Reese frowned and rubbed the stubble on his chin. If he didn't find a razor soon, he’d end up with a full beard before long. He’d never liked the look—facial hair made him look like his father—but mostly he didn't like beards because as he aged, there were a lot more gray hairs visible.
Jo stepped up to the helm next to him. "What are you thinking?” she muttered as Libby hugged Tony. Reese put his hands on the wheel and felt the confident heartbeat of the boat as it plowed through the water, the twitch of the rudder made his hand move ever so slightly on the wheel.
It felt good to be at the helm again. "First thing we gotta do is shut that engine off and raise the mainsail. Gas is going to be hard to come by, and we don't need to be wasting it when we've got perfectly good sails and a good breeze to keep us moving. We’re going to have to do some tricky tacking with that boat behind us," he said, "but it can be done. We won't be going anywhere very fast, that's for sure," he added.
"Well, that fits the pattern…we were crawling down the coast as it was when we slipped into Boston." Libby shrugged. "We just can't do it. We don't have it in us to cut Intrepid loose, and Byron said there's too much stuff on there that's too valuable for us to just throw away."
Reese nodded. "I have a suggestion for you. How about we drag her as long as possible, and when Byron recovers, I'll go across and sail Intrepid. We can move as a team and stay together."
Libby’s eyes flashed. "I don't know if I like that idea overly much…no offense, but we just met you."
"Aunt Libby, they did save Uncle Byron’s life,” Tony pointed out.
"Then how about this? Tony can come with me to Intrepid,” Reese continued, “and Jo will stay with you and Byron here. I'm not going anywhere without her, and to be honest, I probably wouldn't go very far with one arm by myself, anyway."
Libby thought about it for a long moment and watched the ocean slip by the hull. When Reese got to the point where he needed to clear his throat to remind her the rest of the world still existed, she blinked and looked up. "It sounds like the best plan we’re going to get." She looked at Tony. "What do you say, Tony?"
Tony looked from Libby back to Reese and Jo. "They seem nice enough to me, Auntie. Besides, I can probably take him in a fight," the younger man said with a grin. He flexed his broad shoulders, and Reese had no doubt the boy could put a hurting on anyone who threatened his family. "I say we do it. The quicker we get to Baltimore, the better."
Reese cocked an eyebrow. "Baltimore? What's in Baltimore?"
"My home. My parents. My mom inherited a farm from Grandma Alice,” Tony explained. "That's why I never got much experience on the water."
"I told you, landlubbers, my whole family,” Libby said with a smile. “We originated in New Hampshire from good Yankee farming stock, but my sister married some southern dandy, and they moved down to Maryland."
Reese coughed and grinned. "Maryland is not the south.”
"Honey,” retorted Libby with an equally wide grin, “when you live in New Hampshire, everything is the south except Maine. And Canada."
Reese nodded. "Fair enough." The breeze tickled his skin, and the hair on the back of his neck rose. It was time. "Well folks, if we’re going to raise the mainsail, now's the time. The wind’s changing for a favorable tack."
Libby held Tony’s hand and took Jo's in her other. "Let's do it."
"What do you need us to do?" asked Tony.
"I need you to find a seat. When we raise the sail, I'll let loose the boom, and it's gonna swing around to port—that side," he said as he pointed at the left side of the boat. "You don't want this thing to hit you in the head."
Once Libby and Jo found seats on the starboard side, Reese instructed Tony to make ready the sail. He loosened the halyard and Reese killed the engine. "Okay, haul away—all the way to the top. That's it, keep going," he instructed. As Tony pulled, the sail rose up and flapped in the breeze.
"Okay, she's at the top, tie it off. That's it—good, now watch your head, I'm going to swing us around." Reese spun the wheel hard over, and the boat responded immediately, turning into the wind. The sail snapped one more time, then billowed as it caught the wind, and the boom rushed to the other side of the boat. It stopped and was held fast by the lines Reese had set. The boat immediately tilted as the wind tried to push it over, but Tiberia’s long keel bit into the water, and she picked up speed. It wasn't much, since they towed another fully loaded boat almost the same size, but the increase was noticeable over the straining outboard engines Tony had used.
Tony scrambled to find a foothold and held onto the port railing for dear life as that side of the boat lifted up slightly. Libby laughed with delight and let her hand fall over the side and trail in the water as it slipped past the hull. Jo had an expression on her face that mirrored Tony’s, and neither looked like they enjoyed the experience very much.
Reese laughed as the deck hummed
