I knew where this was going. I was going to have to be the middleman, the buffer between everyone. It wouldn’t be the first time in my life I’d played the role. “I’ll go see how she is.” I grabbed a beer for her, in the off chance she was up for one.
“Thanks, buddy. We owe you one,” Ray said, eyeballing the small bed in the corner.
“Why don’t you two get some rest, and I’ll hit the hay in a few hours. We can just take shifts for alien watch, Vanessa watch, and sleep.” They nodded and I climbed the few rungs to the deck. Carey sat there and happily greeted me. He hadn’t wanted to come down the ladder. When I tried to pick him and carry him down, he just whined and shook ferociously. I’d settled on leaving him here.
The night air had a chill to it, even though we were quite far south at this point. The smell of ocean, salt, and night mixed together and gave a somewhat calming scent. I headed to the back of the boat, or aft, or was it starboard? I really knew nothing about ships. Vanessa was at the wheel, one hand on it as she stared into the starry sky. It was beautiful out here.
I settled in on a bench to the side of her and offered her the semi-chilled beer. She took it with a smile, took a sip, and kept staring into the sky.
“Dean, I’m sorry if I scared you before. I know you guys must think I’m nuts. My instincts took over and I felt like I did what I had to do. I saw a threat and eliminated it.” She was speaking softly and I could see that she was upset.
I stood up and put my arm around her shoulders. It was hard to imagine she was capable of killing anything, being a small-framed fifty-something. Her face pressed into my chest and she started to sob. Just when I’d passed her off as a threat, she softened my views of her, but I knew people were all capable of being manipulative. I thought I was a pretty good judge of it, and honestly felt like she was being real and in the moment. I held her and told her it would be okay, and in a few minutes, she was backing away, wiping away tears and apologizing to me for being silly.
“There’s nothing silly about it, Vanessa. Think of what we’ve been through in the span of a couple days. It’s been crazy! Not only did everyone we know and love leave us, ripped from our planet, but it’s just us left to fix it. If that isn’t pressure, then I don’t know what is. I used to think tax time was as bad as it got.”
She laughed and we stayed there small-talking: talking about Peru and drinking our beers. Carey sat by my feet, surprising me by how well he was doing on a boat. The waters were quite calm and I could see other sailboats and ships in the water as we sailed on by in the moonlight. It was so quiet and serene out here that for a moment I forgot where I was and closed my eyes, feeling the sway of the boat and the lapping of the water as the wood cut through the slight waves.
A couple hours passed and Ray emerged from below. He stretched and Vanessa showed him how to hold the wheel and explained about the tiller. It all seemed easy, but I knew there was more to it than “take it and hold ‘er steady.” There were only a few boats in the distance, and when I asked how far she thought we’d traveled, she said about one hundred and fifty.
“If you see a ship coming in too hard, steer clear if you can. If you’re worried, then come and get me,” Vanessa said.
“Aye aye, Captain,” Ray said.
Mary climbed up top and asked what time it was.
“About three AM. A few hours until sunrise,” I answered. “I think we’d better go get a little shut-eye. Keep an eye on Carey for me, would you?”
I was below deck in moments, sharing the small bed with Vanessa: a woman who, hours before, had shot a man right in front of me. Even with my mind racing, I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow.
THIRTEEN
When I came to, I was alone in the bed. I was groggy, but when I stood to the lightly rocking motion of the boat, I knew I was finally rested. The sun blinded me as I climbed out, and I was greeted sloppily by a cocker spaniel’s wet tongue. I gave him a kiss on the top of his head and added a multitude of pets to tell him I missed him. He was such a good animal. Everyone was still there and smiling as they sat on the bench, eating bagels and drinking what looked like orange juice.
“Well, aren’t we all just out of a Hamptons Elitist Magazine.” We laughed at the idea of the grimy group of us being on the cover.
“I might need a little makeup first,” Mary said.
“Me too,” Ray said with a chuckle.
“Why didn’t anyone wake me? It’s after nine!” I felt bad for hogging the bed so long.
“You needed it, and besides, look how nice it is out here,” Vanessa said.
I scanned the horizon and was amazed by the wonder of it. The ocean stretched for far beyond my eyesight in every direction. I couldn’t see any other ships bobbing in the water now. We were getting much further south, and already my shirt was clinging to my back from the heat and humidity.
“We passed Cuba about three hours ago and are well on our way to Panama. I think we should head there first, since it’s closer by a hundred or so miles, and traveling by boat is much slower than an automobile,” Vanessa said. We brought out a map of the area and agreed that the northern tip of Panama was probably our best bet. It looked to be around seven hundred miles, and we were currently averaging twenty-five miles an hour. We’d hopefully land by noon the next day.
I noticed Carey looking sheepish in the corner, and I found he’d made use of the bath towel I’d laid out. I’d hoped he would think of it like a patch of grass and was happy it worked. I took the towel by both ends and carried it to the back of the boat, holding it away from my nose. I shook it off into the trailing winds and figured I’d better put it back so he knew it was okay to keep using it. Ray gave me a grossed-out face when I finished flinging it off. The things a dog owner had to do. I tried to imagine what this trip would have been like with a child and was glad I didn’t have to deal with the stress. Janine and I hadn’t been able to have kids, but they were something I still saw in my future. Not going on a date in years wasn’t helping my cause, though. My gaze lingered on Mary, who was taking lessons on the ship from Vanessa. Her ice from the night before seemed to have melted off in the heat, and the two of them appeared to be fast friends once again.
The rest of the day went by quickly, as if we were sailing through time, and before we knew it, late afternoon was upon us. Dark clouds threatened to cause rain in the distance, the direction we were heading into.
“What do you think of those?” I asked Vanessa, who was staring at the looming clouds miles away.
“I think we may have reason for concern. The weather down here can be very touch and go, and that storm may pass, or we may pass through it with no problem.” She paused. “But we don’t have a choice at this point. We have to keep going.”
“Why don’t I head down to the kitchen and make us something to eat? Who’s up for some world-famous grilled cheese?” I asked, hoping to take their minds off the potential storm.
“I’ll help you,” Mary said, and we headed down the steps into the ship’s small underbelly.
“I hope we don’t have to deal with anything too harsh. I don’t relish the idea of being tossed about the sea in this thing. We’ll get ripped to shreds.” I was surprised by her honesty. Again, I felt like I was getting to see the real Mary, the one behind the mask of the Air Force and tough attitude. The more time I spent with her, the more I enjoyed being with her. My cheeks burned, and I turned to the stove.
“Yeah, I agree. My stomach doesn’t want to deal with that. It’s uneasy enough as it is. How about we make some food and hope everything works out?” I kept my back turned to her.