Chapter 70: Christmas Dinner

When I showed up on the bridge at a quarter to four Saturday morning, Anna was the only one there. And she looked tired.

“Head on down and find you a place to bunk down. I’ve got this,” I told her.

“Thanks,” she said softly as she headed down the stairs.

The skies were still heavily overcast and the wind still blew at over twenty knots, but there was no rain and the seas were not churning like yesterday so I decided to hoist the sails. I unfurled the mainsail and the headsail and was working on the spinnaker when Captain Alfred came rushing up.

“Que diable?” (What the hell?) he shouted in French. “What happened to the engines?” Then he saw me and figured it out.

I finished putting out the spinnaker and was making adjustments when Captain Alfred came out on the bow to help me.

“Good call on hoisting the sails, son. But you might let me know in advance, next time. I about broke my fool neck getting up here when I felt the engines quit,” he told me before he went back to bed. Another lesson learned.

After that, we picked up speed in the strong winds of the outer fringe of the low pressure cell, making our speed almost fifteen knots.

“I hope that the Chevalier Paul can keep up,” I said out loud to the empty bridge. Of course I was being sarcastic since their top speed was much more than the Serendipity could ever do.

I was not surprised when no one showed up at six o’clock to relieve me. Instead I enjoyed the lightening skies that foretold of smoother sailing than we had yesterday. I opened the front wind screen to feel the air rushing by my face and thought of what it must have been like to sail the seas in old wooden sailing ships with multiple sails and crenelated bulwarks for the cannons.

We still had over four hundred miles to Nanny Cay in the British Virgin Islands, our next stop along the way. But, for now, I was enjoying our seeming isolation on the high seas. Still, I was mindful of the Chevalier Paul to our port just over the horizon.

Roland was the first living person to show up on the bridge Saturday morning and he brought fresh coffee and warm cinnamon rolls.

“Good morning, Alex. Merry Christmas!” he said.

Oh, SHIT! I had forgotten all about Christmas in the rush of the last few weeks. I didn’t have presents for anyone! Oh well ... nothing I could do about it now.

Roland and I proceeded to talk like we always had, with him asking questions and me supplying the answers. I shared my thoughts and my feelings, including telling him how I picked up the spark from the Chevalier Paul yesterday and my hunches about Victoria and Isabella. Nothing was off limits. I even shared my hunch that he should spend some time with Vivienne, explaining that I sensed she needed an adult male’s perspective on matters of the heart. He said he would discuss that one with Carina.

“Speaking of Carina, she wants you to come down to the cabin when you’re through on the bridge. She has a Christmas present for you,” he said.

“But I have nothing for her,” I told him. “I don’t have anything for anyone.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he replied. “You’ve already given everyone the most perfect gift. You’ve given yourself.”

As usual, when talking with Roland, especially while sailing the Serendipity, the time flew by. Around noon, Captain Alfred showed up with Archara, Carina, my mom, and the whole crew. Kelly Ann was holding something behind her back.

“Alex, I want to thank you for manning the bridge so I could celebrate Christmas with my family this morning and now we have a little something for you,” he said.

“You’re welcome, only I had forgotten it was Christmas,” I told him.

“The Captain has the conn,” he said as his way of saying he was taking over for me.

“We have a little something for you Alex, because you have given all of us so much over the last nine months,” Carina said. Then Kelly Ann brought out the gift she had hidden behind her back. It was an eight-by-ten picture of me hugging my dad when I made my hole-in-one. Kimberly had snapped the picture on her phone and Mom had it blown up to a larger size and the girls had selected a frame while we were in Nassau.