(Go on, Johann. Just don't try to pray me into Heaven.) (I shan't, Jake beloved. We three will face whatever comes, together.) (Right, Boss. Jock knows it.)
"‘All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man...?'
"‘Two are better than one... . For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?'" (Boss, that reminds me. Do we have to sleep alone tonight?) (Danm it, Eunice, don't you ever think of anything else?) (Come off it, Boss. What else is worth thinking about? Stocks, bonds, and other securities? I've been telling Jock about your discovery—that sex is more intense for a woman than for a man. He doesn't believe it. But he's eager to find out.)
(Jake, are you that eager? I intended to show respect for your memory.) (I appreciate the thought, Johann. But you needn't carry it to extremes. I can't see why you should mourn me when I'm still here. Uh, tell me—is it really better?) (Let him judge for himself, Boss—whether it's better to spread Eunice...r to be Eunice. A more scientific comparison than you have been able to make.) (Quit talking like a kinsey, Eunice. All right, partners; I'll think over the changes. But I'll be damned if I'll make a disgraceful spectacle out of us tonight. Not this night. It's got to be discreet—or no game.)
"And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a three-fold cord is not quickly broken.'"
(Boss, I like that. This makes up for the funeral I never had. Not even a memorial service.) (But you did have a memorial service, Lively Legs) (I did? Who was there?)
(Just me, dear. I hired a little chapel and an organist. I read a couple of poems you used to like. Some flowers. Nothing much.) (Jock, I'm dreadfully touched. Boss! He really does love me. Doesn't he?) (He does, darling—we both do.) (I wish I'd been there, Jock.) (I didn't know where you were, dearest. Maybe just as well, you're not very well behaved at funerals.) (Oh, pooh all over you, you dirty old ghost—nobody can hear me.) (Careful whom you call a ‘ghost', Lively Legs; it might slop over onto you. Let Joan get through with this and splash it.)
"‘Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might—'
‘—for thy days are few and they are numbered—'
‘—man goeth to his long home.'
‘The silver cord is loosed, the golden bowl is broken.'
From the deep we came, let the body of our brother Jacob now be returned to the deep."
Joan closed the Book; Fred and Dr. Garcia lifted the end of the grating; the body fell into the water, disappeared.
She turned away, handed the Book to Mrs. Dabrowski. "Here, Olga. Thank you."
"Joan, that was beautiful. I don't see how you did it."
"Wipe your eyes, Olga; farewells must never be sad—and Jake was ready to go. I knew my husband well, Olga; I knew what he wanted, it was not hard."
She pressed Olga's hand and turned away. "Winnie! Stop that. Stop it at once. Jake does not want you to cry." (What makes you think so, Johann? I feel flattered by having a lovely little creature like Winifred weep over me.) (Oh, pipe down, Jake. You were the star of the show, now stop taking bows. Talk to Eunice.) Joan took the smaller woman in her arms. "You mustn't, Winnie. Really you mustn't. Think of your baby."
Winnie bawled against her shoulder. "Joan, don't you miss him at all?"
"But, darling, how can I miss Jake when he has never left me? The Jewel is still in the Lotus, and always will be. Eternal Now."
"I guess so—but I just can't stand it!"
Dear Doctor, maybe? He'll be giving Winnie a sleeping pill, surest thing.) (Not Roberto, Eunice. Under his aggressive atheism he's got a touch of what he was brought up on, he'd be shocked. Some other night.) "Roberto, you had better take care of Winnie."
"I will—but are you all right?"
"You know I am. I have a prescription for you, however."
"All right. It won't hurt you to take a real knocker-outer tonight. Say phenobarb."
"Let's not say ‘phenobarb.' My prescription is for Winnie. Get her to eat something. Then sit with her and recite the Money Hum for at least a half hour. Then take her to bed and hold her in your arms and let her sleep. And you sleep, sir; you've had a rough day, too."
"All right. Do you want to join us in saying them? We could come to the cabin—then you could go straight to bed. I've learned that it's better than barbiturates."
"Doctor, if you wish, you may come to my cabin at nine o'clock tomorrow morning—and kick me out of bed if I'm not up. But I will be. Don't go there any sooner than that. Tonight I shall recite that hypnotic prayer. With Jake. He'll be able to hear me...whether you think so or not."
"Joan, I have no wish to attack anyone's faith."
"You haven't, dear. I appreciate your solicitude. When I need it, I will draw on it—freely. But now you take care of Winnie." (Boss, how about Fred? No one to dodge. Jock, you'll be right in the middle. Lucky Adolf. But Fred won't know it.) (Eunice, you're out of your pointy little head. We almost scared Fred to death once before, just by being us. Before we got him gentled. Look at him, he's worse off than Winnie. With nobody to console him. But we can't console him, not this night.)
"Captain."
"Yes, Ma'am?"
"Let's bust up this wake. People should not stand around moping. Meal hours have become disorganized; can Hester throw together some cold supper quickly? Perhaps with volunteer help? I'd volunteer but I have something to do." (Oho! The Tom Cat. Jock, this is going to be fun.) (Lively Legs, is there a man in this vessel you gals haven't spread for?) (Oh, sure, Jock honey. Hank. He's got his eye on Eve and thinks we're an old hag. And now that her Uncle Jock has left her, Eve might trip him.) (Now that I'm dead, I regret having resisted that delicious little jailbait. Wouldn't have cost me more than a million to buy my way out of trouble—and I had a rich wife.) (If you two lechers will shut up a moment, I'll set you straight about something. Not Thomas Cattus. Certainly not before the midwatch and could be later with this wind against us. Captain Tom Finchley is going to be busy skippering.) "Captain, I want you to get way on and set basic course for San Clemente Island anchorage."
"Yes, Ma'am." He trailed after her, and added softly, "I better start calling you ‘Captain' now. Set an example."
She stopped. They were sufficiently alone that she could speak privately by lowering her voice. "Tom Cat."
"Yes?"
"Don't call me ‘Captain'—you are Captain until I've passed my tests. Then we'll see. And don't call me ‘Ma'am.' I'm either ‘Mrs. Salomon' or ‘Joan,' depending on the company, just as before. But in private I'm still your ‘Pussy Cat'. I hope I am."
"Well...okay."
"Let's hear you say it."
"Pussy Cat. Brave little Pussy Cat. Puss, you surprise me more, longer I know you."
"That's better. Torn Cat, Jake knew all along about your tomcatting with me." (Oh, what a lie! Eunice, she never told me—and I suspected only once and decided I was mistaken.) (I know, Jock. Boss is a deceitful one and not at; all truthful and besides she tells fibs even to me.)
"He did?"
"Yes, Thomas Cattus. But Jake Salomon was a true gentleman and saw only what he was expected to see. He never teased me about my little follies. Simply indulged me. But he didn't tell on himself, either. Do you know if he ever made it with Hester?" (Now see here, Johann—) (Pipe~ down, Jock; I've wondered, too.)