Hurricane (32 page)

She woke when the rocking and creaking stopped and the cool breeze died. She yawned, stretched and sat up. She’d needed the sleep. More than the sleep, she’d needed the rest. It was the first time since leaving Trinidad that she was able to close her eyes and sleep the sleep of the just. No more looking over her shoulder. No more worrying about someone trying to steal her home out from under her. She yawned, smiled and pushed herself to her feet.

It was over. Someday she was going to have to look up Broxton and find out what his part in the whole thing was, but first she would get the boat peacefully at rest in the St. Martin Yacht Club. She’d be safe under the Dutch government. Dieter wouldn’t dare send someone after the boat up there, and probably, after he found out what happened to his twin hijackers, he’d forget the debt and forget about her.

She heard footsteps overhead and then she knew why they had stopped. It was time. She climbed out the companionway, shielding her eyes against the bright sun. Darla was wearing her sunglasses and looked so cute in them. She couldn’t ask for them back.

Meiko was up front, opening the forepeak hatch.

“
How are you going to do it?” Julie asked.

“
Easy,” she said. “Henry and I have it all worked out. I’ll go below and tie a line around the bodies, under the armpits. Then I’ll loop the line and clip a halyard on it and we’ll haul them up one at a time and lower them into the sea.”

“
What about Darla? She should be below,” Julie said.

“
No, not me. I’ve seen dead people before and I want to see these two turned into shark food.”

“
I should get to it,” Meiko said. Don’t want to wait till rigor sets in. Stench is going to be bad enough as it is.” She hopped down the hatch, dragging a halyard after her and in less than a minute she yelled out. “Okay, Henry,” and Henry winched Harris through the hatch.

Meiko scooted through after the body and guided it toward the starboard side of the boat. “It would have been easier if one of you could have done this part.”

“
No way,” Darla said.

“
Same goes for me,” Julie said. “No way.”

Meiko pushed the suspended body toward the side and Henry lowered it into the water. Then Meiko unclipped the halyard and the body floated next to the boat.

“
Where’s the sharks?” Darla said.

“
You didn’t really think sharks were going to rise up out of the sea and rip the bodies apart, did you?” Meiko laughed.

“
I did.” Darla pouted.

“
Sorry, that’s only in the movies,” Meiko said. Then she went back down the hatch and repeated the procedure with Harris’ boss man, Kurt.

Then Henry turned the boat out of the wind and they started to pick up speed as he pointed Fallen Angel north. “We’ll spend the night in Fort de France in Martinique,” Henry said, “and with luck we’ll make a hundred miles a day, anchoring at night.” We should be in St. Martin just in time for Meiko’s flight.”

So, Julie thought, Meiko had been talking to Henry. She’d wanted Meiko back in the States for so long that it was hard to adjust to not wanting her to go. And it wasn’t only because she was going to be seeing Victor. Julie was going to miss her, but she was done trying to influence her daughter’s love life. Whatever was going to happen, was going to happen, Que sera, sera.

Julie sat back in the cockpit and looked out over the sea. It was nice to be able to enjoy sailing for once.

“
Whale!” Darla screamed and Julie turned her head in time to see the great tail flap in the air, then slap the sea as it splashed back into the water. “Did you see it?” Darla exclaimed. “It was huge, and boy does it smell.” She put fingers to her nose, pinching it closed, and Julie laughed.

The wind picked up and Henry sniffed the air. “We better shorten sail,” he said, greeting Julie’s gaze with a smile. “It’s nothing to be concerned about. I’ve been through countless Caribbean blows, I know what to do.”

“
I wasn’t worried, Henry,” Julie said, and she was surprised to find that she meant it. She wasn’t worried. Henry radiated confidence.

“
You wanna take the wheel while I go up and take care of the sail?” he asked. Julie nodded and relieved him as he grimaced and moved up toward the mast. His legs must hurt awfully, but he never brought it up. If Darla hadn’t told her, she’d never have known.

She watched as Meiko helped him with the sail. He brought it down and was showing Meiko how to tie in the reef lines when the wind picked up a little more. He turned his face into it, the way a dog does when it sticks its head out of a car window. Then he looked at the jib, yanked on the reef lines, started to tighten it and stopped.

“
I think we should drop it,” he said, “and tie it off good.”

“
All right,” Julie said, and Meiko took the main halyard off the winch and dropped the sail. The lazy jacks kept the main from spilling off onto the deck, and the two of them started tying sail ties around it, cinching it to the boom.

“
Okay,” Henry said. “Let’s get ready for a blow.” Then he went back to the cockpit and started rolling in the jib.

“
Are you going to take it all the way in?” Julie asked.

“
No,” he said. We’re going to heave-to.”

“
Without the main?”

“
Julie, that sail is in such bad shape. I think it would blow right out. But the jib’s okay, we’ll be fine.” He turned the wheel hard to leeward and lashed it to a winch.

The boat fell off the wind and the partial jib backwinded. “The goal here,” he said, “is to stop all forward movement. The boat will drift with the wind and create a drift slick on the water, breaking up most of the wave’s meanness.”

The boat slowed almost to a stop. The wind started to howl. The seas started to break. Henry sat behind the wheel and watched the waves and felt the boat’s reaction to them.

“
I don’t suppose you have a sea anchor on board?” he said.

“
No,” she said. Meiko and Darla sat in the cockpit, taking everything in, Darla’s eyes as wide as Meiko’s. The black horizon moving toward them riveted their attention on Henry.

“
If you had a spare sail on board I could make one.”

“
No spare sail,” Julie said.

Henry looked out over the sea and studied the rapidly moving darkness. “It will be here in a few minutes. It’s going to be a big one.” He was quiet for a few seconds, staring at the oncoming storm. “We need to stop the boat from moving forward.”

“
But it’s not going very fast,” Julie said.

“
It will when that wind picks up.” He must have seen the concern on her face, because he said, “Hey, don’t worry, didn’t I promise it would be all right? It will be, but we have things to do and not a lot of time. How many buckets do we have?”

“
Four.”

“
Good ones?”

“
Plastic, good enough I guess.”

“
Okay, get the buckets. Meiko, get all the line you can out of the forepeak. Darla, you help her, and bring all the fenders back here, too.” Seconds later he had everything he asked for in the cockpit and the women watched as he tied the buckets to the end of the line, then he tied on five floatable fenders and the two life rings.

“
Is your second anchor on rope?” he asked.

“
Thirty feet of chain and three hundred feet of rope,” Julie said.

“
Excellent.” He began tying long lines to the fenders and buckets. When he’d finished he dragged the whole mess up to the front of the boat.

He unshackled the Bruce anchor from the chain and tied a bowline through the shackle, attaching his makeshift sea anchor to the boat. Then he tossed it in the water. They waited and watched and after a few minutes Fallen Angel stopped her forward movement and sat still in the water, drifting with the waves.

It wasn’t long before the full force of the storm was upon them, large rolling, then breaking, seas, and winds up to forty knots. But they rode out the storm, hardly moving at all.

Static electricity charged the air and lightning cracked overhead, stealing the dark of the storm for a fraction of a second as it pitchforked into the water around them.

“
Jeez, that was close,” Meiko’s hair was sticking out and Julie felt electric tingles on her arms.

“
I need wire, quickly now,” Henry said.

“
Main halyard,” Julie answered.

Henry went to the main and climbed up the mast steps, unhooked the wire halyard from the sail and jerked it down. Then he ran it around the mast three times before taking it to the side and dropping it in the water.

“
I don’t know if the boat was properly grounded,” he said, “but it is now.”

They were all on deck and the rain came on them, fast. In seconds they were drenched.

“
Okay,” Henry said. “Let’s go below, get dry and have some coffee.”

“
That’s it?” Julie yelled.

“
The rest is up to the boat,” Henry yelled back. Then added, “She’s a good boat, don’t worry.”

“
I know,” she said., “We’ll be fine.”

Henry nodded.

Two days later they set anchor in Simpson Bay, a short dinghy ride from Princes Julliana Airport on the Island of St. Martin. They’d had four brisk and windy sailing days after the storm, and she’d learned so much from Henry.

“
I know you two want to be alone for Meiko’s last day,” he said, “and I have some old friends that need seeing. Darla and I will come say goodbye before we head back down island.”

“
I’ll miss you guys,” she said. She hugged Darla, and Henry gave Meiko a giant bear hug.

Then Henry’s face lit up with a smile that looked like it was going to rocket off his face. “Captain Tanaka, it’s been a pleasure sailing with you.” He stuck out his big hand.

“
Thank you, Henry,” she said, taking his hand. “And especially thank you for the captain part.”

“
You earned it,” he said, and she fell into the embrace of his giant arms.

“
Mom, Look!” Meiko pointed. They were walking along Front Street in downtown Philipsberg. Julie turned to look. “It’s Tammy.”

They walked over to the poster. “Tammy Drake, world famous calypsonian, appearing nightly at Maggie’s Starlight Lounge,” Julie read.

“
I can’t believe it,” Meiko said.

“
That pretty much decides what we’ll be doing before you leave tonight,” Julie said.

“
Yeah. I love to watch her sing, but I didn’t know she was famous outside of Trinidad,” Meiko said.

“
It’s because she’s so well known outside of Trinidad that she’s so famous in Trinidad. She’s been World Calypso Queen for the last three years running.” It was strange, Julie thought. Her daughter idolized Tammy, but didn’t really know too much about her.

“
I’ve never even heard her sing calypso music.”

“
And you probably won’t hear it tonight. She mostly sings pop outside of Trinidad. She’s got a lot of CDs out.”

“
I know that,” Meiko said. “I’ve got several.” When had she bought them? Julie had never heard her playing them.

That night they were seated at a front row table in the dinner restaurant when Tammy took the stage.

“
I guess Hurricane Darlene has kept some people at home,” Tammy said into the mike. Then she winked at Julie and Meiko and went into her set, singing pop, blues, and country and western songs. She ended the show with a bluesy version of Bob Dylan’s Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door that had everybody up and clapping.

“
Wow, she can really sing,” Julie said.

“
Remember,” Tammy said from the stage after the applause had died down. “My compact discs are on sale by the cashier for only fifteen US each. Buy a couple and keep a girl like me in mink.” She laughed and the audience laughed along with her. Julie saw several people get up and start for the cashier.

“
I was wondering when you were going to come walking in.” Julie and Meiko turned to the sound of the familiar voice. Tammy kissed them both on the cheek, before she pulled up a chair and joined them.

“
You were great,” Meiko said.

“
Thanks kiddo, but I’ve been a lot better. It’s hard singing to a half empty house.”

“
Yeah, you said something about a hurricane? What was that?” Julie asked.

“
Hurricane Darlene, just a day away from wiping us all out, or not.” Tammy laughed.

“
What do you mean?”

“
It’s out there in the Atlantic headed toward the islands. It’ll turn north, they usually do, but it’s got the cruise ship people frightened. They don’t bring their ships and my audience goes to hell. It sucks.”

“
What if it doesn’t turn north?” Meiko asked.

“
Honey, if it doesn’t turn, it doesn’t turn. We’ll still be okay. It’s a big ocean, we’re on a small island, the chances are a million to one.”

“
Are you sure?”

“
Honey, I’m Tammy Drake. Do you think I’d be sitting here if I thought there was any chance at all of a hurricane messing with my future?” She laughed, and Julie and Meiko laughed along with her.

“
Now,” Tammy said, “tell me all about your adventures.”