Anne Bonny's Wake. Dick Elam

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СКАЧАТЬ I was just being polite.”

      “My dad always made us say grace. You raised in a family like that?”

      I nodded. I couldn’t imagine this disguised hag as a young girl. She looked over forty. She also looked silly. Her left bosom sank lower than the right.

      Maggie mopped up her egg with her bread, topped it with the bacon, and folded the bread into a sandwich. She ate at a measured pace, leaving me to carry the conversation.

      The golden bacon tasted like an October morning, just crisp enough to waken your taste buds. Maggie had cooked the egg to correct softness—breakable with the touch of my fork. And I ate too fast. My egg and bacon disappeared. She had eaten all her bread. I offered her my uneaten piece. She nodded thanks and took the bread without stopping her rhythmic chewing. Her jaws moved, but her lips—still marked with a number 2 pencil—parted only to take in food.

      “How did you get out of the Intracoastal Canal, into the Neuse River, and to here?” I asked.

      She took another bite of bread, then answered. “Outran the other boat to the Neuse River. Stayed ahead to Maw Point Shoal.” She chewed her last bite of bread.

      “We cut behind the Maw Point turning mark. Looked back and saw running lights. And that boat following us also cut inside. We knew then that we had no advantage because of our shallow draft.”

      “Who—and how did you identify who—was chasing?” I asked.

      “The big guy wearing the red pants was chasing. He kept gaining. We could see his white wake as well as his running lights. Ahead, we could see the flashing Piney Point inlet buoy, so we headed for that buoy.”

      She cleaned the plates into the garbage bag, sponged off the dishes. She mixed more instant coffee. I stood on a step and looked across the cabin and saw no other boats. Stepped down, went forward, and opened the hatch above the V-berth. I stood on my toes and couldn’t see any boats off our bow. Bear Creek looked clear.

      Morning breeze circulated through the cabin. Dishes wiped, the stove out, the bacon smell gone, I sipped slowly on my third cup. Remembered I should watch my caffeine intake, particularly on lazy mornings.

      She sat at the table, her glutinous head almost touching the kerosene lamp mounted on the bulkhead. Between coffee sips, she sponged off pencil marks and dried her face with a paper towel. Despite her matted hair, she looked no older than thirty. She showed few facial wrinkles.

      “Excuse me for stringing out the story. I haven’t eaten since supper, and I haven’t slept, either. I’m not sleepy, but I sure was hungry. Not to mention, I didn’t want to stay in the water all day. Was beginning to feel a lot like Eve when she and Adam discovered they needed something more fashionable to wear than a fig leaf.”

      Although amazed at her command of details, I was uncomfortable with her offhand account.

      “What time did you reach Bear Creek? I’m a light sleeper. Didn’t hear any boats last night.”

      “We never reached the Bear Creek inlet buoy. The guy didn’t get close enough to fire his shotgun. But he was gaining on us. That’s when we turned in to shore. Cut the motor before it touched.”

      She sipped her coffee, then continued:

      “We wanted to run aground, so I steered while Rick stood by to lift the motor. Big thump. Rick jerked the motor up, and we coasted closer to shore. Rick grabbed a paddle and started pushing off the bottom. I grabbed the other paddle and poled on the other side. I don’t think the guy could see us because of the trees behind us.

      “The guy knew we were in the shallows. We heard him circling in deeper water. We continued to pole ourselves along the shore. Pretty soon we poled into deeper water. Rick decided to try and escape under motor. If I waded ashore, Rick said he could go faster with only one in the boat, and besides, I think Rick wanted me out of range.”

      Her matter-of-fact tone pinned no medals on Rick’s gallantry.

      “I also knew a trick I used to fool my babysitter. I would stuff my bed with pillows and sneak out on her. I suggested we rig decoys.

      “I wrapped Rick’s shirt and my sweatshirt around life preservers that we fitted around boat paddles, blades sticking up to resemble our heads. Found a piece of rope and tied one padded dummy to a seat. I took off my bra and used the straps to lash a second dummy to the other seat. I told Rick to keep his belt handy to lash down the wheel and dive overboard if the guy got too close. With the dummies in the boat and the boat running wide open, the big guy might not notice when Rick dived overboard. Good that Rick’s black skin would be harder to see in the dark.

      “I only wore my cut-off jeans and panties after we rigged the dummies. I kicked off my boat shoes so I could swim better. Slipped into the shallow water, pulled myself along the bottom. Rick waited until I reached the shore, then he raced his boat back into the river.

      “The other boat must have been circling back. Anyway, Rick got a head start. The big guy took after him. The mean guy was gaining when the two boats raced out of my sight.

      “I think I heard gunshots, but I can’t be sure. I hope that Rick dove overboard and the guy shot at our dummies, instead of him.”

      “What time was that?” I asked.

      “I don’t know, but I swam and waded the shore for several hours before I reached this part of the river. This is Bear Creek, right?”

      “That’s right.”

      “Um . . . I bet you want to know why I’m here. Dawn caught me in that open field across from you. I didn’t want to be seen. Decided to hide in the water, and your sailboat looked like a good hiding place. I didn’t intend to come aboard, just hang onto your boat. But you saw me swimming, invited me aboard, and I thought, why not? Sorry I got you into all this.”

      “Glad I could help, I think. Where do you go next, back to Belhaven?”

      “I guess I should. That’s where I left some clothes. I was planning to hitchhike a boat from there up to Chesapeake Bay.”

      I knew young people worked on yachts for meals and a trip to or from Florida. The free rides don’t come easy now. Newspaper stories tell how a pickup crew overpowered owners and commandeered the boat to smuggle drugs. Boat owners hesitate to take aboard people they don’t know. And yet, here’s a crew I didn’t audition. Am I crazy?

      Maggie demonstrated good boat hitchhiking skills. Performed expertly in the galley. A good galley slave counted more than two deck hands. I assumed she wasn’t a sailboat kidnapper. Logic, and my criminal justice readings, told me I had no reason to make that assumption, but I liked what I saw in Maggie Adelaide Moore.

      “Maggie, I’m going the other way. I can take you up the river here and let you off at a town.”

      “Oh. Yes.”

      “Or, you can ride to Oriental and catch a ride there. I’m taking the Anne Bonny back to Wrightsville Beach.”

      “That’ll work fine. These clothes are as good as the ones I left in Belhaven, anyway. Sign me on for Wrightsville Beach.”

      Could have told her she misunderstood. I could have repeated СКАЧАТЬ