At first, it looked like a dark line just under the water. Then it rose. Slowly. One section of the black shape arched above the surface before settling again, sending ripples outward. It was longer than any of them had imagined. Thick too.
Far too thick to be a snake — and somehow that made it worse. No one in either boat said anything for a few seconds. One of the younger men whispered a prayer under his breath. And then things got worse. Another boat appeared in the distance.
At first, it was just a small shape moving around the bend, low and white against the water. But it was heading straight toward the same stretch of river. People started shouting immediately, waving their arms and yelling for them to turn back.
But the strangest part was that the men in the approaching boat didn’t look alarmed at all. They looked like they knew exactly what they were doing.
