“Cool,” said Pinky. He and Layla were jazzed about this connection between the mountain water and the river. When did they get to be such good friends? I wondered to myself, but decided not to think about it. Pinky gave me this look like he was superior or something. What if I got stuck with him for five days going down the river? What about getting paired with anyone from this group for five days? Mike and Nina made this big deal about how we would be depending on each other for survival, and believe me, ever since the panning for gold fiasco, nobody wanted to depend on me.

Thursday morning we pulled straws to see who would go in what canoe. Guess who was with me? That’s right. Layla. Everyone thought that was hilarious, except for Layla and me. Nina just said, “Ah, you never can tell what the fickle finger of fate will bring you.”