Horizons Beyond the Darkness

by Scott B. Williams

  “T’ink dem gonna stay here in de Bahamas, Doc. Wid dat little boat, mehbe dem find someplace most boat, dem can’t go, and everyt’ing good. Mehbe down to dem island Captain Charles speak of: Crooked an’ Acklins.”

  “Have you been there before?”

  “No, but Larry know dat place. I an’ I sailin’ wid he through de Bahamas many times, but we don’t stop much. Several trips to deliver boat from Georgetown down island to St. Thomas. Sometime we stopping by Bimini an’ Nassau on de weh from Florida. Passing by de Berry Islands too, and one time, Spanish Wells. But dat Crooked I don’t know.”

  “Tara really wants to go there. She doesn’t like the idea of another long trip.”

  “No, but mehbe when she see de place Larry got in mind, she gonna be happy, Doc. Dese Bahamas got de good fishing, an’ good beach, but dem got no watah an’ no mountain. De good island like Dominica where I an’ I growing up, dem got lots of big mountain, streams running off de cliff into de sea. Lots of rain, an’ everyt’ing green mon! De mountains are green wid de jungle an’ de trees havin’ plenty of de wild fruit for a mon to eat. Dat Tara, she gonna like it when she see some of dem place, Doc.”

  “You make it sound like paradise, Scully. But the problem is that anyplace that good is bound to attract a lot of other people who have the means to get there.”

  “True dat, but lots of possibility beside Dominica. We gonna find someplace good Doc, Larry will make sure.”

  “Anyplace they don’t shoot at us will be fine by me, Scully. And I’m sure you’ll agree. Now let me take a look at that leg and see if it’s really any better this morning.”

  When Artie had changed Scully’s bandage, he was satisfied that the wound was staying clear of infection so far and on the path to healing. Scully needed to stay off of it as much as possible, but Artie figured he wouldn’t follow orders on that anyway, so he didn’t bother trying to make him. Scully would do what he could until the pain told him otherwise, and that was the best Artie could hope for. At least now they were where they planned to be for several days, and hopefully for a few weeks, if he could calm his restless little brother and get him to let them enjoy a break for a while. While there was a small chance of a tropical storm this early in the season, Artie knew the real hurricane threat was still a couple months out, in August and September. Those months seemed to be when the big ones that made the news hit the West Indies and the southeastern U.S.

  Until Larry and Grant and Jessica returned, Artie and the rest of the crew aboard the Sarah J. were at the mercy of Charles and his family for dinghy service off the boat. None of them wanted to be a bother, even though they were all anxious to go to the beach and explore a bit of the cay while they waited on Larry’s return. Where they were anchored was quite a distance from the nearest beach and though Casey said it was no big deal to swim there, Artie didn’t care to do it. They’d seen no less than three big sharks cruising over the banks the afternoon before while under tow behind the yacht. Artie knew Larry wasn’t worried about them, but he was more cautious, and didn’t relish the idea of encountering one while swimming hundreds of feet from the boat. Tara shared his concerns and Rebecca wasn’t interested either. Casey was about to go anyway when Charles and Brian yelled out to them from the flybridge of Pocket Change. They were too far away for Artie to hear what they were saying, but they were pointing to the empty sea to the west, and when Artie looked he could see a speck of sail on the horizon. From the lower point of view on the deck of the Sarah J., it was too far away to make out any detail.

  “I wonder if it’s the Casey Nicole?”

  “Shouldn’t they be more to the north?”

  “That’s what I was thinking too, but it could be another boat. I guess we’ll know soon enough if they’re coming here or not. You need to skip that swim to the beach though until we find out. We don’t want to be scattered out if we get a visit from strangers.”

  Twenty minutes later, it was obvious the sailboat was definitely headed in their direction, to Flamingo Cay. Not long after, they could see it clearly from the Sarah J. as the boat turned onto a different tack. Artie was relieved to see the distinctive shapes of the square-topped main and foresail with their short gaffs. “It’s them, Casey, but I wonder why they’re coming from so far off the rhumb line to the Exumas?”

  “I guess they didn’t find Thomas and Mindy there.”

  “Obviously not, but there’s nothing out that way but Andros, and that’s way too far away. They couldn’t have gone there in that length of time.”

  “It looks like we’re going to have to wait a while to find out. They’re beating hard to windward to get here.”

  It was true. From the direction the catamaran was approaching, Flamingo Cay was dead into the wind, and this time of day, the trades were at their strongest. Artie was impatient to learn what they had to report, but relieved just to be able to see the Casey Nicole and know that they had returned safely from Darby Island. Maybe Thomas and Mindy had decided to stay in the Exumas after all? Larry wouldn’t be back so soon if he hadn’t found them there. Artie figured that must be it because he knew his little brother would spend more time looking for them if they were truly missing from the anchorage where they’d last been seen.

  Watching the catamaran taking long tacks back and forth while not getting much closer was too frustrating for Artie to take. When Charles came over in the dinghy to ask if anyone wanted a ride to the beach, Artie, Casey and Rebecca took him up on it. The time would pass faster with something to do, even if it was nothing but walking the beach and checking out a bit of the island. By the time they saw the Casey Nicole set up her final tack that would bring her into the anchorage, the sun was already setting. They all boarded the dinghy and Charles took them out to meet the catamaran just as Grant was making ready to drop the anchor. Larry waved from the helm as they approached, and then Artie noticed someone else in the cockpit with Jessica, who was at the foremast ready to drop the first of the sails.

  “You found them! Where is their boat?” Artie immediately guessed something had happened to it. That would explain why the young couple hadn’t made it here. Larry must have found them stranded on the island.

  “It’s a long story, Doc. We need to talk.” Larry turned to Charles. “Can you leave him and Casey here to give us a hand and take Rebecca back to the Sarah J.? We won’t be long getting things secured.”

  Charles gladly obliged and though Artie could tell he wanted to know what was going on too, he turned and motored away with Rebecca as soon as Artie and Casey were on board the catamaran. Now that he could see her up close, Artie knew something bad had happened to Mindy. Her legs and arms were crisscrossed with deep scratches that had scabbed over but must have bled quite a lot, and she looked traumatized. He immediately went to her, obeying his first duty as a doctor to see if there were more injuries that needed his attention.

  “What happened?”

  “Thomas was murdered, Doc. Mindy barely escaped the men who did it. They nearly got me too, but Jessica here saved the day. I’m glad Charles left because I wanted to tell you and Casey first. Then we’ll tell Tara. Those men, well two of them anyway, were law enforcement officers—district constables that are assigned to the more remote towns and villages here. Jessica shot and killed one of them, along with his accomplice, but the other one got away. He was wounded but he’s still on Darby Island as far as I know.”

  This was an overwhelming amount of information and it took several more questions for Artie to sort out the story. Once he understood what happened and was certain that Mindy didn’t have any serious injuries, he and Casey sat down with them all in the cockpit to hear the rest of what Larry had to say. As he listened, Artie glanced over to the Sarah J., where Tara was standing in her own cockpit and looking their way. Charles had returned to Pocket Change, but Artie was sure all of them were wondering what had happened.

  “What I’m saying, Doc is that we’ve got to leave here ASAP. Staying anywhere in the Bahamas is
no longer an option.”

  “But how would anyone find us here?” Casey asked. “We haven’t seen any kind of official boat since we’ve been in the islands. Even if that other guy survived and reports the shootings, how would they know where to look for us? It’s not like they can put out a message to all the islands with the phones and everything down.”

  “Maybe not, but we also passed a couple of local fishing boats as well as people ashore in the Exumas before we made it to Darby Island. The point is, the Casey Nicole was there twice in the last week and we don’t know who may have seen us. I know there’s a chance no one will bother to look for us here, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. We weren’t going to be able to stay here long anyway, so it makes little difference. As I’ve already explained to Grant and Jessica, the repairs can wait too. There’s nothing so urgent on our boat or Tara’s that we can’t put to sea immediately, and that’s what we need to do.”

  “Immediately?” Artie asked. “What exactly do you mean by immediately?”

  “Day after tomorrow, first light. We’ll spend tomorrow cleaning up and sorting out the Casey Nicole, making a couple of small patches here and there, and go over the Sarah J. and make sure she’s ready too. Then, we’ll go to bed early and get a good night’s sleep and just leave. There’s no sense waiting any longer. But why we’re doing it is just between us, we don’t need to tell Charles and his crew a thing. They helped us out of a jam, but we don’t owe them an explanation. The less they know, the better.”

  “Tara’s going to hate that plan,” Artie said. “Besides, you promised her you’d fix her engine before we left here. Are you going to have time to do that tomorrow?”

  “Maybe. Maybe not, but it won’t matter. She won’t need it for the passage and we can do it when we stop again.”

  “I’m not looking forward to her reaction to that. You’re not going to wait until tomorrow to tell her are you?”

  “Of course not. I just dropped the anchor here so I could tell you and Casey first. If you two are in agreement, then I aim to move the boat over there and raft up alongside the Sarah J. We’ve got a lot to discuss to get ready, and we can take care of most of that tonight.”

  “You’re the captain, little brother. This isn’t what I was planning on, but I can see your point. There’s no use hanging around in a country where we’ve always got to be looking over our shoulder for the law on top of all the other thugs we have to worry about.”

  Twenty-one

  “THAT’S COMPLETELY INSANE!” TARA said, as soon as Larry had filled her in with a brief synopsis what had happened and what he planned to do. “I’m not going! I’m not putting my daughter through that. We just got here, and after all she’s been through, you expect us to just take off on another long voyage before we even get the boats ready? No! I won’t do it.”

  Larry took a deep breath to keep from losing his temper and tried again.

  “Tara, it’s like everything else we’ve all had to do since day one when the lights went out. It’s a matter of survival! Believe me, I don’t like setting out on a voyage without everything on the boat ready either. I never have. But even before all this I had to do it all the time, because it was my job. There’s always a reason not to go, if you look hard enough. This time there’s not a good enough reason to stay though. It’s just not worth it!”

  “Look, Larry! I never said I was ready to sail this boat all over the world when we met at Cat Island. You said you were going to the Bahamas, and I was grateful to have help getting here. But we just got here! I know you’ve been talking about leaving because of hurricanes, but now you want to leave before we even have a chance to catch our breath. I won’t do it! Rebecca and I will stay here alone if we have to, or follow along with Pocket Change if Charles and Holly will let us. But we’re not leaving that soon.”

  “You can’t stay here alone, Tara,” Artie said. “You’ve seen enough to know how dangerous that would be. Just because Charles and his family haven’t had trouble doesn’t mean they won’t. They’re not prepared to deal with it like we are. Listen to what Larry just told you. Think about what he and Jessica just went through, not to mention poor Mindy. And those men were policemen! You can’t trust anybody out here!”

  “And how is that going to be any different wherever you plan to go? If things are that bad, we might as well stay here. At least we’re already here and there’s no one else around. It’s beautiful here and we know we can catch all the fish we need.”

  “The difference is that we look out for each other when we stick together,” Larry said. “Sailing in company with two boats provides a safety factor for each of us, if something happens. This is a wild place out here, Tara. Even if not for the danger from other people taking advantage of the situation, these islands are in the middle of nowhere. You could have any number of problems that could end badly without help, even something as simple as running aground, as you well know. What would you have done if it were just you and Rebecca on that sandbar back there? You’d still be there, without help, and it can happen again, believe me.”

  “Not if we stay put right here, it can’t.”

  “But you can’t stay put here even if you wanted to. Aside from hurricanes, this isn’t an all weather anchorage. No place in the Jumentos or Raggeds is. It’s the same in the Crooked Island District. This was always going to be just a stopover, Tara. You knew that when I laid out the plan before we crossed the Gulf. I know we’re all tired, and yes, it sucks that we can’t relax a bit and enjoy the islands, but damn, you do want to survive this, right?”

  “Of course I do! My first priority is my daughter, and I’ve got to survive to take care of her. This boat is all we have left. It’s our home now and I don’t want to lose it. We can’t lose it.”

  “And you won’t if we just stick together. The Sarah J. is a seaworthy boat, Tara. She can take you anywhere in the world. I know it feels good to be at anchor after a rough spell of sailing, trust me. But like the old saying goes: ships are safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for. We can do this if we stick together, Tara, and you’ll see that I’m right when we get there. You’ll wonder why you ever wanted to stay here in the first place, and why you ever doubted me.”

  “The last time we sailed this boat together, Larry Drager, the only thing I wondered was why in the hell I ever listened to you at all!”

  “I understand! I know I screwed up, and I don’t expect you to sail with me. Artie will go with you. And Casey and Grant too if they’re willing. The rest of us will sail the Casey Nicole and we’ll have enough hands on each boat to keep a good watch.”

  “I’m not going to discuss it any more. I still haven’t caught up on all the sleep I lost when we were looking for Rebecca, and after all she’s been through, she’s exhausted too. Please, it’s late, if you’ll excuse us, we need to turn in.”

  Larry knew there was no use in keeping her up later because the more he said, the more pissed off she was going to be. They all stepped back across to the deck of the catamaran, including Scully, leaving Tara alone on her boat with her daughter. Larry totally understood her reaction. All of this was more than Tara bargained for when their journey together began. Part of Larry’s own motivation for helping her, he knew, was his initial attraction to her when she showed up on her own boat, good-looking, fit and competent as she navigated into the harbor at Smuggler’s Cove and dropped anchor nearby. Larry had thought the two of them had so much in common they were bound to hit it off, but boy was he wrong about that! He’d blown it with her, but that worked out okay in the end because now there was Jessica. But Larry still wanted to help Tara and her daughter, regardless of the fact that they’d gotten off on the wrong foot. He knew he couldn’t make her do anything she didn’t want to do, but he was certainly going to do his best to talk her into it, because he was convinced the two of them wouldn’t survive if he didn’t.

  If Tara didn’t come around and agree to go, life was going to be a bit more difficult aboard
the Casey Nicole as well. With Mindy now aboard and with nowhere else to go, there would be seven of them, quite a crowd for a 36-foot Wharram catamaran, especially since there were really only four small double bunks below. Jessica and Casey had shared one when they were both on board at the same time before. Larry hoped it might be different now if no one had a problem with Jessica sharing his. They could make it work, especially if things between Casey and Grant went the way Larry expected they would. That would leave Artie, Mindy and Scully, and Scully was happiest sleeping on deck anytime conditions permitted. Aside from the bunk situation though, seven was still a crowd living twenty-four seven in such a small space. It had been nice since Tara’s boat entered the picture, allowing them to split the crew between two vessels.

  Before they could call it a night, Grant helped Larry do the dirty work of cleaning up the remaining blood from the sole of the starboard cabin. A lot of it had run past the edges of the removable floor panels and into the bilge, but since the bilges were compartmentalized by watertight bulkheads every few feet, it had been contained. Scully and Artie went back to the Sarah J. to turn in. Grant and Casey elected to stay up longer, sitting on the bow and talking quietly, Grant no doubt filling her in on more of the details of what had happened on Darby Island. Jessica and Mindy were in the port cabin, where Larry had placed Mindy’s bags she’d taken from Intrepida. Jessica would stay there with her, and Larry knew Mindy needed the company more than he did, although she seemed to be holding herself together just fine. Jessica was too, despite what she’d done today.

  “Are you okay, Jessica? Are you going to be able to sleep?”

  “I think so. I just hope I don’t have nightmares. I was so afraid for you, Larry. When I heard that man saying what he was going to do…”

  “I know. Believe me, I was afraid too. It sucks to be helpless like that with your hands locked behind your back. You were amazing Jessica. You saved my life today.”