Forgotten Lyrics: A Watersong Story Read Free Page B

flung overboard. Daniel had been hanging on to the wheel, trying to steer them to safety, but as the boat tipped to the side, he was just trying to grab on to something to keep from going over.
    He heard the crunch of metal as the boat slammed into the rock, and his fingers slipped from the wheel. Gravity seemed to suspend itself, and suddenly he was in free fall. For what felt like minutes—but was probably only a split second—he floated and hovered above the boat. John had already let go. Screams were echoing in Daniel’s ears, but he wasn’t sure if they were his own or John’s.
    Then, all at once, gravity kicked back in, flinging him painfully against the boat. His right side slammed sharply against something, and his head smacked into the dashboard.
    When it all finally came to a stop, the boat was still tilted to the side, perched at an odd angle as it hung from the rocks, slightly suspended above the water. Daniel was on the deck of the boat, crumpled between the front seats, and when he opened his eyes, everything was blurry for a second. A ringing in his ears blocked everything out, but when it finally stopped, his vision cleared, and he heard a girl softly weeping.
    “Is everybody okay?” Daniel asked, trying to push himself up.
    The boat was swaying slightly, and it moved even more, the hull creaking and groaning against the rock as the weight shifted. The engine was still running, with the propeller rattling loudly.
    “Help,” Mackenzie whimpered.
    Daniel sat up slowly, his body aching, and looked around. The windshield had been smashed out, and there was blood all over the glass and the dashboard. At the back of the boat, Mackenzie was pinned against the backseat by all the gear that had been flying around, but John was nowhere in sight.
    As soon as he saw the blood, his adrenaline kicked in, pushing away the confused fog that had been muddling his thoughts. He slid down toward the back of the boat to Mackenzie, and the frame groaned in protest.
    “I’ll get you out,” Daniel promised Mackenzie as he crouched down on the seat beside her. He started to pull everything off her, but it was mostly light life jackets.
    She shook her head. “It’s my leg. There’s something wrong with my leg,” Mackenzie said in a tight voice.
    An old blanket his grandpa kept on board had fallen across her lap, and when Daniel pulled it back, he instantly saw the problem. The boat’s grapnel anchor had her left leg pinned down. It was only thirty-five pounds, so it wouldn’t be that big a deal to lift it off her, except one of the hooks had gone straight through her calf muscle.
    “Oh, shit,” Daniel whispered.
    “What?” Mackenzie asked, instantly terrified. “What is it?”
    “Mackenzie!” Zoë screamed from the water. “Mackenzie! Where are you?”
    “I’m up here!” Mackenzie shouted. “I’m still on the boat!”
    “I’ll get her out in a second. She’ll be okay,” Daniel said, speaking loudly to be heard over the engine.
    “Holy shit,” Mackenzie said when she looked down at her leg for the first time.
    “This is gonna hurt like hell, but I’m gonna get it out fast, okay?” Daniel said, but she stared down at her leg with abject terror. “Mackenzie. Look at me.” She did as she was told, her wide brown eyes fixed on his. “I’m going to take it out. But everything will be okay. Just keep looking at me. Okay?”
    She nodded, with tears streaming down her cheeks. “Okay.”
    He took a deep breath, then grabbed on to one of the anchor hooks. When he began pulling it, Mackenzie cried out in pain, and the boat jerked.
    For one horrifying second, Daniel was afraid the boat would plummet to the water before he could get the anchor out. There was no way she’d be able to swim with that thing lodged in her leg.
    He and Mackenzie froze, waiting for the boat to settle, and when it didn’t fall into the water, they both began to breathe again.
    “Mackenzie?” Zoë shouted. “Are you