Chapter Three

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"Gretta! Look!" Henri shouted excitedly, pointing at the wooden toy boat he had just been given for his eighth birthday. The boat floated in the river, carried along by the cool autumn wind. Henri clapped excitedly as he ran with the boat, making sure to keep in the grass next to the water. Max, who was further away, reached over the water to grab his own boat, pulling Henri's out of the water in the process.

"Be careful, you two," Gretchen called out to her brothers. "Don't let the boats get too far away." Her warning was met with two cheery responses that neither of them would let that happen.

Satisfied with their answers, Gretchen turned back to the book in her lap, pulling her jacket slightly tighter around her shoulders. It would have been much warmer had the sun been out, but the New York skyline was covered in a thick blanket of clouds. The breeze caused the mild temperature to drop significantly, which required Gretchen and her brothers to break out thicker jackets. The occasional wind caused Gretchen's pages to flutter in the wind. If she didn't have her finger on the pages, they'd flip and Gretchen would lose her place. Finally, Gretchen got fed up with the wind, and she set her book aside.

She looked up just in time; Henri was running towards her, pointing at the river. "My boat! Gretta, my boat!" Henri's boat was floating on the river, moving quickly. "I can't reach it!" He was right, the boat was too far from the riverbank for either him or Max to pick it up.

Gretchen stood up quickly and raced to the edge of the water. Luckily, a pile of leaves and sticks had caught the boat, but it was still too far from shore for the two boys to reach. It was up to Gretchen to save the boat. Max and Henri watched nervously as their older sister carefully made her way across the rocks to retrieve the toy boat.

Once she reached the last rock, Gretchen stopped. "I can't go any further," she called, turning back to her brothers. She tried to reach out and grab the boat, but she didn't want to fall into the frigid river.

"Be careful coming back," Max called back, holding a crying Henri close to him.

Gretchen nodded. She had no intention of falling in, but when she turned to glance at the boat one more time, her foot slipped on the slick surface of the rock. She didn't know what was happening until she felt the cold shock of water around her.

She struggled to reach the bottom of the river, but she was in too deep. As the water rushed over her head, Gretchen attempted to keep her head above the water, gasping for air. She could faintly hear the shouting voices of her brothers on shore, but neither of them could swim. Gretchen suddenly had the realization that she couldn't swim either. She attempted to reach the rock she had slipped off of, hoping it would keep her afloat. Before she could get her arm around it, her water-filled garments pulled her down, completely under the water.

Curse this outfit, Gretchen thought as she frantically kicked her feet. The cold water made it so much harder to move. Even her thoughts seemed sluggish. She sank down, her lungs screaming for air. But she didn't have the strength to kick anymore.

Just as she thought it was too late, she felt an arm wrap around her waist and begin to pull her to the surface.

Gretchen coughed and took several deep breaths as the person brought her back to solid land. Before she could see who it was, she was surrounded by her younger brothers, their words of concern overlapping.

"I'm okay," Gretchen told them finally, causing them to calm down a bit. She looked beside her and saw Albert DaSilva sitting a few feet away, soaking wet and catching his breath. He caught her eye and gave her a small smile.

"Maybe you should watch ya step around the river next time," he said. "I might not be around ta save ya, or the boat."

"But the boat-" Gretchen started, stopping when she saw Henri holding his wooden boat happily. "Thank you, Albert."

Albert shrugged. "Ain't a big deal. But we's should probably be gettin' you somewhere warmer before you get sick." He stood up, then offered her his hand. Gretchen took it gratefully, standing up with his help. She suddenly realized that she was shivering.

"Our apartment is too far away!" Max exclaimed, concerned.

Albert nodded slowly. "Then come with me, I know a place close ta here." Before he began walking, he shed his jacket and placed it around Gretchen's shoulders. Then he started toward the street, with Gretchen and her brothers in tow.

~~~~~
hi! I feel pretty proud of how this chapter turned out. anyway, thanks for reading!!
have a great day/night :)

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