Christy Miller Collection, Vol 4 Page 3

  “There,” he said, “now you’re ready to get the rest of yourself wet and show us how you do on one ski.”

  “You eel!” Katie cried, shaking her arms to remove the wet. “I’ll show you! I’ll make your run look like a cartoon clip. Stand back, everyone. I’m a woman on a mission.” Katie handed the flag to Christy, buckled up her life vest, and jumped into the water. “Throw me that ski, Mr. Big Shot. You’re about to be humbled.”

  Clearly unafraid of anything requiring athletic ability, Katie tried three times to get up. Each time she lost her balance and surfaced to the roar of Doug’s heckling. The fourth attempt proved to be the winner, and as soon as she gained her balance, Katie leaned back and confidently let go with one hand to wave to the crew.

  “She’s going to eat it big time,” Doug said, his eyes glued on Katie’s overly confident frame as she jumped over the wake and came down hard on the ski. She retained her balance. “I don’t believe it! She’s a maniac!”

  Christy couldn’t help but admire Katie. She was really good. Anything she ever attempted in the realm of sports came to her easily. It was the opposite for Christy. The worst part was knowing that sometime during this weekend she would have to try waterskiing. None of these guys would accept “I don’t feel like it.”

  Her chance came all too soon. Katie showed off for a good ten minutes before she tried one daring stunt too many and crashed into the water. “You’re next, Christy” were Katie’s first words as she climbed back into the boat. “The water is warm. Really.”

  “I’ll go in with her,” Todd volunteered. “It’s easier to figure out the right position the first time when you have someone in the water with you.”

  Now Christy knew she couldn’t put off the inevitable. Not when Todd was willing to do all he could to help her. She fastened her life vest and, reaching for Todd’s assuring hand, jumped into the water by his side.

  “Brrr!” she called out as soon as she surfaced. “What do you mean the water is warm, Katie? It’s freezing!”

  “No it isn’t,” Katie called back. “You’ll get used to it. Believe me, once your adrenaline kicks in, you won’t feel a thing.”

  “Here you go.” Todd held the two skis in place above the water. “Put your arm around my shoulder and start with the right foot.”

  It was a clumsy sensation for Christy, trying to balance while buoyant and maneuvering a long water ski onto each foot. Todd patiently helped her get both skis on and instructed her to “sit” in the water with the tow rope wedged between the skis. “Keep both skis pointed up.” he said. “Try to sort of sit on the back of them, and when the boat pulls you out of the water, lean back. Your natural reflex will be to let go when you feel the tug. but just hang on, point your toes toward the boat, and lean back.”

  Christy shivered and let out a bewildered sigh. “That’s a lot to remember.”

  “You can do it. Relax. This is fun.”

  “It is?”

  Todd laughed and started to swim back to the boat. Christy waited in the water, feeling uncomfortable with the life vest pushing up to her ears and her ankles bent at a weird angle in the skis.

  Todd climbed in the boat and waved to her. “Are you ready, Christy?”

  “I guess.”

  “Say ‘hit it’ when you’re ready,” Katie informed her.

  She didn’t feel ready. Still, she truly wanted to do this. She would love to frolic over the waves like Katie had.

  With a quick mental review of all she was supposed to do, Christy yelled, “Hit it, but go slow!”

  The “go slow” part was lost in the roar of the motor starting up, and as soon as the taut towrope lurched forward, Christy let go. Bob turned the boat around, and as they circled, Todd tossed the towrope to her.

  “Remember? You hold on, point your toes, and lean back.”

  “Right. I’ve got it this time.” Christy laced the rope between her pointed skis. Before she had time to entertain any doubts, she yelled, “Go ahead, hit it!”

  This time she held on with all her might and kept her skis pointed straight. Before she knew it, she was up. She was actually standing on both skis, and the skis were gliding across the water. There was only one problem—she was still in a sitting position, bent at the waist, her arms out straight, and her rear end sticking up in the air.

  “Stand up!” she could hear her friends calling from the boat. “Lean back!”

  The pull of the rope was too strong. She couldn’t pull herself to a standing up position, let alone lean back. She continued her ride across the lake with knees bent, arms out straight, and head down, feeling as though she were flying with her legs in cement blocks.

  Then, without warning, she lost her balance and dove face first into the unfriendly water. The skis flew off. She let go of the rope, and in an attempt to scream, she swallowed enough lake water to fill a goldfish bowl. Worst of all, half the water had entered through her nose. She felt as though all her eyelashes had been peeled off in the process.

  Bob was the only one not laughing when the boat drew near to retrieve her. “You want to try again?” he asked calmly, as if she hadn’t just made a major spectacle of herself.

  “I don’t think so.” Christy coughed up big bubbles of lake water and tried not to cry.

  “Grab this rope,” Todd said. “Pull yourself to the ladder at the back, but be careful the rope doesn’t get tangled.”

  It took a lot of effort to climb into the boat because her arms were quivering and her ankles felt like they were still locked in cement. Todd had jumped into the water and was calmly fitting the skis on for his turn, as if nothing unusual had happened during Christy’s attempt.

  It was Katie who offered Christy a helping hand to get her back on board. Katie was still laughing, her green cat eyes brimming with tears of hilarity. “I always knew you were athletically impaired, Christy, but that was the funniest thing I have ever seen!”

  Christy felt like telling Katie to just shut up, but she swallowed her anger and reached for a towel to bury her face in. It was bad enough to have gone through such a humiliating experience with people she knew watching her; she didn’t need Katie’s insults as well.

  From the water Todd called out, “Hit it,” and Bob cranked up the boat. With the greatest of ease, Todd rose to his feet the first time and made his jaunt around the lake. Baby stuff. Anybody could do it. Anybody but Christy.

  Katie was right. She was athletically impaired. The only sort of athletic thing she had ever done well was trying out for cheerleading. Christy had worked hard for weeks to get the routines down just right. Maybe she could ski too if she really tried and gave herself time.

  Wrapping the towel around herself, Christy decided that whether she learned to ski or not didn’t matter. What mattered was that she gave it her best try, knowing it would be harder for her than for her friends.

  Christy watched Todd riding smoothly behind the boat. She wondered if everything in her life was going to be harder for her than it was for her friends. She hoped she would always have the courage to at least try.

  A slow grin forced its way across her lips as she thought of how she must have looked out there, bent at the waist, skimming across the water like some kind of contestant in a contortionist contest. It reminded her of when she and Katie had taken snow skiing lessons, and Christy had slid out of control and crashed into the ski instructor. The two friends had laughed together over that incident for the rest of the day. She realized she needed to lighten up. To laugh at herself. To take her uncle’s advice and just enjoy today.

  They spent the rest of the morning on the lake and were ready for lunch when they returned to the houseboat sometime in the early afternoon. Marti scolded them for being gone so long and not checking in.

  Todd gave her a side hug, “You should have known we were okay. It’s only when we never come back that you need to worry.”

  Marti smiled up at her favorite young man. “Now what kind of sense does that make, Todd? In the
future you need to give me a better time reference so I won’t have to worry.”

  Todd reached for a tortilla chip from the open bag Katie offered to him and crunched loudly. “Okay. Marti. Just to make you happy we’ll set a time. Or better yet, why don’t you come out on the boat with us?”

  Marti thought it over while Todd stepped to the table and began to make himself a sandwich from the fixings Bob was setting out.

  “I suppose I should go out at least once this weekend.”

  “After lunch, maybe?” Todd challenged.

  “Maybe. As long as it’s with just you and Christy.” Then with a proud look she added, “My favorite new couple.”

  Doug, who was sitting at the table spreading mayonnaise on his bread, suddenly stood up, pushed his chair back with his heel, and disappeared out the sliding door. No one seemed to notice except Christy. The rest of them dove into their sandwich making, but Christy’s heart was beating hard.

  She felt responsible for Doug’s reactions. Doug had always been like a big brother to her. She couldn’t stand to see him acting like this, and she knew she would be miserable the rest of the weekend if she didn’t talk to him.

  Gathering her courage, Christy drew away from the group and slipped out onto the deck in search of Doug.

  Christy made her way around the narrow walk on the side of the deck and cautiously approached Doug, who was at the front of the houseboat, shaking out a beach towel.

  “Hi,” Christy said. “Are you okay?”

  “Sure.” Doug turned to face her. “Why shouldn’t I be?”

  Christy thought he looked angry. “Are you sure?”

  The corners of Doug’s mouth turned up into a smile. “Sure as sure can be. I came out for a towel so I wouldn’t get the seat wet from my trunks.”

  “Oh.” Christy wasn’t sure what else to say. “Good idea.”

  She thought of their trip up to the lake the day before and how Doug had teased her and given her at least two hugs along the way. Today he hadn’t come within ten feet of her. It wasn’t her imagination. Something was wrong.

  “Doug, somehow I don’t believe you. Can’t you be honest with me?”

  Releasing a sigh, Doug folded his arms across his broad chest and leaned against the railing. “Okay. You want honest? You and Todd getting together has made me feel something.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t know. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy for both of you. I just don’t want things to change between us now.

  “Nothing is going to change.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. I’ve had friends who suddenly became invisible when they started going out with a girl. And I have a hard time staying friends with a girl once she’s taken.”

  “It won’t be like that with us,” Christy promised. “Todd and I will still both be close friends with you.”

  “Promise?” Doug asked.

  “Yes.”

  “I confess I’m skeptical, but for now I’ll accept that. Let’s not talk about this anymore and just see how things go. I’m starving! How about you?”

  Christy laughed. “How could you be after all those pancakes?”

  Doug shrugged and opened the sliding door, motioning for Christy to go first.

  After lunch Katie wanted to ski and Christy wanted to lay out on the flat roof of the houseboat. Doug said he was up for more boating, and Todd said he would do “whatever.” It seemed like the perfect chance to let Doug and Katie go out on the boat alone. Then Marti stepped in.

  “But Todd and Christy haven’t taken me out in the boat yet. I suppose I really should go while the weather is nice.” Marti reached for her wide-brimmed straw hat. “I only want to go out for a quick motor around the lake.”

  “Then let’s go,” Todd said obligingly. “You up for it, Christy?”

  “Sure.” She cast a quick glance at Katie as if to nudge her to spend the time getting closer to Doug. “Let me grab my sunglasses.”

  Todd helped Marti onto the boat. As soon as her foot touched the deck, a cloud hid the sun. Just as quickly as the cloud blew in, it blew away, and the afternoon sun beat down on Christy’s back as she stepped onto the boat.

  “I’m going to take the houseboat that direction,” Bob told Todd, pointing to the right. “I thought I’d find a new cove for us to park in tonight. It should be easy to locate us when you come back.”

  Todd nodded and called out. “Later.” He started up the engine and slowly headed for the open part of the lake. “You ladies mind putting on life vests? It’s boating rules, you know.”

  “We won’t need them,” Marti reasoned. “We’re only going for a jaunt, and I certainly don’t plan on getting wet.”

  Christy followed Todd’s example and slipped on a vest, leaving it unhooked. If nothing else, the vest cut down some of the breeze as they left their protected cover.

  For the next fifteen minutes, Marti held on to her hat and directed Todd where to go. He followed her commands and turned into what looked like a long finger of Lake Shasta that was too narrow for houseboats.

  Another cloud covered up the sun, and Christy shivered. She wished she had worn more than her damp bathing suit and T-shirt.

  Todd steered the boat down the narrowing waterway, pointing out some little hidden coves off to the left.

  “Let’s go over there.” Marti suggested. “Might be a good place for a picnic lunch tomorrow.”

  Todd expertly pulled the boat into the first hidden cove they came to. Then he jumped into the waist-deep water to secure the boat and called to Marti and Christy to join him in exploring their secret cove.

  “How do I get to shore without getting wet?” Marti asked after she watched Christy slide into the water and slosh her way ashore.

  “You have to get wet,” Todd said. “It’s not that deep. Go down the rope ladder on the side.”

  Christy watched as her aunt hesitated, deliberated, and finally decided to make the sacrifice and join the two of them on the pebbly beach.

  “Oh,” she screeched when her foot first felt the water, “it’s so cold!”

  “You’re doing great.” Todd waded out and offered her a hand onto shore.

  A huge cloud covered the sun. Everything around them seemed unusually quiet and still.

  “It feels like we’re a hundred miles from the rest of the world,” Christy said, surveying the surroundings. The small beach extended only twenty or so feet behind them before sloping up into a hill. The hillside was sparsely vegetated at its beginning but soon sprouted thick clumps of tall, straight trees that all pointed to the sky like a line of steady, green soldiers. “This is beautiful.’

  “A bit chilly,” Marti noticed. “What happened to our sunshine?”

  “Let’s go exploring,” Todd suggested.

  “It’s too dangerous,” Marti said. “We should get going so we can find the houseboat before a storm breaks out. I’ve heard the weather on a lake can be very unpredictable. Come now. Let’s go.”

  “Shh,” Todd whispered. “Did you see that?” He had his back to Marti and was scanning the forest behind them. “Over there, it’s a deer! See? Up to the left, behind those two trees.”

  Christy spotted it and slowly moved closer to Todd. “It’s watching us. Isn’t it cute? Too bad we don’t have some apples to feed it.”

  “What are you talking about? I don’t see anything.” Marti marched over toward Todd and Christy, but her sudden movements startled the deer back into the shadows.

  “It’s gone now,” Todd said. “If we come back tomorrow for a picnic, let’s be sure to bring some apples.”

  “Fine.” Marti sounded irritated. “You can bring it apples tomorrow. Right now, let’s get back to the houseboat.”

  Christy realized how miserable her aunt was being out of her comfort zone like this. Christy knew the houseboating idea had been Bob’s, but he had talked Marti into it by showing her in the brochure that the houseboat contained all the comforts of home. Apparently Marti had experien
ced enough of the great outdoors by coming to shore and was now ready to go back to her “home” and all those comforts.

  The three of them boarded the boat, and Christy had to agree that it felt a little isolated and almost spooky in this silent cove, especially since the sun kept sliding behind the clouds. Todd waited until Christy and Marti were seated and then turned the key in the ignition. Nothing happened. He tried again; a slow grinding sound emerged. Todd pushed a couple of switches and tried the key again. Nothing.

  “What’s wrong?” Marti demanded. “What’s wrong with the boat?”

  Todd tapped his finger on one of the oval gauges and calmly answered, “It appears we’re out of gas.”

  “Out of gas! Didn’t you bring an extra can along?” No.

  “How could you let this happen? After all the skiing you did this morning, didn’t you think to check it before we left?”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “We’re marooned!” Marti wailed.

  Christy felt a little distressed, but nothing close to what her aunt was expressing. As a matter of fact, Marti would have made a great character on the old TV sitcom Gilligan’s Island.

  “What are you going to do?” Marti asked. “No one will ever find us in here!”

  I’m going to pray,” Todd said matter-of-factly. “Care to join me?”

  “I will,” Christy offered, getting up from her seat and joining Todd in the front of the boat. The two of them prayed simply and sincerely for God to send help.

  Twenty minutes later, Christy pulled the life vest closer around her. It was getting colder, and she wished they had at least brought beach towels along to wrap their legs in.

  Todd and Christy were the only ones talking to each other. Marti had covered herself with a life vest and sat huddled on the vinyl seat looking miserable and not saying a word, which Christy had decided was a good thing. Hearing what Marti was thinking right now would not bring much joy to their situation.