Paradise Thriller

It's Just A Walk In The Woods

"What do you mean, pulled you under?" Alison asked.

"I fell off the tube - that was my own stupid fault, I know - but I was doing okay."

"Doing okay? You were floundering around like some kid whose dad thinks the way to give a swimming lesson is just toss them off a dock into the water," Clarice said.

"Okay, so I wasn't on the swim team like I said – and I didn't spend my summers as a lifeguard at some fancy camp like Clarice -- but I know how to keep my head above water." Jolene looked around the group. "And I know when something grabs me by the ankle and pulls me under."

Travis looked at her. "You think a shark grabbed you around the ankle and pulled you under," he said, looking at her bare feet, "but didn't even break the skin?"

"Jolene," Alison said, "when Clarice boosted you up onto the boat you had seaweed wrapped around your ankle - you'd had a lot to drink, you were panicking, and you probably weren't used to swimming in salt water." It was the only reasonable explanation, but even as Alison said it she pictured Jolene - flailing about one moment and, the next, her head disappearing completely under the water.

"I don't know," Jolene said, looking uncertain. She stretched out her legs, studying her ankles and feet for some trace of damage and finding nothing.

"You're probably right. It's just - hitting the water was a shock after that last wave you hit--" she looked at Alison, "How fast were you going? - anyway, one second I was just bouncing along, then the next thing I knew I was off the tube and swallowing all the sea water and I kept trying to get my breath then all of a sudden it was like something had a hold on my ankle, pulling me under."

"Between the undertow and the grasses out there, I'm not surprised you panicked," Alison said, recalling guiltily how her own hands had tightened on the accelerator as she imagined Gwen in her element, pushing the waverunner to its limit, streaking across the blue waters of the Island shore with the wind blowing back her hair, the future filled with limitless possibilities. She'd known Jolene was in no condition to be riding a tube after all the beer she'd consumed, much less riding a tube while trying to wriggle out of her bikini top and flash the cameraman on Brogan's boat.

"And then there was this loud noise and I was back at the surface gasping for air again, and all I could hear was Miranda screaming." Jolene gave a little shudder. "I think I'll pass if you ever want to drag me behind a jet ski again," she said, looking over at Alison.

"Maybe you wouldn't have fallen off if you'd have paid more attention to holding on and less to trying to take your top off," Clarice said mildly.

"Whoa," Daryl said, "did I just hear topless? Let me get this straight. We're off in the woods hunting rabbits, and you girls are out there running around topless on the beach."

Travis looked over at them. "Brogan told you to take your tops off?"

"Um, well," Miranda said. "Actually I kind of started that and then Jolene . . ."

"Shit," Billy Ray said. "How about a repeat performance?"

"Yeah, you girls want to give us little cameo?" Daryl grinned.

"You'll just have to catch it on the uncensored DVD version," Miranda said.

* * *

As soon as Alison got to the campsite the next morning for breakfast, she noticed a new announcement on the notice board.

Good Morning Swingers

Your task today is to follow the red trail markers and retrieve Key #2.