Well, we’re under way now, he said. We have to use this current while it’s with us or we lose a whole day. Tonight we’ll have a big meal.
Tonight?!
Yeah, he said.
He heard her mutter, Peanut butter and junk food… Don’t you have anything at all?… Oh, wait a minute, she said. Here’s a half a bar of chocolate.
Then he heard her say Ugh!
What’s the matter? he asked.
There’s something wrong with it. It tastes stale… How about some coffee? Do you have any coffee? Her voice sounded pleading.
Yes, he said. Come on up and steer and I’ll go down to make some.
As she rose from the hatchway he saw that she wore a white T-shirt, skin-tight, with the word, L-O-V-E, printed in large red block letters.
She saw him stare and said, Summer clothes again. Pretty good weather.
He said, I’ll bet you never expected yesterday it would be like this.
I never know what’s going to happen next, she answered. I thought I was going to have breakfast next.
She moved to sit across from him. The four letters of L-O-V-E shifted around in provocative directions.
Do you know how to steer one of these boats? he asked.
Of course, she said.
Then keep to the right of that red nun-buoy up there. He pointed to make sure she saw it. Then he stood up, stepped out of the cockpit into the hatchway, and went below.
He started to search through some storage bins for food, but after looking for a while he saw that she was right, there wasn’t any food on this boat. He hadn’t known his supplies were so low. He found a box of cheese crackers that looked about a third full.
How about some cheese crackers and coffee? he said.
No answer.
He tried again. With peanut butter… sort of a "Continental breakfast." After a while her voice said, All right.
He unlocked the gimbals from the stove so that it levelled itself against the boat’s heel; then from a shelf he brought out a propane torch to pre-heat the stove’s kerosene burner.
This burner was a real problem. It had delicate brass needle valves attached to doorknob-sized handles which meant that one normal turn wrecked the whole mechanism.
How soon until we get somewhere? Lila asked.
We can’t stop, he said. I told you. That would get us out of phase with the current and we’d have to buck it down around West Point. He wasn’t sure if she knew this river flowed backward twice a day.
Rigel says there are moorings at Nyack, he added, and from there it’s an easy sail into Manhattan. I want to keep that last distance short… Leave some margins… There’s no telling what’s down there.
With a match he lit the propane torch and then directed the flame onto one side of the burner so that it would become hot enough to vaporize the kerosene. These stoves could not burn kerosene liquid — they could only burn kerosene gas.
Is Richard going to be there? Lila asked.
Where?
Where we stop.
I doubt it, Phædrus said. In fact I’m sure he isn’t.
When the burner was red hot from the propane torch he turned its doorknob handle a crack. A hot blue flame took hold. Phædrus shut off the propane torch and put it on a shelf where the hot tip couldn’t touch anything. Then he filled a kettle of water from the galley sink and put it on top of the burner.
Lila said, How long have you known him?
Who?
Richard.
Too long, he said.
Why do you say that?
I just like to be by myself, he said.
You’re a loner, eh? Lila said. Just like me.
He went up the ladder halfway and looked out to see if she was still on course. It was all right.
It must be nice to have a boat like this all your own, she said. Nobody ever tells you what to do. You just move on.
Yeah, he said. It was the first time he had ever seen her smile. Im sorry about breakfast, he said. That was a working dock we were at. We were right next to the crane. We had to get off so they could use it.
When the coffee was done he brought it up, and sat across from her and took the tiller.
This is nice, Lila said. That last boat I was on was too crowded. Everybody was in everybody else’s way.
That’s not a problem here, he said.
Do you always sail alone? she asked.
Sometimes alone, sometimes with friends.
You’re married, aren’t you?
Separated.
I knew it, Lila said. And not very long, either.
How do you know that?
Because there isn’t any food on this boat. Real bachelor men always cook. They don’t just have junk food in the icebox.
We’ll have the biggest steak in town when we get to Nyack, he said.
Where’s Nyack?
It’s just a little way from Manhattan, on the New Jersey side. From there it’s just a few miles.
Good, she said.
Do you know a lot of people in New York?
Yes, she said. Lots.
Did you use to live there?
Yes.
What did you do?
She glanced up at him for a second. I used to work there.
Where?
Lots of different jobs.
What did you do?
Secretary, she said.
Oh, he said.
That sort of exhausted that. He didn’t want to hear about her typing.
He tried to think of some other topic. He wasn’t any good at small talk. Never was. Dusenberry should be here. This was getting like the reservation again.
Do you like New York? he asked.
Yes.
Why?
The people are so friendly.