"You go out on the river today you'll drownd yourself. Look at it. Take a good look at it."
We turned and looked at the river. The gray water raced by. It had a soapy look. The boil of the current looked vicious.
"I've been out in worse than that and you know it. Is the shed locked?"
"No," Anita said sullenly.
"Come on, Tal," Antoinette said. I followed her to the shed. She selected a pair of oars, measured them to make certain she had mates. We went to the overturned boat. We righted it. It was heavy. She tried the oars in the locks to be certain they would fit.
She got on one side and I got on the other and we slid the boat stern first down the muddy bank to the water. We put it half in the water. The current caught at it, boiling around the stern.
Antoinette straightened up and looked at the river. Anita was watching us from the porch. The pale face of the little girl watched us from a cracked window.
"It's pretty damn rough," Antoinette said. "We won't have much trouble getting down to the island."
"Island?"
"Right down there. See it? That's where we're going."