wrath of the Sea Queen (93 page)

"
Jeremy, you've got to help me
!
  I can't do this
on my own
!
"
Vin shouted.

"
But I can't swim!
"
  Jeremy's voice reflected his panic.

"
It doesn't matter.  I need you to kick your feet.  Just kick your feet as hard as you can.  Move them the same way mine are moving.  I need the extra push to get us to shore.  The current is too strong for me to
do
this
alone
.  Come on, Jeremy.  You can do this.  Don't think of it as swimming.  Think of it as a foot race.  Now kick
!
"
Vin kept encouraging him, and they made a little progress.

Vin looked to the shoreline and back
toward
the
portion of the
levee
where they
had been
working
.  He could see shapes moving about, but they seemed far away.  He suspected that it would not take long for the strong current to carry them
beyond the reach of any assistance from shore
.

"
Jeremy, you're doing great. 
Wa
tch the shoreline.  We need to keep an eye out for people trying to help us.  If they throw us a
nother
line, you are going to have to catch it.  I busted my arm, so it will be up to you to pull us in, ok?
"
  Vin knew the others, especially Apela, would be trying to help.

"
Yes, Sir
.
"

Vin's
steady
manner finally got through to the young guardsman, and Jeremy's military training
took over
.  The one thing he could relate to was following orders.

"
That's a good man.
"
 
A
s Vin
replied
, another large wave caught them and pulled them un
der, only to spit them out even
f
a
rther from shore. 

Apela
ran to
his truck and followed the pair along the shore as
fast as
he could.  Several men, including Maku and a few of the rescue swimmers, jumped into the back of the truck as they noted Apela
's direction
. 
T
he others stayed behind to work on new repairs and to find out what caused the explosions.

Apela guided his truck through the wet sand as fast as
it would go
. 
He did not want to lose sight of his new friend despite the fact that h
e was barely able to
keep up with the men as they were pulled al
ong by the rapid current. 
Apela was not about to let the lady who saved his son lose her husband.  He
would
find a way to rescue Vin, who courageously and foolishly
attempted to
sav
e
the young Lieutenant.  Apela
had
never met a more selfless
, albeit
reckless
,
couple. 

Finally, Apela noticed that Vin managed to stop their down current drift,
yet
was unable to make his way to shore.  He tri
ed
valiantly, but was slowly losing ground
against the relentless sea
.  The rescue swimmers tied lines to Apela's truck and moved as far out as they could
.  I
t was not far enough to reach the two men, even when they threw extra lines. 
T
hey
needed to
find a way to help the
two
m
en
soon
.  Vin
would not be able to maintain th
eir current
position
for very long
.

In one
valiant
attempt, Maku
went
out farther even than the rescue swimmers and
threw
a life ring toward Vin and Jeremy.  Jeremy
managed to
grab hold of it, and Maku began to pull.  Unfortunately, the waves tore the line from Maku's grip and sent him sprawling in the water.  The only good thing that
came
from the attempt was that now Jeremy and Vin had a bit of support to help keep
them
from drowning as their strength waned.

CHAPTER
22

Salma quietly busied herself in the room while C
a
eli slept.  She was
eager
for
C
a
eli
to wake so that she could question her
, but also wanted to let her rest
as long as possible
.  As Salma watched her throughout the morning, it did not appear
as if
C
a
eli
was in pain. 
Almost
two hours later
,
C
a
eli finally woke.

"
Salma?  What are you doing?  Where's Vin?
"
  C
a
eli
slowly
turned over in bed and watch
ed
her
aunt
.  Salma put down the robe she
was
f
olding
and moved over to sit on the chair b
y
the bed.

"
Good morning, sleepy head.  How are you feeling?
"

"
I'm m
uch better.  I think that whatever
I
ha
ve been fighting
has finally settled down.  Maybe it was a
nasty little
twenty four hour bug
after all
.  I
a
m dying of
thirst
though
.  I'm going to refill my water…
"

"
Nonsense
; yo
u stay right there!  You might be feeling better, but you are not well.  I
wi
ll get you
some
water.
"
  Salma walked into the
small kitchenette
and returned with the bottle from the night before, freshly filled with water. 

"
There you go, nice and cold.
"

"
Thank you. 
Where's
Vin?  I want to
see
him before he le
aves
.  We didn't get much of a chance to talk last night
.  I decided to go ahead and tell him.  I can't let him continue to worry
,
"
C
a
eli
said
, as she took several long drinks from the water bottle, thinking it was still early morning.

"
T
hey
have
already
gone.  What
were
you going to tell him?
  Anything I should know?
"  Salma was curious whether or not C
a
eli
could provide
more information about her illness than she
was able to
share last night.  If so, Salma wanted to know
the details
, too
.

"Oh,
I
want
to tell him about the test I took
. 
I decided not to wait any longer. 
Have they been gone long?"

"
He and Apela left a little after eight, but he
wi
ll be back for lunch soon.  It's already ten o'clock.  I was beginning to think you might sleep all day.
"
  Salma heard C
a
eli gasp in surprise. 

"
I didn't realize it was that late. 
How much medicine did you give me?
  I should get up and stretch my legs.  I need to unpack and
put
the room in order.
"
  C
a
eli started to rattle off a list of things she wanted to get done.

"
No, you
won't
do any such thing.  You're sick and you
a
re on vacation.  You need t
o
rest
.  Besides
, there is nothing for you to do.  I
ha
ve already cleaned up your room and
unpacked
most of your clothes.  There
i
s very little left to do, and all of it can wait.  Are you hungry?  Do you want something to
hold
you over until lunch?
"

"
No thanks.
  I don't quite trust my stomach yet.
"

"
You really should try to eat
a little
something.  How about one of those disgusting energy bars of yours?  I know you packed some.  Where
did I see them
?
"