rest of the boatmen had gathered around, and there were some introductions. Preach was, as always, tall and good-natured, rather quiet, but he didn't look much like the Baptist minister as he still was wearing cutoffs and a T-shirt that had seen better days years before, a big smile on his face. "The river rumors say you two have had a good summer," he offered by way of greeting.

"Hey, they've been saying the same thing about you two," Scooter laughed. "Jim, this is Preach. I don't know if he's using his real name or not anymore."

"I still answer to Noah once in a while, but I guess I forgot to mention it at the introductions back at Lee's," he grinned. "But we know how that works, don't we Rhonda?"

"Rhonda?" Jim frowned, "I never knew that."

"Jim, if you want to stay alive, you'll never say, 'Help me Rhonda, help!' in my hearing," she laughed. "Preach, you look like you've had a pretty good summer. I was a little surprised to hear that you were staying on the river."

"No more surprised than I was, I'm sure," he grinned. "We'll have to talk about it sometime, but not now. Jim, I've known Scoot for years, as long as Crystal almost, and I want to tell you she's one cool lady."

"I figured that out," Jim grinned. "Scooter is really a good name for her since there's times she gets hard to keep up with."

"I presume she's told you some stories about the old days on the Ocoee and the Nanty. Sometime Crystal and I will have to tell you the truth."

"Looking forward to it," Jim smiled in reply; Scooter could see that he was loosening up a bit.

"Scoot, Jim," Crystal said. "I don't know if you know Kevin or not," she said, introducing him to the blonde young man.

"We've met," Scooter said. "I can't recall running with you though, Kev."

"Same here," Jim said.

"I better warn you," Crystal smiled, "Kevin is pretty strange; he's one of the few boatmen I've ever seen who actually shaves every day, and gets a haircut after every trip. He's a good kid, even though he's always late for loading on loading Sundays, since he has to sneak off to church."

"A lot of that going around, I hear," Scooter said obliquely.

"Yeah, we're still doing the turnarounds the old way because of it," Crystal nodded. "We probably ought to talk about that sometime, too." Crystal looked around. "Jim, I'm sure you don't know my sister Nanci, here."

Scooter swiveled her head -- and barely recognized Nanci! The hearty young woman in the one-piece swimsuit and shorts was far from being the frail, forlorn, frightened waif that she remembered first meeting at Lee's Ferry not four months before. Her long blonde hair had been cut way short, and bleached almost white by the desert sun. The black eye and bruises were long gone, replaced by a deep, healthy tan, more results of lots of time in the sun. Scooter guessed she'd had to have put on fifteen pounds, and every ounce of it was solid muscle. She looked strong, competent and confident, and from the stories Scooter had heard, that was actually what she was. In one look, Scooter was ready to bet a hike through a Flagstaff blizzard in her Wild Wet bikini that Nanci would have a raft this time next year. "I hear tell you've been doing fine, Nanci," Scooter grinned. "You've changed a touch since I hiked up the Bass back in May."

"A little, I guess," Nanci agreed with a grin. "It's sure not what I thought I was going to be doing this summer."

"No fooling," Crystal shook her head. She looked around, then gave a shrill whistle. "Nicole!" she yelled. Scooter looked up, to see Nicole head their way -- that was a surprise; she had totally forgotten that Nicole had arranged to be on this trip. "Jim, this is our one-trip junior swamper, Nicole," she said by way of introduction. "There's a long story about her, but Nanci is real glad someone else gets to dump the rocket boxes this trip after all. She thought she was past that, being the senior swamper all summer."

"If I have to, I have to," Nicole grinned. "Scooter, how have you been?"

"Pretty good," Scooter shook her head. "Well, I lose that bet, I guess?"

"What?" Nicole said. "Whether Randy would let me come?"

"No, I figured you'd manage that," she laughed. "It was whether you'd be making the trip in handcuffs."

"I have to admit to a little surprise," Nicole said neutrally. "There's a story about that."

"I figured," Scooter nodded. "Now's probably not the time, though."

"We better get started on lunch, so we can get these guys going up the hill," Crystal said. "Jim, Scooter, Duane, Larry, get started swapping your stuff around while the rest of us break out the chow."

"Hey, Duane," Jim smiled as the others started for their rafts, "I just want to apologize to you."

"Apologize? For what?"

"That's twice we've done a crew swap this summer, and both times you've had to be the one to go up the hill. It's not as hot this time, though."

"That's good to know; that last trip was a killer. By the way, we keep seeing Jerry every now and then, he seems happy. The last time I talked to Al he said he might run with you a little in the fall."

"Are you going to be heading on up to Spearfish Lake?"

"Don't know yet. Nicole said Tiffany hadn't had her baby yet last weekend, and Josh said they're going to take it easy till she does, so I may have to fill in a trip on Team 1. At least that was the plan if Al couldn't come up with something else by the time I got topside."

Scooter shook her head. "He didn't say anything, one way or the other," she shrugged. "Like I told you the last time, though, have fun looking at dogs' asses all winter."

"I've tried to tell him he's out of his mind," Crystal grinned, "But he won't listen to me. Maybe a winter of dog shit will drive some sense into him."

That afternoon they ran down to the campsite above Granite. Nicole, Kevin and Nanci led a hike up Monument Valley, while Scooter, Jim, Crystal and Preach stayed behind, ostensibly to get going on dinner but mostly to find a place in the shade and catch up a little. "I honestly can't believe it," Scooter said as she leaned back against a tamarisk, a cold beer in her hand. "Nanci can't be the same girl that I met at Lee's four months ago."

"If you can't believe it, think about me," Crystal shook her head. "The second trip she took is the first time I'd really ever seen her display any enthusiasm and drive about anything but cheerleading or chasing boys. Since Trey was concentrating on sound recording, she was for practical purposes the only swamper, and she was just one busy little beaver all the time. I'm still not sure what all happened, but I am not complaining."