Port Starbird (Storm Ketchum Adventures) (23 page)

They didn't talk
after that, both of them lost in probably similar thoughts. When he could see that they were approaching the north end of town, he slowed down and steered the boat closer to shore, as close as he dared to get without risking running aground. There appeared to be a lot of debris along the shore here as well, more so than in the other towns.

"I don't know if we should chance the canals to check on the shop," Ketch said. "I'm afraid there might be too much junk in the water. We could
get marooned if we foul the prop."

"That's okay. We can drive down as soon as the road opens, I can wait 'til then," she said. "Can't do much about it now anyway, and if we can't get there,
maybe your pirates or looters or whatever can't either. Let's check out the boatyard, though, it's on the way."

They proceeded slowly and cautiously to the entrance to the boatyard. Ketch throttled back when they got close enough to see, not wanting to advance much further.

"Oh wow," Kari said. There'd been flooding here as well, and many of the docks were buckled and splintered. The boats that had remained here were in a state of disarray; some had apparently collided with one another, and two of the houseboats were partly beached sideways on the shore. Ketch backed out in silence and steered them around the bend.

Again, more flooding; here
most of the houses were missing roof tiles, and there was water in every back yard and under some of the houses. The debris line, and water marks on the pilings, indicated the water had risen even farther and then receded. The pilings of one house looked to have given way, and the formerly elevated house now rested directly on the soggy ground; it was one of the old ones, so maybe the wood had been rotting and weakened. And then there was the house in the water.

In the water? Ketch steered closer and throttled back again.
He rubbed his eyes to make sure they were clear and scanned the neighboring properties to be certain he had his landmarks straight and wasn't making a mistake. There was no mistake - that was his house, that was
Port Starbird
. Or what was left of it anyway.

"Oh, Ketch," Kari softly moaned. "Oh God, what happened?"

The house appeared to have settled approximately where the dock had been. Whether the dock had washed out first or been crushed by the house was impossible to tell. The house had apparently been knocked off its pilings, by hurricane winds or the receding water from the opposite shore of the sound slamming into it, or both, and either floated or slid down the back yard. Maybe a tornado had touched down here? He doubted it could have floated much or for very long, as only half of the foam blocks he'd ordered had been installed; they might have instead been smashed on impact. But the blocks were probably what had allowed the house to migrate as far as it had, one way or another, both the ones that had been installed and the others stacked behind the house.

But why? He'd had the house inspected before he'd bought it, and one more time since, and he'd been assured that the pilings and superstructure were in good shape. Len and Mario had installed most of the blocks on the same half of the house - maybe the extra weight was too much, maybe it was the imbalance that had tipped the scales.

"So, do you still want to go inside and see if the bedroom's okay?" Ketch rhetorically asked with a mirthless laugh. The house wasn't level, and the impact must have loosened joints; the entire structure was out of square and leaning like some old barns he'd seen that looked like they were about to fall over. And because of that and probably also the wind, the roof had started to collapse. All of the windows looked to have been shattered.

Just a few years ago, an event like this would have completely derailed him for sure, no doubt about it. He might have had to check himself into a mental hospital. But though he was of course still devastated nonetheless, things were different now.
He
was different now, finally. Kari watched him in silence, trying to read his face.

"Looks totaled to me," he said.
"Can't just bang out the dents on this baby, frame's bent." He cut the engine and dropped the anchor. One of his favorite John Prine songs inexplicably popped into his head, and he drummed on a gunwale with his hands and sang a twist on a bit of it. "Looks like... someone knocked you into the sea... same thing... same thing happened to me!" He got himself another beer from the cooler, opened it, and gulped some down.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kari asked with a worried frown on her face.

"I'm just fine! Here, I'll tell you why," he said, and broke into song again:

"
Any day you're not six feet under is a good day,

Any day that big old world's still spinning around
,

Let the small stuff go and the good stuff will make
things okay,

Don't let that goofy old world start bringing you down
."

"I don't recognize that one, is it one of your own?" she nervously asked.

He stopped singing and looked at her. "I'm scaring you, aren't I?" he said. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that. I'm okay, really." He took another sip of his beer. "That is indeed one of mine. It's called
Have a Good Day
."

"Huh, so you do have more than just that one you played at the house that time." Ketch saw that she was looking a little more relaxed now. "You'll have to play all your songs for me sometime. When you're not writin' your book."

"When I'm not working with you and helping you grow your business," he corrected her. "I'm still serious about that offer I made you. I'm afraid, though, I might have to rescind the invitation to live at my house. How would you feel about a houseboat?"

"A houseboat? Whe
re? The boatyard's wrecked."

"Well, I still have
my lot. We could just park it out back. No, wait, there's something in the way there."

"Anywhere is fine by me. I'll
go wherever we need to go," she said with a smile. "Which for a while might mean my apartment, if it's still standin'. Do you think you'll rebuild?"

"I don't know, we'll see.
We'll figure it all out eventually."

She moved closer to him and enveloped him in a hug. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I think so. Though I do feel kind of like Santiago."

"Santiago who?"

"You know, the old fisherman, in
The Old Man and the Sea
. All that struggle, all that effort, the ordeal he went through trying to land that giant marlin, and by the time the sharks were done all he had left was a pile of bones."

"And the boy."

"Right, and the boy. And I have you." He gave her one more squeeze and went back to the cooler. He got out another beer for her and the food they'd brought, and started laying it all out on one of the seats.

"
Damn that Hemingway," he chuckled. "But I'm better off than Santiago in one way - I don't have to eat raw fish to survive. That's something."

He mock-bowed and beckoned her to join him. "Milady,
luncheon is served!"

#
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Garrett worked as a biologist and computer scientist before trying his hand at writing fiction. He lives in upstate New York USA, where he and his wife serve as the housekeeping staff for two rather spoiled dogs. This is his first published novel.

He
also plays guitar and writes songs from time to time. If you'd like to hear the "Port Starbird" song, and maybe some others, visit his web site at:

https://sites.google.com/site/authorgarrettdennis/

Also visit Garrett Dennis on
Facebook
at:

www.facebook.com/garrdenn

You can reach him via e-mail at:

[email protected]

If you enjoyed this book, keep a weather eye out for the next Storm Ketchum adventure, coming soon:

P
ort of Refuge

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