Knot on Your Life by Betty Hechtman

Author:Betty Hechtman [Hechtman, Betty]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beyond the Page
Published: 2019-10-27T23:00:00+00:00

• • •

The boats left from the tip of Fisherman’s Wharf and I directed Deani to a parking lot near there. The wharf was a tourist heaven with fudge shops, T-shirt shops and lots of places that sold raw and cooked fish, no doubt caught on one of the many fishing boats moored in the water nearby.

The sky was overcast and a chilly breeze blew off the water. I put on a brave face and led the group through the throngs of tourists. There was a brief stay in the boat lounge and the signing of waivers, which didn’t make me feel any better. None of the boats I’d taken on Lake Michigan required the signing of anything. And then it was time to board.

You can do this, I told myself. With all the different things I’d done, spending a few hours on a small boat out in the middle of unbelievably deep water surrounded by huge animals couldn’t be all that bad, could it?

I led the way onto the boat. There was a tiny snack bar and a little seating inside. There were two bathrooms on the outside and places to sit and stand. The motor made a grinding sound and we moved away from the dock. At first it went slow and we made our way around the other docks, and after we passed a buoy the boat picked up speed. I watched the panoramic view of the shore and the harbor get smaller and smaller as we went farther and farther into the open water. I did my best not to think about the map I’d seen of the mountains and deep canyon hidden under the water below us. The boat rocked and rolled over the rises and falls of the water. I was glad for the gunmetal sky, as even the thought of having the sun beat down on me made me feel queasy. The shore kept receding until it disappeared. Ahead there was just open water.

By now a couple of people had begun to look a little green and I noticed one of the boat people offering them paper towels and some advice. It was then that I noticed something about myself. The churning water and the rolling boat didn’t seem to bother me at all. I began to make the rounds and check on my people in case their experience was different than mine.

Aileen seemed fine. She was at the front of the boat doing a Titanic move of holding her arms out and letting the wind make crazy salad of her brown hair. Madison had found a seat and wanted to know where the whales were. Iola had staked out a seat at the back of the boat. When I asked how she was she gave me a thumbs-up. Deani had gone inside and was checking out the snack bar.

And then I found PJ. She was slumped on a bench along the side of the cabin. “Are you okay?” I asked. She nodded half-heartedly.

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