Summary

Chapter Sixteen begins with a description of how Jack and Wynn arranged themselves and the woman in their canoe. They start off, relatively calm but knowing things are about to get much worse.

As the travelers continue, they start to worry about the sounds of the fire around them. They are paying so much attention to the sound that they lose track of what the river is doing and find themselves in a suddenly appearing rapid. As he and Jack frantically try to navigate their way through, Wynn is surprised to see that the woman (the text now refers to her as Maia) is bailing out the water that has spilled over the sides. They eventually make their way to more stable water. Jack gives her some blueberries as fuel “for the next one” (177).

The sound intensifies, the smoke gets thicker...