Just knowing what the next step was made a big difference. They had something to look forward to, something to care about again. Jodi stepped under the new roof of the market, past a few repaired merchant stalls. They looked nice. With limited tools and supplies, the locals had done great work. At the moment, the mayor was directing a couple of young men who were standing on ladders and making some final repairs on the roof.

  Shane and Jodi had already discussed who should break the news, so Jodi approached the mayor and said, “Good morning, Mariama. How are you doing today?”

  The mayor was wearing a comfortable blouse and loose skirt, her hair tied back in a blue kerchief. But she’d added some heavy leather work gloves as well. “Hey there, Jodi, I’m just watching my little town come back together, you know. That’s a great feeling. What about the McDonalds?”

  Jodi signaled for the rest of the family to hang back a bit, then walked closer to the mayor. She didn’t want to say it too loudly, in case announcing their departure demoralized the locals who had worked so hard beside them.

  “Ma’am, I actually came to tell you that we’ve decided to move on,” Jodi said.

  Despite her best efforts, the two workers paused and looked down at her in shock. Mariama frowned and shook her head. “I hate to see good people leave. You haven’t been with us long, but you’ve made an impact. When you repaired the pavilion, it gave me just enough inspiration to rebuild the whole town. I’ll always owe you a debt of gratitude for that. Well, I won’t stop you. Where are you thinking about going?”

  Jodi glanced at Shane. “We were thinking about trying to find a boat.”

  “I see,” the mayor said. “You won’t have trouble finding one. There are abandoned boats all over the east side of the island. Take your pick. No one’s coming to claim them, I can tell you that. You have my blessing.”

  “And we receive it,” Jodi said.

  “Do take some supplies with you. A little food, clothing, clean water. I don’t want y’all to get out there and have nothing to eat or drink. You hear?”

  “Just a little,” Jodi said. “We won’t take too much.”

  “Well, you worked hard. You certainly earned it, so don’t be too stingy with yourselves. Now, come here.”

  Mariama gave her a big hug, then sent the McDonalds on their way. She was so friendly about it that Jodi had a moment of regret as they walked out of the marketplace. However, as she looked at the devastation that remained in the road ahead, she knew they were doing the right thing.

  They headed back to the pavilion and loaded up enough supplies to last a few days, including some dried fruit and meat, two big containers of fresh water, and one change of clothes per person. They put all of this on a crude wheeled dolly, which they pulled with a rope. It seemed like a reasonable amount to take without being greedy.

  From there, they headed south on the main road, then cut left at an intersection. Shane and Jodi led the way, with Violet, Ruby, and Corbin walking behind the dolly. Katie took up her usual position among the bags of supplies, riding in style. The side road was small and mostly covered in mud and dirt blown over the lanes by the storm. The tiny wheels of the dolly dug deep grooves in the mud as they went. They crested a rise and soon came in sight of the long line of beaches on the east side of the island.

  This had been a neighborhood of mansions and private docks at one time. The mansions were almost entirely destroyed, with just a few walls standing here and there. The surviving private boats had been washed or blown up onto the sand. Most of them lay on their sides like beached whales.

  “Wow, I see boats, Mommy,” Katie said.

  Mommy. Jodi looked back to see who Katie was referring to and realized the little girl was looking at her.

  “Yes, lots of big boats,” Jodi replied. “But I’m Grandma, not Mommy.”

  “Oh.” Katie poked a finger against the corner of her mouth, as if deep in thought. “I forgot.”

  “It’s okay, honey. Mommy loved you very much, and so do I.”

  “I know.” Jodi was afraid the little girl might burst into tears, but she just shrugged and said no more on the subject.

  They passed through a large gap in a collapsed fence and alongside a large home that had lost its roof and most of its walls. An old Mercedes was rotting upside down in a circular driveway, as if waiting for a family that would never return. The backyard was mostly weeds and rocks, but it soon gave way to a narrow strip of sandy beach. Shane and Jodi came to a stop at the transition, waiting for the others to catch up.

  Looking left and right, Jodi saw a dozen or more private docks that were collapsing into the surf, along with numerous abandoned boats. Most of them were sailboats or small yachts, and even from a distance, she could tell their hulls were in bad condition.

  “So many beautiful boats to choose from,” Corbin said, as he stepped up beside the dolly. “If we wait for high tide, they might be back in the water.”

  “Okay,” Shane said, scanning the beach with a hand shielding his eyes from the morning sun. “We’ll walk along until we find a boat with an intact hull and at least one intact sail.”

  They headed north along the edge of the beach, and Jodi heard Corbin quietly describing each of the beached boats to Violet as they went. Ruby was sniffing frantically along the sand. Clearly, this new territory was interesting to the dog.

  “It’s kind of exciting to own our very own boat,” Kaylee said, kicking sand with the toe of her boot as she walked along. “Dad, you do think I could be the bo’sun?”

  “I’m not sure what a bo’sun does, honey,” Shane replied.

  “A bo’sun is a deck boss,” Kaylee said. “I read all about it in a book back in Hickory Falls.”

  “I don’t think we need a deck boss,” Shane said.

  “You could swab the poop deck, Kaylee,” Violet said, with a chuckle.

  “Ew, no thanks,” Kaylee said, play-hitting her sister. “Anyway, the poop deck doesn’t have anything to do with poop. It’s the rear deck that forms the roof of the main cabin.”

  “It’ll still need swabbing now and then,” Violet said.

  “Girls, I hate to disappoint you,” Jodi said, “but I don’t think we’ll find a boat like that. Probably something a little smaller.”

  As they walked along throughout the morning, they passed a small sloop lying on its side, with a broken mast and a large, visible crack in its hull. Then a small yacht that had somehow been flipped upside down. After that, they passed some kind of fishing vessel, but it had been broken into several pieces.

  “The weather is nice here close to the ocean,” Violet said. She held Ruby’s harness handle in one hand, Corbin’s hand in the other. “And I love hearing the surf. I don’t suppose we could just live here on the beach, could we?”

  “Wherever we end up,” Jodi said, “I’m sure it’ll have beaches and surf.”

  “Good.”

  They’d walked most of the morning, passing almost a dozen damaged mansions and just as many boats, when they finally spotted something that might work. It was Kaylee who first spotted it.

  “Look at that one,” she said, running up beside Jodi and pointing into the distance. “That boat there is still mostly in the water. It’s got a mast and a sail and everything.”

  Jodi had to squint to make it out from this distance. It appeared to be a small cutter with a single mast and two intact sails. The hull was painted a nice pale blue, and just as Kaylee had said, it was still bobbing in the surf, tied to a cleat on a surviving section of a dock.

  “That looks promising,” she said.

  “It’s in such good shape that I wonder if someone is still using it,” Shane said.

  As they drew near, they saw no one either on board or in the area. However, a collapsed tent sat on the beach beside some scattered, charred wood. Jodi could see the outline of a shape beneath the tent canvas, and a horrible smell lingered in the area. That seemed to answer their question.

  “I think the owner of our boat passed away in their tent,” she said. “Maybe in the recent storm.”

  Shane gagged and pinched his nose shut. “I think you’re right. Maybe they were trying to flee ahead of the storm and got caught in the storm surge.”

  “Smells yucky,” Katie shouted, clapping both hands over her nose.

  The cutter had a name painted in silver and white along the stern: Evie Estelle. The former owner had indeed kept it in good condition. There was evidence of repairs to the hull and sails. They climbed aboard using a ladder that was hooked to the port side. It was spacious enough to fit them all and had a small cabin in front of the helm.

  When Jodi checked the cabin, she found some bottled water in a cupboard along with some canned food. However, water had pooled on the floor, so they hunted around until they found a mechanical pump. While Shane and Corbin pumped the water out of the cabin, Jodi and Violet unloaded their supplies, and Kaylee and Katie sat with Ruby on the deck.

  “It’s exciting,” Kaylee said. “We’re going to sail on a boat!”

  Jodi discovered that the boat was still anchored. When she pulled up the anchor, they began to drift away from the shore, carried by a warm western wind. Shane had been examining the captain’s seat when they started to move.

  “Hey, hon, you’re supposed to warn us when we’re about to cast off,” he said with a laugh.

  “Oh, right,” Jodi said, coiling the anchor chain on the foredeck. “Casting off! Does that count?”

  That made everyone laugh. Corbin unfurled the headsail and jib all the way, as Shane tried steering the boat. Soon, they were picking up speed, heading southeast away from shore. Jodi made her way to the aft deck, where most of the family had gathered. The wobbly deck beneath her made her feel queasy. As she took up a position beside Shane, she said, “I don’t think I’ve got my sea legs. I’m a landlubber.”

  “Well, give it some time,” Shane said. Then he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. He was beaming. They all were. “Before you know it, you’ll be a regular Captain Jack Sparrow.”

  “No piracy,” Jodi said, wagging a finger at him. “We’re explorers, like the ancient Polynesians. That’s it.”

  “You got it!”

  It didn’t take long for Jodi, Violet, and Corbin to get thoroughly seasick. Kaylee only felt a tiny bit queasy, but Shane and Katie were okay. As Jodi struggled not to throw up, she sat near the port side of the boat, grasping the gunwale in both hands, and taking deep breaths of sea air. The glistening golden coastline gradually disappeared behind them until they were entirely surrounded by the blue-brown Atlantic. A flock of seagulls chased them for a while, but even they eventually turned back, leaving the McDonalds alone at sea.

  Once they were alone, Jodi allowed herself to sit with her grief for a bit. She hadn’t really let herself feel the full impact of losing Beth and Owen, but she knew it was unhealthy to keep those feelings at bay. Now, she let them rise up and wash over her. She wept quietly, her head pressed against the cold metal rail before her. The others grieved as well, each in their own way. But it wasn’t an evil thing. If anything, it felt healing, like letting poison seep out of the body.

  Needing comfort, Jodi rose and went to Shane, putting her arms around him and leaning her cheek against his back.

  “We’ve left everything behind,” she said. “The people we lost are scattered all over the place.”

  “Their bodies, yes,” Shane replied, taking her hand and kissing it, “but their memories, their souls, are with us wherever we go.”

  “I know,” Jodi said, softly.

  Corbin and Violet were also holding each other, speaking soft, comforting words. Kaylee was sticking close to Katie and Ruby. There was something hopeful in the way all of the family members comforted each other. That ray of hope broke through Jodi’s grief. No, they hadn’t left everything behind, after all. The most important things were still with them.

  They sailed all day, carried by sturdy sails and a constant wind. Jodi passed around some canned vegetables and a bottle of water, and everyone ate and drank their fill. The cabin below had a few beds and couches, and they took turns taking naps. When night finally fell, they lit some lanterns and candles they found in the cabinets, dropped anchor, and spent a quiet, comfortable night all packed into the cabin.

  “I’m less sick now,” Violet said, curling up on one end of a couch, with Katie at the other end. “I’m almost getting used to the constant motion.”

  “Yeah, me, too,” Jodi said. “I only feel like I’m going to puke every once in a while now.”

  She was lying with Shane on a small twin-sized bed at the back of the cabin. They’d changed into their clean clothes, which felt incredibly nice. Indeed, the gentle rocking of the boat was almost soothing.

  “It’s still a bit disorienting,” Corbin said. He was lying on the other smaller couch. “Do you guys have any idea where we’re headed?”

  “I was sort of hoping to find an island,” Shane said. “We’ll give it a few more days. If we don’t find a place, we can always turn back west and head for the mainland again.”

  “I hate the mainland,” Kaylee muttered from the reclining chair where she was lying. “I don’t want to go back there, not for a long time.”

  And with those words looming large in the room, the family gradually fell asleep. Jodi drifted off, still feeling twinges of grief, but she slept well. Indeed, when she finally awoke, it was late morning, and she was alone in the room. She rolled onto her side, wrapping herself in the bed’s thin sheet so completely that it took a minute to untangle herself.

  She could see bright sunlight glinting off the ocean through the cabin’s tiny windows. When she sat up, she noticed evidence of breakfast on the cabin’s tiny table. A few empty cans of fruit, a bottle of water, some crumpled napkins. She rose and crossed the room. Now, she heard people talking up on deck. Corbin, Violet, and Kaylee. They sounded excited. Wincing at a jolt of pain in her back, Jodi made her way up the steps onto the deck.

  “You guys let me sleep in,” she said.

  “Well, dear, you looked so comfortable,” Shane said. He was gripping the wheel. “You even slept through our talking at breakfast, but I’m sure you needed the rest.”

  Violet and Corbin were standing on the starboard deck, holding hands, as Katie sat with Ruby behind the captain’s chair.

  “What’s going on this morning?” Jodi said. She moved past Shane, kissing him on the cheek, then approached Corbin and Violet.

  “Look there,” Corbin said, pointing into the distance.

  It took her a moment to see it. A green-gray hill rising up along the horizon. An island! As she studied it, she realized there were buildings on the island.

  “Do we have any idea which island it is?” she said.

  “No real idea,” Shane replied, “but I’m bringing us in for a closer look.”

  “Corbin told me there’s buildings,” Violet said.

  “Quite a few, yes,” Jodi said.

  Violet did a happy little dance. “What if this is it? What if this is the place we’ve been hoping for?”

  “It’s certainly worth a look,” Jodi said. She felt a mix of both excitement and trepidation.

  Maybe, just maybe, this would be a place where the McDonald family could put down roots. She wanted to believe it. She wanted to believe it so badly!

  34

  Shane had never steered a sailboat like this, but he seemed to get the hang of it quickly. The weather was mild, but he had a constant wind blowing, which kept them moving. And the cutter seemed responsive when he turned the wheel. Unfortunately, none of them were experts in sailing, and he had only a basic knowledge of how to use the sails. It mattered little. They were already approaching a potential destination.

  The island was small, but it was dotted with nice, sturdy buildings painted in bright colors. He could see a large dock of some kind on one side of the island, surprisingly big for an island of that size. Some of the buildings looked like quaint apartment buildings, others like cafés or restaurants. Corbin stayed with Violet so he could describe the approaching island to her in detail, but Jodi had moved back beside Shane.

  “It’s an unusual place,” she said. “I don’t know what to make of it. It’s almost like some kind of amusement park village or something. I know that sounds silly.”

  “Actually, you might be onto something,” he replied. “This might have been a private resort island owned by a cruise line. That would explain all the bright colors and meticulous design elements. That’s also why the dock over there is so massive. Cruise ships used to come here and unload the tourists so they could romp on the beaches and spend too much money in overpriced souvenir shops and restaurants.”

  “It’s in good condition,” Jodi said. “The hurricane must have missed it somehow.”

  “Well, if I’ve calculated our trajectory correctly,” he said, “we’ve moved south of the hurricane’s path, so yeah, I think this place was spared.”

  “I don’t see any people,” Jodi said. “Maybe they’re hiding.”

  “I guess we’ll know soon enough,” Shane said. “I’ll bring us up alongside that dock, if I can manage it. I’m no expert in steering ships.”

  “If we’re going to wreck, just wreck us close to shore,” Jodi said with a grin.

  As they drew closer to the island, it became increasingly clear that this had indeed been a resort. There were cobblestone streets that meandered back and forth for no reason, pointless little balconies on some of the buildings with no accessible doors, strategically positioned palm trees that created a nice backdrop to the buildings. While the vegetation was wild and overgrown, he could still see the careful planning that had gone into this place. And, indeed, there didn’t seem to be any people moving about.

  “Corbin, can you take in the sails a bit?” Shane shouted.

  Corbin turned and made his way from the foredeck. “Take in the sails? What’s that supposed to do?”

  “Well, we need to slow down somehow,” Shane said. “We’re coming in a bit hot to the dock there.”

 

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