Page 35 of Landry

“Remind me to thank your neighbor.” Landry took the paddle from her and dug it into the water, sending the little skiff forward.

“It took us a long time to get to the hut with the motor,” she noted.

“It’ll take even longer to get back,” Landry said, digging the paddle into the water again and again.

“I can row when you get tired,” Camille offered.

“Thanks,” he said. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

For the next twenty minutes, Landry rowed, switching sides to keep the skiff moving forward.

At one point, they rounded a bend. Before Landry would paddle on the other side, the bow of the skiff slid into a patch of reeds with a mound of sticks rising out of it.

When Landry raised the paddle and pushed against the stack of sticks, something launched out of the shadows.

Starlight glinted off sharp teeth as a massive alligator clamped onto the end of the paddle.

Camille gasped and leaned away, pulling Ava with her.

Landry shoved the paddle hard, trying to move the alligator away from the skiff. The boat rocked violently, water splashing over the edge.

The alligator refused to release its hold on the paddle.

Landry pulled, pushed and shook the paddle, but only managed to rock the boat even more.

“Let it go,” Camille cried.

“We need that paddle.”

“Its teeth are buried in it. Let it go,” she pleaded as she held onto the fiercely rocking boat and her daughter.

The decision was literally taken from Landry’s hands. The alligator jerked its head to the side, wrenching the paddle free of Landry’s grip. Immediately, the creature sank beneath the surface, paddle and all.

Her heart thundering in her chest, Camille held a sleepy Ava in her arms while looking all around the skiff, expecting the alligator to return and take a bite out of the boat.

Landry sat with his back ramrod straight, his head swiveling on his neck. After several tense minutes, his gaze met Camille’s in the starlight. “I think it’s gone.”

“Thank God,” Camille whispered, glad Ava had been too tired to fully waken in the middle of the drama. Had she been fully aware of what was going on, an alligator attack would have plagued her dreams for the rest of her childhood.

For a few more minutes, they sat still, waiting to see if the alligator would return.

When it didn’t, Camille looked to Landry. “Now what?”

“I can paddle with my hands,” Landry leaned toward the side of the boat and extended his hand toward the water.

Camille’s heart leaped into her throat. “No!”

He jerked his hand back and gave her a tight smile. “We have no other way of propelling this boat forward. Maybe if I can get to a tree, I can break off a branch and try poling us through the bayou. But we have to get to a tree first.”

Camille looked around the little boat. There was nothing they could use as a paddle. Finally, she kicked off her shoe, retrieved it and handed it to Landry. “Use this.”

He shook his head. “It’s not going to move us any faster.”

“At least it gives you something to lose besides your hand if another alligator decides it wants to attack.”

When he hesitated, she sighed. “Please.”

He leaned over the side and used her tennis shoe to push through the water.

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