The Days After (Big River) Page 5

  On the next afternoon, Louis spotted a large deserted cruiser that finally drifted and found port up on the riverbank. “There could be fuel in that cruiser,” he said to Clay.

  Clay surveyed the shores and river behind and ahead, “I think we are entering a wild and primitive stretch of the river, that's Arkansas on the western shore, still Mississippi to our east. There won't really be any towns for maybe another day or two, at our speed. I don't see anyone around, let's anchor and see if we can make this work.”

  Louis got down in the dinghy and Clay carefully rolled the spare tank down the wooden gangplank. It awkwardly rolled over the first seat and the wheels plopped to the bottom of the boat. He went down the plank himself, tied the big tube with a couple of life jackets thrown in it, to the dinghy. Not very long but the boat was fairly wide, with caution he managed to squeeze in and sat on the seat beside the tank. If they were able to fill the tank, he would definitely have to swim or ride the tube back.

  The dinghy eased up to the big cruiser, the current had pushed the boat well into the mucky shore and it sat at a sharp angle. The captain pulled them as close as he could and tied them off to the rear of the cruiser. A stainless steel rail ran along the side, he stood, grabbed it and hefted himself up and over. The marooned boat creaked but stayed put. A bad smell filled his nostrils; of course, the river could permeate anything with a dank odor and animals could have gotten on board. This was a worse scent, though, the unmistakable stink of something dead. He put his hand on his pistol and reluctantly checked out the boat. Behind the control panel, he found the source of the smell. A body lay on the deck, already bloated. Clay was not going to get up close, but it appeared that there was an injury, perhaps a bullet hole, in the body's upper chest. He quickly left the area and searched for the fuel tanks.

  There was no one else on board, he lifted a hatch at the aft of the boat and found the tanks. He yelled down to Louis, “Found em! Draw in as close as you can and hand me the siphon pump.” The spare tank was nearly full. Anxious to get off the boat, as much as he disliked the reddish brown river water, he was grateful to dive in and let the liquid splash over him. This native of the river knew it well, you never underestimate the currents, he quickly grabbed for the tube. Louis worked the boat around and untied them, the dinghy with Clay in tow, moved back to the Annie Belle. It was a job getting the full tank back up the gangplank and onto the deck, but they managed.

  Clay stood on the deck, water streaming off of him, pushed his mass of dark hair back and said, “Well, it wasn't easy, but we know we can do it. Right, old friend?”

  “You bet. I think you got the worst of it,” He grinned back at his drenched partner.

  The women and the kids immediately greeted them, so the swimmer didn't have time to tell his friend about the body on board. He would tell him later. The fact that the man had most likely been shot, didn't make him feel one bit more secure about the peril of their situation.

  ***

  It had been a week since the paddle wheeler had pulled away from the upheaval in New Orleans. The six refugees on their floating haven cruised about three hundred miles up stream from the coastal city. As Clay said this was a wild stretch of the river, with really no towns. Beautiful and primitive, there was a false sense of peace and safety cloaking the travelers as the boat crawled it's way along. He related the grim discovery on the boat to Louis and they agreed, there could be no lapse of watchfulness.

  Thick woods lined the shores and the sun blazed, defying even the muddy water not to shimmer. Jacob and Allie wore their bright orange life jackets, the boy stood with his fishing pole extended over the rail and the little girl sat patiently and poked her fishing pole between the posts. Two big red and white plastic bobbers floated on the water and the pair watched intently. Louis had pushed back one of the two sliding doors that were at the aft of the boat and directly in front of the spinning paddles. Behind the door was a long compartment the width of the cabin that housed the fuel tanks and the diesel engine that ran the paddles. Because this room contained the fuel tanks, it was metal clad. The door opened to expose half of the compartment, Louis had slid it away and was checking the several batteries that were charged from the solar panels. The children were just around the corner from where he worked and he heard the laughter of the women nearby.

  Shattering their peaceful day, two shots zinged out from the dense trees and shrubs on shore. A startled Jacob nearly dropped his pole, as he lunged for it, he rolled over the railing and splashed head first into the water. Penny's scream was not ended when Louis hit the water. He swam for the orange jacket that had popped the boy up, as he paddled his arms furiously. The fast moving current had quickly moved him back downstream. Clay leaned over from the top level and shouted, “Penny! Throw the life ring from the back.” She ran to the aft and tossed the life preserver attached to the boat with a long rope, as hard as she could.

  Angel had grabbed up Allie and hustled her into the cabin, she cried loudly, “Jacob—Jacob!”

  Her mother sat her down behind the bar and said, “Stay down, Allie. I promise Jacob will be fine, he is just getting a little swim.” She took the hidden key from the tall hook, went into the bunk room and got the AR from the closet, went and knelt in front of the window. She heard another shot ring out from the trees and then a shot fired from the top level.

  In the water that still swirled from the Annie Lee's paddles, Louis had reached his son, latched onto the life vest and he swam against the current. He pulled him as fast as he could move, towards the opposite side of the boat from where the boy fell in. Jacob sputtered and spit, “Pop, my pole, I dropped my pole.”

  Louis kept swimming, he paused for a just a moment and grabbed onto the life ring at the end of the rope. Penny begin to shout in panic from the deck, “Hurry...hurry hon, a boat is coming...swim fast Louis!” Way up river, but moving rapidly into sight, a speed boat barreled along the river towards the slow moving paddle wheeler, sending a tall spray of water up behind it.

  Angel heard Penny's shouts and moved to the opposite side of the cabin. She told Allie to stay down and not move from behind the bar, crouched low and moved out the cabin door to the railed walkway. More shots rang out from Clay on the top and hit the water in front of the approaching boat. Three men bounced along in the speeding boat. Louis was not quite to the aft ladder, he struggled against the strong current and Jacob kicked his feet and tried to help. The boat sped into range, knifing between the waves. Angel stood up from behind the rail and fired, she hit the front of the speedboat. A flurry of shots came from the captain, one hit the driver of the attacking boat and more sprayed the side of the craft. Another shot from Angel hit one of the standing attackers in the leg and he plopped into the water, flailed his arms around. The boat rushed on with no driver, the third man dove into the water, ignored his wounded partner that shouted for help and swam towards the shore. The boat sped past the paddle wheeler, careened wildly and finally ran ashore, splintered against a tree.

  Louis had reached the aft ladder, he pushed Jacob up and held on to the rungs, tried to catch his breath. Penny grabbed Jacob to her, he still grumbled, “I lost my fishing pole.”

  She said, “Take off that wet life jacket, get inside with Allie, find a towel and some dry clothes.”

  She reached down for Louis's hand. They sat on the deck and held each other tight for a while. Angel moved over to them and they pulled her into their hug; tears and the muddy water mingled down their faces. Clay came down to the lower aft, his expression worried, “Where is Jacob? Is he okay? Are you okay, Louis?...everybody?” They nodded, Louis replied that Jacob was inside, he was fine. Clay exhaled a long breath and looked out at the river, he picked up another life ring and slung it out at the faltering injured man as the Annie idled along, he cut the rope that linked it to the boat. “I better get back up top. This was obviously an ambush. Probably what happened to the owner of the cruiser,” he and Louis exchanged a knowing look. “You all get inside, check
on Jacob. We will get up river as far as we can before we anchor tonight.” He gave a quick glance to Angel, “Thanks, Angel, you did a good job.” Wet tendrils of hair stuck around her face and he could see the slight shake of the hand that pushed it away, but she gave him a smile.

  Jacob peeled off the wet jacket and moved over to look behind the bar for a towel. Allie jumped up and encircled him with her little arms, tears streamed down her cheeks. “Jacob...you are safe. I was so scared.”

  The boy thought, girls are so weird. “Sure, I am okay. You know our daddies will take care of us, silly.”

  Her small palms rubbed the damp away from her face, “Well, I don't have a daddy, you dumbo.”

  “Hey, my Pop and Captain Clay think you are just pre-cious...they would never let anything happen to you, “he snorted.

  “Really?” she said and turned around so that he couldn't see her smile.

  Louis went inside to get on some dry clothes and Penny followed to be sure that Jacob was well and dry. Clay went back up top to get the boat under control, it only drifted slightly off the center of the river. Angel felt pretty shaken, she decided to just walk a bit around the cabin, get her nerves settled. As she walked past the red rotating paddles, she noticed that Louis had left the wide door to the aft compartment open, when he dove to rescue his son. She pulled it across to close it and saw a hole, a bullet hole in the metal door and in the one that was behind it. Then she smelled the fuel and when she slid the doors away she saw that a small hole was in one of the two fuel storage tanks. It wasn't gushing out, but a small stream trickled down the side of the tank.

  “Oh s—t”, she murmured. She didn't want to catch Louis in the middle of changing, so she hurried up to the wheel house, “Clay, there's a hole in the fuel tank. Not big, but the fuel is dribbling out.” He idled the boat down again and followed her to the aft.

  When he saw the small puncture, he cursed and said, “Damn it, to hell! We can't stop yet, I am afraid we aren't far enough away from those ambushers. I hate to keep pumping out fuel, but we will have to for a little longer. Then we'll anchor and make some kind of repair. We don't have fuel to be wasting, for certain.” As he hustled past the cabin, he bellowed out, “Louis, need your help out here!”

  Louis dashed from the cabin, hopped on one foot and pushed on a dry canvas shoe. Angel showed him the hole. He said to Angel, “I need you to go in the kitchen and get me one of the wooden spoons you cook with. Go...hustle girl.” Shortly, she returned with the spoon, he took it and broke it over his knee. He took a mallet from a tool chest on the floor of the compartment and used it to gently force the stick into the hole. “Okay, that will hold until we can make a better repair, I think.”

  Angel still watched with interest, “Louis, why didn't the gas tank explode?”

  He grinned at her, “That is really just more in the movies and on TV. It sure could happen, but the bullet went through two metal doors and barely penetrated the tank. If you notice, the runaway boat didn't explode in a ball of fire on the shore, either. Takes more than you think to explode a fuel tank.”

  “Oh-h,” she said, “that's good. Do you think we lost much fuel?”

  “Not all that much. We might have to anchor for a day though, to make a repair that will hold. I think this will get us up river far enough to be out of reach of those outlaws.” He pushed the doors closed and said, “I'll go up and report to Clay, you go on in and see your daughter, catch your breath.”

  Inside the kids already sat and played a game on one of the tables. She hugged her daughter to her, “Are you okay, sweetie?”

  “Sure, Mommy. Jacob and I are playing a game.” she pulled away from her mother.

  Jacob looked up at her long enough to say, “I lost my fishin' pole,” his repetitive complaint.

  Penny said with an impatient tone, “Jacob, forget about that blasted pole, we have plenty on board.”

  The two women moved to the bar and sat down. Angel touched Penny's hand for just a second, “Oh my god, Penny. The last few days and just now... today, I have never felt so terrified. I am exhausted,” she looked down at her own hands, broken fingernails and not so soft and feminine these days. “And yet...” her voice trailed off.

  Penny lowered her head and looked up into the pretty face, “And—yet?”

  The weary young woman re-tamed the auburn hair in the comb, “Oddly, I have felt very happy at times. I have felt that we are a crew...that you are all like family. I feel stronger and not so alone.”

  A beautiful smile graced Penny's face and large almond shaped eyes looked straight into Angel's, “Don't you know, Sugar? We are family, whether by chance or by choice, we are all together and we are going to stay that way. We are going to take care of each other.”

  That unusual tinge of happiness tugged at her heart again. She did not want to continue to fall into tears at every stressful happening. It seemed that those events were going to be regular these days. She straightened up and said, “Well, another day is flying away. Tell you what, you have had an exciting day, let me take care of dinner tonight. I bet I can fix up something edible.”

  The captain moved the big boat nearly twenty more miles up stream in the next three hours. Louis kept a close watch on the fuel tanks, the temporary repair held for now. There would be a good size town up ahead on the Arkansas banks, in the next day or so. The only downtown that sat right on the river, in the 350 miles between Vicksburg, Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee. They still floated on a very wild unpopulated part of the river, they anchored down in the center with no signs of trouble around them. Of course, when the ambushers attacked, no warning was broadcast out by the bad guys.

  The next day, Louis dug out a tube of liquid weld and made the repair on the fuel tank. Fortunately, it was towards the top of the tank, so they hadn't lost an excess of fuel. He was confidant that if the repair could sit and cure out for a day, it would be stable. He dug out another fishing pole for Jacob and that shut him up. He and Allie once again lounged on the rail, fishing. After the unexpected dive, there was no argument from either child about wearing the life vests. The last few days, as the father heard some of the same words come out of his mouth, that his own father had often said to him, he remembered his father fondly. Louis's father would've been disappointed that he wasn't using his education to succeed in the world. However, a smart and practical man, he would be proud that his son was doing what he needed to do, to take care of his family.

  He walked around the cabin, just in time to see the little pony tailed head bang into the rail in front of her. She squealed with excitement and held on for dear life to the pole being bent down, the red and white bobber dipped under the water. After Jacob made such a fuss over losing his fishing pole, she wasn't about to let go. She put her little feet against the rails and hung on. Louis was besieged with laughter, he squatted down and reached around her, helped her slowly lift the line out of the water. A large flat speckled fish curled and jerked around on the hook. Together they moved the fish onto the deck of the boat, it flopped around. Her feet danced up and down, “I-I-I caught a fish...I caught a fish!” Jacob just rolled his eyes, and suddenly his bobber dove under the water. He pulled up another good size fish. Allie stopped just long enough to dash to the door of the cabin and yell, “FISH!”

  The tiny girl had already grabbed her pole back from Louis when the two women came out. In the Spring, the perch spawn and the paddle wheeler had drawn close enough to the shallows for the fisher's bobbing hooks to have found them. By then a third one squirmed on the deck. Penny said, “Oh glory, look at those perch. We will eat good tonight.” When Penny said eat the fish, it dampened Allie's enthusiasm for just a moment, but she was having far too much fun to stop and fret over it.

  That evening, the flaky white strips of fish and some of the smaller ones whole, floated in hot oil in the fish cooker that sat on the deck. The wonderful smell of fish frying wafted out. Penny stirred up some hush puppies and though there were no potatoes for fri
es, a couple of cans of vegetables rounded out the dinner. When they bragged on the children providing their meal, Allie just beamed and stuffed some more fish in her mouth. Jacob said, “I guess my pole is okay. I caught the biggest fish anyway.”

  “Did not!” and the age old, eternal song of sibling rivalry rang out.

  It was a pleasant day on the big river. Providing the tank repair seemed good, they would move on in the morning. The river town would not be far ahead and they would check it out. Perhaps find fuel or some other supplies. As Clay stood and looked out at the flowing river, the moon occasionally slipped from behind a cloud, he thought, surely, there are some good folks out there, trying to survive. We just haven't encountered any of them yet.

  Before noon on the next day, the paddle wheeler anchored down again, stopped way before the river town came into view around the next bend. Clay and Louis boarded the dinghy, which was getting more than a little use these days, and glided around the sweeping curve in the river to see what surprises, if any, the town held. Angel and Penny stayed on board, on alert and the captain instructed, “Don't you try to come for us, no matter what. You just wait here. I know you and Penny have been doing some driving of the boat...and I admit that you're both competent...but I don't want you to do anything crazy.” They nodded, but the women both knew, if the men did not return in a reasonable amount of time, this boat would move. The reality was, god forbid, if anything bad happened to the men, what would they do? Certainly, not sit in the middle of the river and wait for marauders or starve to death. The Annie Belle languished in place and the dinghy moved towards two armed men in western style hats, their booted feet were planted firmly on a wide pier that reached out into the river.