Natalie, lounging in one of the chairs, sat bolt upright. “Oh, no. You’re sure?”
“Right there, pacing back and forth. I know that walk.”
She seized her basket and darted into the cabin, saying to the skipper, “Slow down, please.”
“Right, miss.” The bewhiskered man, with a grin, pulled back on the throttle.
She closed the little door to the forward cabin. Soon she emerged in a cotton skirt and white blouse, her black hair brushed gleaming and loose to her shoulders. “I’m seasick,” she said to Byron, wanly smiling. “Try putting on eyebrows and a mouth sometime in a rocking boat, in a hot little cabin. Whew! Am I green? I feel green.”
“You look wonderful.”
The boat was wallowing half a mile from the pier. Natalie could see the man in blue walking up and down. “Full steam ahead,” she said shakily. “Damn the torpedoes.”
Victor Henry, leaning down from the tar-smelling pier, held out a hand as the boat stopped. “Hello, Natalie. This is a helluva thing to do to you. Watch it, don’t step on that nail.”
Byron leaped ashore. “What’s up, Dad? Is everybody all right?”
“Have you two had lunch?” Pug said.
They looked at each other, and Natalie nervously laughed. “I did pack sandwiches. They’re in this basket. “
“We, well, I don’t know, we forgot.”
An amused look came and went in Victor Henry’s eyes, though his face remained stern. “Uh-huh. Well, the smells from that joint there” — he pointed with his thumb at a dilapidated clam bar on the pier — “have been driving me nuts, but I thought I’d wait for you. I haven’t eaten yet today.”
“Please come to my house. I’d love to fix you something.”
“Your mother was kind enough to give me orange juice and coffee. D’you mind if we go in here? These water-front places can be pretty good.”
They sat in a tiny plywood booth painted bright red. Byron and his father ordered clam chowder. “I’ve never learned to like that stuff,” Natalie said to the waiter. “Can I have a bacon and tomato sandwich?”
“Sure, miss.”
Victor Henry looked oddly at her. “What’s the matter?” she said.
“You’re not fussy about what you eat.”
She looked puzzled. “Oh. You mean the bacon? Not in the least, I’m afraid. Many Jews aren’t.”
“How about your mother?”
“Well, she has some vague and inconsistent scruples. I can never quite follow them.”
“We had quite a chat. She’s a clever woman, and holding up remarkably, after her loss. Well!” Pug put cigarettes and lighter on the table. “It looks like France is really folding, doesn’t it? Have you heard the radio this morning? In Paris they’re burning papers. The BEF is high-tailing it for the Channel, but it may already be too late. The Germans may actually bag the entire British regular army.”
“Good God,” Byron said. “If they do that the war’s over! How could this happen in three days?”
“Well, it has. While I was waiting for you I heard the President on my car radio, making an emergency address to a joint session of Congress. He’s asked them for fifty thousand airplanes a year.”
“Fifty thousand a year?” exclaimed Natalie. “
“He said we’d have to build the factories to turn ‘em out, and then start making ‘em. In the mood I saw in Washington yesterday, he’s going to get the money, too. The panic is finally
Byron said, “None of this can help England or France.”
“No. Not in this battle. What Congress is starting to think about is the prospect of us on our own, against Hitler and the Japanese. Now.” Pug lit a cigarette, and began ticking off points against spread stiff fingers. “Warren’s thirty-day leave has been cancelled. The wedding’s been moved up. Warren and Janice are getting married tomorrow. They’ll have a one-day honeymoon, and then he goes straight out to the Pacific Fleet. So. Number one: You’ve got to get to Pensacola by tomorrow at ten.”
With, a hesitant look at Natalie, who appeared dumbfounded. Byron said, “All right. I’ll be there.”
“Okay. Number two: If you want to get into that May 27 class at sub school, you’ve got to report to New London and take the physical by Saturday.”
“Can’t I take a physical at Pensacola?”
The father pursed his lips. “I never thought of that. Maybe I can get Red Tully to stretch a point. He’s already doing that, holding this place open for you. The applications are piling up now for that school.”
“May 27?” Natalie said to Byron. “That’s eleven days from now! Are you going to submarine school in eleven days?”
“I don’t know. It’s a possibility.”
She turned to his father. “How long is the school?”
“It’s three months.”
“What will become of him afterward?”
“My guess is he’ll go straight out to the fleet, like Warren. The new subs are just starting to come on the line.”
“Three months! And then you’d be gone!” Natalie exclaimed.
“Well, we’ll talk about all that,” Byron said. “Will you come with me to the wedding tomorrow?”
“Me? I don’t know. I wasn’t invited.”
“Janice asked me to bring you.”
“She did? When? You never told me that.”
Byron turned to his father, “Look, when does the submarine course after this one begin?”
“I don’t know. But the sooner you start, the better. It takes you thirteen more months at sea to get your dolphins. There’s nothing tougher than qualifying in submarines, Briny. A flier has an easier job.”
Byron took one of his father’s cigarettes, lit it, inhaled deeply, and said as he exhaled a gray cloud, “Natalie and I are getting married.”
With an appraising glance at Natalie, who was biting her lower lip. Victor Henry said. “I see. Well, that might or might not affect your admittance to the school. I hadn’t checked that point, not knowing of this development. In general, unmarried candidates get the preference in such situations. Still, maybe the thing to do—”
Natalie broke in, “Captain Henry, I realize it creates many difficulties. We only decided this morning. I myself don’t know when or how. It’s a fearful tangle.”
Looking at her from under his eyebrows as he ate, Pug nodded.
“There are no difficulties that can’t be overcome,” said Byron.
“Listen, darling,” Natalie said, “the last thing I’ll ever do is stop you from going to submarine school. My God, I was in Warsaw!”
Byron smoked, his face blank, his eyes narrowed at his father.
Victor Henry looked at his wristwatch and gathered up his cigarettes and lighter. “Well, that’s that. Great chowder. Hits the spot. Say, there’s a plane to Pensacola that I can still make this afternoon.”
“Why didn’t you just telephone all this?” Byron said. “It would have been simple enough. Why did you come here?”
Victor Henry waved the check and a ten-dollar bill at the waiter. “You took off like a rocket, Byron. I didn’t know your plans or your state of mind. I wasn’t even sure you’d agree to come to the wedding.”
“Why, I wouldn’t have heard of his staying away,” Natalie said.
“Well, I didn’t know that either. I thought I ought to be available to talk to both of you, and maybe answer questions, and use a little persuasion if necessary.” He added to Natalie, “Janice and Warren do expect you. That I can tell you.”
She put a hand to her forehead. “I just don’t know if I can come.”
“We’ll be there,” Byron said flatly. “Or at least I will. Does that take care of everything?”
Pug hesitated. “What about sub school? I told Red I’d call him today.”
‘If Captain Tully has to know today then I’m out. All right?”
Natalie struck the table with her fist. “Damn it, Byron. Don’t make decisions like that.”
“I don’t know any other way to make decisions.”