Page 48 of Kayak Girl

“Dude, Becky believes Elle is on St. Helena Island.”

“As in the place that’s currently being hit by record-breaking floods?”

“Yes,” Weston said, I could hear the concern in his voice.

Oh no. Icy fear spread through my veins.

Chapter 35

ELLE

Oh, how I wished I could mope in my van like I had two days ago. It just went to show that whenever you think things are bad, they can always get worse. Well, for me, things got a lot worse.

After chatting with Becky that night, I fell asleep. At dawn I woke to my van ankle deep in water. Thankfully, everything valuable was up on the shelves or table. Everything except my phone, that is. I had left my phone on the floor, as I was too bummed to get out of bed the night before. Well, it had soaked in the water for who knows how long before I woke up.

The last forty-eight hours had been a nightmare. The first day of the floods, I’d done several kayak trips back and forth from Mabel to the emergency shelter they had set up in a large hall on higher ground. Each trip had taken a grueling two hours. At least I managed to get all my belongings out safely. My phone was the only casualty. One of the old ladies serving at the shelter offered me a small bag of rice for my phone, but I suspected it was way past rice. I’d have to get myself to a store to buy a new phone once the floods settled. Becky normally called me every few days, so I was grateful she had called me hours before the flood. At least she wouldn’t be worried right now.

On day two of the flood fiascos, I’d used my kayak to help others get their belongings. It was all hands-on deck, and the entire community chipped in.

At the end of a second day of kayaking heavy loads, exhaustion invaded every cell of my body. My muscles ached, and I tried to conjure up some hope about the future as I snacked on one of the protein bars they’d handed out for dinner. One positive from the last two days is that I was so busy I didn’t have a moment to think about Gray. Thank you for small mercies, God. I sat against the exterior wall of the wedding venue—turned relief center and watched the moon rise. It was too stuffy inside, so I was sitting out here until I was ready to sleep on the small uncomfortable mattress inside the hall. With the lack of activity, thoughts came rushing back. I longed for the sweet moments I’d had with Gray before we fought. Gray would have helped me shoulder the burden of figuring out this mess. Instead, I was all alone. Please heal my heart, God.

Chapter 36

GRAY

Ihad to find her. Elle could be in trouble, and the thought made me sick to my stomach. I said goodbye to Weston and got straight to work, packing a few basic supplies. Weston said he’d come with me. Dad overheard our conversation and was already moving by the time I put the phone down. Thank you, God, for the good people in my life.

“I thought you’d have your own fridge to raid at twenty-five,” Mom said, laughing at her own joke.

“Sorry, Mom, Elle is on St. Helena Island, and I don’t know what the situation is like there. Just packing some food. Can I fill a flask with some coffee? Not sure how long we’ll be out there.”

“Oh no, honey! Was she caught in the floods? I’ll make the coffee. You pack whatever else you need. Should Dad go with you?”

“Weston and Dad are coming. We aren’t certain where she is. Becky said she only knew it was a campsite on St. Helena Island. So, we will have a big search on our hands.”

We drove in separate cars as we intended to split up. All of us had camped at various campsites on the island over the years, so we decided to search the sites we knew as a start. We also packed our kayaks. If the floods were as bad as the newspaper reported, we would have to paddle to search some sites.

A desperate need to be with Elle, to know that she was safe, burned within me. I prayed the entire hour’s drive, asking God again to forgive me for my judgmental attitude with Elle and begging Him to keep her from harm. St. Helena was well-equipped to deal with small seasonal floods, so casualties were rare. However, Elle wasn’t a local, and these were record-breaking floods, so nothing was guaranteed. I kept praying.

The three of us drove in convoy and stopped at the outskirts of the flood area to discuss our plan. Weston said he would drive a further thirty minutes to the other side of the island and search two campsites he knew there. Dad said he’d head to the main emergency center to see if he could get any information. I would start with the first campsite Elle would have reached if she drove the route we did. I’d work my way through each campsite until Weston and I met. If we could get through them all before it got too late. It was already mid-afternoon.

We wasted no time and set off on our routes. Much like Hilton Head, St. Helena hosted a collection of waterways, estuaries, rivers, bays, and lagoons. It was beautiful. And it was huge. Before we left, I’d Googled campsites on the island and wasn’t surprised to find fourteen registered campsites in and around St. Helena. Please help us find her, God.

I searched the first campsite I thought Elle would have come across. It was untouched by the floods so I could drive around and search. No sign of yellow Mabel. This campsite had no waterfront, so I suspected she wouldn’t have chosen this one, anyway. I moved onto the next campsite my GPS brought up. I had to paddle through some sections of this one. There were several camping vehicles floating or washed up all around the campsite. But again, no Mabel.

I stopped to call the guys to see if they’d had any success.

“Hey Dad, any sign of Elle?”

“No one here has seen her van.”

“Okay, let me call Weston.”

Weston had only explored one location, so he said he’d update me once he had checked out the other campsite. I kept searching.

The sun was fading fast as I pulled into my fifth campsite. God, please help us. We would have to call off the search soon. It would be too dangerous to keep searching in the dark. Coastal floods could be very unpredictable. This campsite was quite a way from the waterfront, and I immediately assumed Elle would have skipped it. But I had to be thorough. I drove through the camping area to where several cars were parked. A large building was lit up and dozens of people were coming in and out. They must have been using it as a satellite shelter of sorts. It was far enough away from the flood line. I decided to park and chat with someone to see if they knew anything about a big yellow van.

I parked at the side of the building and walked toward the entrance. Movement to my right caught my attention, and I looked that way. It was dark, but the silhouette sitting against the building was unmistakable.

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