80 The Meadow to the river. “We read you Amanda. What’s your status, over.” Amanda pressed the radio’s button. “We’re at the designated location. We...there’s a river.” “Say again, Amanda, there’s a river? A real river?” “Christy, it’s the wildest thing,” Amanda said. “There’s so much water, just flowing. It’s freezing. The report was telling the truth.” “But....” Static crackled for a moment. “Rivers don’t exist anymore. They just don’t.” “The tappers must have missed this one,” Amanda said. “They’re going to be ecstatic. This much fresh water is going to do so much good for everyone. Think about it!” “I am thinking about it,” Christine said over the radio. “I’m getting thirsty thinking about it. Any idea how wide it is?” “We haven’t done any surveying,” Amanda said, glancing at the swift water. “But it could be fifty feet.” “Fifty feet across! Amanda, you’re going to be a hero!” “Maybe!” Amanda looked up. “Gotta go. The canoes are ready.” “You’ll be okay on your own?” Bailey asked Jacob. Jacob couldn’t tear his eyes away from the rushing water. Frothing peaks shot up and fell back down into swirling eddies. “I’ve never done it on real water, but I took everything the simulations threw at me and came out alive,” Jacob said. “Besides, Amanda should stay with you. I have more experience.” “Right. So which will it be—headwaters or mouth?” Jacob looked north, where the water rushed from, and south, where it rushed to. “Uh....” Bailey sighed. “The headwaters are where it starts, the mouth is where it ends.” “Mouth for me,” Jacob said. “I want to see where this beauty
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