Isla had wanted to paddle out to the island one more time before camp ended. Colm had agreed almost too easily, the way he agreed to most things she suggested. Neither of them had checked how quickly the light faded once the sun dropped behind the ridge.
伊拉想在营地活动结束前再划一次独木舟去那座小岛。科尔姆几乎是太轻易地答应了，就像他答应她提的大多数事情那样。他们谁都没有查过，太阳落到山脊后面以后，天光会暗得有多快。
"We should've turned back twenty minutes ago," Colm said, squinting at the shoreline, which had become a dark smudge against darker water. "I can barely tell where the dock is anymore."
“我们二十分钟前就该掉头了，”科尔姆眯着眼望向岸边，那里已经变成了一团衬在更黑的水面上的暗影。“我几乎分辨不出码头在哪儿了。”
"I know. I got us into this," Isla admitted. "If I'd checked the time before we left, we wouldn't be out here now."
“我知道。是我把我们带到这一步的，”伊拉承认道。“要是出发前我看过时间，我们现在就不会在这儿了。”
A gust caught the canoe broadside, and for a moment it tipped further than either of them liked. Colm leaned hard the other way, and the boat settled, though his heart was pounding.
一阵风从侧面撞上独木舟，有那么一刻，船倾斜得比他们任何一个人想要的都厉害。科尔姆用力往另一侧压身子，船总算稳住了，不过他的心跳得厉害。
"Sit low, and let's paddle together, not against each other," Isla said, forcing calm into her voice that she didn't entirely feel. "One, two, one, two — match my count."
“坐低一点，我们一起划，别互相较劲，”伊拉说，在声音里硬挤出一份她自己并不完全拥有的镇定。“一，二，一，二——跟着我的节奏。”
They fell into rhythm, the canoe cutting straighter through the chop than it had when each of them paddled at their own pace. The wind was pushing them slightly off course, toward the rocky south end of the lake instead of the dock.
他们渐渐划出了节奏，独木舟破开波浪时，比各划各的时候走得直多了。风把他们稍稍推离了航线，朝着湖的南端那片多石的岸边去，而不是码头。
"We're drifting," Colm said. "Should we correct now or wait until we're closer?"
“我们在漂，”科尔姆说。“是现在就修正，还是等靠近点再说？”
"Now. If we wait, we'll be fighting the wind and the rocks both," Isla said, angling her paddle to steer them back on line.
“现在。要是等下去，我们就得同时跟风和礁石较劲了，”伊拉说着，斜过船桨，把他们引回航线。
They paddled in silence after that, both of them focused entirely on the count and the rhythm. Far ahead, the dock light flickered on, switched on by someone back at camp.
此后，他们都沉默地划着，两个人全神贯注于节拍和节奏。远处，码头的灯闪了几下亮了起来，是营地里的某个人打开的。
By the time the bow scraped against the dock's floating edge, neither of them spoke for a moment, just breathing hard in the sudden stillness.
当船头擦过码头的浮边时，两人沉默了片刻，只是在骤然降临的平静里大口喘着气。
"Never again without checking the time," Colm said eventually, managing a shaky laugh.
“以后再也不能不看时间就出来了，”科尔姆终于说，勉强发出一声颤抖的笑。
"Never again," Isla agreed, though she was already, quietly, thinking about how good it had felt to get them both back safely.
“再也不会了，”伊拉同意道，不过她已经在悄悄回味：能让两个人都平安回来，那感觉有多好。
