by Noelle Carle
“Well, take her. She’s right there,” he said laconically. “Don’t know why he’d be goin’ out this time of day though. Be dark soon.”
Sam nodded. “I know. Thank you, Mr. Spencer.”
“Good to see you back in one piece, Sammy!” Nelson exclaimed as he turned back to his work.
They scrambled into the dory and headed out of the cove, Sam moving the throttle as high as it would go. As they cleared the smaller cove, they could see far ahead of them the “Olivia E.”. Alison gripped her seat and watched as they slowly but steadily moved closer. The air over the water was cold and her eyes began to water. She shivered, but kept her eyes on the boat ahead of them.
After what seemed hours they were near enough for Sam to veer in front of them, causing his father to slow and finally stop the boat to keep from hitting them. The boats drifted together until they were close enough for Sam to reach over and grab the side of his father’s boat.
Reg’s shoulders slumped and he sat down suddenly. “Sam. What are you doing, son?”
Sam tied the dory to the stern of the larger boat and helped Alison clamber over. The boat moved restlessly in the wake as it rippled past them and Alison clutched Sam’s arm. She found that her heart was pounding and she couldn’t look at Aubrey, who still huddled miserably at the bow.
Aubrey sat on the engine housing and his father was across from him on a barrel. Sam studied his father, shaking his head. Reg’s cheeks were flushed and his eyes glazed. He was unshaven and he trembled slightly. “The question is what are you doing?”
Reg gestured at Aubrey. “I got me a chance to make things right. And I’m going to.”
“What do you mean?” Alison asked. She hated to hear the tremor in her voice but it felt as though her whole body were quaking.
Reg’s pointed with his rifle at Aubrey. “He should pay for what he’s done. Not be treated like a hero. Come back here like he was gonna get some kind of trophy from us. Well, it ain’t gonna happen.”
“Dad, we can call the sheriff from Bath. Do it the right way,” Sam said softly.
“No.” Reg’s mouth pursed and he shook his head grimly. “No. Won’t be no justice in him going to prison. He deserves to die!”
Alison could feel the current in Sam, as if he was barely controlling himself. He turned to face Aubrey.
Aubrey’s head hung down. Alison flicked her eyes across at him and saw there was blood dripping from his nose, but she looked away. She felt paralyzed in his presence, but curiously it wasn’t fear she felt but a mixture of revulsion and pity.
“Aubrey, look at me.” Sam ordered.
Aubrey raised his head. His nose was not the only thing that had been battered, for one eye was black and swollen and his lips were puffy. He met Sam’s eyes for a moment, then looked past him to Alison.
“I tried to tell him,” Aubrey croaked. He licked his lips carefully, and began again. “I tried to tell him I came back to make things right. I know I ain’t no hero, Sam!”
The muscles in Sam’s jaw worked as he absorbed the sight before him. “How long have you been here?”
“Two days.”
Sam turned back to his father, seeing him as if for the first time. “What have you been doing with him? Holding him prisoner?”
Reg nodded with a measured non-apologetic stare. “Yeah. That old fort is still good for something.” At Sam’s look he continued, explaining, “He came walking into Cooper’s store day before yesterday, asking for you. Only he didn’t know I was there. I took him up to the fort till I could decide what I’m gonna do with him. And now I know.”
Reg stood suddenly and took a step towards Aubrey. Sam moved in front of him, gripping his shoulders and moving him inexorably back to the bait barrel upon which he’d been sitting. Reg looked surprised at Sam’s strength and threw off his arms with a look of disgust.
“Do you know what he did?” He pointed to Alison. “To her? Do you know?”
Sam grabbed his father’s hand and bent his arm back. He leaned forward and said through clenched teeth, “I could kill him myself. Do you hear me? But I will not! And neither will you.”
Alison watched as father and son stared at each other. She realized suddenly that she was holding her breath. Sam dropped his father’s arm and said, “I have had it with killing and death. I saw more than anyone ought to see, ever. And so did he!” His voice cracked now and he went on in a strangled voice, “All I wanted the whole time I was over there was to get back, to her, to you, to this boat. I prayed every day that I’d survive just to see her face again. Somehow…” he turned and looked at Alison, then at Aubrey. His face was pale and tears spilled down his cheeks. He wiped them away roughly and continued. “Somehow God answered that prayer, through him.” He shook his head now, trying to make sense of the whole muddle. “I hate what he did, how he hurt her.” He was speaking to his father, but he gazed at Alison. “What he took away from us. But I can’t kill him, and I can’t let you. We’ll do this the right way.”
Reg slumped where he sat. He sighed and looked at Sam from beleaguered eyes. His voice was almost a whisper as he said, “All right, Sam.”
“No!” Aubrey spoke through his battered and bloody lips. “No, Sam. It’s what I deserve. I told Chap Hudson I’d do what needed to be done to make things right. I meant it.” He stood then, and Alison saw what she hadn’t noticed while he sat. His arms were tied behind him and wrapped around his ankles was a length of chain. In a swift, almost graceful movement he leaned to the side and slipped over the edge of the boat.
“Aubrey! No!” Sam yelled.
They all rushed to the edge where he went over, and Sam leaped in after him, although both Alison and Reg tried to hold him back. There were bubbles rising to the green surface and little else. After a moment Sam burst through the water gasping. “I can’t see him.” He dove back down, over and over until his lips were blue and Alison pled with him to get back in the boat. Finally they pulled him up over the gunwale where he huddled shivering and wet in the setting sun. Reg took off his shirt and wrapped it around Sam, then slowly got up. He moved like an old man, starting the engine and turning the bow back towards home, hauling the dory behind them.
Alison knelt beside Sam and held him close to her, trying to warm him. She felt cold herself and feared for Sam. Even in June the temperature in the Atlantic was frigid. She put her head right next to his and spoke into his ear. “I’m sorry, Sam, for all of this.” He nodded, laid his face in her neck and closed his eyes.
Her numbed mind couldn’t hold all that this day had contained, but she felt relief on two counts; she was glad that Sam knew about the rape, that there was nothing she was keeping from him. And she was proud that Sam had tried to save Aubrey, even though for an awful instant she was glad to see him sink into the water. Now there would be no stain of revenge on Reg, Sam or herself.
Just as the sun settled on the horizon, the light at Old Bald Head blazed on. “Look, Sam, Remick set the light.” They watched it swing around. Alison could envision Remick up there, observing its first few rotations, fascinated with the beautiful Frenell lens that could magnify that tiny light for miles over the water. She pictured him pulling down the weights that kept it in motion all night, then making his way back down the circle of stairs to the bottom. He didn’t know they were out there still, but he knew someone might be. She was so glad for that light.
THE END