The Goats Read Free

beautiful plan was coming apart like wet paper. He and the girl could never get the canoes away from the guards on the beach.
    His brain seemed to have stopped working. He didn’t know what he was going to do. He had never been so cold in his life. He wondered what was going to happen to them.
    â€œThere’re some people still there,” the girl whispered. “What do we do now?” She didn’t sound sarcastic. She wanted to know. The cold seemed to solidify into a hard little lump somewhere deep inside him.
    â€œCome on,” he whispered, putting his lips close to
her ear. “We’ve got to get away. We’re going down into the water.”
    â€œBut I can’t swim, I told you.”
    â€œYou won’t have to. There’s that log I told you about. I’ll push you.”
    The water felt warm, warmer than the air. It made him feel better. He moved quietly, not making any splashes. When he was a few feet out, crouching so that only his head showed, he looked back to see if she was coming.
    She came down into the water still wrapped in her blanket, and then let it drift away.
    It didn’t take long for them to work their way along the shore until the canoes were out of sight. The girl was clutching at him, afraid of the water. He could feel it in her stiff fingers digging into his shoulder.
    They found the log just as the moon was setting. There was nothing but starlight now to show the shape of the distant shore. It looked black and lumpy, like a pile of coal.
    He dragged the log into the water, trying to be as quiet as he could. It floated awfully low. He wondered if it could actually support them. Overhead, the beam of a flashlight flickered amid the treetops and was gone.
    â€œCome on, now. Don’t try to ride it. Just hold on.”
    He transferred her grasping hands to the wood. She was making too much noise, gasping and trying to hold her head high out of the water.
    â€œRelax,” he said. “Just try to kind of float along. Just keep your mouth out of the water.”

    â€œI’m afraid. Maybe you’d better go without me.”
    â€œNo,” he said. He didn’t try to explain. He knew he was afraid to leave her alone, but even more important, it wouldn’t be good enough. He wanted them both to disappear. To disappear completely.
    Very quietly, hardly daring to breathe, he walked the log out into the water until the muddy bottom dropped away and there was nothing there at all.
    Â 
    Margo Cutter, senior counselor, came down to the beach still carrying the bag of clothes. Max didn’t shine his flashlight in her face, of course, but he could tell by her voice that it must be grim.
    â€œThey’re not there,” she said.
    Max flipped his cigarette into the water. “Well, they must be somewhere around. They wouldn’t try to swim for it, would they?”
    â€œI don’t think so. Laura can’t swim. She’s afraid of the water. What about Howie?”
    Max shrugged. “I don’t know. He can swim all right, but it’s a mile and a half, and he’s kind of wimpy.”
    He knew at once that he shouldn’t have said that, because it annoyed Margo and set her off again. “I just don’t understand how anybody could have thought that this would be even remotely funny.”
    â€œYeah,” Max said, trying to sound conciliatory. “We’d better see if we can find them. We should have brought some dope for the mosquitoes. They’re pretty bad.”
    â€œI mean it. I don’t know what I’m going to say to her. She told me she wanted to go home, and I told her that
this was such a wonderful place and that she’d make such wonderful friends. Some friends. I tell you, Max, I’m ready to quit over this. I never want to see some of those smug little brats again.”
    â€œCome on, Margo. It’s not that serious. I know it was a dumb stunt, but they didn’t mean