.
"Report to sickbay if you need to, Shepard, or at least open a porthole and get some cold fresh air in your lungs. It may help you feel better.”
“Can’t, sir. Too many passengers are down with illness. Some are even lying on the staircases until they can be helped to their quarters.”
Grey turned around to see there were no more couples dancing. The music had been reduced to one violinist who looked as if stroking the strings with his bow was almost more than his weak arm could accomplish.“Yes, sir. You're welcome, sir.”
Intrigued, Grey opened the handwritten dispatch recently delivered to him. Whatever it was, he was glad to be only a mile from shore and able to receive it, despite the snow. The Crown was rolling some 10 degrees or more off center now, he guessed, and he found it necessary to steady himself against the bulkhead as he read.
TO: Chief Engineer Grey McKenna
Carolena not arrived. Want no police or family worry. Too infirm myself. Please come. Dresher
Grey’s response was immediate. He grabbed one of the foul weather capes hanging near the exit and put it on. Wailing wind and ice-spiked snowflakes attacked when he opened the door and stepped over the three-inch high threshold.
He reached for the rail so as not to lose footing and through squinted eyes, took in the sloshing salt water on the teak deck. He found Captain Rockwell in the pilothouse, checking weather conditions and shouting orders loud enough to be heard over the gale, sounding only mildly less loud than outside.
“You’ve got the particulars, Mr. Wolfe. Follow them to the letter.”
“Aye, sir,” the watch officer yelled back, immediately conveying the order to the helmsman fighting the wooden wheel.
“Mr. McKenna,” the captain said when he saw his chief engineer. “I’d hoped you’d be leading the dancing though I don’t imagine there’s much of that going on anymore.”
“No, sir. None.”
"Why did you come up here? You know the standard drill for rough weather. We drive the bow into the wind and take the waves head on. I just pray this weather passes by sun up so we can pull into Baltimore’s harbor then.” Checking his pocket watch, he read twenty-one-forty hours. “It’ll be a long night.”
“Captain Rockwell, may I have a private word with you, sir?”
“Aye, Mr. McKenna. Certainly.” Without pause, “Mr. Wolfe?”
“Aye, sir?”
“After I confer with Mr. McKenna, I’ll be in the Grand Salon, should you need me.”
“Grand Salon, aye, sir.”
“Shall we step into the passageway or would you prefer my office?”
“The passageway will do, sir.” Grey caught the door for his superior when the roll of the ship would have slammed it closed.
Rockwell nodded his appreciation and then listened.
“First, I want you to know Steward Shepard is himself sick and tending the passengers despite it.”
“Noted. Anything else?”
“Yes, sir. I have just been handed urgent word from our Aqua Verde office on the Baltimore shore. I must ask for a leave of absence. It’s an emergency.”
"What is it, Grey? Family?”
Although he felt as if the Dunnigans were his kin, in truth, they were not.
“No, sir.”
“I must have a reason. I don’t need to tell you your presence is crucial to the running of this ship, especially when conditions are poor. Without a solid reason, I’m afraid your request for immediate leave is denied. You will have to wait until we dock in home port in a few days.”
“I appreciate your thinking me valuable, sir. However, I assure you my second engineer is plenty capable. I mean no disrespect, but I cannot give you my purpose. I’ve been asked to keep it private. If I wait to depart on my mission until we return to Fernandina, I will be squandering precious time retracing wasted miles. I must be in Charleston as quickly as I’m able.” He was caught between his concern for Carolena and his loyalty to her family’s passenger line.
“I repeat. Without a sold reason, I cannot give you leave.”
By this point and in any other circumstance, Grey would have peppered his response with cursing. Determined to control his temper because they were professional sailors and gentlemen, he said, “Then I regret what I’m about to say, sir, yet say it, I must. You can transfer me, furlough me, or fire me, but short of locking me in the brig, I will disembark the moment we pull into Baltimore, hopefully at first light.”
Although his demeanor was still unruffled, Captain Rockwell’s words were grave. “Great God, man. I can charge you with disobeying a direct order, dereliction of duty, and anything else I can come up with. Even more, I can let it be known far and wide that you left your post without permission. You’ll never find a position on any private line of consequence again. Are you willing to surrender a fine career for this objective?”
Unwavering, Grey answered, “I am.”
“So be it, Mr. McKenna. For the sake and reputation of this ship, I will not make a disturbance. You have been forewarned of the consequences of your impending actions. I hold you solely responsible. Is this clear between us?”
“Aye, sir. I understand fully.”
“Very well then. Send for the second engineer, and I will inform him of the situation.”
“As you say, sir.”
“How long do you expect to be gone?”
“I have no idea, sir. I will report to you as soon as I’m able. At that time, you can proceed as you see fit. Just know I’m doing what I feel I must. I’m sorry, sir.”
“I am, too, McKenna. Very sorry.”
Grey touched his fingertips to the brim of his cap in formal salute. The captain returned the same. No more said, and the two turned, stiffly parting, each to his chosen course...
***
LIES, LUST, DEVASTATION - Carolena Dunnigan witnesses the unthinkable and her safe, secure life on Amelia Island, Florida turns to ashes. Vowing to save her siblings, she seeks work and is lured to Charleston, South Carolina. Lust, love, and decades of lies do fierce battle, driving her into Pennsylvania's deadly Johnstown Flood of 1889. It scours away secrets of the past, but will anyone survive the churning undertow of it all? Amelia Island's Velvet Undertow by Jane Marie Malcolm is available in:Paperback at http://www.graciousjanemarie.com/
Kindle ($3.99) at http://www.amazon.com/Amelia-Islands-VELVET-UNDERTOW-ebook/dp/B0069SB4XY/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1326860125&sr=1-1-spell
Nook (j$3.19) at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/amelia-island-s-velvet-undertow?keyword=amelia+island%27s+velvet+undertow&store=nookstore
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