Chapter 29

Uncle Al said, "She could always swim. I wonder how long she can tread water."

"Huh?" I was prying my fingers out of my ears. "What?"

Al raised his voice to a mild shout, "She could always swim." He nodded at Carole Ann.

"Thin?" I asked. "I don't think she's thin." Carole wasn't thin ... she was just right.

"Forget it," he said.

"Frog et it?" I was still trying to hear. What did the frog eat? And what did frogs have to do with fixing my binoculars? When Carole Ann shrieks...

Pentwater has a constable. While Al was trying to convince the cop that no one had been murdered I finally stopped the ringing in my ears. Not that I could hear any better but at least I could answer the phone.

"No, Ensign Olsen ... no emergency ... just Carole Ann."

"She's fine ... wet but she's fine."

"Yes Sir, I'll tell her."

"Carole Ann?" I shouted to get her attention, "Ensign Olsen wants you to give lessons to the town air raid siren."

This was the era of the fallout shelter and students hiding under their desks as protection from nuclear blasts. Every town had war surplus air raid sirens scattered here and there. The radio had regular 'Tests' of the CONELRAD (CONtinental ALert RADio) Civil Defense Alert Network. I know a school desk would keep me from being charred to a crispy critter. But it sure made me hate the Russians.

I spotted her suit by her lounge chair, picked it up and by way of a series of hand signals, told her I'd bring it down to the end of the new dock.

"Al? I'm just going to give Carole her suit."

Down the stairs I went and out to the end of the new dock, Carole Ann was treading water there.

"David," she was handing me her hair, "Hold me up while I get this suit on."

I had to lie down and reach to grab her hair but she managed to get her suit on. It was very entertaining ... and arousing. I had to think of naked wrinkled old men to eliminate my difficulty.

She started looking for a ladder so she could climb out of the water ... there wasn't one ... but there was a ladder at the retaining wall.

Pretty soon Carole Ann was out of the water and I was helping Al. He looked the setup over and told me to go inside the boat house and unbolt the two 4x4 timbers that were holding the waterside railing on.

"I didn't know that." Railing bolted on?

"How did you expect to get the sailboat in the boathouse with the railing in the way?"

"I planned on taking the thing down to the Marina and storing it in the dry shed for the winter."

"What's this boathouse for?"

"Daddy had it built."

"What for?"

"Dunno. Never asked." I never had, but I knew he used my money to have it built.

"Lawyers!" exclaimed Al.

"Yup." I didn't understand the relationship but Al was very practical, Daddy was ... daddy. Eventually I'd find out what he had in mind when he had it built. Maybe.

Grace had finished one loop around the buoys and gently nudged the dock. "Carole Ann? Want to go for a sail?"

They left. I'll have to admit Grace was becoming an excellent helmsman. She had never really stopped to pick Carol ... it was more of a creep.

Al had a good hold of each timber as I unbolted it. The 4x4 ended up on the roof where Al told me my drill wasn't a drill but a motorcycle engine cylinder boring bar and worth a couple of grand. "It's too bad you didn't get the car engine boring tools when you bought this."

"There's another box," I said. "Want me to go con Kenny?"

"Hold on." Al was looking at the huge canoe that was being paddled out of the channel. "What in the fuck... ?"

I suppose ... that once ... that huge canoe was covered with birch bark and sealed with pitch pine sap ... now it was canvas painted to look like birchbark. There must have been 25 paddlers and 23 passengers ... the whole bunch was dressed like they were going to a drum. At the bow was a good sized guy dressed ... sorta ... if you can call breechclout, leggings and beaded vest, dressed to please the cameras ... and he was expecting cameras.

"Bill!" I shouted. "Over here!!"

Bill Badass, Odaawa, troublemaker ... Bully ... nice guy ... great grand parent ... not Bill ... his eldest elder. And she was a great many times over ... but that's not what I meant ... she was a really good person ... really great.

I could see a problem though. A sailboat has right of way over a motorboat ... who has right of way between a canoe and a sailboat?