Chapter 1

In the northwest corner of the continental United States, there is a small group of islands off Washington State called the San Juan Islands. They are typical of the area; filled with beautiful trees, lots of big rocks, and some of the islands are fairly well populated. Ferries to either the mainland U.S. or Canada connect all the larger islands.

There is abundant wildlife both on the islands and in the surrounding waters. The deep channels host the world's largest population of salmon and host a few pods of Orcas, or killer whales. The rocky, smaller, islands have seals along the shores, in addition to other furry swimming mammals such as otters. The bird life is magnificent and is highlighted by a huge population of bald eagles.

If you sit out along the water line when dawn arrives, you're greeted by dozens of eagles waking, taking off, and screaming their happiness at a new day. You watch them dive to the water, lifting out a fish as large as they are. The dawning of a new day will energize just about any person. You feel cleansed as the early light changes into brighter contrasts, making the ever present dew or raindrops sparkle in the morning sun, when they aren't hidden by the constant overcast in the area.

This morning was just such a cleansing.

Yesterday, my very dear friends had just sailed into the private harbor, or lagoon, where their friend, Dewey, lives, to join up with him for a sailing trip to Alaska and on to Hawaii, Japan, and possibly to the Philippines.

Oh yeah, my name is Charles or Chuck Johnson. Normally, I am Deputy Marshal Chuck Johnson, but I'm here because my boss and his boss were getting too much heat over my proficiency in eliminating some people that keep escaping from Federal prisons. Most were walk off escapees from the country club places you hear about, that are really not very secure. The idea is, if you remain a good guy and do your time, you are treated very well and have much better living conditions than in most prisons.

The problem is that several of the prisoners who walk off keep deciding to gather together in one location to do something they shouldn't. We don't know why they gather, or what they're going to do yet, because we are on to them too fast and proceed to recapture them. These low risk escapees somehow decided to be high-risk threats to the U.S. citizenry and have to be captured. That's where my job came in. I led some strikes to capture some of these groups. If they had not been armed or had not used their weapons, I wouldn't be in trouble. Like I said, I was too proficient at my job. Instead of hiding when someone shoots at me, I was taught to shoot back. The Marines taught me to shoot back straight.

The way I became what I am right now is easy to explain. I had been hired to be a Federal employment office employee responsible for helping returning servicemen and women find employment. In the process of doing this, I ran into a problem with some gangsters trying to defraud the government, and somehow ended up being deputized into the Marshal Service, and then hired full time over the objection of the employment folks. I took advantage of some opportunities and was quickly promoted to Senior Deputy Marshal and Senior U.S. Law Enforcement Officer. Big title, but it is more "troubleshooter" than anything else. If there is a problem, it's my job to eliminate it. I eliminated too many problems.

Anyway, my superiors had an opportunity to hide me out for a while, someplace that I couldn't be found by the bleeding heart liberals and the press who wanted to use me to make the Marshal Service look bad. I had recently been wounded multiple times and they decided I needed a couple of months of convalescent leave. I still do have stitches in a couple of places, and some other things that aren't healed completely yet, but I do not believe I am incapacitated. They want to get rid of me for a while and are willing to continue paying me while I "recover." I took a chance and asked a friend from my home in Tampa, Florida, if I could join him on his sailboat as he and his family sail the seas on an adventure.

There are a lot of people involved that I have to introduce you to. First is Steve Sharp. The man is gold. He'll help anyone with anything and will give you the shirt off his back without you asking. For some reason, he and I hit it off instantly, and I've become a friend of his, along with his wife's and wives', (yes I said wives) since our first meeting.

We have a couple things in common. Steve is a Marine from Desert Storm and was hurt by an RPG while serving. He has a limp that can get pronounced sometimes, but you mostly don't notice it. I am a Marine also, but from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was injured over there as well. My injury was also from an RPG that destroyed my lower right leg. I wear a prosthesis that makes me whole, or close to whole. I get around great, and unless you watch closely, you'd never know.

The commonality doesn't end there. Steve and I both were able to finish a college degree via correspondence. The University of Maryland helps a lot of soldiers with their education. I had a ton of free time while waiting between recons, and then later while recovering in multiple hospitals, so I used that time to study. Watching TV is mind numbing. Studying was at least interesting.

Steve and I have both taken advantages of opportunities. Steve accidentally started a business when he was taking a vacation. The business grew into a huge international business. He keeps taking advantage of opportunities. His wife, Sue, also has a big business, so between the two of them they have some bucks, really big bucks.

You wouldn't know it though, as they live in a trailer park. That's what I said, an old time Florida trailer park. They do live in a huge custom manufactured home with an honest to God air-conditioned, screened, that's right, screened-in patio. This patio is like thirty by seventy and hosts forty or so people for breakfast and supper every day. They are all family or friends. Of course, if you meet Steve or any of his family, you will for sure be invited to join them on their patio for an evening of beer, supper, breakfast, or just to say hi.

Like I said, Steve has some women. There is Sue, his wife. They met at the trailer park and stuck. Sue has four kids. They are Stevie around eight, Lizzy sevenish, and twins Daniel and Manuel, right at six.

Next comes Mercy, another wife, a mysterious, magical, wife that reads minds or does something in your head. Mercy also has four kids with Steve. They are Mike, seven, and triplets consisting of two girls, Trixie and Dixie, and a boy, Tom, age six.

Since I know the order that Steve adopted these wives, I'll stay in order. The next wife is Juanita. She is an older, very beautiful, physically and emotionally, Cuban lady. She was a widow when Sue and Mercy brought her into their hearts and home.

And then there is the conundrum, Kathy. Actually, she was Steve's first Florida girlfriend, but ended up being the last wife. You see, Steve met Kathy when he first went on vacation in Florida, but because of some hostilities out at the trailer park that Steve didn't hesitate to take care of, Kathy left. She moved back up north with her folks. Back then, Kathy was a military widow with four kids. Her four kids are J.J., about twenty, short for Jake Jr. (Jake was her deceased husband's name), Ben about nineteen, Carl about eighteen, and Barb, a tall beauty in the image of Kathy, about seventeen. Well, Kathy and Steve had a torrid last night in Florida before Kathy left and spawned Greg, now about eight and a half. Kathy didn't tell Steve about Greg for almost three years. Anyway, they got back together, and the first time Steve and Kathy got together back down in Florida, you got it, they created Bonita, now about five. Talk about prolific.

There is supposed to be another kid, but I'm not sure about that story, so I'll let it drop, but count 'em, four, plus four, plus six. That's fourteen kids. That's a bunch.

Now if you visit this family and their friends on their patio, you can get confused real quick. All the kids call all the women that are mothers, Mom. They call all the men that are fathers, Dad. One might say Momma Sue or Momma Mercy, but all of the kids out there, from all the different parents, consider all the grownups moms, dads, and grandparents. It can get confusing.

Anyway, I was sitting out on Dewey's deck, or porch, or whatever you call it that afternoon. Oh yeah, Dewey.

Dewey is one of Steve's closest friends. Dewey came into money from family and was able to make good investments over the years and has doubled, tripled, and multiplied what he started out with until he is now very wealthy. He doesn't act like it, but enjoys his life and lifestyle with his two women. Yep, two of them. Steve and Sue were sort of responsible for Dewey meeting Sheila. The loving couple had little Dewey, then Sheila's sister became a widow and Sheila insisted that Dewey take her and her son, Bill, into their home. Sheila and Dewey more than took her in, Sheena, the sister, became a family member. Once the two sisters became permanent, as I guess what would be called co-wives, they presented Dewey with surprises, a girl each, Sharon and Shirley. It figures, Sheila has a Sharon, and Sheena has a Shirley. The two little girls are darling and look and act like twins. They are within a week of being the same age, so they are as close to twins as you'll find.

It was a typical afternoon around the islands this time of year. It was overcast, almost gloomy, but the water still gave reflections of the shore and the trees. I was sitting outside on Dewey's wood deck, looking over the large lagoon that was Dewey's private harbor. A bald eagle flew by twice, then settled on a branch out over the water. Some sea gulls were playing tag along the water line and a harbor seal was sprawled on a big rock about a hundred yards away.

The seal's head came up, alerting me something was up. The eagle spread his wings but didn't take off. It was strutting back and forth on the big branch with his wings spread. The sea gulls all landed on Dewey's dock, looking toward the entrance to the lagoon.

A huge sailboat with all of the sail taken in, slid through the water around the corner smoothly, quietly, obviously under its own muffled power. The scene was surreal, very dramatic, as the boat slid smoothly around the bend and I saw the large script letters, announcing the "Mercy, Mercy." My excitement built as the boat moved steadily closer, slowing, and drifting toward a buoy out in the little harbor. The eagle screamed and the seal splashed into the water just when I heard the clunk of a transmission as the boat began swiveling around the buoy to stop. A small person was tossing what looked like a lasso over the buoy while there was activity at the rear of the boat, as an anchor dropped. A rather large dingy was also dropped into the water, an outboard motor started, and the dinghy pulled to the front of the boat to tie up to the floating buoy.

Dewey came out of the house and stood next to me, watching the activity on deck, now covered with young people running everywhere, doing something, while the dingy went to a platform that was being let down. Dewey said, "It is magnificent, isn't it? When you see all those people on the boat, hear the laughter over the water, and see how they all function together, you get this great feeling inside. My boat is the same way. Giggles and laughter keep the boat happily sailing."

It was as if announcing the sailboat's presence, the eagle screamed again and swooped from his perch to glide down level with the boat, turned, gave his wings a flap, and soared up the other side of the boat. I think the bird was actually ogling the beautiful sailboat, welcoming new life to the lagoon.

Dewey and I walked down to the dock to await the first load of kids and adults coming in from the boat.

A handful of people, that included the four women I knew and two pre-teens, pulled up to the dock where Dewey caught the line and all but one of the people in the dinghy climbed onto the dock.

Mercy broke from the group and ran to me and hugged me, holding me tight and said, "Oh, thank goodness you're okay. I, ah, we have you now. As long as you're with us, we'll know you're okay."

The other three ladies greeted Dewey and then circled me. Each gave me a warm hug and kiss. Sue smiled so very big, gave me a hug against her mammoth chest, and kissed me very nicely. Sue said, "We are happy you are now here with us."

Kathy held me at arm's length, then pulled me into her and hugged me fiercely. She whispered, "There's something about you dangerous guys that just drives me nuts. Stop it, be a gentle person with us."

The sweet, older, still very good looking Spanish lady, Juanita, pulled my head down and kissed me the way my lovers kiss me, and said, "I'm so happy you are with us now. We ladies, especially Mercy and Sue, won't be worrying about you so much."

Another dinghy load arrived on the dock, bringing more kids and, this time, Ben and Beth Phillips got out, along with Mercy's mother, Missy, plus two more kids.

When the dinghy went back to the boat this time, Dewey went out with it to greet Steve.

Ben shook my hand with a sincere grasp, Beth gave me a little hug and kiss on the cheek, then Missy came and gave me a very warm hug and an extremely warm kiss. Mercy was still hanging onto on one of my arms, and Sue the other, as Missy looked at me, my head was suddenly filled with a flood of thoughts and questions. Missy smiled and said, "Mercy is right, we are connected somehow."

The people kept getting off the boat, including a smiling older man that introduced himself to me as Merlin, Mercy's father and Missy's husband. All the folks were going up to the house where Sheila, Sheena, and their kids were waiting for them up on the big deck. Finally Steve, Dewey, and three young men came up to the dock.

Instead of a simple handshake, Steve gave me a hug, then shook my hand, "Damn, it's good to see you and to know you're actually in good shape. Mercy has had us going crazy over you getting hurt every couple of days. You'll have to tell us all about it so she won't worry. She was nuts over you losing your big girlfriend in between all these wars you were in. Glad you're going to be with us, I think we'll have a great time."