“Uh…dude, I could use a little help,” Ben warned from further aft.
“You need help?” asked Jo from further forward. She looked ready to collapse and hadn’t quite made it to the main deck yet.
“I got it, stay there,” Reese groaned. He rolled over, slapping wet hands on the deck to scramble forward for purchase. Climbing foot by foot up the inclined deck, Reese managed to make it to Ben, only slipping once. Using the vertical supports for the railing as a ladder, Reese used his legs to keep himself from sliding back down into the water and leaned over. Ben held onto one end of a rickety crutch, pinned against the hull. It only took a moment for Reese to notice the pained look on Ben's face and the straining muscles of his arms.
“Can’t…can’t hold on much longer,” Ben muttered.
Reese stretched forward, grabbed hold of the crutch. “Okay, got it." Reese took a big breath. "On three, we pull together. Ready?"
Ben exhaled, blowing air out and lifting the lank hair from his face. "Got it."
"Hang on Ben, don't do anything but hang on."
"What else do you think I’d be doing down here?" Ben called in a weak voice.
"Ready? One—two—three!" Reese pulled, and the crutch came up about a foot, dragging Ben with it. "One more time,” Reese said. On three, he pulled again, and Reese was able to let go of the crutch and grabbed Ben with both hands, one on the arm, and one on his shirt collar. "Gotcha!”
Reese strained until Ben could grab the railing on his own. One more Herculean effort heaved Ben over the side, soaking wet and shivering. Both survivors lay gasping on the inclined, weaving deck, listening to a steady thump from the aft end of the boat.
"Stop the world, man…I want to get off," Ben said, panting with one arm draped across his face. Jo laughed from further forward, closer to the water.
“You sure know how to show a girl a good time,” she said, chuckling again.
Reese stared at the sky above them, listening to the occasional thump. He watched the clouds rotate in a sickening, slow swirl as the eddy continued its counterclockwise spin. It wasn't necessarily fast, and he figured they'd make a complete revolution every minute or so. But the steady turning motion combined with the random bouncing of the boat on the waves wasn't doing any good for his equilibrium.
Reese flopped back over on his stomach and crawled to the very edge of the transom, perhaps six feet away. Leaning over, he saw the source of the thumping noise, and whooped in triumph.
"What is it?" hollered Ben. "You okay?"
“What’s going on back there?” Jo yelled. “Can’t see where he went…”
"Hang on, I got us a way out here!" Reese called.
“Oh good, another idea…” Jo muttered.
Reese leaned over the railing and grasped the towline of a partially submerged, black rubber zodiac with a massive outboard. As big as the Excelsior was, he had to admit he wasn't surprised to find a tender. ‘Dinghy’ didn't do it justice. He was just surprised it was still attached.
"Hello beautiful," he cooed, pulling the rope and drawing the zodiac closer. "Let's see if you can get us to shore."
Chapter 14
Lavelle Homestead
Northwest of Charleston, South Carolina
Cami wiped sweat from her face with a damp rag. She stood next to the coffeemaker in the kitchen and looked at Amber and Mitch. “You guys ready?”
Amber held an orange extension cord in her dirty hands and nodded. “It’s plugged into the battery bank thing. When we want to run more than one device, we can plug it into the splitter thing, then run cords to that.” She placed the cord on the floor and stepped back.
“Not sure it’s that dangerous, man,” Mitch said with a grin.
“Better to be safe than sorry,” Cami told her daughter with approval. “Especially now that the power’s out. Who knows how long it’ll be before it comes back, and if we get hurt, we might not be able to get to a doctor.”
Mitch looked down. “Oh, right.”
“It’s all good,” Cami said. “Besides, in a moment—if this works—we’ll have a pot of coffee and we can take a break and get something to eat. What do you think about that?”
“Fire the sucker up, mom!”
Cami smiled, looking out the window at the solar arrays. They were spread some fifteen feet apart, both in the middle of the yard, but closer to the house than she’d originally planned. She’d fretted over Marty’s warning and had made sure the arrays were invisible from the street, but anyone approaching on foot around the side of the house would see them right away. There was no hiding the glare of reflecting light off those shiny photoreceptor panels.
Maybe if they moved some of her potted plants from the porch, they could disguise the arrays a little better. They weren’t that tall…
“Mom?” asked Amber.
“Oh, right,” Cami said sheepishly. “Here we go.” She plugged in the coffee maker, and though it took a second, the power light glowed blue, indicating it was off, but receiving power. She grinned at the kids, then hit the power button and the coffee maker turned on with its comforting click-hum. The water in the reservoir filled the heating tank and the familiar hiss started up.
“Yes!” Cami exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air. “We did it, guys!”
Amber and Mitch cheered and high-fived each other, then Amber rushed in to hug Cami. “Dad couldn’t get it working this fast last time—nice work, mom!”
Cami stepped back from her daughter and smiled, still watching the
