Free Dang Near Dead (An Aggie Mundeen Mystery Book 2) by Nancy G. West Page A

us in a high-cut suit with shorts over it. Both garments bulged. I’d eat smaller portions at tonight’s campfire.
    The cabin six girls had apparently gone ahead. We three trod to the waterfront.
    “Texas is home to a wider diversity of snakes and lizards than any other state in the nation,” Meredith said. “Think we should tell Millie?”
    “Only if you want to see her run full tilt to her car,” I said.
    “I might follow her,” Selma said.
    “Actually, lizards aren’t venomous. Neither are most snakes. They’re deadly to prey, but not to humans,” Meredith said. “Only a couple of types are venomous to humans—pit vipers and coral snakes like the one…”
    “Don’t remind us. Not if you want us to get in that river,” I said. “Don’t people swim in the Guadalupe and Medina Rivers all the time?”
    “Exactly. Snakes avoid people.”
    When we reached the waterfront, we saw a Navy SEAL outfitted in full-body diving gear.
    We realized it was Millie.
    She announced she wasn’t about to touch anything slimy.
    Meredith whispered to me, “Think I should tell her if she sees a snake floating at rest, she should avoid it?”
    “Don’t think I’d mention it.”
    Stoney wore a competition tank suit. She had tied a warm-up top around her hips and wore obsolete tennis shoes.
    Jangles had covered her swimsuit with a striped tent dress. Her frock spread out over the dock like a porch umbrella. Rehabilitated rhinestones sparkling from her sandals peeked out from underneath her tent. She awaited River Rat’s instructions.
    River Rat smiled seductively. “Let’s get you tadpoles and fish in the water and see how you swim. You first, Millie. Put on these swim fins.” He must have feared she’d sink, encased in so much rubber. He led the shivering creature down a gentle embankment and glided her into the water, talking softly in her ear while he held her hand.
    Millie had a death grip on River Rat’s arm. He called to Jangles. “You’re next, Jangles. Come on in.” She threw off her tent and waddled into the shallows, a broad smile on her face.
    “Good, good,” said Rat. “That’s it. Get a little deeper. Up to your chest. Good. You’re going to float just fine, Jangles. Ready, Stoney?”
    Stoney yanked off her warm-up, kicked off her tennis shoes, flung her towel at the discard pile and plunged off the dock.
    “Good thing you did a flat dive,” Rat said. “It’s pretty shallow there.”
    Stoney beamed and plowed through the water like a plumber’s snake.
    “Go ahead, Selma.” Rat called.
    Selma slipped in cautiously and paddled around, keeping one eye on the bank.
    Rat watched them navigate for a while, then nodded for Meredith and me to get in. We put on life jackets, slid in and swam around. The water was cold. Shaded by oaks and cypress trees, this part of the Medina River wouldn’t warm up until the sun reached full potential later in the day.
    “You’re okay in the water,” Rat said to Meredith and me. “Why don’t you get out and drag a canoe to the water’s edge.”
    We crawled up the bank and walked over to study three canoes and three kayaks lined up perpendicular to the shoreline. We selected a canoe and tugged it toward the water. Rat told Meredith to steady the craft sideways to shore while I climbed in and perched on the front seat. He told me to use my oar to hug our boat close to the bank while Meredith slid onto the back seat.
    “Aggie,” Rat said, “you’re the paddler who determines the direction of the craft. To do that, you paddle your oar on one side, then the other to guide the canoe.”
    Meredith sat still with her oar across her lap. “Your job,” Rat told her, “is to steady the craft. Instead of paddling, you place your oar upright in the water on alternate sides, turning it like a rudder to steady the canoe as it glides along.”
    His instructions were clear, and we started moving. Mostly forward. We laughed at our ineptitude but learned how to maneuver.