Chapter 74: Maryann

There were no watches Sunday night because we were at anchor next to a deserted island, but I still woke up early Monday morning. Jenna and I had finally given Archara and the Captain their bed back around midnight, moving to the salon where we fell asleep. Sometime in the night, I sent Jenna to her own bed and promptly went back to sleep.

Now, with the false dawn beginning to lighten the eastern sky, I started the engines and began hoisting the anchors. Of course the Captain was up as soon as he heard the engines and he steered us back to sea as I readied the sails.

With the northwesterly wind, we should make Nanny Cay by midday. The topic of the fiery display on the beach last night was on everyone’s lips. Everyone except Roland, Jenna, and me. We talked most of the morning about what I discovered last night, both on the beach and later with Jenna.

He complimented Jenna on her experiment with the cell phone, and discussed other things we could try. Jenna wanted to go and try them now, but I could see that we were approaching the marina at Nanny Cay.

It was time to get dressed.

We visited the gas pumps first to top off our fuel while Mom and Roland went to check us in. Unfortunately, while the British authorities were sympathetic, they wouldn’t allow Victoria and Maryann to disembark. So everyone else disembarked to various locations except Victoria and MaryAnn. Phillipe and Henri headed to a nearby skateboard park, while the adult ladies went shopping for provisions, because seventeen people went through food very quickly. Isabella went to find an internet café so she could download all her reports to her security company bosses while Roland chaperoned the ladies. The teen girls headed for the nearby mall. I remained on board with Victoria, Maryann, and Captain Alfred as we moved Serendipity to her assigned slip.

Captain Alfred wanted to inspect the new shaft bearings on the port side engine. I volunteered because I didn’t need scuba gear to do the job. While I was under the boat, I noticed more than a dozen small sharks, mostly nurse sharks and a few sand sharks swimming around me. The biggest was about a meter long and they weren’t aggressive and pretty much left me alone. When I described what I saw, the captain decided to see if he could find a spare seal at the marine supply, just in case.

Victoria and Maryann made the three of us some lunch and I was debating a nap when Maryann nervously approached me.

“Alex?” she said, “Can I talk to you?”

“Sure. What’s on your mind?” I asked.

“My boyfriend, Lucas, broke up with me before Christmas break and Victoria said that you were really gentle with her, and...” she faltered there.

I knew instinctively where this was headed. The question was, did I want to help her out? Maryann was the youngest girl on board and we had not had any time together since we had rescued the cousins.

“Maryann, could I ask you some questions?”

“Okay,” she replied.

“Can you tell me about your family,” I asked.

“Well, I have an older brother, Jimmy, who’s in college and two older sisters. Betty is married and has a little boy, and Ginger is a senior in high school. Then there are my two younger brothers who are in the sixth grade.

“Twins?” I interrupted.

“No. Randy was hurt in an accident and missed most of first grade, so they held him back to catch up,” she said.

“What do your parents do?”

“Well, dad works for Microsoft and mom is a professor at Syracuse University. She teaches archaeology and anthropology. She wants to go into the field like she did when she was getting her doctorate, but says she can’t until Roger is older. I don’t really understand why she wants to dig around in the dirt, but she says it’s very rewarding. My dad says he doesn’t want to be without her that long, but mom just calls him a horny old goat.”

For the next hour, Maryann told me all about her family and extended family and I began to marvel at her insights. For instance, she was the one who picked up on the fact that her dad was a closet ‘Gilligan’s Island’ fan. She had insights about all her siblings and even some of her cousins, including Victoria.

“Vickie acts like she likes her mom’s new husband, but she really likes the fact that he distracts her mom so she can get away with more stuff,” she told me. “And she uses babysitting as an excuse to sneak out and see boys.”