Where We Go One, We Go All: Book Ii

By Glenn Brunet

G is asked by someone near and dear to him to retrieve Amanda, a teenage girl that was abducted by the man who violated her mother before she was born. G must sneak into a hostile country alone and into a drug cartel compound undetected and get out before it is learned that she is gone. They trek through miles of thick jungle with ruthless predators hot on their trail, cross one hundred yards of open beach to get to his kayak, and paddle out to sea, where Ghostrider is to rendezvous with them miles offshore under the cover of night. But Ghostrider and her crew face their own perils. Amanda is just a normal kid who must find it within herself to do amazing things to survive and save herself and her rescuer. G tries to inspire her by explaining, You are the other half of the most important team youll ever be on. Think about it as though your life depends on it. Because it does!"

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 10, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984523433

Glenn Brunet

Glenn Brunet grew up running bare foot through the woods, coastal swamps and marshes of South Louisiana and loves the outdoors. He's a family man and a retired law enforcement officer who lives for his next little adventure. He enjoys the tranquility of the water,sailing, scuba diving, kayaking, bicycling, motorcycles and camping. He believes God lives at the beach because that is where he feels His presence more than anywhere else.

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Copyright © 2018 by Glenn Brunet.

ISBN:                  Softcover                        978-1-9845-2344-0

                            eBook                              978-1-9845-2343-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 05/03/2018

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1     From Open Water to Key Largo

Chapter 2     Jesus to Sombrero Reef

Chapter 3     What Happens in Key West, Stays in Key West

Chapter 4     My Loving Pet

Chapter 5     Key West to Gulf Breeze

Chapter 6     It’s Just a Bruise

Chapter 7     A Princess’s Request

Chapter 8     This is Our Team; We Have a Plan

Chapter 9     Now Kiss Me and Go Save That Kid

Chapter 10   You Lucky Bastard

Chapter 11   When the Piquants of the Moon Are Up

Chapter 12   Going Ashore on Minefield Beach

Chapter 13   Pirates! We’re Being Boarded

Chapter 14   He’s My Parrain, Too

Chapter 15   Get Up and Run to the Top of the Hill

Chapter 16   Peace of a Night’s Beach

Chapter 17   Duck Diving on a Kayak

Chapter 18   Night Dive

Chapter 19   We’ll Board From the Stern

Chapter 20   Back to Key West

Chapter 21   Back Out to the Reef For a Dive

Chapter 22   Girly Time, You Are the Man

Chapter 1

From Open Water to Key Largo

G Michaels stood at the helm of his sixty-foot ketch as he peacefully watched the sky to his starboard beam put on a bright red and orange colorful fiery display. The sun was rising over the Atlantic Ocean, and it lit up the white puffy clouds that filled the eastern sky. He thought about and recited aloud the Old Salt’s wives’ tale:

Red sky at night…sailor’s delight

Red sky in morning… sailor’s take warning."

The majestic vessel beneath his bare and calloused feet had not been his for very long but he believed she was up for the challenge of the sea’s dance regardless of what music the waves played. Just a week earlier he and his fiancée, Lee Islet had sailed through a fierce blow just north of St. Thomas on their very first night at sea, the day after he purchased his sailing vessel Ghostrider-B. She had danced through the six to eight-foot sea swells steady and true to her course. Ghostrider-B was a sixty-foot ketch rigged sailing vessel with sixteen-foot of beam. Her deck was laid out with a center cockpit which encompassed a very cozy and comfortable salon lounge area. The main and mizzen masts were both equipped with in-mast roller furlers and electric winches. Both jibs were also equipped with roller furlers and electric wenches and of course all winches were backed up with manual hand cranks.

The previous owner had a telescopic hydraulic lifting boom mounted just aft of the cockpit. This enabled three thousand pounds of cargo to be loaded on deck or stowed below deck in the number four stateroom through its large roof hatch.

Specifically, the previous owner would use this unique capability to stow his four-wheel drive ATV securely out of the weather during the one hundred-mile open water crossing from his home in St. John’s, U.S. Virgin Island to his small island just north of Puerto Rico. The small island was owned by the previous owner of the vessel that G now owned. It resembled a large hand half submerged in the Caribbean Sea. The local folks called the island De La Mano De Dios Key. That translates to Hand of God Island.

Now that G and Lee owned this majestic sailing vessel, the boom and secure stowage below deck would be used as the mobile garage for Gypsy and their two little pigs. Gypsy was G’s pearl white full dresser BMW touring motorcycle. The two little pigs were two matching bright yellow 50cc Yamaha Zuma scooters. The little pigs got their names years earlier when G was riding his scooter in his hometown. He was stopped at a traffic light when a friend, who knew G rode a Harley Davison police motorcycle as a career for the Sheriff’s Department, stopped next to him at a traffic light. The friend asked, Where’s your hog and what is that you’re riding now? G informed his buddy that his big hog was at home. He was out riding on his little pig that day. The nick-name stuck and now scooters are affectionately referred to as little pigs.

The sun’s brightness filled the sky more now. He could feel the dampness and the chill of the night beginning to dissipate. The wind was mild with less than a foot swell. He poured himself the last of the coffee from his thermos bottle. As he sipped the hot brew from the cap of the thermos bottle he thought about how six hours earlier Lee prepared his coffee, complete with sweet-n-low and vanilla creamer in the stainless steel insulated bottle. She brought it to him at the helm just before she went below to sleep for the night. They had been under sail for four days. They pulled up anchor at De La Mano De Dios Key three days earlier at sunrise. If the breeze and their luck held out they would be dropping Ghostrider-B’s hook in Key Largo, Florida around sunset.

Lee had not been resting very well with this being her first open water passage but knowing they would soon be in Florida waters seemed to calm her nerves. When she brought the thermos of coffee to G at about midnight, she told him she was going below to their master stateroom, curl up in the queen size berth and sleep for as long as she could.

It was now 6:00 am, the sun had risen and there was no sign that Lee was stirring below. G hoped she would get at least a couple more hours of sleep before getting up. Lee was his queen. He truly adored her with all his soul. He was her noble knight and would give his life to make hers better.

Three months earlier she put herself in harm’s way, and she risked her life to go back in their sinking vessel and save him from a certain watery grave. That night she was determined that she would save him or welcome death herself. She proved to him by her unselfish act of courage, blinded by her love for him that she would without hesitation give her life to protect or save his as well. She literally went back into a sinking ship all alone in the middle of the night against the devil’s odds. She was safe and completely clear from danger but she went back for the love of her life even knowing that her own injuries were life threatening. She ignored the pain of her injuries to save her knight from death in the dragon’s lair.

G spent almost a week in a coma while Lee recovered in an almost immobile state from her battered body. They believed it was the love and support from both their families and their two dearest best friends, Jennifer and Mary, that got them through to recover. But it was their devotion and love for each other that gave them the courage and strength to never say die. They knew the strength they had found in each other was as strong as the forces of nature. That combined force and strength were as natural as sunshine, thunderstorms, the sea’s waves, and gravity. G and Lee were a single unit that would never divide.

Lee awoke from her sleep and she lay still with her eyes shut. She took notice of the scents, sounds and sensations that her senses could detect. First, she knew all four sails were full but not straining. The vessel was heeled over only a couple degrees. She guessed their speed was between five and ten knots per hour. She felt a soft and warm breeze circulating in the cabin from the port lights, ceiling hatch and the open doorway. She could hear the sea water moving past the outside of the hull. She could smell the vanilla scent of the moisturizing skin lotion she applied daily to her skin and the scent of the classic Old Spice cologne that G used were still there on the sheets. She was lying on her side snuggled up to G’s pillow. His masculine scents always reminded her of the passion he expressed for her with every breath he took. She opened her eyes and felt the need to touch his skin. She needed to be close to his beating heart.

He had been up all night on watch at the helm. The sun had been up now for a couple of hours. He thought to himself that this must be what Dracula feels like at sunrise. He was feeling his lack of sleep with the glare of the morning sun. Just then Lee stepped through the companionway from the cabin to the cockpit on deck. She appeared to still be half asleep and she kissed him good morning on his lips and sat beside him. She rested her head on his shoulder and said, Good morning, my captain. How was your night?

Her touch always gave him the warmest feeling down in his bones. He looked deep into her sparkling hazel eyes and almost felt lightheaded. That was an effect she had on him. He was defenseless against her persona. Her innocent charm had meshed into his soul. He found her to be intoxicating. He didn’t consume any alcohol and he despised drugs but since their first kiss he understood the meaning of addiction. She was the air that he breathed.

Lee was the sort of woman that wars were fought over. She was so beautiful from the inside out but she didn’t know she was beautiful. She had an innocent girlish charm about her, the face of an angel, the body of a centerfold model and the desire to satisfy all of G’s fantasies. Her heart was completely surrendered to him. He put his arm around her and pulled her to him then told her, My night was uneventful. We made good time last night. If we can keep this up, we might be able to reach Key Largo around sunset. He paused then said, And you look well rested.

Yes, I slept good last night, she answered. It didn’t take me long to fall asleep once I shut my eyes. I put coffee on before I came up. Will you be wanting any before I relieve you at the helm?

That will depend on how long before you relieve me. If it will be more than an hour, then I’ll have a cup.

No, she said. I’ll be about fifteen to twenty minutes. Let me get some breakfast and I’ll be right back.

Shortly after noon G woke after four or five hours of very sound sleep. He laid there running the inventory of his senses. The air temperature was the same as when he laid down. The smells and all the little creaks and sounds of the tension of the sails filled with God’s breath seemed normal. He could feel the hull heeled over a little more than before he slept. He could tell the wind had increased and so did the wave height and he guessed the waves were only three to four feet.

He went up to the cockpit to find Lee singing along to music that played on the helm stereo. When she saw him coming through the companionway she stopped singing. Her smile glowed as though she had not seen him in weeks. She said, You look rested.

He said, I feel so rested, I’m ready to man the helm for the rest of the way to Key Largo.

With a calculating look on her face she said, We’re only about fifty miles from John Pennekamp State Park. We’re running between seven and nine knots per hour. The wind seems to be increasing so we should be there in about five or six hours, right?

He smiled as he kissed her on her forehead. He told her, You sure are getting good at all this nautical navigation stuff. Did you figure all that out in your head, or did you use the course plotter?

Smiling back at him with pride in herself she said, I did that in my head. Is it right?

Oh yeah, you’re right, he told her. Are you ready for me to relieve you?

Yes, I’ve been really ready for about an hour now.

Well why didn’t you wake me up? he asked.

You were so tired and you let me sleep all of last night. But my biggest reason is, I just love you. I want you to really appreciate how much better your life is when I’m with you.

He pulled her close to his chest and into his embrace. He told her, "Don’t you ever worry about that. I know and appreciate that my life is a fantasy with you in it. It’s even better than that when you’re with me. When you go off to work on those movie sets for months at a time, it’s really, tough on me to be without you. Even though Jennifer and Mary are with me, they are not you.

Just so you know, if you didn’t have your career as a makeup artist, that would be okay with me. But I know that you love what you do and you have worked really, hard at it so you know I completely support and encourage you to follow your desires, no matter where they take you.

She kissed him and said, And that is just another reason why I love you so much. We’re really, good together. You know that?

When the sun set off their port beam over the Gulf of Mexico a large fiery display of the entire color spectrum was visible. The wind had decreased slightly along with their speed. The sea was calm but they were still maintaining at least five knots per hour. When the last light gave up the day they could see the land of Key Largo on the northern horizon off their bow. Soon they were navigating what seemed to be a very narrow channel compared to being on the open ocean the last four days. They followed the passage through the channel of open water to the mouth of the canal with the aid of modern electronics.

G didn’t like to completely rely on electronic navigational devices. He preferred dead reckoning, to read a simple compass and see the channel marker or point of reference with the naked eye. But on a moonless night such as this one he was damn glad he had all his modern day electronic navigational aids. To make a landfall in the dark was not one of his favorite things.

One of the truest statements he ever heard was from a man G met at a marina. Just after G pulled the man’s boat off a sandbar he told him, Bad things happen when we get close to land; sandbars, pilings and piers. G had run into his share of things that someone had put in his way; bridges, oil rigs and yes, a few piers. The one thing that all the Florida Keys had in common were the hidden shoals, the shallow reefs that made the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary the number one scuba dive destination in the continental United States.

It was the same reason it was estimated to still have hundreds of millions of dollars in sunken treasure buried beneath the sea. From the beginning of recorded history vessels have run aground in the Florida Keys. G and Lee had no intentions of becoming one of them. They knew even in this day and age, with all the navigational aids you could still get in trouble here. So, they took their time under diesel power instead of sails.

G explained every detail to Lee as they made their approach. He spoke his every thought and concern so she could know all the possible obstacles. He grew up working on his dad’s shrimp and oyster boats in south Louisiana and had sailed his own boats for about fifteen years, skirting the gulf coast from Louisiana to the Florida Keys. Lee had also been fishing with her dad and brother in the bayous and bays of south Louisiana where she grew up.

She listened to G very attentively as he explained all his concerns to be considered while making a landfall in the darkness. He wanted her to know all that he knew so if she had to, she could sail their vessel even if her life did not depend on it.

Eventually they maneuvered into the bay near John Pennekamp State Park across from the swimming area beach of the park. Once they had dropped their anchor Lee told him she never realized there were so many unforgivable mistakes to avoid while navigating a landfall. The different channel markers, buoys and cans, the tides, the draft of their vessel, debris floating on the surface or worse, debris floating just under the surface, and the changes in the currents were just some of the things to which she had never given a second thought.

She told him, Wow. That’s not as simple as parking at Wal-Mart, is it? I used to think you just drive a boat. Now I know there is a lot more to it.

He said, Yeah, I guess you’re right. I don’t think about it. I just do it. But the benefit is that we get to spend time on the water here in paradise.

They shut the engine off and silence quickly set in. The only sound that could be heard was the water lapping at the hull and the slight breeze whooshing through the rigging. They both showered and planned for dinner on deck. He prepared grilled chicken Caesar salads for dinner and a blender full of Pina Colada drinks for Lee. They dressed casual but nice. She wore just a touch of makeup for the first time in weeks and she allowed her long dark hair to flow in waves down past her shoulders. He wore nice cargo shorts and one of his signature bright colored tropical print cotton button up shirts and she wore a sun dress with spaghetti straps with a similar bright tropical print. The last time they were dressed so formal was the evening they bought their vessel from Michael Saint in St. Thomas. Since then, they wore shorts and t-shirts, and Lee normally wore bikini tops during the day.

When Lee came out on deck he had the cockpit table set with a white tablecloth. He had large salads and drinks placed on the table along with two vanilla scented jar candles flickering with the warm gentle breeze. Ghostrider sat motionless anchored on water so calm it looked like glass and the moon was just beginning to show itself at a quarter full.

The nearest edge of the bay was actually mangrove forest to their south and to their north about a mile away was the state park’s swimming beach. They could see a few streetlights in the parking lot near a couple of buildings and some dim lights in the campground area was visible through the trees and there was a faint smell of campfires in the air.

When she first stepped out on deck Lee stood and slowly turned three hundred and sixty degrees to observe feel and smell her surroundings. She inhaled deeply with her eyes wide, just taking it all in. She kissed him tenderly then sat at the meal before her. She said, You know I’m not used to my new life yet. I still feel like it’s all still a dream. To be here with you, on your boat, in this tropical island paradise, on a night like this, it’s like a real-life dream.

He held up his virgin Pina Colada and toasted while tapping her glass he said, Well, I pray that it is just the beginning of our life together. I can’t imagine me without you in this life of ours. So, here’s to our new life together.

You know, she said, a year ago all I did was work as much as I could and did everything I could to avoid that crazy bastard Richard. Then you came along, swept me off my feet with all the romance, charm, and chivalry of a queen’s noble knight.

He smiled and jokingly said, Yes I did, and I’ll do it again if I have to. Don’t you forget that.

She grinned and said, Ooh, I’m scared now. Then she looked intimately into his eyes and said, I love you. We leave together, we stay together, beyond death do we part.

They sat silently for a moment looking into each other’s souls. They both recalled how as a team they saved each other’s lives months earlier. We leave together, we stay together was what he told her as they were leaving the first Ghostrider. She sunk and rested filled with sea water on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico in one hundred feet of water. On that horrible night when they were about to exit the master stateroom through the ceiling hatch and swim one hundred feet to the surface, he knew he would lose consciousness on their ascent. Lee was more frightened than she ever believed she could be. He had only one opportunity to tell her that he knew she did have the unwavering calm strength she needed to do all the right things in their unforgiving environment to survive.

In that moment of passive panic and fear he assured her that together they were unbeatable. He simply told her, We leave together, we stay together.

As they made their ascent breathing together on one small air tank Lee kept her focus locked on his calm face depending on him to save her. When she watched the fire in his eyes dim and eventually go out she clutched tightly to his limp unconscious body. In that cold wet depth at that moment, she realized that he knew it would be her to save him. He gave her everything she would need to save them both. She repeated to herself over and over, we leave together, we stay together. Those words reassured her that together they would overcome anything and they would be alright.

On deck of that calm bay they shared their meal in the moonlight. She reminded him that she had never been to the Florida Keys before. She heard it was like driving to the Caribbean islands but never leaving the continental U.S. But then before their lives were joined she never dreamed she would actually be sailing there.

He told her, Well baby doll, you are in for a treat. I wish we had all my toys, like my kayak and my jet ski. But we’ll make do until we can replace them. Tomorrow there is so much I want to show you.

Her innocent smile turned into a sinister one. She said, That sounds great, but why don’t we call it a night. I have a few things I want to show you tonight.

She leaned over the table and kissed him tenderly. She said, Why don’t you slip into something more comfortable, down in the cabin?

What did you have in mind? he asked.

As she glanced over her shoulder at him when she stepped through the companionway she simply said, I was hoping it would be me.

Like a man in love he anxiously followed his lady to their king size bed. He was bonded to her by their hearts and souls. He believed he would cease to exist without her in his life. They left a trail of clothing down the small hallway leading to the mater stateroom. They made love slowly and tenderly with the moon’s light shining in through the port lights. They slept the night nestled in their warm embrace.

They were under sail for the last three or four nights. They shared the watch at the helm and slept separately and alone for that time. But this night was spent exactly where they wanted to be, their bodies and spirits joined as one.

Chapter 2

Jesus to Sombrero Reef

Lee woke about 7:00 am. She could tell by the sound of his breathing G was still in a deep sleep. She slipped from his embrace without waking him. She put coffee on and took her morning shower. Soon she sat on deck with coffee and binoculars, investigating the scenery that was nothing more than shadows and dim lights the night before. They were anchored in twelve feet of water. Lee was amazed at how she could clearly see the bottom. She sat comfortably against the cushions of the salon in the cockpit sipping her fresh brew. She tried to make out every detail of the shoreline. She felt as though she was in the old Johnny Quest cartoon that played on Saturday mornings back before the days of cable TV, when cartoons only played on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

She thought about how they had sailed across the ocean propelled by the wind to arrive here and now. She wondered what adventures lay ahead of her and her valiant seafaring skipper. Who might they encounter beyond the shoreline? Will there be others just like them or wild savage island natives? Head hunter natives? She thought in silence. She gave herself a mental shake and laughed out loud to herself thinking how her mind ran away with her. She told herself she had watched the re-runs of Gilligan’s Island a few too many times when she was a kid.

But still she wondered about this island of Key Largo and the rest of the Florida Keys. What gift shops, restaurants and scenic natural beauty were in store for her? Then her mind drifted to the scenes of the night before, of love and pleasure. How she satisfied him so completely and she was still in awe of the way he excessively satisfied her. She said out loud, My God, I’m sure lucky to be me.

She heard G say, And I’m lucky to be with you, as he walked up on deck with a cup of steaming coffee.

She turned, surprised by his presence and said, I didn’t realize you were up. You must think I’m crazy out here talking to myself.

Not at all, he replied. I spent most of last summer and fall down here in the Keys by myself. I stayed very much to myself. The one person I spoke to every day was me. I did what you did this morning. I came up on deck with my coffee and would wonder what gifts would Jesus bless me with today. I would catch myself speaking my thoughts trying to make sense of why my life turned out how it had. Why after a lifelong career as a deputy sheriff would I end up in prison accused of a crime I didn’t commit. To be everyone’s hero one day and then to seemingly be public enemy number one the next day? Why didn’t they believe me? How could anyone believe her? Even the people that knew firsthand that I could never or would never take advantage of anyone, much less someone who came to me for help or guidance. How could they believe all her lies? Then he paused and said, I’m sorry, you don’t need to hear me keep whining about my past.

She stood up and quietly went to him and held him close. "It’s not whining. It’s sorting. You need to speak what you feel or tell me what you don’t understand.

By you being able to speak what you feel will help you sort through the scars. That’ll help you to heal more every day. Yes, I need to hear whatever you feel like telling me. I want to know it all. She looked up into his eyes with a bright cheerful smile and said, It’s my most important job, you know.

What is? To listen to me whine in my self-pity? he asked.

Of course not. But to listen to you when you speak about what you feel is my job, she assured him. Don’t you know that? It’s my job to be sure you know you’re not alone. So, you know I’ll never leave your side. So, you know I’ll always be part of your solution. Then she gave him a quick affectionate kiss and asked, So where will you take me today? You said last night there was a lot you wanted to show me.

He smiled and said, Yes, there is plenty to see but nothing as beautiful as what you showed me last night. But as soon as we get the inflatable dinghy over the side we can go and see what we’ll find.

Lee told him, You sit here and enjoy the view and your coffee. I’ll launch the inflatable. I can do it by myself. I’ve seen you do it enough.

She used the hydraulic lift boom to easily get the dinghy in the water then tied it off to the swim deck off of their stern. She sat next to him and asked how long before he would be ready to leave.

I can be ready in a minute, but there’s something I’d love for you to do for me before we go. He kissed her passionately and held her tight. He pulled her shirt up over her head, leaving her completely naked.

She pushed him to his back on the cushion of the deck salon. She jerked his shorts off and straddled her lover. They made love under the morning sun, slow and easy. After they reached simultaneous orgasms they rested in their embrace until they fell into a deep sleep. They slept for several hours. G was the first to wake. He lay still watching her sleep in his arms and delicately stroked her hair.

He loved to watch her sleep on him. She glowed with the aura of an angel and had a face to match. Her chest would slowly rise and fall with each breath. Even as she slept she clung to his body as though she was connected to him.

Eventually she opened her eyes. Her eyes sparkled with affection for him. I must have dozed off for a minute, she said.

He laughed saying, Yeah, me too, for a lot of minutes. We’ve been sleeping for almost three hours. It’s almost noon.

I guess we must have needed the sleep. With all the three or four, hour naps around the clock in the last four days our bodies must have been exhausted, she said.

Yes, it’ll take a day or two to recover, he told her. Why don’t we get dressed and go ashore. We’ll see if this island is inhabited by Gilligan’s headhunter natives.

She let out a short burst of laughter. I was just thinking that, she said. Before you joined me on deck this morning I was thinking about that old show. Now G, that is spooky how we think so much alike.

As Lee started the small silver ten-horsepower outboard motor G untied the bowline of the inflatable. She checked to be sure the lower unit impeller of the motor was working properly by the steady stream of water squirting out the back just below the engine cover. She turned to G on the front seat as she put the motor in gear and with a kiss she said, Man, it sure is a beautiful day. Then she idled the inflatable from the bay in which they were anchored to the canal to their west which was the canal Ghostrider had come through the night before. Now she could see the banks of the canal were not land at all. They were mangroves.

The mangrove root system was a major part of this delicate ecosystem. She slowly idled along the mangroves admiring God’s work. They saw lots of tiny fish amidst the roots and even some kind of pods or eggs attached to them. They watched in awe of all the life that existed in the protection of the submerged but accessible root system of the mangrove forest.

Lee turned to look to the middle of the fifty-foot wide canal. She said, It looks like we’re only in about five feet of water but I know Ghostrider draws six feet of draft. So how could we have passed here last night? We must have been close to bumping bottom.

He looked down over the side of the dinghy to the bottom of the canal through the clear water and said, Actually, we’re in eighteen feet of water. That’s what the depth sounder read last night when we came through.

But it looks so shallow, she said in amazement. I guess because it’s so clear it makes the bottom seem closer than it really is. Being from Louisiana I’m just not used to water you can see through.

When they came to the canal on their starboard side, he directed her into the several hundred feet long dead-end canal. At the end of the canal were several piers with as many power boats. The building nearby was the state park’s marina office, ship store and dive shop. They tied the dinghy as far off to the side out of the way as they could and went ashore.

They strolled up the pier to the ship’s store and rented a couple of bicycles. They rode out of the park and turned west on the Over Seas Highway, US Hwy 1. They rode past gift shops, stores, dive shops, marinas, motels and some quaint Tiki bars and restaurants facing and overlooking the water.

They all looked to be very inviting but they agreed on a small thatched roof restaurant on the bay side of the island. They had a late lunch or maybe it was an early dinner. When they finished eating they sat a while with a cup of coffee watching the bay. Then they left and slowly pedaled their bicycles back to the state park. They still had an hour before they had to return the rentals, so they rode the two-lane black top road through the park. They both agreed the shaded parts of the road were their favorite.

They passed the public swimming beach area. There were picnic tables with shaded pavilions. Lee mentioned that she wished they had the time to swim or at least wade out into the water to rinse some of the sweat of the day away.

He directed her attention out past the roped off swimming area, out across the water. About three quarters of a mile out she saw Ghostrider sitting at anchor. She thought how the last time she looked out and admired Ghostrider’s majestic stature was from the top of a cliff on De La Mano De Dios Key, the evening before they set sail for Key Largo a week earlier.

He told her, If you’d like, we can go return these bicycles, then take the dinghy back to this beach. We can swim or just play in the water.

As they got back on their bicycles she said, That sounds like fun. Let’s do that, okay?

Later that evening they lay in their hammock on deck under the moon. They spoke of the events of their day and what she could expect in the days to come.

She said, I love the way we don’t have any plans or an itinerary. It’s like we’re just hanging out in paradise and letting our spirits lead us on. We just do whatever moves us at the time.

Yeah, I can’t imagine it any other way, he told her. I was thinking tomorrow we can head west to Marathon. But before we leave Key Largo we’ll stop and snorkel at Dry Rock Reef. I’ll show you the Christ Statue. Some call it Christ of the Abyss.

I was hoping you’d take me there on this trip. I know you want to get back home so you can do all the upgrades and install all the stuff that you had on your last boat.

Yeah, I do, he told her, but there are some sights we can’t ignore. We have to visit and experience each time we get close to them. We can visit Jesus tomorrow morning at Dry Rock Reef and then if we make good time and about fifty miles to the west we’ll snorkel on Sombrero Reef before dark. Now if we really get lucky we’ll have lobster for dinner.

She smiled in anticipation of what he described. She laid her face on his chest and drifted off to sleep while the warm southern breeze gently caressed their skin. The last sound she heard was the