unexpected? Or was unexpected happiness the best happiness of all?
Dutch chatted with the crew on the other boat as he caught and stacked the cases fore and aft, but Rudy remained mostly silent as he, too, worked. Frieda kept her head down, not wanting to call attention to herself. At one point she caught one of the rum boat’s crew peering at her, and she quickly turned her face away, put up her collar, and tugged down her woolen cap.
When all the business was completed, Dutch swung the rudder around, and the heavily laden boat struck out in the fog for shore. Loaded down, they couldn’t go as fast as before, but the fog also wasn’t as thick anymore. Almost two hours later, just offshore they left the murky gloom as suddenly as they had entered it. The change was like a heavy curtain being lifted. The lights of the city looked like diamonds tossed against a palette of black velvet, and the Sandy Hook Light and then the Twin Lights called them home. Now that he could see, Dutch pushed the boat faster, and as they cut through swells, the sea spray blew into Frieda’s face, waking her again and again to this new reality. Her mind and body felt so free. She was reborn, filled with freshness and the possibilities of the future. Her life would never be the same. Frieda began to breathe normally. She hadn’t realized that something had been caught in her chest until she let it go, and then she found she could take in full breaths and release them all the way to the bottom of her lungs. Her head cleared; her heart filled with exhilaration. They had done it, and she had been an essential part of it. She finally fit somewhere, and until that night she hadn’t known she had wanted such a sense of belonging.
“Picket boat in pursuit, sir,” Rudy said calmly.
Exhilaration changed to panic in one held breath. She turned and saw the coast guard picket boat running dark in their wake. No! It couldn’t be. The guard boat shot tracers that lit the sky like fireworks over the river on the Fourth of July. If there was any doubt they’d been spotted, it no longer remained. She clenched the edge of the bench seat and held on for her life. Here she was, her first time out, and she was going to get caught, maybe go to jail. She imagined the confines of a cell, the look on Silver’s face, Bea’s disappointment. Her body became flimsy and weightless; she could have slipped over the side of the boat and let the sea suck her under.
Dutch sped up, but the boat rode too low in the water, and if they went any faster they risked being swamped. The boat thumped heavily over the swells as they drew closer to shore. Still, Frieda hoped, the Wonder might run faster than the older, typically slower guard boats. She wasn’t the praying type, but she looked up at the stars and closed her eyes. Please, no. I’ve only just started. Give me a chance. Don’t take it away just when everything is finally at my fingertips.
Only a trace of worry on his face, Dutch remained surprisingly calm. “Don’t put up a fuss if we get caught,” he said to Frieda. “Go along with it. Worst thing that can happen is you get a fine and a year’s probation. They could take my boat, but there’s ways to get her back.”
Trying to swallow, Frieda found her throat had gone dry. How could he remain so unfazed? Rudy seemed amazingly calm, too. Maybe because they had been through this before and were better prepared for it. She had no money to pay off a fine. Rudy and Dutch had already had the chance to put money away for something like this. She began to feel sick, her heart thumping as her throat constricted. She managed to force out, “Do we have to dump the liquor?”
“Not yet. I’m not sure what she’s up to,” he said, meaning the coast guard boat.
The guard boat was gaining on them. Dutch stood solemnly at the wheel, stealing occasional glances over his right shoulder to check on their pursuer’s progress. Frieda’s knees were turning boggy. She
Dutch chatted with the crew on the other boat as he caught and stacked the cases fore and aft, but Rudy remained mostly silent as he, too, worked. Frieda kept her head down, not wanting to call attention to herself. At one point she caught one of the rum boat’s crew peering at her, and she quickly turned her face away, put up her collar, and tugged down her woolen cap.
When all the business was completed, Dutch swung the rudder around, and the heavily laden boat struck out in the fog for shore. Loaded down, they couldn’t go as fast as before, but the fog also wasn’t as thick anymore. Almost two hours later, just offshore they left the murky gloom as suddenly as they had entered it. The change was like a heavy curtain being lifted. The lights of the city looked like diamonds tossed against a palette of black velvet, and the Sandy Hook Light and then the Twin Lights called them home. Now that he could see, Dutch pushed the boat faster, and as they cut through swells, the sea spray blew into Frieda’s face, waking her again and again to this new reality. Her mind and body felt so free. She was reborn, filled with freshness and the possibilities of the future. Her life would never be the same. Frieda began to breathe normally. She hadn’t realized that something had been caught in her chest until she let it go, and then she found she could take in full breaths and release them all the way to the bottom of her lungs. Her head cleared; her heart filled with exhilaration. They had done it, and she had been an essential part of it. She finally fit somewhere, and until that night she hadn’t known she had wanted such a sense of belonging.
“Picket boat in pursuit, sir,” Rudy said calmly.
Exhilaration changed to panic in one held breath. She turned and saw the coast guard picket boat running dark in their wake. No! It couldn’t be. The guard boat shot tracers that lit the sky like fireworks over the river on the Fourth of July. If there was any doubt they’d been spotted, it no longer remained. She clenched the edge of the bench seat and held on for her life. Here she was, her first time out, and she was going to get caught, maybe go to jail. She imagined the confines of a cell, the look on Silver’s face, Bea’s disappointment. Her body became flimsy and weightless; she could have slipped over the side of the boat and let the sea suck her under.
Dutch sped up, but the boat rode too low in the water, and if they went any faster they risked being swamped. The boat thumped heavily over the swells as they drew closer to shore. Still, Frieda hoped, the Wonder might run faster than the older, typically slower guard boats. She wasn’t the praying type, but she looked up at the stars and closed her eyes. Please, no. I’ve only just started. Give me a chance. Don’t take it away just when everything is finally at my fingertips.
Only a trace of worry on his face, Dutch remained surprisingly calm. “Don’t put up a fuss if we get caught,” he said to Frieda. “Go along with it. Worst thing that can happen is you get a fine and a year’s probation. They could take my boat, but there’s ways to get her back.”
Trying to swallow, Frieda found her throat had gone dry. How could he remain so unfazed? Rudy seemed amazingly calm, too. Maybe because they had been through this before and were better prepared for it. She had no money to pay off a fine. Rudy and Dutch had already had the chance to put money away for something like this. She began to feel sick, her heart thumping as her throat constricted. She managed to force out, “Do we have to dump the liquor?”
“Not yet. I’m not sure what she’s up to,” he said, meaning the coast guard boat.
The guard boat was gaining on them. Dutch stood solemnly at the wheel, stealing occasional glances over his right shoulder to check on their pursuer’s progress. Frieda’s knees were turning boggy. She
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