Dangerous Shores: Book Three; The End of the Road

by Christine Conaway

  Frank looked up and saw there was a layer of ice on the inside of the ports. Standing, he peeked out the nearest port. He saw the lifeline was sagging under the weight of the ice. “Well shit…you never said it would be this cold up here.” He glared at Ellen as if it was her fault the weather had changed.

  She gave him a blank look as if she hadn’t heard him and he was glad that she hadn’t. There were dark circles around her eyes and she looked tired. The newly grown hair on her head was standing straight up and he felt the need to smooth it for her. He felt immediate guilt because he’d subconsciously blamed their situation on her. Even without coming out and saying it to her face he felt as if he owed her an apology. Granted, this was her idea to come north, but they had chosen to come with her.

  She had made their survival possible whether that was her intention or not. She did more than her fair share plus he knew she carried the burden of having them all along. She felt responsible for them by simple ownership of the Annie-C. Frank knew she worried enough for all of them combined. To blame her for the cold weather and snow was unfair.

  He handed her his cup, “Here drink this you’ll feel better.”

  “No, you need it more than me. I’ll get some in a minute.” She studied his face for a second and closed her eyes. She recognized his attempt to appease her. Just by the look on his face she thought she knew what he was thinking. He probably wished they had stayed in Florida or some equally unsuitable place.

  She had felt sure that the farthest they could get from large population areas would be the only way they were going to survive. She had thought about an island somewhere, but other than turning in to Swiss Family Robinson she didn’t see how they could have accomplished it. There was no place she could think of at the time that would have all of the elements they needed for survival.

  Coming home had seemed like the best option then and it still did. If her friends remembered the farm when things got tough for them, they would have a community up there to help each other. She didn’t expect to start a new country or even a metropolis. She did hope to have an extended family. Families cared if you succeeded or not and families went out of their way to help you. You returned the favor by helping them.

  As long as they all started with the same ideas of surviving they would succeed. It wouldn’t be easy and most of the time it wouldn’t be fun, but if each of them gave their all, they would make it.

  She had ignored Frank’s offer of his coffee, but it was time to get out of her warm bed and find some of her own.

  The novelty of seeing snow for the first time had worn off for the girls and they chose to climb into the V-berth with Maggie. They snuggled down in the mix of all the blankets, Holly tucked between them. Maggie had begun to read from a binder that Ellen had said was a book she’d written long ago. It didn’t have any pictures and because they had fallen asleep so quickly the night before, neither of them knew what it was about.

  Dana and Olivia had agreed that a book about other kids and castles had to be good. Maggie had told them it was about using your imagination to do what was right and wishing for the wrong things could get you in big trouble. They were excited to hear the story.

  They were laying side by side waiting for Maggie to come and read.

  “I know how to read,” Olivia announced. “I could read it to us.”

  Dana giggled, “I do to, but Nana says it gives her something to do. She said it makes her feel useful. She told me everyone has a job to do but her.”

  “Well, I know a job she could do.” Olivia had given it a lot of thought when everyone thought she was asleep. While she had labeled Alan and Hannah as her new parents, she didn’t think Mr. Frank or Miss Ellen were old enough to be her grandparents. They weren’t old enough like her real grandmother had been.

  Dana shook her by the shoulder, reminding her she had been in the middle of speaking. “What can she do?”

  “She could be my Nana too.” Olivia watched to see how her words would affect Dana. She may have been only eight, but she was smart. She spent a lot of time watching and thought she knew what role each of the people on the boat played and Miss Maggie was definitely the grandmotherly type. “If she wouldn’t care that I’m not white.” She didn’t think Dana’s grandmother would care what color her skin was because of Rob and Dana but she wanted to voice it just in case. And she didn’t want to intrude on the relationship between Dana and her Nana.

  “Silly, Nana says it doesn’t matter what color you are. Look at me, I’m not white either. She says I am the new generation and someday everyone will be the same color. She said she would love me if I was purple.”

  They laughed and snuggled closer. They could see their breath when they breathed out. They expelled little smoke or fog puffs for a bit and then snuggled deeper into their blankets. Holly wiggled down between them.

  “Tell me about where you lived before.” Dana asked and when she saw Olivia frown, she added, “But only if you want to.”

  Chapter Thirty - He’s a lemming too.

  By the time they were close enough to see more than a shadow of land the sun had come out. It didn’t bring the much needed warmth with it, but it was enough to melt the sheet of ice that covered everything.

  Frank used the hand-held bearing compass as soon as they had a landmark they were sure of.

  “I think I know where we are.” Ellen said as she came up the ladder, coffee cup in hand. The land in front of them seemed to curve away out to the ocean. A rock formation put its head out of the breaking waves off the point. “I think that has to be Tatoosh Island. We probably won’t see the light but that’s where the old lighthouse used to be.”

  Frank looked at her frowning, “Trying to steal my thunder?”

  “Nope! Only saying what I think.”

  “Well I think you would be right. I’ve been thinking and I dumped the extra fuel from the jugs in but I don’t think we have to stop at Neah Bay unless we want to.”

  “That’s true, but I was thinking more of the tide changes. We’ll be out of the current once we make the turn at Cape Flattery. I know you’ve never been up here so you don’t know about the tides. They rip between the multitude of islands up here. I mean scream through them too. I was on a boat going between Blakely and Decatur with only the sails up and while the hull speed was only 6.5 knots we were flying at 10. The tides are nothing to sneer at here. I think we should go in and find fuel if we can.”

  As much as Frank didn’t want to expose themselves to another opportunity for chaos he admitted she was probably right. “Okay, but do we anchor out or make use of the docks? There are docks aren’t there?”

  “Anchor out?” Ellen laughed. “You going to swim in to get the fuel?”

  “Like I said before, I think they put in a whole new dock system.” She thought for a few minutes trying to decide. “When I was there last, it was fall, right after halibut season and we had to raft up to an old trawler. But I’m sure I read that they have new floating docks. Why don’t we play it by ear and decide when we have a chance to actually see it?”

  “That sounds good to me. I didn’t think about tidal surge when I suggested passing on the stop. Looking at that coast line, I can see where we wouldn’t want to run out of fuel before we got where we are going.”

  Ellen laughed, “It’s a real eye opener coming from Florida where the tides are minimal to here where it can rise and fall ten feet. When you start pushing all that water between two bodies of land it makes for an exciting ride. The whirlpools are scary too the first time you see them.”

  “I don’t even want to know what the whirlpools are. We’ll go in and see about getting fuel, I agree with that. But I think we need to not get involved. We go in and we get out. I keep feeling like we’re missing something. You know, like you keep waiting for something to happen, but it doesn’t.”

  “I know exactly what you’re talking about. The past couple days I’ve felt like we should be doing something but can’t remember what it
is.”

  As they drew closer to land they were able to see the individual small islands off the coast. It was hard to differentiate the islands from the mainland. Tall fir and majestic cedar trees grew close to the rocky cliff faces with a thin line of white sand where the water met the shore.

  “I’m impressed,” Frank said. He was standing facing the shore with the binoculars held to his eyes. “This definitely isn’t Florida. Look at the size of those trees.”

  “That’s what I missed about not being here. Every time I said something about missing the trees, people would look at me like I was crazy and point at the palm trees.”

  “Maybe you should have carried around one of those little pocket albums with pictures of trees. Sometimes it’s easier to show than tell.”

  “No way…they’d all have gotten on the first plane to see them and they’d have stayed.”

 

  They sat in silence with Frank inspecting every inch of the shoreline. Ellen was behind the wheel as they rounded Cape Flattery. The tide was out and rocky outcroppings stuck up between the breaking waves.

  They motored with the tide up the coastline to Neah Bay. Ellen had kicked the motor down and they were still making good time. Furls of white rolled up past the bow, some splashed as high as the deck.

  By the time the sun was as far up as it was going to rise, they were passing on the north end of Wadah Island. They made the turn around the point and once again Frank was making use of the binoculars. Something had caught his attention and he was trying to find the source.

  “Ha! Got it!” He exclaimed. He trained the glasses on the island. Someone had used a mirror on the island to signal someone on shore. The recipient of the flash had sent several flashes of light back to the island.

  Frank had no idea what the message could have been and was about to tell Ellen when something struck the end of the boom right beside his head. He dropped to his knees.

  “Hard to port! Hard to port!” He screamed at Ellen. “Someone is taking shots at us!”

  She didn’t question him, but spun the wheel as quick as she could to port and kicked the rpm’s up.

  “Jesus Ellen make yourself small!”

  No more shots hit the boat, but Frank was able to track several more reflections between the island and shore. Someone had set up a security post on the island effectively guarding the entrance to Neah Bay.

  Once he decided they were far enough away, he had Ellen slow them back down.

  “What the hell was that about?”

  “I suspect they were only protecting themselves.”

  “We didn’t come in all threatening. They didn’t even know what our intentions were. That’s like hanging us before the trial.”

  “Well, for one thing, we don’t know who came before us. Maybe they’ve gone through some shit and they don’t want a repeat performance. I think it’s what I would do if I were in their place.”

  “Really, you’d shoot first and question later? I find that hard to believe.” She stared at Frank as if he had grown a third eye. She saw from the set of his jaw that maybe that’s exactly how he would react.

  “Ellen, I think the more time that passes since this all began, the more our chances for a peaceful arrival diminish. Think about it. What if the power went out but people didn’t get sick and die? How long do you think it would take for people to run out of food? How long before every store, every semi-truck parked on the side of the road and every warehouse ran out of food? Do you see what I’m talking about?”

  Frank noticed that Ellen’s long hair, was blowing forward to her face and she unconsciously kept putting it behind her ears. He had thought at first it was ambient wind from their forward movement that made her hair fan out, but they weren’t moving that fast. In fact, the white roll of water at their bow had diminished to barely a curl. However, he thought the wind could move them along faster than the motor.

  “What do you say we try out the sails. It would save our fuel in case we need it after dark. Right now we can watch the line for chafing and see how well our repair stands up to the pressure.”

  “Sure go ahead and pull the jib out first and we’ll see how it holds up.” Frank pulled it out slowly; the better to be able to judge the tension on the repaired shrouds. He knew the improvised shrouds were only as good as the line they’d used for repairs. He held his breath as the sail filled and the shrouds held. He turned and grinned at Ellen.

  She adjusted the wheel to keep the sail filled and Frank shut the motor off.

  The Annie-C heeled over as if she didn’t know she had problems. She was performing exactly how she was designed to do.

  “Two days. Just two more days.” Ellen said. She was talking out loud but it didn’t matter to her that no one heard. It was enough that she acknowledged that she would be back on familiar soil in just two more days.

  “How far?” Frank asked. Seeing her confusion by her frown, he repeated, “How far once we hit land?”

  She bit the inside of her lip, thinking how long it could take them. “Well, if it was just us adults we could make it in just over a day. It’s twenty-eight miles by road. I think if we can make ten miles a day we would be doing well, if the kids can walk that far. But I’m kind of kicking another idea around.”

  “So are you going to tell me this other idea or do you want me to guess?”

  “Well, depending what we find, I think it would behoove us to go a little out of our way to see if the bike shop has been looted.”

  “How far out of our way?”

  “Five miles. But there may be another option too. Riding bikes used to be the best way to get around from the marina. There may be a chance we could find some bikes right there.”

  Frank thought about what she said, “We’ll have to leave so much behind unless we can figure out how to move it with us. I for one don’t want to have to come back unless there’s no other alternative. I can’t imagine anything being left if we do have to come back.”

  They both turned at the sound of the hatch being slid back.

  Hannah had two cups. “Here’s some hot chocolate. Alan wants to know if we are going to continue on through the night or anchor off one of the islands. He’s been going over the chart and thinks we should be almost to Port Angeles and a little farther is Sequim.”

  Frank looked at the chart he had sitting in front of him. “What chart does he have? I didn’t think we had more than this one.”

  She looked back inside and talked for a minute. “Oh, I stand corrected. It’s not a chart, it’s a book on the Puget Sound area, but he says it’s full of information about the islands around this area. Wait, he’s getting dressed and coming up.”

  She disappeared from the opening and the hatch slid closed.

  Frank looked at Ellen, “A book?”

  She looked thoughtful for a second or two, “I had some books but I didn’t realize there was any on this area. But I bought a bunch of stuff from an old sailor and I never went through it.” She shivered and stuffed one hand in her pocket.

  “As much as I hate to say it, it might not be a bad idea. It feels like the temperature is dropping and if the wind changes out of the northeast which it has been known to do, it could really get cold.”

  It seemed to Frank as if her voicing the temperature drop had raised his senses to how cold he was. He had the gloves on because they didn’t come close to fitting Ellen’s hands. Just sitting idle for a few minutes made the cold sink into his bones.

  The hatch slid part way open and Alan hurried through the opening, closing the doors and hatch to keep the cold air from going down. He hunched his shoulders and rubbed his hands together. He pulled the hoody closer to his ears. “Damn it’s freezing up here. How are you guys doing?”

  “Freezing, what do you think? Where’s the book Hannah said you had?” Frank held his hand out.

  Alan pulled it from under his coat. “The corners are turned on the pages for this area.” He pulled the neck of the hoody up to cover h
is chin. His nose was turning bright red and he pulled the neckline higher. “Dang, I don’t think I’ve ever been in weather this cold. It’s got to be zero or something like that.”

  Ellen had pulled her sleeves down over her hands but she was beginning to shiver. She could feel the cold wheel through the layers of cloth. “Alan, come take over for a few minutes. I think I need to go below and warm up.”

  “You got it.” Alan traded places with her and felt the full force of the wind. It immediately cut through the cloth of his hoody and shirts under it.

  Ellen hurried down below pulling the door behind her. The wave of heat that hit her in the face only made her realize just how cold she was. Within minutes her fingers started to ache. Maggie pulled her to the sink and ran some of their precious warm water into the bottom of it.

  “I’m okay don’t waste our water.” Ellen protested. She cupped her hands and blew into them.

  Maggie grabbed her hands and forced them into the water. “Shame on you. Do you want to lose those fingers?” She held Ellen’s hands in the water when she tried to pull them out.

  “Do you know how much that hurts?” She pushed the words out between clenched teeth.

  “Better to thaw them out slowly than lose them. I’ve seen frostbite before and your fingers fit the bill. Now just keep them in there for a few minutes more.”

  “Yes Mom,” Ellen said, her fingers felt like they were on fire, but in her mind, she knew Maggie was right. Her Uncle Jerry had gotten frostbite one year when they’d had a five-day nor’easter. The cows were starting to drop their calves and they’d all helped to bring them closer to the house. She and her Dad had used the horses while Jerry had used his four-wheeler. She’d had the luxury of burying her hands under the cantle of her saddle and let the heat from the horse warm them. She’d seen her father doing the same thing.