Woken this morning by three noises: knocking, barking,
screaming. The knocking, it turned out,
was someone rapping knuckles against a porthole. The barking, obviously, was Butkus reacting
to the knocking. The scream, probably
just as obviously, was someone reacting to a big, black, barking mass lunging
up from below decks.
This all happened, of course, in seconds. I was in bed, naked, and still half asleep,
so my response time probably was not what it might have been under ideal
circumstances. By the time I rolled out
of my bunk all three noises had stopped—no knocking, barking or screaming. There was however a new noise, yelling.
“Duncan, you idiot, get up here and control your stupid dog.” The voice was loud but impressively
calm. It was, despite my having heard it
only briefly the day before yesterday, unmistakeably Evolene’s.
Now clad in shorts, I climbed out on deck, and greeted my visitor. Turns out Ev was feeling a little sheepish
about missing another day of work, and was looking for a key to get into the
office to begin her career in journalism.
It took a while, but I finally convinced her that spending
the day with me, chatting and learning about Midden Harbour, would be far more
valuable than whatever it was she planned to do at a desk in the office. So, she came aboard and we cast off and I
spent the next six hours trying to familiarize her with the town, its people,
politics, and economy. It all went well,
and when she climbed back on her bike for the ride back up the hill, we were on
good terms; maybe not friends yet, but
on our way. I think.
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