Before Nanci and Sarah left the room after talking with Al they decided the first thing they had to do was to not give the news about Sarah’s unexpected summer job to anyone. There was no point in laying any trail that Bowman could use to find them, although Nanci was of the opinion that the stupidest private detective on TV wouldn’t have much problem tracking the two of them to Flagstaff. At least finding them on the river would be a totally different problem.

So for the next couple of months they didn’t even talk about it very much, at least when they were at Hickory Run. But they talked about it a lot when they were away from the place, since there were a few preparations they would have to make, like buying Sarah clothes that were a little more adequate for the task than the sort of thing she wore around the seminary. Fortunately, they didn’t have to get very many of them and were able to find most of what they needed in secondhand shops.

There was actually quite a bit that Sarah had to learn, but she would have the opportunity to learn most of it while she was on the river, the same way Nanci had learned it. But Nanci spent some time beforehand teaching Sarah about some of the things that she would have to know to be a Canyon Tours swamper.

The way things were usually done at Canyon Tours, a prospective boatman would take a trip down the river with one of the teams while they were still in high school. The tryout wouldn’t get paid for the trip, other than getting a free trip down the Canyon, which was pretty good pay by itself. On that trip, they would get a primer in what life in the Canyon was like, and what they would have to do. It was surprising how many didn’t feel like coming back after they’d made that first trip. Sarah, of course, didn’t have that opportunity, so Nanci tried to do the best she could to catch her up.

The rest of the weeks of the spring semester rolled by uneventfully, at least as far as their studies went. The only disquieting thing was that twice Sarah got letters from Bowman. They were both brief, but they had the same message that had been in the letter he had left at Mrs. Keller’s Place while Sarah and Nanci were in Florida: you have been promised to me, so don’t try to deny it by running away.

“I sure have no idea where he came up with that stuff,” Sarah commented after she’d read and thrown away one of the letters, “but he sure didn’t get it from me.”

“Sooner or later he’s going to have to be told that no means no,” Nanci shrugged.

“True, but I don’t think I’m up for it right now. I just don’t want to deal with him. Maybe this summer will give him the message when he shows up here and I’m long gone.”

The letters only reinforced their decision to get out of Hickory Run at the earliest possible moment. They had little doubt that Bowman would show up there not long after his semester ended in California, which they found from the Internet was on the same day Hickory Run ended theirs.

After the last day their classes came to an end there was no reason to stick around, so they didn’t. The Camry had already been packed, so within minutes of their last class ending the two of them changed to more comfortable clothes for driving, said goodbye to Mrs. Ellison, and hit the road. Most of their things were left in their rooms, which they had rented at reduced rates for the summer; there would be little need for much of anything they left there for the next four months.

They had plenty of time to get to Flagstaff, since the next White Team trip of the season wouldn’t launch for over a week, so they took their time. It was three easy days of driving to get to Flagstaff, and they occasionally stopped to check out things along the way. Rather than trying to save every cent possible, they stayed in cheap motels two nights, which also made the trip go a lot easier.

Along the way Nanci took the time to explain the crew schedule, which was on the confusing side but made sense when it was studied a bit more carefully. “Back when I started with Canyon Tours, it was simple,” she told Sarah as they rode across western Kentucky. “There were three teams, and they always launched on Mondays, and got off the river two and a half weeks later on Thursdays. But then the company added on six more trips and shortened all of them, and ever since then the schedule has been hard to figure out. We launch our first trip on Friday, and we’ll be off the river two weeks later on Thursday. Then we launch again on Monday, and get off two weeks later on Sunday, then launch again on the following Friday, except when we don’t.”

“I don’t follow you on the last part.”

“We usually run fourteen-day trips, but sometimes when we’re on a week when we’d get off on Sunday we’ll run sixteen days, and go a little farther down the river. It doesn’t happen that way every trip but I think they’re working in that direction a little. The way Crystal explained it to me at Christmas was that eventually they hope to launch eighteen fourteen-day trips and the same number of sixteen-day ones, but it all involves politics with the National Park Service that I don’t even try to understand. What makes it more complicated is that the go-to guy Al has to work with on these details used to be a trip leader for Canyon Tours, although he doesn’t make the final decisions. His opinion, and I think he’s right, is that he can’t show the company any favoritism just because he used to work with us, so everything is more complicated than it needs to be.”

“You’ve got me confused already.”

“Hey, I’m confused about it myself, but it’s Crystal and Al’s problem, and things have changed radically every year. This is actually a little simpler than we had it last year. All we need to know is which days the White Team launches and takes out, and let someone else worry about the details.”

“So what’s the deal on the Christian trips you’ve talked about?”

“They’re just normal trips in a way. We have two of them, and they are always Friday launches since Al never seems to have trouble filling them. There’s talk of adding on a third one next year. The two we have will launch in early June and the middle of August. I know the second one gets off the river on August 31, which means we’ll have to take showers and hit the road so we can get back to Hickory Run on Labor Day and get ready for classes starting the next day. That’s a total of seven trips. The Christian trips are exactly what they sound like, the program is slanted toward Christians. Preach and I give most of the talks and sermons and stuff, but I expect you’ll get pulled into that a little. The White Team, which we’re going to be on, is generally regarded as being the straightest of all the companies on the river mostly because we have a pretty good concentration of committed Christians.”

“That might make things a little easier.”

“Probably so,” Nanci said. “The problem is the rest of the trips we run are regular trips, and that means the customers may or may not be serious Christians. In fact, it runs to not. Usually they’re pretty good people, but not always. There’ll be more drinking, horseplay, and foul language on the non-Christian trips, but Preach usually lets everyone know the crew is pretty straight so it usually doesn’t get out of hand. I have to tell the truth and say that there’s usually more fun and laughter on the non-Christian trips.”

“But I’ll have to learn to get along with it, right?”

“You’ve got it. Now, the other thing is that we usually try not to get into religious discussions on the non-Christian trips unless the customer initiates it and wants to carry it along. Obviously, things are different on the Christian trips. Those tend to be considerably more spiritual.”

“But the White Team is pretty Christian, right?”

“Pretty much. Preach is the trip leader, and you know him of course, and you know me. The assistant trip leader is Kevin Haynes, he was at the Christmas party.”

“I think I talked to him. He’s a little taller than me, dark hair?”

“And clean shaven, don’t forget that. Kevin may be the only boatman on the river who actually shaves every day, and Crystal used to tease him a lot about that back when she was the trip leader. Kevin and I are real good friends, in fact, I’d have to say that he’s the best friend I have outside of the family, except for you, of course. He was the one who really taught me how to row a raft. I think Preach and Crystal are a little better at handling a raft, but Kevin knows how to teach it better, for some reason. Preach will probably have you ride with him a lot just so you can learn some of it.”

“I didn’t think I’d be doing that.”

“You may have to. The first summer I was on the river, Dan Plemmons, one of the boatmen on the trip, collapsed in seizures, and had to be flown out on a helicopter. I was the only non-boatman on the trip who could row a raft even a little, and I was only on my fifth trip, I think it was. I had to row it for two days, without customers, of course, until someone walked in to replace him. Someone else went with me through the hard stuff, and then they’d have to walk back up to bring their own raft through. So you want to learn about it at least a little because it could happen to you.”

“Do you think that could happen again?”

“No way of telling. It’s the only time I’ve ever had it happen on a trip I’ve been on, but it happened another time before I was on the river. The guy who wound up rowing the raft was a first tripper, but he had a lot of experience in kayaks.”

“Yeah,” Sarah sighed. “I guess it could happen, then. Well, if it happens I’ll just have to do my best. How about the rest of the team?”

“Well, there’s Angie Plemmons, she’s Dan’s wife. They were the only couple I’ve ever married. He used to be a pretty good boatman, but he doesn’t run the river any more unless it’s an emergency because he still has a risk of seizures. He works in the office and the shop topside, and he usually drives the bus to the put-ins and takeouts so he can have a little more time with Angie. She’s Southern Baptist, but not real active; she and Dan go to the Fellowship sometimes. The other guy is Mark Kayleigh, he’s LDS, but he may not be on the team this summer. Mormons have to do a two-year mission thing, and the last I knew he was making sounds about starting his this summer. He was supposed to graduate from Brigham Young right about now. I don’t recall him being at the Christmas party.”

Sarah shook her head. “I don’t know very many Mormons. I’ve met a couple, I guess.”

“I don’t know any very well either, except for Mark. They sure have some different views on things, and I’ve learned a lot about them from him. If he doesn’t go, Al and Crystal probably have someone else in mind. It might not be easy for them to find someone, since like I said, we have a reputation for being the straightest crew on the river.”

What life was like on the river and the things Sarah would need to know weren’t the only things that they discussed on the long trip to Flagstaff, but whatever they discussed made the miles and the days pass more quickly. Finally, as they crossed the dry Arizona desert they began to see the mountain where Flagstaff was located rise green and beckoning to them. “Almost home,” Nanci said. “It sure feels good to be back.”

“You’re lucky to have a home to go back to,” Sarah replied sadly. “At least we have something worked out for this summer, but I don’t know what’s going to happen after that.”

“I expect the Lord has something in mind for you,” Nanci told her from behind the wheel. “Let’s concentrate on getting through this summer, first. A lot can happen in the next year.”

“I hope you’re right. I sure hope you’re right.”

“Have faith that the Lord will provide, Sarah. Somehow I don’t think you’re going to wind up living under a bridge somewhere. Now granted, you’re going to be living on sandbars beside the river this summer, but it’s not the same thing. Whatever it is, it won’t have to be Abe Bowman.”

“There is that,” she shook her head. “I guess if all else fails, I could become a boatman, if I can learn to handle a raft.”

“You won’t be the only one to find a home in the Grand Canyon if you do. If I don’t get a church somewhere after I graduate from Hickory Run, I might be right there with you, and I can think of worse things to do.”

A while later Nanci wheeled the Camry up to the Canyon Tours office. “As far as I know we’re going to be staying with Mom and Al when we’re off the river,” Nanci told Sarah. “But Mom or Al or Crystal ought to be around here right now.”

They got out of the car, glad to stand up, stretch, and get their blood moving again. “Wow,” Nanci said. “It’s really stunning when I stop and think about it.”

“What?”

“Five years ago I drove this car into this parking lot, and it was just about my last hope. I found a dime lying in the parking lot, and that was the only money I had. Then my life changed, and it changed a lot. I’m really not the same person I was five years ago. I still have that dime, too. I had it made into a necklace ornament.”

“Is that the one I’ve seen you wearing now and then?”

“Yes, I’m not much of one to wear jewelry, but that’s the exception to the rule.”

“You know, I’ve noticed you don’t even wear a watch.”

“Yeah, like I said, I’m not much of one to wear jewelry. If I need to know the time I look at my cell phone. I don’t usually take the cell phone down in the Canyon with me since there’s no reception except at Lee’s Ferry, and looking at the sun is really the only timepiece you need down there. That was something I learned from Crystal my first summer on the river.”

“Boy, there sure is a lot to learn, isn’t there?”

“Al will tell you he doesn’t know it all, either. He says when you stop learning about the Canyon you better quit altogether.”

They went inside to find Al and Karin in the office, working on whatever it was they were working on. “Well,” he said, “a third of the White Team has finally rolled in. I was beginning to wonder.”

“We took our time,” Nanci smiled. “We figured there was no reason to hurry.”

“Well, no, there isn’t. You’ve got another few days until you launch. So how was your trip?”

“Long and slow,” Nanci smiled. “We couldn’t hitch a ride on Jennifer’s Citation this time. So what’s happening around here?”

“Actually pretty quiet for once,” Al told them. “You’ve got a full trip for Friday, so that’s always good. Crystal, Preach, and Bucky went up to Lee’s to see Scooter and the Red Team get off. We were kicking it around last winter and decided that Crystal, Karin, or I ought to go to all the put-ins and takeouts just so we can deal with the customers directly if needed. Sometimes that can put out fires before they get started.”

“Yeah,” Nanci nodded. “I can think of a few times it would have been nice for the trip leader to be able to pass the buck on something.”

“Believe me, so can I,” Al smiled. “At least with Crystal being the assistant manager and overseeing the turnarounds, we have enough hands here to do it. So, Sarah, are you ready to turn into a Canyon Tours swamper?”

“I think I am. Nanci has been telling me a lot of the stuff she thinks I’ll need to know ever since we left Hickory Run.”

“Telling you about it and actually doing it are two different things, but it’s nothing real complicated so long as you’re willing to work and to learn. I’ll tell you right now, it’s going to take a few days for you to get your feet under you, but once you’ve managed that it’ll seem pretty routine. So, Nanci, did you get Sarah all fitted out?”

“More or less. There are a couple things I figured it would be better to get here in Flag, but we’ll have some time to do it.”

“Good. Sarah, I figured Nanci wouldn’t do things halfway, it’s not her style. Listen to her, she has a lot to teach you.”

“She’s already taught me more than I ever dreamed, and that’s leaving being on the river out of it.”

“So, Al,” Nanci said, “how did things go on the last White Team trip?”

“Pretty well, no surprises, not even any real good stories,” Karin piped up. “We wound up being short a boatman, so Crystal took the first half of the trip and I took the second. I don’t know for sure what happened, but she sure seemed to be glad to be out on the river again, even if it was just for five days.”

“I’ll bet, after not having run at all last year. You took care of Bucky while she was on the river, I take it?”

“Yes, but I left him with Michelle at the gift shop while I hiked down to Phantom Ranch, and she hiked out. It worked out pretty well, but it’s probably the longest we’re going to want to have the two of them separated until he gets a little older.”

“She might run a half trip or two in the fall,” Al smiled. “But that’s the fall and there’s going to be a lot of water going down the river before we get there.”

“I was wondering,” Nanci said. “Are we going to have Mark with us again this year?”

“No, he told us back at Christmas he was going to be doing his Mormon thing, and we’ve been scratching our heads for a while to come up with a replacement. A lot of the boatmen are a little shy about having to be on the White Team because of the Christian thing, but what we finally came up with is that Brett Riley is going to switch over from the Gold Team.”

“Brett?” Nanci frowned. “What did he say?”

“He said, ‘Yup,’” Al grinned. “He’s not the most talkative guy in the world.”

“No fooling,” Nanci shook her head, and turned to Sarah. “I haven’t actually done a trip with the guy, but he has a reputation for not saying very much, ever.”

“Oh, I’ve run with him,” Karin grinned. “Once in a while he’ll explain something about the Canyon, but it almost sounds like it came out of a tape recorder. I think he must stand in front of a mirror and practice to do it that much.”

“Karin, Crystal, Preach, and I all talked about it quite a bit. I don’t know if he has any religious principles or what, but you can be sure he’s not going to say anything about anything he doesn’t like.”

“Well, that’s something. I can think of worse people to have.”

“So can we. Actually, we’re sort of wondering if he’s going to be able to keep up his track record when he’s on the White Team.”

“I’ll bet he doesn’t.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Al laughed. “You haven’t run with him and seen him in action. Nanci, I’ll tell you what. I’ll bet you a beer in the Burro that he does, but if I win you’ll have to drink it.”

“You’re on, Al. I know you’ve never run one of those Christian trips.”

“Like I said, you haven’t seen him in action.”

Sarah shook her head. “What’s this all about?”

Al turned to her. “You know Will Hoffman, don’t you Sarah?”

“Jennifer’s husband? I’ve met him, I can’t say as I know him, but he’s sure real friendly.”

“Brett looks a lot like Will. I mean, you’d never take them for brothers or anything, but he’s a real good-looking cuss. But there’s something about him looking like that and being a strong silent type that really appeals to some women, and it’s a rare trip when he doesn’t wind up with some female customer down in the tammies somewhere toward the end of the trip.”

“I don’t know how he does it,” Karin laughed. “I mean, I was never drawn to that kind of guy, and I’m old enough to remember Gary Cooper films on late-night TV. He had a reputation like that. I mean, Brett doesn’t say much more than ‘yup’ and ‘nope’ and sometimes, ‘much obliged, ma’am,’ but there’s something about the way he does it that makes some women want to drag him right out into the bushes, and he doesn’t need a lot of dragging.”

“You’re kidding!”

“Nope,” Al grinned, and they all laughed at that. After it settled down, Al went on, “He doesn’t mess with the crew, Sarah, so you’re probably safe unless you’re really drawn to him, and then he’ll still keep it toward the end of the last trip you take. The unwritten rule is that if you’re going to mess with a customer, keep it toward the end of the trip so any trouble it causes doesn’t have time to fester and will go out of the Canyon at the end of the trip with them.”

“Well, that’s one thing I don’t think you’re going to have to worry about with me.”

“Yup,” Al laughed. “But let’s see what happens when you get to watch Nanci drink a beer at the Burro before the two of you head back east. Canyon magic works a lot of ways, and does some strange things to people sometimes.”

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.