Mutiny

“G-G-Grandpa! Why d-didn’t you say anything?”

“Buttercup, it doesn’t…”

“NO!” I shout and point a stern finger his way. “No! This is s-serious.”

He turns to me, surprised at my anger. “Now why should I have spoiled such a nice cruise, hm?”

“When d-did this start?”

With a sigh he admits. “This morning, though I saw a bit yesterday morning when I woke up.”

“Yester…why d-didn’t you say anything!?”

“Because you wouldn’t have come out if I did. And that I could not have.” He takes a big breath of sea air. “When have you ever seen two finer days back to back as these?”

“Grandpa!”

“I mentioned I was going to see the doc next week.”

“You’ll do it when we g-get back.” I say. “And that’s an order.” With that I press between him and the wheel to take control. Pushing the throttle to full I start scanning the instruments as I mentally plot out our fastest route back to dock. “You should have s-said something. You should have woken me up. We’ve w-wasted so much time.”

“An hour or two, give or take, wasn’t going to make a difference.” He settles into the bench. “I didn’t want to worry you, Avery.”

“What’s going on?” Winona steps halfway up the stairs and pokes her head through the doorway. Her phone is pressed to her chest. “Why we pedal to the metal?”

“Avery’s mad at me.” Grandpa says with a calm smile that was so at odds with the seriousness of what was happening. “And I deserve it.”

“G-Grandpa’s sick.” I say, my narrow eyes locked ahead of us. “He’s coughing blood.”

“Shit.” Winona says.

“I’m feeling fine. You don’t need to make a fuss.”

Bringing the phone to her ear she says. “Gotta go. Yep. Thanks.” She hangs up and comes up to join us. “You silly old coot.” Winona sits down beside him and slaps his knee. “Do you even know how much we love ya? We’re gettin ya home for a once over. Consider this a mutiny.”

“I can see that.” Grandpa says with a proud twinkle in his eyes. Crossing his arms he leans back watching me. “Makes a fine Captain, doesn’t he?” The question wasn’t meant for either Winona or I, he was talking to Grandma. “She’s in good hands.” Getting up he comes in behind me to hug me and kiss my cheek. “I didn’t mean to worry you, Avery.”

“It’s okay.” I say with a tremor in my voice. “I understand.”

He lets me go. “Can I grab anyone else a beer?”

“I can get it for ya.” Winona starts to get up.

“You sit. I’m fine.” He assures us. “No? No? Alright.” He pats my shoulder and slips away.

The moment is out of the cockpit I let out a long sigh. “This isn’t g-good.”

“Spittin up blood rarely is. If it’s getting worse then it could go a lot worse real fast. Cancer’s a bitch that way.” Winona says softly, shifting down the bench to sit close to me. After a long, quiet moment she rubs my arm. “Hey. We already know how this is going to end.”

“I know.” I nod. “D-Doesn’t make it any easier though.”

“No. It doesn’t. I’m sorry, Sprout.”

After a deep breath…I pull the throttle back to cruising speed. “But we can m-make it easier for him.”

Winona gives my arm a supportive squeeze. “It’s tough lettin go when you just wanna hold on tight.”

“Hurts l-like hell.”

“It hurts so much because he means so much.”

“Yeah.” I say. “He’s g-going to need me. When it gets b-bad.”

“WE will be there for him every step of the way.”

“Yeah. Hahhh. Yeah.” I look at her. “Winona. I w-w-want him there. He needs t-to be there.”

“We’ll make it happen, baby.” She says. “I don’t care about no big church wedding or anything of that nonsense. Justice of the peace is fine with me. You name the time, baby.”

“We’ll know m-more after he sees his d-doctor.”

“And we’ll be ready.”

“Whoooo.” I blow, trying to calm the emotions that had riled up inside of me. “Thank you.” Looking up at Grandma’s photo I whisper my plea. “Just let us k-k-keep him a little b-bit longer? J-Just a little bit.”

Winona stands and slips an arm around me. I sigh and rest my head on her shoulder, thankful for her love and stability.

“He’s right ya know.”

“Hm?”

“You look pretty damn good at that wheel. A natural.”

I smile. “I should. I only had the b-best teacher ever.”

“Eyyy.” Grandpa strolls back in with an open beer in his hand. “What’d I miss?”

“We were j-just talkin about how great you are.”

“Damn! That’s my favorite topic!” We all laugh. “Sorry I missed it.”

He sits down beside Winona. Without any comment on the slower speed he points out portside toward Ehkolie and starts to tell her all about the ramshackle old cabin that was just gliding into view. As he talks I pilot the Bella along the coast half listening to what he was saying and half just soaking in the sound and cadence of his voice.

As we spend another lovely day on the water, sailing around the magnificent peaks of the North end of the island, we talk and we talk and we talk. We talk about life and ****, weddings and funerals, beginnings and endings, past and future, and the scattering of ashes at sea. We even talk about all of the places that Winona and I were going to see aboard the Anna Bella. Grandpa liked that discussion best of all and was full of suggestions and wisdom. With each wet cough wiped from his lips Grandpa shares with us another one of his lifetime of lessons. Never had there been two more attentive pupils.

As we come into Haven Point from the North the sun was low in the West giving the whole town a magical glow. And there, up at the highway junction, shone Win’s Garage. It was a welcome sight. I’d only lived there a few short days but already I saw it as home. From there my eyes drift down to the point of the bow of the Bella, from one love filled home to another. What a blessed life I had.