Page 42 (1/2)

I took a breath and took the first toe off the botto below

But I was too short, or the rope was too far away, depending on your perspective I’d have to drop both feet

"Fingers, don’t fail rip the next one down, thenfrom the bottom rail, feet suspended in s bit intothe rope with my toe The tilted deck put the rope at least a foot in front of y, but lanced down, fought off the sudden vertigo caused by the bobbing water beneath me The river was only a few feet do, a small drop But his plate of ice had moved a few feet away, driven by the river’s current Another plate of ice had taken its place

There was no help for it I kept aze on the ice, ticked off the seconds until I could land as squarely as possible, and let go

I hit the ice in a crouch, square in the middle

And I should have known better than to get cocky about it

There was a splash on the other side of the boat, a scream Someone else had fallen into the water And that ht as it was, tilted the ice Before I could react, the sheet tilted, sending ht tilted the ice further, and there was nothing to grab, nothing to hold on to

The wo screamed, and then I was underwater

CHAPTER TWELVE

HEART OF ICE

The chill was instantly painful, every cell and nerve screa That the water was much too cold, the teer

I bobbed up, sucked in air, pushed frigid water fro for a fingerhold so I could claay onto it But rab And there was no point in it, I realized, ht as well aim for the ice the kid was actually on

I paddled through the slush, pushing ice out of the way, ers blue with cold, to the ice floe where Stephen lay crying, hands gripping the edge of the ice He wore a T-shirt and shorts and was probably as cold as I was

"Hi," I said at the edge of the water, trying not to let hiht?"

He nodded, his enormous blue eyes filled with terror

"Excellent I’et back on the boat"

"Are you a mermaid?"

"Not exactly," I said, and turned the ice toward the boat, kicking as I pushed us toward it I was suddenly in swiain on a kickboard--except those lessons had never been in freezing water in the o River