Chapter 19: Jesse & Marie

Captain Judson rose and walked briskly from the salon. Once on the promenade, he paused to peer upriver, ahead of the boat. Although it was full dark, by the light of a full moon, he saw another steamer some fifteen hundred to two thousand yards ahead. She appeared to be on fire!

At that moment, a terrific explosion lifted the entire boat, at least the middle two thirds, out of the water as it blew the steamboat to shreds and splinters. Boiler explosion! Or some explosive cargo went up. Captain Judson wasted no more time but sprinted for the ladder leading to the Texas deck and the wheel house.

He wasn't even breathing hard as he entered the wheel house.

"I'll take her, Julie, you get the women passengers organized to care for survivors. The first mate will know what to do to pull any survivors on board. The boiler deck will be used until full. Get going!"

Then the Captain called for full ahead to get on the scene as quickly as possible, but Captain Judson didn't hold out much hope. Boiler explosions usually killed most of the people on board. Only a very few lucky ones might escape.

An agonizing amount of time passed before the Irish Princess was able to close the distance and pull into the zone of destruction. Captain Judson called for "stop" on the engine. Wreckage and bodies littered the water. Few of the bodies were whole and those that were, were horribly burned. Only splinters of wood remained of the boat itself. Buoyant cargo floated at random, some of it burning, some not.

But it was the utter silence that was so eerie, so horrifying. The small skiff lashed to the Irish Princess' Texas deck, close to the wheel house, was freed and lowered into the water. A group of roustabouts and two mates manned the skiff, rowing slowly through the carnage, looking for survivors. After more than an hour, they found only two, both unconscious. The man was draped over a group of barrels lashed together and the woman was lying on what appeared to be a cabin door that had managed to remain in one piece.

Captain Judson maintained just enough way on the Irish Princess to keep her nearly motionless, head on into the current, while he waited for the skiff to return. Miraculously, the two survivors were not seriously injured. The man had minor burns and a broken leg. The woman also had minor burns, several large bruises, and a broken wrist.

The two were immediately taken to separate cabins, stripped, and then wrapped in warm blankets. The river was still carrying the coldness of the winter just passed and shock was sure to appear without immediate warmth. Julie was in charge of the woman and Jesse had taken the lead with the man. As there was nothing left to do at the site of the accident, Captain Judson called down to the boiler engineer, "Ahead full," and got underway again.

Despite the chill of the evening, the Irish Princess passengers had lined the promenade rails from the moment the explosion had jolted them into knowledge of the accident. When the two survivors were taken into separate cabins for care, the crowd began drifting back into the main salon for coffee and to discuss the tragic accident.

When the Captain announced that the two weren't seriously injured, a loud cheer went up. The Captain had been relieved by a young cub pilot--one in training for a full pilot license so that Judson could monitor the survivors' care and inform his passengers of progress. Captain Judson sent for Julie and Jesse to join him in the wheel house and Marie accompanied them.

When they had assembled in the wheel house, Captain Judson said, "The next place of any size to have a doctor is only two hours away. We'll put in there and off load our patients where they can be looked after and notice sent to relatives, if needed. Please have them ready to disembark at that time."

After dropping off the two survivors and getting underway again, Jesse and Marie finally retired to their cabin to get a few hours sleep before the new day arrived, but not before Marie said, "Jesse, the monster is loose again. I know it's awful so soon after that dreadful boat accident, but I'm horny as hell again. Take me, Jesse, now!"

Marie did a sensuous strip and Jesse kept pace with her, stripping himself. Neither took their eyes off the other the whole time. Jesse could see as she exposed her breasts, that Marie's nipples were already erect. When she was totally naked, he could also see how puffy Marie's pussy lips had become and they were pinkish red from the infusion of blood, indicating her high state of arousal.

Utterly amazing!

So thought Jesse as he dropped the remainder of his clothes, exposing his erect and twitching boner. Pre-cum was already leaking from the tip.

She is hot and ready, and apparently, so am I!

The two stepped into a tight, naked clinch with Jesse's stiffly erect cock sandwiched in between their two bellies and Marie's breasts crushed into Jesse's chest. Jesse spent a large portion of the night, stilling Marie's sex monster--for the time being!

When the two newlyweds awoke, late to a beautiful morning, it was well past sunrise. Marie was slow to awaken fully and Jesse kept urging her to get a move on, at the same time admiring her languid movements and her nakedness.

Finally both dressed, Jesse said, "Let's go into the salon and get some coffee."

The two then spent a pleasant morning, visiting with other passengers and reliving the accident. Noon lunch was just ending as the Irish Princess tied up at the levee of Natchez.

Marie then said to Jesse, "I want to go along to town, but we never go unescorted. We have to go through 'lower' Natchez to get to 'upper' Natchez and it is down below that we need the escort."

"Why?" asked Jesse.

Marie then went on to explain the difference between the two portions of Natchez. The town up on top of the bluff, or "upper" Natchez was the socially respectable, thriving town of the planters and shopkeepers. Under the bluff was a different story.

There lay the rowdy and roiling cesspool of the river town port. All the hard-boiled saloons come gambling halls, bawdy houses, rotten boarding houses, warehouses, and greasy eateries that thrived on the river trade. Beneath the bluff, folks traveled in twos or threes and very well armed, or the traveler was not usually seen again.