Page 2 of Shaded Amethysts
Hannah and I put on our ice skates, but I told the little ones it was best to play and learn to glide with their shoes first. The pond’s ice wasn’t as smooth or cleared off as a rink’s would be, so I thought that might make it easier for them than trying actual skates.
We weren’t there long before Molly and her crew showed up. I felt a bit guilty when I saw Grant’s wheelchair stop as Molly and Scout continued toward us. This location wasn’t ideal for his chair, but I had already told the kids what we were doing when Molly called. I didn’t want to risk my ‘awesome Aunt Avery’ status by changing plans on them at the last minute.
We had a blast sliding, twirling, and throwing snow. We all had red faces, except for Pepper. Hers was almost completely white from burying it in the fresh powder along the edge of the pond.
Grant seemed to become distressed about something as he talked on the phone on the shore, so Molly asked me to watch her son, too, as she went to see what was wrong.
I was holding onto Hannah’s hands and teaching her how to do a pair spin when I heard the deafening crack of the ice.
Hannah and I had been moving slowly enough that I was able to quickly stop us. We both stood there, barely daring to breathe, as we tried to figure out where the weak spot was.
Pepper and the younger kids were still playing, oblivious to the terrifying potential meaning of that particular sound.
My frightened gaze locked with Molly’s from across the distance just before sweet little Scout fell through the ice.
2
Avery
Panic froze me in place as I stared in horror at the scene before me.This can’t be happening.My mind went into autopilot as I scrambled forward, determined to rescue the little boy as I yelled back for Hannah to get her siblings and head to shore.
Pepper beat me to the hole in the ice and somehow––miraculously––snagged the child’s puffy coat collar with her teeth before he sank into the dark abyss.
From the corner of my eye as I hurried forward, I saw Molly sprinting in our direction. As frightened as I was, I couldn’t imagine the terror my best friend must have been feeling. Poor Grant was stuck on the shore, likely feeling helpless, but I couldn’t worry about him right now. My only priority was doing whatever it took to save their little boy.
As Pepper struggled to hold onto the child with her teeth, more ice gave way and she crashed into the water. I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out, as the dog and child went under the inky water.
Fear nearly strangled me as I awkwardly ran the final steps to them on my skate blades. Some corner of my brain heard the deep voice shout, “Lay down on the ice and spread out your weight.”
The last thing I wanted to do was take the time to follow that sage advice, but I was still rational enough to know that if I fell into the frigid water, I wouldn’t be able to help anyone.
After kneeling down, I sprawled out and crawled as fast as I could the rest of the way toward the hole. Pepper surfaced with the child’s coat still clutched in her teeth. She was kicking with all her might and scrabbling to find a spot where she could pull them up onto the slick ice. The whites of her eyes were visible as she worked to save them both.
As soon as I reached the edge of the hole, I reached down to grab the dog’s purple collar. I pulled up on the collar with all of my strength. Just as I started to make some headway, the collar slipped off over the dog’s head.
I’m not normally much of a curser, but an expletive fell from my lips as I realized this would make it even harder to pull the dog and child out. I contemplated putting the dog’s collar back on, but I didn’t want to use the time to try to wrangle the panicked animal only to have the blasted thing slip off again. Besides, I wasn’t sure my cold, gloved hands could handle the task.
Instead, I tried wrapping my arms around the dog’s thick neck and pulling. Her toenails scratched at me as she frantically tried to keep the two of them afloat. Despite the adrenaline rush that must be pumping through my veins, I wasn’t able to lift them out of the water.
My helplessness made me want to shout in frustration, but I refrained. Instead, a scream of terror threatened to emerge when I felt my body begin sliding. If something didn’t quickly change, I was going to end up in the water, too.
I clutched onto the terrified animal, refusing to let her face this battle on her own. The section of ice I was on began to give way. The cold water started to seep into my down coat, making me suck in a breath involuntarily.
Rather than me pulling Pepper and Scout out, they were pulling me in. Between that and the breaking ice, I braced myself to be fully submerged in the icy water.
Just as my upper body began to fall through, a strong hand wrapped around the boot of my skate and yanked me backwards. I didn’t take the time to contemplate what had happened to bring me back to safety because Scout and Pepper were still in the water fighting for their lives.
Suddenly a rope appeared by my side. A man’s voice ordered me, “Put that around the dog’s middle and tie a knot.”
I rushed to do as he instructed. Pepper’s panicked dog paddling made it nearly impossible to get the rope around her chest, but I knew I had to make it work. Pulling her up by her neck would run the risk of strangling her.
Eventually, I got the rope in place. The hero behind me yelled, “We are going to pull together on three. One… Two… Three.”
When he reached three, we both pulled on the rope with all of our strength. After we made a tiny bit of headway, we both inched backward. Pepper’s front paws were on the ice, and she was doing her best to scoot her way up with the child in tow as we pulled.
Molly’s frantic screech pierced the air. “Scout, I’m coming!”
She had been far away, where Grant’s wheelchair had gotten stuck in the ice and snow on the path to the pond, so it had taken her a while to sprint out to us.
