Sailing To Survive

"I think that we can work something out. Emily, why don't you sit down and we can talk about it for awhile and see how we can work this out."

"Thanks, Roger. This happens once in a while especially with college students. We really don't have access to any other transportation except by highway or the Waterway. I'll let you two talk and check back after awhile." He climbed back on the dock and I looked at Emily as she looked me over.

"Have a seat Emily. Would you like a glass of wine or scotch or something to help settle your nerves down? I imagine that this is pretty scary for you to be stuck."

"Thank you. A glass of wine would be nice."

I opened a bottle and poured her a glass of white wine that was now cool and brought it to the cockpit for her.

She took a long sip of the cool drink and seemed to calm down a little. "Thank you. I have never been stuck like this before. My dad and uncle and aunt are out of town until next week so I can't reach them. I thought that I would be safe with this guy but when he got drunk, he tried to make me do some things that I didn't want to do. That made him mad and he just pulled up here and told me to get off the boat. He wouldn't even let me get my purse or bag."

"How old are you Emily and are you a student?"

"Yes. I'm twenty and I just finished my sophomore year at Washington University in St. Louis. My home is in Columbia, Missouri."

"Sounds good to me. Let me tell you a little about myself. I owned a business and sold it. I decided to take some time off and travel. I bought this boat and really don't have much of a plan except to go somewhere new and explore. I am not a rapist or a dirty old man or anything like that. You can hear the kind of music I like to listen to and I try to live a pretty simple life. Any questions?"

"Do you have a wife or girl friend who might get upset if you took me along?"

"No; I was so busy running my business that I didn't have much time for a social life."

She smiled for the first time. "What can I do to help? I can cook pretty well. I don't know much about boats but I will do anything you want me to do."

"If you can cook, I will gladly hand that job over to you. I am mostly a bachelor cook. You know, open a can and put it in the microwave. But I don't have a microwave on board."

"I would like to do that. I feel like I need to earn my keep along the way. When are you planning to leave?"

"Tomorrow at first light. I have some experience with boats but they were smaller than this one. I wanted to take it out for the first time and have all day to get used to it. I expect that we will dock each night or anchor along the way. Is that ok with you?"

"Yes, perfect."

"Oops, if he left you high and dry, that means that you don't have anything but what you are wearing, right?" She blushed and nodded her head. "Finish your wine and we will walk over to the ship's store and get you a couple of things to wear and I need to get a couple of other things too."

"I can't ask you to..."

"You aren't asking; I am offering. And if you want, you can pay me back when you get back home. I'm not going to worry about it. So no arguments; let's go get what we need."

She finished her wine and stood up. I climbed on the dock and held out a hand to help her up. It was then that I realized that she was about eight inches shorter than my six foot tall and she had a really cute figure. I knew that I needed to put that thought out of my head and play it really straight with her while we traveled. I didn't need to add to my potential troubles with new ones.

We walked across the street to the store and spent an hour picking things out. She chose four pairs of shorts and blouses but opted to not buy any underwear. At my suggestion, she picked up a large straw hat to shield her from the sun. We also got several tubes of sun screen, sunglasses, a couple pair of gloves that fit her hands, a pair of sandals and sneakers to wear. I got three more towels and another blanket. I dawned on me that sleeping arrangements would be awkward as I only had one decent sleeping berth and a fold down cot near the steering station.

When we got back, I said, "Let me show you around and see what you think." I opened the cabin and led her inside.

"Oh this is really nice in here. Did you do all of this work?"

"No, I had it done. I expect to live here for several months and wanted it to be livable. I'll work on the outside as I go along. This is the galley and living area. The head and shower are in here. This is the sleeping cabin. You can sleep in here and I will sleep on the cot in back."

"I'm not going to take your bed away from you; I'll sleep on the cot."

"I don't think it is very comfortable."

"Then we will sleep together here on the bed. We can put a pillow between us if you want."

"We'll try but I'm not sure that is a good idea."

"We'll see. Now, are you ready for me to start dinner?"

"Let's see what I have. I bought a bunch of stuff. If you see anything missing, I'll go get some more things."

She rummaged through the refrigerator and muttered to herself. "Do you have a grill or do I need to cook everything indoors?"

"I have a grill; I just have to hook it up."

"Then let's do these steaks with a salad and baked potatoes. How does that sound?

"It sounds better than anything I would come up with."

"Then you hook up the grill while I start the potatoes. They will take a little over an hour. Do you want a scotch or a glass of wine?"

"A scotch would be great and pour yourself what you want. Feel free to make yourself at home. It looks like we will be roommates for awhile."

"Ok roomie, get out of my kitchen and go play with your toys."

"Ah the roommate from hell, I can tell."

We both laughed. I went outside and took the new stainless steel grill from the bunker where it was stored and mounted it to the flange that had been installed for it. Once the grill was in place, I hooked up the propane tank and then lit it so that it could warm up and burn in. It worked just like I had hoped. I would keep it stowed until we needed it while we were going down river. When I finished, Emily was waiting with a scotch in her hand along with a smile. She had a glass of wine and we sat down in the two captain's chairs in the cockpit and toasted each other as we were beginning a hopefully pleasant sailing adventure.

I was admiring how nice she looked when she said, "I guess you wonder how I got myself in this fix, don't you?"

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I don't need to know. I think I can trust you."

"I think I can trust you too and that's why I want you to know. I don't want you to think badly of me. I said that this guy was my boy friend; that isn't really true. I have been dating him for a couple of months but I didn't consider him my boy friend. He was dating a couple of other girls too. Anyway, he treated me well. I guess his family has money and he took me to a lot of nice places. Anyway as the semester came to an end, he asked if I wanted to take a river trip with him and his roommate and his girl friend. The four of us were going to Mobile and stay on the beach for a couple of days and then I was going to fly back in time to register for summer school. I thought that it would be a nice break. I told my dad and he thought that it would be all right if I trusted the guy. I had no reason to not trust him so I said yes."

"That sounds reasonable. I take it that things changed pretty quickly."

"Yes, they did. When I got to the dock, he told me that his roommate's girl friend had broken up with him, so he brought a couple of other friends instead. They were all guys of course. I thought about backing out but he assured me that everything would be fine. So I gave in and went. I think that this was the first time he took this boat out on his own. It was his father's boat and he had permission to use it but he had never really captained it alone for a long distance. The first and second day were fine and I got to know the other guys. They seemed all right but they drank beer all day long and pretty well stayed drunk. Then this morning, he told me that I was going to be sleeping with all of them for the rest of the trip. I told him that I wouldn't. He said, 'What did you think I brought you along for?' I slapped him and told him to let me off at the next drop off. That is what he did. I was stupid, I guess."

"No; I think you were misled and used. There is a big difference between being stupid and lied to. I learned that the hard way myself. You are safe now and everything is going to be all right."

"Thank you; I am really fortunate that you were here and willing to take me along."

"I think that I might be getting the best end of the deal since I don't have to eat my own cooking. But let's back up a step or two. When do you need to be back in St. Louis for summer school? We might have a time problem."

"I need to be back in St. Louis on Wednesday to register and classes start on Thursday."

"I was figuring four full days to get to Mobile. That would mean that you would have to fly back late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning. If we catch any weather or delay, you might get back late. Originally, I had thought about going back to St. Louis and then going down the Mississippi River. That should put us back there on Monday night or Tuesday morning. What do you think?"

"I think that I would like to try to go to Mobile if you don't mind. I guess I hope that I can catch up to them on the ride down or once we get there and get my stuff back. I won't die if I don't but it would be a lot simpler if I could at least get my purse back. It has all of my ID and phone and stuff in it."

"Then we will go down river and see if we can't get it back for you. So when do we need to put the steaks on?"

"About ten minutes. Do you want another scotch?"

"I think I will wait and have wine with dinner."

"You got it." She went back inside and I finished my drink.

"Hey Roger, did you and Emily work something out?" Marquet was standing on the dock carrying a number of lines.

"Yes we did; she cooks and I drive the boat. I can't think of a better arrangement."

"Good; I thought that you might be able to help her. Most of the other boats, I'm not sure I would trust. Listen, I don't know if you have listened to the weather but we are going to get one of those fast and furious storms blow through here tonight. It should hit around nine o'clock and be through here by midnight. I'm adding a couple of spring lines to some of the other boats just to be sure. Here are a couple of lines for you. You might want to redo the port side ones and add these on the starboard side. That way you should be able to ride it out comfortably."

"Thanks. I'll redo them now. And unless there are problems, we will be gone at dawn in the morning."

"Just be careful of any floating crap that might be in the river. There is no telling what might be out there in the morning."

"We'll keep our eyes open. Thanks." I redid the lines and we now floated in the center of the slip with give on both sides to absorb any movement. When I finished, Emily was standing there with a platter of meat.

"What's going on?"

"The owner came by and said that we will be getting a storm tonight. I retied the boat so that it will be stable enough to ride it out."

"Are you sure?"

"Trust me; have I ever lied to you before?"

"Not in the last eight hours." She grinned. "It is time to burn the meat, Mr. Grillmaster."

"I'll have you know that it has been at least eight and a half hours since I lied to you. And I like that Mister thing."

"Good grief. Come on little boy. Momma needs to have the steaks cooked."

"Momma might need her little bottom spanked."

"We'll talk about that after you burn the steaks. Get busy; the potatoes will be ready when these are. Do we eat out here or in there?"

"Unless it starts to rain, I like it out here just fine."

"Good idea." She went back inside and I put the steaks on the grill. As if someone hit a wall switch, all of a sudden the mosquitoes descended on me and the grill in droves. I made a quick trip inside and sprayed my arms and neck.

"Change of plans. We eat in here or we will be eaten by the mosquitoes."

"Gotcha. Holler when you are ready for the platter."

I went back outside and managed to get the steaks done without too many bites. I called for the platter and Emily passed it out to me and I got the steaks on it and inside with only a couple of mosquitoes getting inside.

We sat at the table and enjoyed our first meal together and toasted ourselves. We also decided to have dinner inside or before dusk started settling in. The mosquitoes didn't seem to be too bad early; we would go with a heavier lunch and a lighter dinner. As we finished, I flipped on the television on to watch the weather. We caught the tail end of the national news before the local broadcast began. They were talking a late breaking story that one of the President's most trusted advisors was missing on a trip west. He was last heard from in Tennessee and more information would be forth coming. I had been right; twenty four hours was about the maximum I had. Fortunately, everything had worked out well and my plans seemed to be holding.

After dinner, Emily washed the dishes with the suggestion that I get a dishwasher. I replied that I had a very good one. She threw a sponge at me. I checked that all of the hatches were tight and rechecked the lines. When I was satisfied, I returned to the lounge and found that Emily had a cup of coffee for each of us. I sat on one of the captain's seats and heard the first rumble of thunder in the distance. I knew that we would lose the television signal and probably a lot of the local broadcast radio stations, so I loaded a couple of cd's into the player and turned on some music. That appeared to be the right thing to do as well as suggesting that we go to bed early to ride out the storm. She thought that was also an excellent idea. I went to the cabin and took out a long football jersey and left it on the bunk for her to wear. She went to the back and came out a few minutes later wearing it. It hung almost to her knees and two of her could have fit inside of it. But she smiled and said that this would be perfect.

The thunder got closer and we went into the cabin and got into bed. I left a small light on in the passageway in case we needed it. I was lying on my back looking up when Emily rolled over on her side to face me. "Roger, I'm not real fond of storms. They scare me a little. If this one gets bad, can I snuggle up against you for awhile?"

I simply stretched my arm out to the side and pulled her close to me with my arm around her shoulders. She nestled comfortably against my side with her head on my chest and said, "Thank you." The thunder got louder and the winds rose, but we lay comfortably in bed and fell asleep as if nothing special was going on. I was dead tired and I imagine that she was too.

Everything was still in the morning when I woke up. It took a moment for me to remember where I was and why but I didn't have trouble remembering who the soft body lying next to me belonged to. She was still snuggled in my arm and was breathing peaceably. I hated to wake her but the call of nature was strong and I slipped off to one side and went to the head where I also slipped on a pair of shorts and a shirt. The late spring mornings after a storm were still a little cool. Then I stepped into the galley and set up the coffee maker.

As I was beginning to put the coffee in the basket, Emily's voice came from the passageway. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to remember if I put five scoops of coffee in here for each cup of water or is it was the other way around."

"You are hopeless. Get out of my kitchen. I'll take care of it. Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Why do people always ask that when the answer is obvious? You were a sleep, that's why."

"You are such a guy. Go out on the deck and drive off a sea monster or save us from invading body snatchers or something."

"I don't do that stuff until after coffee."

She replied with a soft quiet voice. "Thank you for holding me last night. I didn't even worry about the storm. You made me feel safe."

"You are welcome. I kind of liked having you next to me too; but I won't tell you that because you will think I am a dirty old man."

"You mean you're not?"

"Well, I'm not old...yet."

"Go check for damage; I'll bring you coffee in a minute."

"Yes, boss."

"Now that, I could get used to; dishwasher, my ass."

"Is there something wrong with your ass? I thought it looked just fine."

"You can't even see my ass with this full length overcoat on."

"I have a vivid imagination."

"I'll just bet you do. Go."

I did as I was told. I went out on the deck and found that everything survived just fine. I turned on the deck radio and heard that the worst of the storm had been about ten miles south of us but that there were no reports of any boats being damaged or blocking the waterway. The sky was getting light but the sun was still below the horizon and it looked like it was going to be a great day to start my new adventure. I was looking out over the stern at some branches floating down river when a cup of coffee miraculously appeared in front of me. The arm that held it was attached to the body that pressed against my back. Except that I knew that this was only going to be a couple of days, I couldn't imagine a better way to wake up than with a beautiful woman next to me and to share a cup of coffee with her on a beautiful morning like this. This is the way I wanted my life to be; not waking up at all hours of the day and night to figure out some palatable reason why the current administration was caught with their pants down.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I can't tell you; it would embarrass you."

"You were still thinking about my ass, weren't you?"

"Was I?"

"Just admit it. I'm a big girl and can take it."

I let out a fake sigh and then said, "You asked for it. Do you really have an ass? I didn't notice."

The swat on my ass was firm and unexpected. "Yes, I do and you did notice it last night. I saw you peeking. Now turn around and you can look at it all you want."

I turned around to discover that she had changed into a pair of the new shorts we had bought and they indeed did highlight her youthful, firm bottom. She also had put on one of the new blouses but had left about half of the buttons undone. She had amazingly beautiful skin on her chest especially the skin that began to curve out to complete her well rounded mounds. "Do you like?"

"If I answer that honestly, I will probably be arrested in five states for indecent thoughts."

"That isn't much of a compliment but I'll take it. At least I know that you aren't dead."

"Honey, you don't want to know how undead I am. Now do you want to leave and do breakfast on the way or do you want to eat first?"

"I want to go back to the part about you being undead but obviously, you are going to hide the truth from me. So how about some toast and fruit now and something more substantial later?"

"Do you read my mind? That is exactly the way I would like to start the day but have never been able to."

"You just need a beautiful and wonderful woman like me to clutter up your life. That's all."

"Don't tempt me."

She laughed as she went back into the galley. I wasn't sure if she was serious or not but I knew that as desirable as her images were, the clutter could cost me and her a lot of unnecessary grief.

She came back out with a plate of toast and jelly along with some grapes and sliced apples. We ate that quickly and then I started to go through my check off list. The first thing was to disconnect the shore power and fire up the generator. With that running and power back to the boat, I fired up the engine and found that it purred like a kitten. The spring lines were thrown onto the dock and I put the transmission in reverse for the first time and backed the boat out carefully. Most of my earlier power boat experience had been with special, high powered thirty footers. I just needed to get used to the power level of this girl and the extra ten feet of length and I felt that I would be home free. The big difference was that the primary steering station was on top of the cabin and I had a much better view of the surroundings than I was used to from deck level controls.