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there? He looked at the people around him. They all seemed to be passengers, no crew. Had the crew all swum to the other side?
     
    As the sun came up, Clint wished for some coffee.
    Angela was sound asleep, and he felt bad, but he had to nudge her awake.
    “Come on,” he said, “time to start walking.”
    She sat up, rubbing her face and her eyes as he stood up.
    “Where are you going?” one woman asked.
    “What’s happenin’?” another said.
    “Folks, I’m going to start walking inland to see if I can figure out where we are. Anyone who wants to come along is welcome. I was thinking that the women could stay here and wait for us to come back with help.”
    “What if you don’t come back?” a woman asked.
    “We’ll freeze to death,” another added.
    “The sun will warm you soon enough,” Clint said.
    “And we certainly will come back with help. We’re not going to leave you stranded here. At least, I’m not.”
    “I’ll go along,” a young man said.
    “Me, too,” an older man said.
    “Jerry, you have to stay with me,” his wife said, grabbing his arm.
    He leaned over, patted her hand, and spoke to her in a low, soothing voice. She nodded, and released his arm, seeming to be appeased, but not happy.
    “I’m coming,” the man said.
    In turn, six more men volunteered to go along, so Clint and eight other men ended up leaving camp to look for help.
    “I’d like to come,” Angela told Clint, “but I think I hurt my foot last night. I better stay behind.”
    “Okay,” Clint said. “I’ll be back as soon as I can with help.”
    She nodded, then stared out at the boat, which had stopped burning. The look on her face was one of longing, he thought, but he had no time to wonder about it. The boat was grounded, though, no question about that, the hold and the first deck filled with water.
    “Okay, gents,” Clint said, “let’s get a move on. Maybe we can get back before nightfall.”

TWENTY-THREE
    They walked a couple of hours and came to a road, but it was forked.
    “Which way?” someone asked.
    “Both,” Clint said. “We’ll split up. Four can go that way, five this way. I’m going here.” He pointed. “The rest of you decide who’s going where.”
    It took them a while, with lots of arguing and cursing, but finally four of them joined Clint, while the other four followed the road the opposite way.
    “Now I wish I had some of that river water on me,” one of the men said after they’d walked another hour. “That sun is hot.”
    “We shoulda stayed by the river,” another man said.
    Clint ignored them. He hadn’t even felt the need to learn the names of these men. He didn’t expect to see any of them again after this was over.
    The only man who seemed to walk without complaining—even when there were nine of them walking together—was the older man who had spoken softly to his wife.
    “This is quite an adventure,” he said to Clint.
    “No one else seems to think so,” Clint said.
    “Well, why not?” the man asked. “We’re all still alive, and I’ve never gone through anything like this before.”
    Clint looked at the man and was surprised to see that he actually looked happy. The only thing he could figure was that the man was happy to be away from his wife for a period of time.
    “You’re in pretty good shape,” Clint said. “Younger men are lagging behind.”
    “I’ve worked hard for many years,” the man said. “My name is Jerry, by the way.”
    “Clint.”
    The two men shook hands.
    “You seem to have some leadership qualities, Clint,” Jerry said. “Kept everybody together last night, even calm.”
    “There’s no point in panicking, Jerry,” Clint said. “Won’t get anything accomplished that way.”
    “I couldn’t agree more,” Jerry said. “So, where do you think we’re gonna end up?”
    “Beats me,” Clint said. “I just hope it’s a big enough town to be able to help us all.”
    They walked a bit farther and then Jerry asked,