No one had even seen what happened. They just heard the
scream and they all turned to see. It was Brandon that first noticed his sister in the water.
"Mckayla!" he shouted in fear. There were all sorts of
commotion behind him. Various people, curious onlookers talking and asking questions to one another.
"What happened?"
"Is she alright?"
Meanwhile, Mckayla had tried to pull herself out, but it was
no use. The ice kept breaking on her, and what sturdy ice she could find, was too slippery with the combination of water.
So, she gave up and decided on calling out for help.
"Help! Help! Somebody help me! Please!" she
screamed, as she struggled to stay afloat.
Brandon started running over to her but was stopped by Jasmine.
"Brandon, no! What if you fall in too!"
"But," he protested, "somebody's gotta help her!"
At the same time, the team of ducks were alredy on their way
to the pond, to join in on the hockey game. William was one of the first ones to witness the girl falling through the
ice.
"C'mon! We've gotta help her!" he shouted as they all
started to run towards the pond.
"Why are they all just standing there, watching her?"
Marina asked as they ran. "Isn't anyone going to help her?" She just couldn't understand why anyone would just
stand there and stare, rather than doing something to save the girl.
"Dad always said that humans were strange creatures,"
Crash commented. "I would've thought though, that they'd wanna save one of their own."
William grumbled in disgust. "Well, if they won't, I
will," he replied, running faster now.
In the meantime, Mckayla was getting colder by the minute.
She knew that if she were to stay in the icey, cold water much longer, she would succumb to hypothermia. By now, she
felt she was already susceptable to frostbite.
"Help me! PLEASE!" she continued to scream out,
but she was beginning to feel weak and fatigued. Anytime now, she would give up her fight and drown. Why hadn't
anyone come to her rescue yet? Not even her friends or her brother had attempted. Mckayla had only been in the
water for a few minutes, but to her, it seemed like hours. "Help! Please!" she yelled once more.
"What are we gonna do?!" Brandon was yelling frantically at
his friends. "We can't just leave her, she's my sister!"
"I'll go get help!" Jasmine called out as she took off running.
When suddenly, a figure came running towards them, causing Jasmine to stop and see what was going on. It was a duck!
"Watch out!" William yelled as he ran past them.
"Help!" Mckayla shouted again.
"Hold on! I'm coming!" the male duck called out to her.
He ran past the hockey net and then slid to a stop.
"Careful! That's thin ice over there!" Jasmine exclaimed,
trying to warn the heroic stranger.
"No kidding," William said quietly to himself, with a hint
of sarcasm. As he stepped closer to the female goalie, the ice cracked and he nearly fell in himself. "Whoa!"
Mckayla watched his every movement as she struggled, more slowly
now. "Please help me," she whispered, sounding weaker.
"Just hold on," the duck told her. "Don't worry, I'm
going to get you out of there."
The human girl was now so cold, she couldn't even feel her
feet or legs. Everything was going numb, but she was no longer concerned. She was concentrating more so on just
staying alive. She had to, for her friends (though they had not come to her aid) ,her brother, her parents.
Since William was having no luck on the first side, because
the ice continued to crack and break, he decided to go around the other side, hoping to have better luck. Luckily, he
did. The ice was a bit firmer there and it held his weight better. Just to be safer, he layed down on the ice,
on his stomache, and slide himself over to Mckayla.
Meanwhile, the other ducks watched from a distance. "What
is he doing?" Crash asked aloud, but no one answered. "Are you crazy Mav?!" he called out to his cousin. "What
if you fall in?!"
Marina just stood in silence, observing the situation and thining
of a way to help. Then she finally spoke, after hearing Crash. "He won't fall in. Or, at least if he does,
we'll be there to pull him and the girl out."
"What?!" Crash exclaimed. "Now you're both crazy!"
"Anyone have any rope?" Marina asked her fellow ducks, ignoring
Crash. After a few seconds of silence, one of them spoke up.
"Actually, I think I do," Andrew L'Orange answered. He
reached into his back pack and pulled out some rope.
Vanessa Vanderflock stood with her hands on her hips.
"Oh, we should've known you'd have some," she remarked in a sarcastic manner. Andrew just shrugged his shoulders, smiling
sheepishly.
"Thanks," Marina replied quickly as she grabbed the rope and
ran off towards her brother. "C'mon!" she yelled o the team of ducks. "We've gotta help Will!"
All this time, Brandon, Jasmine and all their friends, had
been watching on nervously, but with patience. Brandon's hands were folded and by his face.
"Please don't let her die. Please don't let her die,"
he whispered aloud, continuously.
"Who and what are they anyway?" Trey asked, paying no attention
to Brandon.
"Ducks," Jasmine answered flatly.
"I know that!" Trey snapped. "But who are they
and what are they doing here?"
"Does it really matter? I don't care, as long as they
can save my sister," Brandon said to him at last.
Inch by inch, William slid his way over to Mckayla. He
reached his hand out to her and told her to grab on, forgetting that she still had her goalie glove and blocker on.
So, he quickly removed them for her and grabbed her hand. "Hold on tight," he said.
"Please don't let me go," Mckayla begged weakly.
William looked into her eyes. He could see that fear
was still eminent within her, so he did his best to calm her. "Don't worry," he reassured her. "I promise, I won't
let you go."
In the next moment, he carefully tried to pull her out of the
water, but unfortunately, it wasn't working as well as he hoped. Every time he was able to get Mckayla's upper body
onto the ice, the ice would crack and the girl fell in again. William growled in frustration. "I'm gonna get you
out of there, one way or another," he told her.
She, herself, had began to feel that the rescue mission was
hopeless. She was already beyond cold. What ever it was she was feeling, she didn't care. She didn't want
to fight anymore, she was too weak. Giving up was now sounding like a good idea to her, for she was beginning to
lose her will to live.
Suddenly, the other ducks came running towards them, with Marina
in lead. "Will!" she called out to her youger brother. She and the rest of the ducks stopped a few yards away,
where the ice was thicker. "Here!" Marina shouted as she threw one end of the rope out to him. "Grab hold of this
and we'll pull you in!"
William grabbed the rope and handed it to Mckayla. "Here,
take this and hold on tight." But, Mckayla didn't take the rope. She just looked at William with hopeless eyes
and a depressed expression. Frustrated, William took the rope and placed it in her hands. "Listen, I'm not giving
up on you. Please don't give up me. Don't give up on yourself." Mckayla tried to force a smile as she held
on to the rope this time. The male duck smiled back at her. Then, he grabbed the rope himself, with one hand,
and wrapped his other arm around Mckayla, trying to hold onto her as well. William looked up at his sister and gave
her the signal. "All set to go."
"Come on guys!" Marina shouted to her teammates. "Let's
pull them out!" With that, the ducks took hold of the other end of the rope and slowly pulled William and Mckayla to
safety.
To be continued....................
Disclaimer: All original MD characters are owned and copyrighted by Disney. All others
belong to me.
