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Arabella screamed. “They leap too?”

“Like a kangaroo trying to win first prize in the high jump,” Summer

confirmed. She was having way too much fun with this.

She totally knew the spiders were in the boat when they got in and she’d

left the

m, knowing Arabella would take the backseat. It would have served

Summer right if those spiders got a hankering to move on up and landed on

her face while she was driving. June smiled at the thought.

As Summer moved in, Arabella stood up on her seat like she was ready

to jump overboard if something went wrong. There was a very good chance

that it could. June was on board with the idea of jumping ship should those

spiders get past Summer.

Using the paddle to prod the first, largest spider, Summer had the life

jacket ready. She made the thing run onto it then quickly flipped it over the

edge, sending the spider flying. There was an island not far, a small one

with rocks and trees, and the spider skated along the water neatly, heading

there for refuge. The second one followed suit, heading for the island as

soon as it was flipped overboard. The third had other ideas. Summer got it

into the water just fine, but instead of swimming away, it turned around

again.

“Oh, my God!” Arabella screamed. “It’s trying to come back.”

“We’re about to be boarded,” June yelped. She grasped her seat

anxiously, ready to leap up onto it should it be necessary. Leaping into the

water was no longer an option.

The last spider was swimming furiously around the boat, some kind of a

world record swimming bastard of a determined spider, coming to the back

where it was lowest and where it could use the motor to climb out of the

water and back up for safety.

“Stay clear, you little beggar,” Summer yelled at it. She leaped over the

seat, right past Arabella, and landed in the driver’s seat with a thump. She