Crow felt his heart pound against his chest as they approached the edge of the river. He was beginning to rethink his decision to let her talk him into doing this, but it was too late to back out now. She guided him carefully into the freezing water, moving slowly either to keep herself from slipping or to keep him from panicking. Perhaps it was both. He wasn’t quite sure, as he was more concerned with finding sure footing on the bottom of the riverbed.

As he had suspected, the current was much swifter beneath the surface, but it was shallower than he had thought. He shivered. The cold water numbed his skin. This was definitely a bad idea. The further they moved towards the center of the river, the more difficult it was for him to keep his footing. He glanced at Penelope, who was considerably calmer about the whole situation, and wondered if she was having as hard of a time as he was. She didn’t look like it.

[color=fff79a][b]“Just keep ahold of me and we’ll be over to the other side in no time,”[/b][/color] Penelope said. The sound of her confident voice was strangely soothing. He might have been able to relax if the river stopped trying to rip his feet out from under him.

“I’m trying,” he grimaced as another strong current tugged at his legs. By now they were a little more than waist-deep. It was the most difficult point to cross. He sucked in his breath as an especially forceful rush of water caused him to stumble, and, without thinking, he reached out to grasp Penelope in order to keep from falling. He held onto her shoulder for a moment as he recovered from the shock of almost getting pulled under.

“I would apologize,” Crow muttered irritably. “But this is your fault.”