Chapter Five
Linda watched his actions and saw his concentration so she quietly went below to make coffee and sandwiches. When she returned with a tray, he was still making a call every thirty seconds or so.
"No luck?" She said quietly.
"I'm not sure." He said in a voice barely above a whisper as he took off his earphones. "Listen and tell me what you think."
He made another call and then turned the speaker volume up high. Against a background of clicks, whistles, whirrs, and buzzes, Linda could hear a female voice. Her face frowned deeply as she listened.
"Beep, crackle, pop, - Ouch - beep - Air Come back, - whistle, pop, - Eeper - pop -try at three hun - Buzz, hum, pop, beep -on 43 tune -"
Everything disappeared into a high-pitched squeal that had Karl almost instantly reaching for the volume button and turning down the sound.
"Did you make anything of that?" Karl said quietly. "I think it was 'ouch air come back' and then 'eeper' that could have been part of 'Grouchy bear, come back Keeper', but I'm not sure of the rest of the message."
"I'd say it was part of the numbers and letters you used and then some sort of a message that was broken up badly by noise."
"Yes, I think so too What I made out this time was 'at three hun.' and 'on 43 ' something."
"Um, I think it was 'try at three hun.' Linda said quietly and at the end after '43', it sounded like 'tune' to me."
"I wonder . . . ?" Karl sat back and frowned. "I suppose 'try at three hun.' could mean to try to contact them again at three hundred hours. That's the quietest part of the night as far as radio traffic is concerned, but it's also the time of the most skip and interference, well, it is normally, as bad as this is, it couldn't be much worse."
"Okay, that makes sense, then what did the last part of the message mean?" Linda asked.
"I'm not sure. Are you sure you heard 'tune'?"
"I think so . . . maybe the word was two or maybe it was cut off, it could have been part of the word tonight or something couldn't it?"
"Of course." Karl laughed. "That would be it, 'call back at three hundred hours on 43 band tonight'. Just a second."
He turned up the volume again and picked up the microphone.
"Grouchy Bear. This is Keeper. Grouchy Bear. This is Keeper. Will call back at three hundred hours tonight on 43. Repeat Grouchy Bear. This is Keeper. Will call back at three hundred hours tonight on 43."
He turned up the volume again and Linda concentrated on the noise.
"Keep-, whistle, pop, Chee bear-, burp, rattle, -mative, repeat that's affirmat-, pop, squeal, whistle, -hundred on fort-, pop, whistle."
Then the static again became too loud for Karl and he reduced the volume, but he was grinning as he stood and hugged Linda tight. She laughed at his joy, but wondered that the voice sounded like a woman's.
"Karl, would it be a woman and not George?" She asked.
"What?" He laughed. "Oh, I think that was Ely or Keri, I couldn't tell for sure. They're probably manning the radio in shifts all day and all night. If the reception is better at night George just might take the late night shift or he might have been hurt. We don't know enough to even guess yet, but I'll be here at the radio at three in the morning."
"I'll be right here beside you." She grinned up at him. "But for now, I've made coffee and sandwiches and I think we should eat."
As they ate, Karl fell into a thoughtful mood, even Linda grew quiet and the fog closing them in didn't help their mood. Both of them were staring out into the fog when the cat decided Karl's lap was free and he was in need of a pet. Karl was startled at first, but then made the cat happy as he scratched his back softly.
"Well hello, old timer." He said quietly as his strokes were met by loud purrs.
The cat settled down happily and Linda had to smile.
"He doesn't care about the weather." She chuckled. "He's so loud. He sounds like an old motor boat engine, missing on one cylinder every once in a while."
"Yeah, an old Evinrude." Karl laughed softly. "In fact that's not too bad for a name. We have to call him something."
"Oh come on, it should be 'Pirate' or at least something nautical."
"Evinrude is nautical, after all it's a boat engine."
"Oh come on, it's someone's last name, someone who happens to build boat motors. We can do better than that, how about 'Castaway.' After all you found him floating on the water."
"Well, then why not 'Flotsam' or 'Salvage'?" Karl grinned at her.
"Yecch." She made a face. "That sounds terrible. He's so loud, how about 'Boomer'?"
"He's got stripes. There's always 'Tiger'."
"He's about as much of a tiger as I am." She laughed. "He's an old pussycat."
"Well, I guess he'll stay 'Puss' then since we can't agree."
"Oh come on, there has to be some name that we can agree on that suits him." She frowned. "But since he's your cat, I guess we can call him whatever you want."
"Then let's just wait." Karl laughed. "He'll name himself."
"What do you mean?"
"He'll do something or other that we'll notice that will give us a clue for a name. All my other pets have always named themselves. As a kid I had cats named 'Cuddles' and one named 'Underfoot' and a dog called 'Speedy'."
"You would." She grinned. "We aren't doing much, how about showing me all the secrets of the 'Skolka' while we're waiting."
The rest of the day was spent in going over the whole boat as Karl explained it's intricacies and then working together as they cooked supper. By the time they went to bed in the evening, a light breeze had come up and they were able to cut the foghorn because the fog was rapidly dispersing. Neither of them wanted to hear the irritating sound of the foghorn when they were trying to sleep. Karl set the alarm by the bunk for two thirty and they went to bed early.
Their lovemaking started out slow and gentle but gradually escalated into an extremely energetic session of sexual gymnastics that left them both so exhausted that they fell asleep almost instantly. It seemed only a short time later when the alarm rudely awakened them both. Karl shut it off, rolled out of the bunk, and sighed softly as he pulled on his pants.
"You don't have to get up." He said as Linda yawned widely.
"Hah, I'm curious too, besides, you might need my ears." Linda answered in low tones as she slipped out of the bunk herself. "You go warm up the radio, I'll make a coffee and bring it up with me."
Karl grinned and pulled on shirt and socks, as she slipped past him toward the head.
"Don't be long in there, woman." He laughed. "That was going to be my first stop."
"I know, but I can't wait." Linda called back as she closed the door behind her.
By the time she was finished, Karl had put the coffee on and was gone upstairs. She heard him peeing over the side of the boat and grinned to herself as she pulled on her clothes. Fully dressed, she went to the galley and waited for the coffee to finish perking, then went upstairs. Karl was leaned forward at the radio, quietly adjusting something while a soft hum came from the speaker.
Karl smiled up at her and took the coffee mug from her hand.
"Thanks, Love." He said quietly. "Now, we'll see what 43 sounds like."
He rotated a large switch and then threw a small one to one side. Instantly sound filled the room, but it was a wash of quiet sounds, like the sound of small waves on a beach.
"Oh this is much better." He said quietly, cutting back the volume slightly as he glanced at his watch. "Well, it's a quarter to three, knowing George, he'll be standing by as well. Let's give him a try."
Linda leaned forward in anticipation as he lifted the microphone.
"CQ Grouchy Bear. This is Keeper, come in Grouchy Bear."
"You're early and drop the call signs. There are too many listeners." Said a gruff voice clearly from the speaker.
"Is this really pudding and pie?" Karl asked, winking at Linda and watching her face wrinkle into a grin as she caught his reference to the child's rhyme about Georgey Porgy.
"Aye, matey." The voice paused. "In a crooked house and you?"
"Polishing doorknobs, with a guest." Karl grinned.
In an aside to Linda he said "George must think we're being monitored and wants secrecy. Make notes if you want, I'll explain later."
"Ah, little Indians on a fence here. Have you been on the range?"
Karl paused and frowned for a second, then his face cleared.
"No." He continued. "Just Bristol fashion, with a rescue and a shipboard romance, though. How by you?"
"That ought to throw anyone listening a curve, it seems to be even throwing George and he's brilliant." He said quietly as the radio fell silent for several seconds. Linda smiled up at him from scribbling notes on a pad she had grabbed.
"He must be. I'm lost." She said quietly
"All aboard. Second, fourth, and last piggies here, in the stick house with the wolf huffing and puffing on the horizon."
Karl frowned for a second, glancing at Linda, then back at the radio, looking at it as if by staring he could get some answers. Then Linda could see his face change, his eyebrows lifted and he raised the microphone again.
"Mary Poppins and the chopper?"
"Lost in the quake. Gone fission."
"Oh, too bad. Could you use a little boy blue?" He asked quietly.
"Hah, beware superman, there's kryptonite in them thar hills." The voice on the radio drawled sardonically.
"Well, more like the Pimpernel." Karl grinned
"Beggars would ride."
"Rub a dub, dub?"
"Possibly."
"Oh come on. College try?"
"Of the essence. Recognition?"
"Whistling Dixie." Karl replied as he shifted sideways to begin the warmup of the boiler on the boat. "The coffee's perking."
"Ease off, buddy. Speed zone, and bears in the bushes. How about the grave watch?"
"Make it two dozen plus or minus one and the maitre de wants reservations."
"Oh, we're only half dirty."
"Okay, one kind or the other?"
"That's right, rooster, hens and a couple of chicks. "
The radio suddenly erupted with sounds of whistles and pops. Karl glared at it for several seconds, then when it quietened, picked up the mike again.
"White out this end after chicks." He said
"Ditto this end, call in twenty?"
"That's four and out." Karl said
"Roger Dodger and " then the radio was wiped out by whistles and chirps
Karl glared at it in frustration.
"Damn." He growled. "We didn't set up a pickup spot."
"Hell." Linda laughed softly. "I'm not sure what you two did say, I hope you do."
"Oh." Karl smiled. "If you made notes, I can explain."
"Here." Linda handed him the notepad. "I'd appreciate it."
"Let's see" Karl glanced at her notes. "The crooked house refers to the little crooked man who lived there, I suppose that means he's at home but they suffered some damage and polishing doorknobs means I'm in 'the queen's navy' or aboard the boat. The reference to 'Indians' I think is for the number of people there or maybe that they're scared of losing numbers, while 'on the range' is asking if I've been home. 'Shipboard romance', means you and I are together and 'Bristol fashion' means that the boat is in good shape. It took me a moment to get the next one myself. If you play this little piggie with a kid's toes, 'the second' one stayed home, 'the fourth' one went hungry and 'the fifth' one ran home, which means that the whole family is there and they're not too well off for food and want to get away. The 'wolf huffing and puffing' means that someone is trying to put them under some sort of pressure, probably danger. 'Little boy blue' asks if I can help and 'kryptonite' is him asking if I think I'm superman. I replied no, I didn't feel strong, just sneaky, like 'the scarlet pimpernel'. And he replied with the quote 'If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride.', meaning he'd like to get away, but can't think how, so I asked if he could get a helicopter, one of his daughters can fly one. 'Gone fission' meant he had one available, but it had been destroyed, probably in the earthquake."
He paused and took a sip of coffee before continuing.
"Rub a dub, dub', refers to boats, I'm asking if they can get out to sea so we can pick them up. He replies that time is a problem, 'time is of the essence' is the complete quote, I think, so it means we've got to hurry. That's when I fired up the boiler and told him I could whistle, he'd know the sound. He suggested after midnight, so I told him within twenty-four hours, in other words tomorrow night. Then I asked him how many people to expect and he said they were only 'half dirty', I took that to be referring to the dirty dozen. I double checked asking if it was six of 'one kind' and half a dozen of 'the other' and he agreed, adding he's only got women and children with him. I would imagine that would be his two daughters and his grandson, my son David, as well as his housekeeper and her daughter. The last bit was almost wiped out by noise, at least we agreed to call back about eleven or twelve tonight, I suppose on the same band."
He leaned over to shut the boiler back down to standby since it would only take minutes to get to operating pressure.
"I've got to think over that comment about speed zones and bears. I didn't really understand that."
"Well, my assumption would be about the restrictions on movement and perhaps the coast guard is patrolling and on the lookout." Linda said quietly.
"I guess." Karl said quietly. "I wish there was somewhere I could leave you to be safe while I go to George's rescue."
"Hah, like hell, buster." Linda bristled. "For one thing you need all the help you can get and for the now, 'wherefore thou goest,' etc. You're stuck with me."
Karl stared at her for a second and then grinned as he stood and pulled her into a bear hug.
"I'd rather be stuck into you." He laughed softly.
"That can be arranged." She grinned, then pulled out of his arms and dashed part way down the steps going below before turning to grin at him. "Well, come on slow poke."
"Okay." He grinned. "I guess the wise course would be to go back to bed and try to get at least a couple of hours of sleep before setting off."
"Hah, sleep after." She giggled. "And I'm your sleeping pill."
She ran off and he quickly made sure everything was shut down, then he hurriedly followed.
Karl awakened with a start, feeling Linda's soft flesh against his side and in his arms. He could hear her soft relaxed breathing and the sound of rain on the deck over his head, but he knew something else had awakened him. Something felt wrong. Listening even more carefully, he thought he heard a voice shouting in the distance but he couldn't be sure. He carefully slipped away from Linda, doing his best not to awaken her, then as soon as he touched the deck he rushed to pull on pants and shirt.
He hurried above deck to the wheelhouse. The mist appeared to have cleared a lot and there was a mild breeze blowing from the shore. Rain was still falling heavily, but he could make out the shoreline. Seeing movement there, he grabbed his binoculars.
There was some sort of dark-green vehicle sitting near the shore and several men moving about. They appeared to be working on an object right down at the shoreline, approximately where he and Linda had seen a wrecked row boat. He counted carefully and could see at least six men. One stood next to the vehicle, whatever it was, and the rest seemed to be trying to repair the dinghy.
"Army maybe?" He thought and his mind raced. "Damn. I suppose with this declaration of emergency they can seize boats and I don't want them to confiscate the 'Skolka'. I want out of here. I'd better wake Linda and if I can sneak away, I'm going to. There is no damn way some snot-nosed young whelp is taking my boat. I wonder why they haven't tried to hail us, I would have thought that would be the first thing they'd have done. I don't like this."
"Linda." He called down, hoping she was easy to awaken. "Wake up Babe. We're about to have company."
He heard her moving as he fired up his boiler, wanting to be ready for any possibility. Having left the pilot light burning, he knew that it would only be moments before he had steam, but even that brief period was going to seem to pass slowly. In seconds Linda was standing at his side.
"What is it?" She asked quietly.
Karl silently handed her the binoculars and pointed to the shore where it appeared that the men dressed in army green were working to get the small boat afloat.
"Oh." She sighed. "People. That's wonderful."
"Yeah." Karl grunted. "But not just anyone, it seems to be the army. For some reason, it worries me. I'm not happy that they haven't tried to hail us or anything. It almost looks like they want to be here before they let us know that they're coming."
"Why would they do that?"
"Well, if they've been called out by the government, they probably want to commandeer this boat for their use and throw us off of it."
"Oh, shit." She lowered the glasses and spun to stare at him. "Can they do that?"
"If this has been declared a disaster area and is under martial law, they can and will." He said quietly. "I'm not sure what to do."
"Have you tried the radio yet?" She asked quietly.
"No. I haven't but that's a good idea. We'd better be quiet though, I just want to listen not talk for now." He smiled, snapping it on. "Thanks."
At first he got no voices at all, just background noise, then suddenly as he rotated the dial he found a voice coming in loud and clear. Glancing at the shore, he picked up the glasses. One figure was standing by the vehicle and appeared to be talking into a microphone.
" ... and it appears to be abandoned, sir. Over" The voice was high pitched and seemed to whine.
"Would it be suitable for transporting troops, Lieutenant? Over" The second voice seemed to be quieter, perhaps more distant.
"I believe it would, sir. I think it must be about fifty feet long, it appears to be a power boat, and in quite good shape too. We'll know more when we get someone out to it. We've found a small row boat that we might be able to use if we can get it repaired. Over." Whiney voice answered.
"Too bad you don't have one of the inflatable's." Quiet voice responded. "You say it appears to be a power boat, Lieutenant, are you sure? Over."
"Yes sir. That's what it appears to be, it's certainly big enough, but the visibility is so bad, we can't be certain. Over"
"Well, let me know more when you find out, Lieutenant. No matter what it is, grab it just in case. Over."
"What if there are people aboard, sir"
"Put them ashore with a tent and some supplies, Lieutenant, and put a man aboard to guard it for now."
There was no answer for a few seconds.
"Sir, what use is a boat to us? Over."
"At the moment, Lieutenant, it's of no use to us at all, but it may have a use in the future. Remember, we're living on an island, we may need to go somewhere else if things heat up. Commandeer it and guard it. That's all. Over and out."
"Yes Sir, over and out."
The radio fell silent. Karl stared at Linda.
"That was one chance in a million, catching their signal at just the right time." He said quietly. "It's just as I thought. They have no use for our boat, but they want to control it anyway, just in case."
"Karl." Linda said quietly. "Suddenly, I don't like this at all."
"I don't either." Karl sighed quietly. "I was listening carefully and that was no regular military conversation. At least I don't think so."
"What do you mean?"
"Well first off, it's not a common band for the military to use. Secondly, they just didn't sound right. I think that whoever that is out there is trying to act like the military, but isn't really in the armed service." He frowned. "I don't trust them somehow."
"I thought it was just me." She said thoughtfully. "There's something about the way the bossy voice sounded and he kept repeating the word lieutenant so many times. It was as if he was trying to sound authoritative."
"Yeah." Karl reached his hand toward her. "Can I see those glasses again?"
"Sure." She handed them to him.
Karl studied the men working around the boat on the shoreline.
"Why aren't they looking for people who might be trapped?" He said quietly. "Why are they all working on that stupid boat?"
He lowered the glasses slowly.
"Linda, look carefully at those men. Look at their clothes and tell me if you see anything strange?" He handed her the glasses again.
She raised the glasses and studied the men carefully.
"Well, some of them are in blue jeans, but they all seem to have khaki coats except for the one fellow." She hesitated. "Karl, he's wearing a red checkered shirt under his duffle coat and . . . Oh Hell. He's the guy giving the orders. I just saw him point and another guy did whatever he wanted."
"Yeah." Karl growled. " Did you notice his gun?"
"No, he's turned sideways and that coat hides it, wait." She said quietly. "Now he's turning, umm. . . , it looks like a . . ."
She dropped the glasses from her eyes and stared at Karl.
"It's a six gun, like a colt, in a western holster like a cowboy would wear. The army doesn't carry those, does it" She asked quietly.
"No." Karl growled. "That guy isn't regular service, not regular Canadian services anyway."
"Karl, what are we going to do?" She whispered.
"Just hope the rain comes down harder, or the mist comes back." He said quietly. "And for now we don't show ourselves on deck. I don't want them to see us moving around."
"What are you thinking about?" She frowned at him.
He grinned and sat back on the helmsman's seat.
"This is a steam boat and it can move damn near silently." He gestured with his hand. "I've already fired up the boiler. I'm holding the pressure at eighty pounds, that's well under the blow off point for the safety, but enough to steam away with. If we lose sight of those guys on the shore, I'm going to count on the fact that they'll have lost sight of us too "
He paused for a second before continuing. "We're going to sneak off silently into the night and leave them here to try to figure out where we've gone."
Linda stared at him.
He grinned. "Well, even if they are real army, which I doubt, they haven't officially told us that they want the boat. If we leave without them speaking to us or seeing us go, then they can't tell us, can they?"
She broke into a matching grin.
"I like that." She chuckled. "Too bad we didn't leave last night after we talked to George instead of going back to sleep."
"That's okay. It's just seven thirty. We've got lots of time" Karl said glancing at his watch. "I'm just glad we shut off the fog horn. Except for a little bit of heat haze from the stack, this boat must look abandoned from the shore. I just hope that in the rain they can't even see that."
"Do I dare make something to eat?" Linda asked quietly.
"If you want to. I can't see why not, but I'm not really hungry right now. I could use a coffee though."
"Me to and I was just thinking of a bit of breakfast." She smiled. "I was also thinking, you mentioned the stack and I was wondering if the stove smoked."
"Oh, no, it doesn't smoke, not at all, but I'm glad you thought of it." Karl smiled. "You could make a pot of coffee, if you don't mind. I think I'm going to check the radio, there seems to be a lot less noise on it right now. If we could hear those guys on shore, we might be able to hear others too "
"Good idea." Linda smiled, slipping down to the galley.
Karl turned back to the radio and slowly adjusted the tuning dial. The weather station was back on the air and he listened to it momentarily before passing on to other frequencies. The weather prediction was for heavy rain with a possibility of heavy wind later in the day. He passed on quickly to other channels. He had soon covered all the marine frequencies and had only heard one faint call in some foreign language. The radio spectrum he could monitor was almost vacant. He wished fervently that he had a standard broadcast receiver too but he didn't and he wasn't about to jury rig Linda's radio again at the moment. He turned his attention back to the channel where he had heard the conversation between the men he could see on the shore and their commander, whoever they were, deciding it was safest to monitor their radio calls.
The rain was pelting down harder than ever now and the breeze was slowly building up. He picked up the glasses and studied the shoreline carefully. They appeared to have the little boat floating, but for some reason, none of them was getting into it. The rain was so heavy that he could hardly make them out. He grinned to himself in satisfaction.
"Linda." He called softly.
"Yes Karl." She answered, popping her head up from below.
"Can you leave everything down there for a moment?"
"Oh, sure. I could shut off the heat if you want me for something."
"Great." He grinned at her. "I'd like to get the anchor up if we can. If we're careful, I think we can slip away without being noticed."
She came up into the cabin and glanced out the window.
"Oh, the rain is a lot heavier." She said softly. "I can hardly see the shoreline."
"Right." Karl said. "Now I was going straight ahead when I anchored and we're heading about the same direction now, I'm going to try to break it loose by going straight back. It will mean that one of us has to go on deck and slip the knot that ties the anchor line and then use the winch to lift the anchor. I'd like you to either run the throttle or the anchor winch. Which one do you think you can do better?"
"Mmm, how does the winch work?" She asked quietly. "I'd rather do that."
"You have to tail it by hand and clear the line, but it's electric. I'll just ease forward a bit to give you some slack to untie the line from the cleat. Once it's untied, you just have to pass the line around the barrel of the winch a couple of times without getting any crosses in it. There's a rubber bulb on the deck just behind the winch that hides the electric control, you can press it with your foot to make the winch work, then once the winch has tightened the line, I'll start to back away. You'll be able to just hold the line tight and the winch will do to work of breaking the anchor loose. Once it's free, you just keep on pulling it up and clearing the line until the chain and anchor are all that's down. There's fifty feet of chain on the anchor and we don't want to make a lot of noise bringing that on deck, so we'll run for a bit with the anchor dangling and the chain below the hull."
"How will I know when the chain is about to come up? Should I lean out and watch?"
"Oh, no, you won't have to do that. The anchor line has coloured tell tales woven into it every ten feet. Once you see several long red tell tales, you have ten feet of line left before the chain starts." Before she could ask questions, he added. "I like to know how much line I have out when I'm anchored."
She grinned. "I thought there had to be a good reason. Do you have a dark coat?"
He handed her a heavy woolen coat and a dark grey toque. "Sorry, all the rain gear is bright yellow and just too darn visible for this job. It would stand out too much in this weather."
"That's okay. This will do just fine." She said quietly, slipping it on and tucking her hair under the toque. "Are you all ready?"
She was standing with her hand on the door latch and smiling at him.
"Almost." He said quietly, then stepped over and kissed her. "Now I'm ready. You be careful out there."
She grinned and slipped out the door, ducking low and slipping forward. Karl stepped back to the controls and slipped the engine into slow forward, easing the throttle up until he saw slack appear in the anchor line. Linda was amazingly fast at freeing the line and slipping it around the winch drum. He immediately threw the control into reverse. He saw the line tighten and felt the boat jerk as the anchor line tightened. But then he barely had time to increase the throttle before he felt the boat surge slightly as the anchor came free. Instantly he cut the throttle almost to neutral so the boat wouldn't show any excess speed. If someone on shore could see them, even as a blob in the rain, he wanted to appear to drift away. Linda was bent over the winch, pulling in rope hand over hand and just allowing it to drop where it fell on the deck behind her. Karl felt better when he heard its low rumble stop and saw her cleat the anchor line in place. She turned and gestured at him about the coils of line on deck but he waved her inside, feeling that having her exposed on deck was more dangerous than running with loose lines on deck. He felt a surge of relief when she came back inside immediately, since he knew now that there was less chance of her being spotted.
"Now what?" She asked as she slipped off the heavy coat and hung it up.
Even in the few minutes she had been out in the rain, she'd gotten soaking wet.
"Now, you change out of those wet clothes, while I ease us slowly out of here." He grinned. "I'm hoping that it will look like she dragged anchor and drifted off in the wind if anyone on shore can see us at all. We want to move slow enough not to make a wake."
"That's what I thought too. So on the off chance that someone could see, I tried to keep as low as I could." She grinned back.
"I noticed. You did a great job."
"I don't like that anchor hanging down there like that or the loose rope on deck." She sighed. "It worries me."
"Don't worry about that. We won't be getting into shallow water for a while. I'll steer for deep water to keep the anchor from dragging and unless it gets really rough, that line isn't going anywhere." He smiled. "Aren't you cold?"
She was shivering and she thumbed her nose at him as she slipped below decks to change. Karl turned the radio louder, monitoring it closely to see if the men on shore had noticed that they were slipping slowly across the bay. He checked his depth sounder and his radar, then grinned at the progress they were making, cutting the throttle to zero, temporarily letting the wind have its way with them. They were drifting down the bay quite satisfactorily, but he was going to have to turn somehow. He hoped the wind would swing them around so they could travel bow first.
He waited for several minutes, but the boat travelled steadfastly in it's original attitude and direction. He lost patience. Throwing the throttle to forward, he spun the wheel hard over to port, then leaving the wheel alone, he reversed for an instant. After that he brought the throttle to neutral and waited. The 'Skolka' slowly swung and he could feel the waves start to rock her. He waited patiently, swearing silently as the rain perversely seemed to lessen just then.
Linda came up from below, bracing herself on the steps of the ladder and looking at him curiously.
"Are you trying to spill your coffee?" She asked quietly. "I've had to clip the pot down."
"Unh uh, I'm letting the wind swing us so . . ." He started to explain, then fell silent as the radio suddenly blared.
"Lieutenant Curtis. Are you there? Corporal Baker here. Over."
This wasn't one of the voices they had heard before. This voice was deep, almost gravelly. There was a short pause.
"Curtis here, go ahead Baker. Over."The familiar whiney voice answered.
"Sir, that big boat, It's drifting away, sir. Over."
There was another short silence. The door to the deck came open and swung to the motion of the boat. Linda mustn't have latched it tightly when she came in. Karl looked at Linda and held his hand up to stop her from leaning forward to close it. Linda had started to move but now was as still as he was. He thought the man might have glasses on them and didn't want to show any motion.
"Are you sure, Baker? It's raining so heavy here we can't see anything. Over."
"Yes sir, She's drifting sideways right now, almost off the point where I am. Over."
"Baker, is there any way someone could be aboard that boat? Over"
"I doubt it, Lieutenant. The waves are tossing the boat quite badly and if there was anyone on board, I'm sure they'd be trying to do something about it. I've got the binoculars on it now. The cabin is dark, but I can see the wheel, in fact I can see both the deck and the wheelhouse and there's no one moving around. I doubt if anyone is aboard."
The voice fell silent for a second and then continued.
"Sir, I got a glimpse at the foredeck and I could see the anchor line tied off to a cleat and rope piled all over the deck, yet the line goes straight down into the water. I think the anchor is hanging down free. There don't appear to be any lights on, not even running lights, just that anchor light we first noticed. I see a door banging in the wind as well. I don't think any sailor would leave the boat like that, I think she's abandoned and drifting. Over."
"I'm glad you were in a hurry and not trying to be neat with the anchor line. Just don't move. He'd notice that. That guy has been around boats." Karl said quietly, feeling he had to whisper, as though he could be heard.
"It sounds like it." Linda whispered almost silently as well. "I'll stay right here."
"What do you mean, Baker? Explain." The radio continued.
"Well, Sir, I think whoever was on board was washed overboard when they were working on the anchor. I think the boat just happened to have drifted into the bay, maybe it hooked on some debris out there where it was before. When the wind came up it broke free and now it's drifting away again. Over."
"Damn it Baker, can't you get out to it? Over."
"How would I get there, Sir? I don't have a boat. Over."
"Could you swim it? Over."
"Not a chance. It's rough out there and the rain is coming down harder again, I can hardly see her at all now. Over"
"Damn it, Corporal, Commander Nielsen wanted to commandeer that boat. If we'd been able to get this bloody rowboat patched up so it didn't leak so bad we could have had her. Can't you think of anything you could do? Over."
"No, Lieutenant. I can't think of anything. Right now she's broadside to the wind and heeling badly with the waves. If that keeps up long, she'll be shipping water and that means she'll soon go down. As well as that, she's headed for open water, the tide and the wind are both sweeping her out to sea. I can't even make her out clearly now in all this rain. As rough as it is, I think she's gone. I don't think there's anything we can do about it. Over."
The radio fell silent.
The rain was coming down in sheets. Karl waited a few seconds and then stepped to the wheel. He moved quite rapidly, adjusting the wheel and the throttle. In a few moments he had swung the boat and eased into a course that had her running with the wind. He gradually slipped the throttle further and further toward its maximum.
Linda was grinning as she stepped to his side after closing and latching the door.
"That worked out great." She chuckled. "Do we dare speed up like this though?"
"Let's just hope the rain holds." Karl laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "If you look at the radar, you'll see that right now we're running with a rain squall. Here, you take the wheel and keep us in it if you can. If you do lose the squall, cut the throttle to low and hit reverse for a few seconds to ease our speed so we don't leave a noticeable wake. If it takes me very long and we get past the headland on the starboard side, turn her that direction."
"What are you going to do?" She asked, taking his place at the wheel.
"Finish pulling the anchor." He grinned, slipping on a rain coat. "In a short while we're going to need it up, we'll get into shallow water crossing a reef then and I want to be ready. Besides in this rain no one can see me out on deck."
She didn't have a chance to say anything more, he slipped out on deck and she watched him head forward as she held their course. His movements were so practised that he made the job of stowing the anchor line and anchor seem easy. He was back inside in moments and he was grinning as though he had won the lottery. She laughed as he stripped off the rain coat and hung it up.
"What's so funny?" He asked stepping behind her and wrapping his arms around her.
"Nothing really." She chuckled, snuggling back against him. "It's just that it worked out so well. You've got horse shoes up your butt. I mean, the rain broke just at the right time. If that corporal hadn't seen us drifting by at just the moment you were trying to let the wind swing us around, they might have thought there was someone on the boat. Now they think it's just a drifting hulk."
Suddenly the radio crackled into life again.
"Corporal Baker, this is Lieutenant Curtis, over"
"Yes Sir, Corporal Baker here. Over."
"The weather is clearing here, Corporal, and the wind is dropping. Can you still see that boat? Over."
"Negative sir. I've been puzzling it for a couple of moments. She seems to have completely disappeared, sir. Over."
"Did you say it's disappeared corporal? Over."
"Yes lieutenant. When I last saw her, she was heeled over in a rain squall. If a freak wave caught her heeled over like that she might have turned turtle and sunk. There is some debris in the water about where she should have been by now, but I can't tell if it's from her or if it's just debris that's floating from shore, sir. Over."
"Shit." The whiney voice sounded in frustration. "God damn it to hell. Just what am I to tell Commander Nielsen, Corporal?"
"The truth, we couldn't get out to her in time, she drifted off and since no one was aboard her to set things to rights, she sank in the storm. Over."
"Oh, thank you, Corporal, I'm sure he'll be pleased." Whiney voice said sarcastically. "Over and out."
The radio clicked loudly and fell silent. Karl looked at Linda and grinned.
"I think he's annoyed." He chuckled.
"Pissed right off, I'd say." Linda giggled. "But that doesn't bother me much, I don't think I like him all that much."
"Well, I'm not impressed with him myself." Karl said slowly. "I think I'm glad he's in charge and not that guy Baker though."
"No. Baker appears to have a brain and he uses it to think with, I'll bet he would have had the dingy floating. "
"Yeah, just so he doesn't think too much, we're okay " He laid a chart on the table and pointed to an island well out in the strait. "I'll go below and change these wet pants, you could head us well out to the open water, past this island. For now just continue up this channel and swing wide as you come to this point, I hope the buoy is still there to tell us where the rocks are. I think it was there on the way in, but I'm not sure, so try to be well away from shore as we pass that area. To be sure, keep an eye on the sounder, if it drops under fifty feet, ease off to port for a bit."
She felt slightly apprehensive at being left alone but turned her attention to their heading as he went below and she glanced at the dials and gauges in front of her. They didn't really make much sense to her because she wasn't familiar with operating a steam boat, but all of the needles were clearly in the green area of the gauges and well below the prominent red markings. Besides that, she felt that the boat was doing well. It just felt right somehow.
Now that their direction had changed and the wind was slightly off her starboard aft quarter, the boat had a soft swinging motion that she knew would have made anyone who had motion sickness have an upset stomach in a few moments, but she'd spent enough time on boats that it hardly affected her. In fact, she was hungry and she remembered the breakfast she had been heating before they had slipped anchor. She was about to call Karl when he suddenly came back above decks with two deep bowls of steaming porridge, two thick slices of toast and two cups of coffee.
"Hungry?" He asked as she grinned at him.
"Starved. I was just going to ask you if I should finish getting that breakfast ready."
"When you're at the helm, I cook." He grinned, setting things down on the broad dash of the pilot house so both of them could eat comfortably. "You're doing just fine."
"Well, I'd feel better if I knew what all this stuff was." She said pointing at the dials and gauges.
So as they ate, Karl explained the function of every control in the cabin and had her adjust everything and see what happened. Shortly after he had her adjust the fuel flow to high and cut back the throttle, she almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of the safety valve releasing. He chuckled but showed her how to increase the water flow, as well as reduce the fuel flow and increase the throttle to drop the boiler pressure and reseat it quickly. Afterward he explained how to establish a balance of feed and demand, so that the boiler and engine seemed to keep each other in a state of equilibrium.
He had her reestablish a series of settings that allowed the boiler to produce enough steam for the task of cruising and watched carefully as she did as he told her. While he was at it, he explained what each control was and gave her a simplified version of how it worked. His explanations were clear and concise and as they drank coffee, he made her aware of each gauge, dial, and switch, every function and every control. What she had assumed was a very complex system seemed to grow less and less complex as her familiarity with the controls grew.
Linda realised he was a natural as a teacher and she enjoyed learning from him. Her confidence built rapidly and she had enough experience on other boats to know that she was doing well. They'd been travelling about two hours and had been making good time as well as enjoying themselves even though the storm had worsened somewhat and the sea was relatively rough.
She was unfamiliar with the GPS as well, but since they'd been travelling in the heavy rain and mist which had reduced visibility to less than half a mile, she had been forced to rely on it and was even growing used to using that. As they approached a pair of islands that Karl had told her they would pass between, she realised that his radar was excellent. Since he was right there to check her steerage, she decided to at least bring them into the pass if not attempt to steer them right through it before letting Karl take over again.
"Do you think I could take us through the pass?" She asked over her shoulder.
"I can't see why not, you're doing extremely well right now." Karl chuckled as he sat nearby petting the cat. "If you have any questions, just ask or if you think you need me to do something, I'm right here."
She smiled and nodded, her confidence building even more as she realised the trust he was placing in her.