“What!”
“You know, it actually makes sense. Why it was called the “deluxe” package. Why we got it at such a cheap price.” Tess said.
“Now it makes sense why no one would welcome us to our boat, because there was no boat and no one was gonna take the blame!” Clarissa exclaimed.
“Is your mom always this red?” Cayden asked Lili in a whispering tone.
“Not usually,” Lili responded.
Lili’s dad, Frank Jenkins, had a realization.
“We have to take what they gave us” he said.
“Are you serious?” Clarissa stated in an angry yet curious tone.
“Think about it, if we go and ask for the boat we expected, not only will it be really expensive, but by the time we get it, there’s no way we could make it to Klansonville in time.” Frank said.
“There’s no way we could make it to Klansonville in time with this piece of junk.” Clarissa added.
“The average person canoes at 3 mph, jet skis and kayaks are faster than canoes. If everything were to be tied together, and we worked really hard, we could make it to Klansonville. Or on the river, mile marker 49.” Frank said.
Everyone considered what he just said. Grace asked:
“Wouldn’t that mean traveling for 10 hours a day?”
“Also factoring in breaks, sleeping, moving at a slower pace when we’re tired, and us needing to get to Klansonville in less then 2 weeks.” Frank responded.
“This is ridiculous! We need to demand a boat!” Clarissa stated angrily.
Everyone thought about what Frank said, and it did seem somewhat logical
“Mom don’t we have a coupon to the camping store?” Conner asked.
“Yes honey, I think we do.” She responded.
“Can’t we go there?” Conner asked.
“We would need freeze-dry meals, a jet boil, ramen noodles, synthetic clothes, a tarp, rope, you know what, we’ll just make a list instead of trying to remember everything.” She responded.
They went to the camping store and spent about $723 on various camping stuff.
~~~Later that night~~~
“I think we have everything, we should leave now that it’s all packed up.” Lance Mitchell said.
“Shouldn’t we sleep first?” Cayden asked.
“According to the map the current should take us to Klansonville anyway, so we can sleep on the unicorn floatie.” Grace added on
“Then let’s go!” Kayden said.
All of the adults, the twins, and Cooper could fit on the inflatable unicorn. Lili and Raynn were able to tuck onto the big raft with all of the luggage. Jack, Grace, and Mason found room on the canoes to rest.
“Good night everyone!” Raynn said.
Everyone else seemed to have dozed off, but Cooper gave a faint:
“Ruff”
~~~At about 2 am~~~
Tess is awoken to a BEEP from her phone.
We’re so sorry for the inconvenience! We gave you the wrong address! Your boat was at a different dock! The dock you went to was for a family on a 10 mile rafting trip. You should be able to go to your boat tomorrow. I’ll send you the link to the address.
Tess gasped in horror realizing what they had done. She looked back, no land in sight. It was to late to turn back. She didn’t want anyone to know. She went back to sleep as if she never read the message.
To be continued in chapter 3...
