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‘You should get some practice back here in the stern.’

‘Good for you, Marcus, good thinking, I thought sarcastically. Any minute now and Poppa will give you a nice pat on the head. But I did as he said. He took up my position near Karl, and I went aft.’

‘He doesn’t know the first thing about white-water rafting,’ Kevin said to me. ‘Believe me, we’re doing everything ass backward. Whoever heard of trying to row with a round pole? Is he putting us on?’

I suspected Kevin of holding a grudge against Karl for having yelled at him. I still believed that Karl knew what he was talking about.

That afternoon the river was serenely beautiful. We grew accustomed to the pace. Karl had calmed down somewhat. ‘It’s so magnificent,’ he said with a sigh. A family of monkeys was leaping from one treetop to another, and Karl imitated their cries. ‘There’ll be plenty of game downriver,’ he promised. ‘No one has ever hunted that area before. This river is loaded with fish, too, huge fish. They can weigh over a hundred pounds.’

We came to a slight turn in the river. Karl ordered us to row in the opposite direction, to keep away from the bend.

‘That’s all wrong,’ Kevin said to me. ‘We should just let the current carry us along.’

We made it safely around the bend, and Karl began yelling excitedly, ‘To the left! Hard! Everyone, row left, fast! We’re liable to go into the Eslabon Pass.’