“No!” Walz shouted. “Another creek lies ahead. Once we get through that, we’ll be all right.”
“How far?”
“Only a mile or two.”
With a worried shake of his head, Mr. Livingston kept on. Rain fell in a deluge, threatening to damp out the car motor.
“The creek is just ahead,” Walz encouraged him.
“How deep is the water running?” the Scout leader demanded.
Water sprayed the windshield and he could not make out even the drop-off of the pavement into the depression.
“It’ll be okay,” Walz assured him. “The rain hasn’t been falling long. Keep on.”
Mr. Livingston obeyed and immediately regretted it. The moment the car rolled down into the creek bed, he saw that the water was far higher than he had imagined. It swirled angrily around the tires and kept creeping higher. Too late, Mr. Livingston saw he could not back out.
“Jeepers!” Walz exclaimed. “The rain must have started earlier in the mountains! Keep going, man! Keep going!”