Christina pushed up to the edge and Taylor’s strong hands closed
around Chloe’s shoulders. She wedged them under her daughter’s armpits
and hauled her out, spluttering, soaking wet, and covered in green scum.
“Jesus, God, Chloe!” Taylor sobbed. She patted her daughter’s back a
few times, but after Chloe spat out some water, she stopped and just hugged
her hard.
Christina pulled herself up onto the bank. It was surprising how steep it
was, but also how the dugout just went straight down once the waterline hit.
It wasn’t a gradual sloping drop off like a beach or a lake would have been.
“I’ve told my parents we should put a fence around it,” Taylor said
tearfully. “It isn’t safe. We just turned for an instant.”
“I’m sorry,” Chloe sobbed. “I threw a stick for Peppy and it went all
funny and I went to get it. I slipped. I didn’t mean to get close. I know what
you said.”
“It’s okay,” Taylor rasped. She wiped tears off Chloe’s pale cheeks. “It’s
okay. You’re safe. It was an accident. But you see how fast things can
happen? Bad things?”
“Y-yes,” Chloe sobbed.
Taylor hugged her daughter to her again. Christina sat down on the
grassy edge and hugged her knees to her chest. Her mouth tasted foul from
the water. She had slime running down into her eyes. Her clothes were
coated in green and brown sludge. She would have gone in an instant again
if Chloe had been in trouble.
“She can swim,” Taylor turned and said. “She’s had lessons since she
was a baby. I think she just panicked.”
“I was scared,” Chloe sputtered.
“She wasn’t prepared for it. It was probably a hard landing straight into
murk. I couldn’t see a thing under there. It’s pretty foul.”
“She’s not hurt,” Taylor reiterated, more to reassure herself than
anything. She stared at Christina, her mossy eyes filling up with tears again.