Gibraltar Passage by T. Davis Bunn

Author:T. Davis Bunn
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781441270917
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2013-05-29T04:00:00+00:00

* * *

The air was as fresh and clear as the sea. Gentle rollers lifted the aging steamer and sent it splashing eagerly on toward a new and unseen shore. Jake stood at the bow, the salt-laden breeze cleansing him of wrong and doubts and regrets. He looked to his right, where the sun descended in a cascading symphony of colors, and thought of Sally. Here, he discovered, such thoughts were possible without pain. Here the sea and the adventures ahead granted him sufficient distance to look at the past few months as though examining the life of another man.

Whatever happened, he realized, it had been her decision. He had done as much as he could to make his feelings known. He hoped that they could be reunited. He prayed for it. He yearned for her look, her voice, her touch. But here and now there was a peace in his heart. He had given it his best. The rest was up to God and Sally. For the moment, for this glorious moment of limitless horizons, he was able to let go and turn the future over to more capable hands.

He sensed more than saw Pierre move up beside him and grasp the rail as the ship descended easily into the next deep-blue trough. “The skipper says we should be able to spot land just before nightfall.”

Jake allowed his thoughts to return earthward, to matters at hand. “You still planning on heading straight to Marrakesh?”

“It seems best. Then the element of surprise may still be with us.”

Jake was about to speak further when in the corner of his eye he spotted another figure move hesitantly toward the railing. One cloaked from head to foot in gray folds. Slender and graceful. Jake watched as one delicate hand reached and grasped the rail to his other side.

As smoothly as he could, Jake allowed the next roller to push him back a staggered step. When he returned to the bow rail, it was to Pierre’s other side, so that he no longer stood between them. He sidled up close to his friend so that with the next gentle roll Pierre took a step away. Closer toward the cowled figure, whom Pierre had not yet spotted.

Jake held his breath.

An endless moment later, one hesitant hand rose and clutched the hood. Another breathless wait, and the hood was drawn up and away. A breeze caught Jasmyn’s dark hair, and flung it up and out like a dark mane. She stood revealed, exposed, trembling.

Pierre raised his eyes from the waters below, cast a half glance toward the figure to his right, and jerked around with a cry of genuine pain.

Jasmyn turned slowly toward him. She stood tall and regal, her eyes wide and defenseless. The wind tossed her hair high enough for the setting sun to shine through and burnish it like a lustrous copper crown.

Jake turned and silently left the bow. As he reached the shelter of the side deck, he thought to himself that there stood the bravest woman he had ever known.

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