island2

Islands

As she rounded the corner he noticed her because of the difference in her dress. Alan, from the local restaurant was pointing to his boat and then down to the dock and showing her how to get there. He turned back to his preparations for the trip coiling in the ropes on the deck.

As she approached the boats she was looking at him intently and although he appeared and pretended not to notice he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. She came to the ramp and yelled out �hello�. He came over to the side of the boat and she said to him, �are you Mr. Davidson?.�

�Yes,� he said, �how can I help you?�

�Im Sally� she said �I�m the one you're going to take over to Harrington Island this afternoon�

She put out her hand to shake his and he was caught unprepared for this.

He had to set down the wrenches that were in his one hand and transfer the coil of rope in his other hand in order to shake hers.

�Nice to meet you, Miss� he said

As she shook his hand she stared intently into his eyes and again he felt rather nervous and he tried not to show it.

�Here, let me take your bag�, he said to her and he reached out for it and she handed it to him. He took the bag and placed it on the deck near the door to the galley.

�Make yourself comfortable while I get the boat ready to sail�, he said to her. He went to the side and began to throw off the mooring ropes. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that she was standing near where he had placed her bag and again she was staring at him. Then she walked over to where he was preparing the engines and stood right near his elbow.

�So, you come into town to get the mail and deliver it to the islands�?

�Yes� he said, �and I also pick up some supplies�.

Then she asked him. �And, do you live on Harrington Island?�

�Harlington�, he said

�Pardon me?� she asked

�Harlington, its Harlington Island, you called it Harrington. No, I don't live there, I live further out on Stewart�s Island�.

�Oh, you and your family?�, she asked

�No just me�, he said now he was getting clearly a little annoyed with all the questions. �Look ma�am,� he said, �I don't usually take passengers on my boat and I'm already a little nervous with you being here. I'm not used to dealing with people very much, especially women so I would feel a lot more comfortable if you wouldn�t ask me so many questions�.

She looked hurt and said, �oh, okay, I'm sorry�

He started the engines and the boat slowly moved away from the dock. Now she had taken a seat and was watching the shore slowly move away. As the boat made its way across the water towards the opening of the bay there was no conversation and things were very quiet aside from the hum of the engines. Now he felt really bad for how he had spoken to her and that he had made her feel bad so he tried to pick something to say to break the silence.

He yelled to her over the noise, �do you have family on that Island�?

�No, I'll just be staying at the inn there.�

�Not exactly the tourist season�, he said to her, �kind of cold this time of year�.

She gave no sign of hearing what he said or she was ignoring him. She seemed deep in her own thoughts.

Once the boat was out of the Bay the water began to turn rough. He came over to where she was sitting and told her that she would probably want to come inside the galley cabin as it was going to start getting very wet outside with the wind and the spray. She agreed and stood and walked toward the cabin as he opened the door for her. She walked down the three steps into the warm and comfortable confines. She looked about and he came in and said, �Would you like some coffee I could put some on to warm if you like?.�

�You have any tea� she said, �I don't drink coffee.�

�Yes, here is some plain Liptons, is that good enough for you�

�Yes that would be perfect�, she said �thank you�

As he was preparing the tea, he could sense her eyes again on the back of his head watching his every move. Then he set out two cups, poured coffee into his and put a tea bag into hers. He poured the boiling water for her, set the kettle back on the stove and sat down across the table from her.

Again there was an awkward silence between them and he struggled to break the quiet. He said, �listen, I'm really sorry for how I blew up at you back there, it's just I�m very awkward around people because I don't spend much time with them. My wife died two years ago and so I spend most of my time by myself on my Island�.

She said, �That�s ok I understand, thank you for apologizing though. Do you enjoy living there?�

�Well�, he paused� �it's a beautiful place and I�ve lived there for many, many years now but now that she's gone I'm not sure why I continue to stay there. I know if I was to go away the house would fall into disrepair and no one would take care of it during the winter months when the storms are so strong.�

�Do you ever think about leaving?� she asked, �going somewhere you can start all over again?�

�Yes, I think about it all the time�, he said,� but then I�ve been there so long now I can�t imagine doing anything different and to be honest I'm kind of afraid of trying something new�.

Suddenly the engines begin to sputter and cough. He got up from the table and made his way back to the door

He said over his shoulder �I need to go out and see what's happening, excuse me a minute�.

She sat for a few minutes and then got up and made her way back outside. He got the engines running again smoothly. And they were far enough out that the waves and the rough sea had settled so she took her seat again on the edge of the boat looking out at the waves.

Now he was a little more comfortable with her presence and came and sat down a few feet from her. There were a few minutes of quiet and she said, �Are you seeing any women on the mainland?�

�No, don't spend enough time there and travel is too far especially in the winter so I know very few people there, mostly shop owners.�

�Well, it must be pretty lonely living on an Island all by yourself, you don't have anyone else?�
.

�Well there is someone,� he said� �someone that I like pretty well and I think likes me.�

�Oh, does she live on one of the islands here.�

�No she lives far from here,� he said �very far.�

�So this person, did she used to live here and move away�

�No, actually I'm kind of embarrassed to say it's just someone that I have been writing to.�

�Oh�, she said, �a pen pal she said, that�s nice�

�No,� he said, �it's more than a pen pal, it's almost as though I have known her for a very longtime even though I've never met her�.

�You've never met her?� she said, �Do you know what she looks like?�

�I know so much more than that about her, I know how she thinks what she likes, how she spends her day and thousands other things about her�.

�So why don't you go and meet her?� she asked
�To tell the truth, I'm afraid, what if she doesn't like me when she meets me in person, what if I don't like her? What if she cleans her teeth with a fork at restaurants, or, what if she has terrible body odor or a thousand other things? But then, I guess if it didn't work out then we would just take things from there, no different than any other relationship�.

�If she was sitting right here,� she asked� �right on the other side of you on this boat. What would you say to her?�

�Wow, I don�t know. I guess I�d say I�m very impressed with all that I know about you and I�d like to learn more and spend a lot of time getting to know you if I could�.

�Would you tell her you love her?�

�Well that�s a hard one. That word seems so final and so binding, I don�t know what Id say, but I know how I feel about her. I wouldn�t want her to get her hopes too high if it didn�t work out.�

�I see�, she said, now quieter than before.

He looked her way and she was staring into his eyes with a different look that also had changed. He was uncomfortable staring back so he looked at his feet

�John�, she said

He looked up suddenly, how did she know his first name?

�John, my name�s not Sally, its Anne, Ann Kildorf, the one you�ve been writing to all these months�.

�Anne?! Why haven�t you written me lately, I was thinking you didn�t want me as a friend any longer.�

�No, John I was helping my sick mother and trying to come here to see you�.

�Well, I don�t know what to say� he stammered

�Don�t say anything�, she said, �I�ve heard all I need to hear, for now, just move closer here to me and hold my hand�.

He did gladly

The boat now was moving into the narrows between two of the Islands that lay a few miles off the coastal mainland.