The Inside Passage (Ted Higuera Series Book 1) by Pendelton Wallace Page A

mighty roar and a belch of smoke,
the crab boat hauled Valkyrie free. 
    “Thank you so
much,” Yasim yelled as he untied the tow line and waved toward the crab boat.
    The crab boat let
out two long blasts from its horn, the skipper waved, and the crab boat turned
back towards Horseshoe Bay.
    “Allah be
praised,” Yasim said.
    Ahmad let out a
long breath. “We better get out of here quickly before we draw any more
attention.”
     

Chapter 16
     
    The Straits of Juan de Fuca
    Ted watched his
friend slowly self-destruct.
    “Goddamn it.”
Chris face turned bright red. “I thought we got all the air out of the lines.”
He slammed his hand into the steering pedestal. “Shit.” He waved his hand in
the air and sucked on his index finger. A trickle of blood dripped from his
lip.
    Ted shook his head
at his friend’s childish display of temper and silently climbed back down into
the cabin to begin the process of bleeding the fuel lines again.
    Chris cussed
creatively on deck as Ted bled the lines until the engine fired. 
    Ted grabbed a
couple of long necks and climbed back up to the cockpit. Chris steered the boat
for about ten minutes before the engine died. Going through the ritual again,
Ted got the engine to turn over. Again, it only ran about ten minutes.
    The three sat
motionless in the cockpit for a long minute. Ted finally looked around at the
flat ocean, then looked back at Meagan. He saw impatience in her face.
    “ Goddamn
it, I knew I wasn’t ready for this trip.” Chris turned from the steering wheel,
both hands on his hips. “I don’t know why I ever let Dad talk me into it.”
    Ted and Meagan
exchanged glances. For the first time, Ted felt that she was on his side.
    “Cowboy up, Nancy.
We’re here.” He pointed towards the cockpit floor. “We gotta get there.” He
pointed towards the dim outline of San Juan Island. “We just need to figure out
how we’re gonna do it.”
    “I’m giving up,”
Chris threw his hands in the air after two more tries. “We’re going to have to
sail in.”
    “How long’s that
going to take?” Meagan asked.
    “Fuck, I don’t
know.” Chris looked up at the mast-head wind direction indicator.
    Ted read the
despair in his face.
    “If the wind
doesn’t pick up,” Chris’s spoke in a low monotone. “We could be out here for
the rest of our lives.”
    “We didn’t have
this kind of problems on my Dad’s boat,” Meagan said.
    “Hey, the Defiant’s an old boat,” Chris snapped. “What can I say? Let’s unfurl the jib.”
    The light breeze
was just barely enough to billow out the sails.
    “Are we having fun
yet?” Meagan asked.
    Chris scowled at
her. “Yeah, this is fun.” He pointed towards at the knot meter on the after
cabin bulkhead.  “We’re doing about two knots.”
    This was not a
good time to pick on Chris. Ted could see the steam venting from his ears.
    “We’re at slack
tide now.” Chris clung onto the wheel, his lips pursed into a narrow line.
    Ted thought that
Chris was going to leave impressions in the stainless steel from his iron grip.
    “When the flood
begins,” Chris continued, “we should pick up another couple of knots with the
current.”
    “How far do we
hafta go?” Ted asked.
    Chris looked
towards the distant San Juan Island. “I’d say about twenty miles.”
    “At four knots,
that’s going to take us five hours.”
    “Yeah, sounds
right.”
    “Jesus, Ted could
swim faster.”
    “Let me hold your
shoes for you.” Meagan held out her hand.
    Ted wanted to
smack her.
    “Maybe we should
call the Coast Guard,” Meagan whined. “Can it get any worse than this?”
    “Shit, it can get worse.” Chris’ eyes looked up and to the right.
    The crazy hermano was accessing his photographic memory.
    “When we get
there, we still have to pick our way through Cattle Pass.”
    “Cattle Pass?”
Meagan looked forward towards the distant islands.
    “It’s the opening
between San Juan and Lopez Islands.” Chris’ anger