'There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.'
                   ~ Willa Cather (1873 - 1947), The Song of the Lark, 1915

'Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.'
                   ~ Publilius Syrus
 
 

"Last chance, Doc," Lucas called from the deck of the Sandcastle.

"You two have a good time out there," Kristin smiled as she tossed the sailboat's mooring line to him.  "I'm going to see what I can do about enjoying the peace and quiet."

"She's trying to get rid of us, kid," Nathan called from the cockpit.  "Our only smart move is to take off before she changes her mind," he grinned.

Kristin waved from the dock while Nathan put the motor in gear and headed out into the intra-coastal waterway towards the bay.  Lucas came into the cockpit after stowing the lines and leaned against the coping, smiling as he looked out at the water and felt the breeze blow through his hair.

"You didn't really want her coming with us, did you?" Nathan asked curiously.

"Nah, I knew she wouldn't. she's got a new book that she's dying to read and that's something she just can't do with the two of us bothering her." He looked over at Nathan and grinned.  "So I figured I'd earn some brownie points by offering even though I knew she wasn't going to come along."

Nathan smiled and shook his head.  "You're beginning to catch on, kiddo."  He chuckled.  "Very well done."  He looked aloft as they came out of the no wake zone.  "How about if we get the sails up and see what this puppy can do?"

"You've got it, Cap," Lucas said scrambling off his seat and heading for the winch to raise the sails.

Kristin sighed as she sank into the comfortable white wicker chair on the porch with a tall, cold glass of iced tea on the table next to her.  It was amazing how quiet and peaceful the house became when the boys were gone.  She picked up the book that she'd purchased yesterday and carefully opened it to the title page.  She still liked her books like this.  Something that she could hold in her hand and turn the pages.  From everything she'd heard this was an excellent
book and she snuggled down into the chair and turned the page.

Lucas glanced around, checking for any other traffic as Bridger came up beside him and looked down at the depth finder and the geo-locator.  A quick glance over at the chart taped next to the geo-locator confirmed that they were where they thought they were.  "The water's beginning to shoal now.  You should be over that sandbar pretty soon."

"Just in time, too," Lucas said fervently.  "I'm starving."

Nathan smiled as he moved forward to the bow and picked up the anchor.  They'd lowered the sails a few minutes before and it was just astonishing how quiet it suddenly became when the flapping of the sails stopped.  Now all that could be heard was the swish as the boat moved through the water, the hum of the wind as it passed the lines and the occasional groan of a block.

"Bring her around," he called back to Lucas as he saw the bottom rising.  He knew that they had plenty of clearance below their keel but he still liked to get them anchored on the top of the bar.

Lucas looked at the depth finder readings.  "Let her go anytime you like to, Cap."  He saw Nathan nod as he kept his watch over the side of the boat and then saw him drop the anchor, stepping back as the line unwound from the deck.

Nathan let the anchor hit bottom and then pulled back on it some to set it before securing the line to a cleat on the deck.  He walked back to the cockpit and grinned at Lucas' intent reading of the depth finder.

"We've got about 12 feet below the keel," he said up to Nathan.

"That should be plenty," Nathan said looking around.  "Nice and calm out here.  So do you want to swim first or eat first?"

Lucas locked down the wheel.  "I want to eat first," he said with emphasis.  "I hardly had any breakfast."

"You had two bowls of cereal," Nathan said grinning at him.

"Yeah, like I said, hardly anything," Lucas grinned back.

They brought the basket of food they had prepared ahead of time out onto the bow and ate up there, talking a little but more often than not, just enjoying a comfortable silence and the sight of an occasional fish that broke the surface of the water.

Lucas crumpled up his paper plate and put it in the bag they had set aside for trash.  "Boy, that was good.  You make excellent fried chicken."

"Thanks much," Nathan smiled.  "And you pack a great bag of potato chips."

"Thanks," Lucas smirked.  "Are you going to make me wait until I go swimming?"

"Nah, that's an old wives' tale.  We can go swimming now."  He stood and picked up the basket.  Lucas followed behind him with the trash and they took it below.  When they came back on deck, they both looked around in all directions, noting that there was no other water traffic around.

"Yah know, I like this place.  There's never anyone close," Lucas said moving towards the aft end of the boat.

"Yup.  Very peaceful."  Nathan followed the boy and then smiled as a gray head broke the surface of the water just behind the boat.  "Darwin, how did I know that you'd find us?"

"And just in time," Lucas said stripping off his shirt and shorts and diving into the water.  Nathan grabbed up one of the foam balls that they had sitting in the well deck and tossed it off the stern before removing his clothes and also jumping in the warm Gulf water.

A rousing game of keep-away was followed by their patented dolphin-human water basketball game as the three of them splashed and swam through the crystal-clear water.

Lucas went chasing past the end of the boat after a ball that had gone sailing over all their heads.  As he snatched the ball and turned to throw it back he caught sight of the sky to the west.

"Hey, Cap?" he called in a concerned voice.

"What?"

"Wasn't the weather supposed to be clear today?" he asked treading water and watching the sky.

"Yeah," Nathan said swimming towards him.  "With a possibility of slight showers tonight."  He swam up next to Lucas and looked over to where the boy was watching.  The sky to the west was dark... it was almost darker than dark.  Heavy black clouds reached almost all the way down to the water and an occasional flash of light in the clouds was evidence of the lightning they were producing.

"I think the weatherman was wrong," Lucas muttered.

"I think you're right.  Let's get this boat moving," Nathan said swimming strongly for the ladder.

He climbed the ladder with Lucas close behind him and they both stood in the well deck toweling themselves off before slipping their shorts back on.

"So, does the Doc know that we skinny dip when we're out here?" Lucas asked quickly running the towel through his hair.

"Nah."

"Do you two skinny dip when you're out sailing alone?"

Nathan grinned at him as he started for the bow.  "Yeah."

"Okay, that's probably more than I need to know," Lucas said definitely.  He scrambled into the cockpit and freed the wheel.

"Move her forward just a little bit," Nathan called from the bow. Lucas started the engine and softly moved the boat ahead.  He saw Nathan pull up on the anchor line sharply a couple of times and then start bringing the line in as the anchor came free from the bottom. As soon as he had it stowed on the deck Nathan moved to the sail winch and started raising the main sail as Lucas checked the wind.

"Boy, I didn't realize how much the wind had picked up while we were swimming," Lucas said as the wind caught the sail and bellowed it out.

"Yeah," Nathan said spinning the winch to raise the jib.  "Hopefully, it's strong enough that we can beat the storm in."  After raising the sail he went to the side of the boat where Darwin was strongly swimming alongside.  Nathan made a cutting movement with his hands.  "Darwin, go home," he called to the dolphin.  "We'll meet you there."  The dolphin looked up at him once and then Lucas saw him dive under the water and swim away from them.

"Why did you send him away?"

Nathan looked over at him and sighed.  "We're the tallest thing on the water right now, Lucas.  There's a chance we could get hit with lightning and if Darwin is anywhere near us he'd be electrocuted or at least hurt.  It's better if he separates and gets back in on his own."

Lucas nodded as he spun the wheel to head the small boat back into the shore.  As always, the wind wasn't running quite the way they would have liked it to go and they ended up tacking a little which took them away from the straight course that they would have liked to taken.  As he ducked the boom swinging around to change course Nathan looked to the west.  He shook his head as he noted that the dark clouds were a lot closer than they had been when they had started in.  It didn't look like they were going to be able to move fast enough to avoid the storm.

Kristin looked up from her book when she heard footsteps climbing the stairs of the porch.  The door opened and Jonathan Ford came around the corner smiling.

"Hi, Kristin.  How are you doing?"

"I'm having a wonderful day, Jonathan.  Nathan and Lucas are out on the boat sailing and I've been blessedly alone for the entire day."

Jonathan sat on the loveseat opposite her.  "And getting a good bit of reading done, I see," he said indicating her book.

"Absolutely.  Have you ever tried to read with those two whirlwinds running about?" She shook her head, "It's impossible."

"I can imagine," Ford grinned and then he became serious.  "Where did they go sailing to?"

"They didn't say but I imagine they went pretty much straight west from here.  There's a sandbar about five miles out that gets close enough to the surface to anchor on and it's a great place to go swimming."

"Uh huh," Jonathan said with a worried face.  "I was listening to the radio on the way here and they've put up a small-craft warning.  I guess some pretty nasty storms have suddenly developed out over the water."  He turned around and looked over his shoulder at the sky which was just beginning to show the dark clouds that would precede the storm.

"How bad?" Kristin asked putting her book down on the table.

Jonathan shrugged, still watching the sky.  "Wind, lightning, rain and some microbursts."

"I see," she said standing and heading into the house with Ford close behind her.  Kristin went into the den to a marine radio that sat on one shelf.  "Sandcastle, this is Sandcastle home. Over."  She listened to the silence for just a while until she tried again.  "Sandcastle, this is Sandcastle home. Over."  She looked over at Ford with a concerned look on her face until Nathan's voice came crackling through the speaker.

"Sandcastle home, this is Sandcastle. Go ahead."

Kristin keyed the microphone.  "Nathan, they've put up small craft warnings.  You need to get back in.  Over."

"Yeah, there's a good reason for those warnings.  There's one hell of a storm brewing behind us and we're trying to beat it in.  We're on our way.  Over."

"Alright, let me know if you run into any problems.  Over."

"Yeah, sure," came back the crackly response.  "Sandcastle out." Kristin hung up the microphone and glanced worriedly over at Jonathan.

Nathan looked over his shoulder at the rapidly approaching clouds as he secured the microphone.  Lucas followed his look.  "Are we going to make it?" he asked in a concerned voice.

"Not a chance, kiddo," Nathan said climbing forward.  "Secure the wheel and let's get these sails down.  We're going to have see if we can ride this one out."

As soon as Kristin hung up the microphone, Jonathan moved to the large screen computer in the den.  He quickly brought up an InterNex site that he could check the weather on.  After reviewing the information on the screen he leaned back and shook his head.

"What?" Kristin asked with concern.

"This storm is moving really fast.  There's no way that they'll be out-running it unless they had a big jump and my bet from the wind we could hear on the radio that it's catching up to them."

"What will they do?"

Jonathan sighed while still looking at the screen.  "Probably lower their sails and try to ride it out."

"Just how bad is this storm?"

"Winds up to 70 knots, 8 foot waves and building.  Not a good storm at all."

Kristin frowned at the screen.  "Will they be alright in Sandcastle?"

Jonathan shrugged.  "If I had to be out with someone in a storm like this it would be Nathan.  He's one hell of a sailor," he paused just a moment.  "But Mother Nature has a bizarre sense of humor sometimes... you can never tell."

"Isn't there anything we can do?"

"Nothing more than try to get ahold of them again in 10 minutes or so and check on how they're doing."

Kristin nodded slowly and kept her gaze fixed on the screen.

Lucas grimaced as he fought the sail down onto the boom and pulled around the lines to secure it.  On the end of the boom near the mast, Bridger was fighting his own battle with the material that seemed to have a mind of its own.  Panting he looked over at Lucas as he got the last line tightened down.

"You alright?"

"Yes, sir," Lucas said breathlessly.  "My end is tight."

"Okay," Nathan said as they met in the cockpit.  He looked back up at the clouds that were almost upon them.  The boat swayed sickeningly between the crests of the 8 foot waves that crashed around them.  "Try to head her into the storm," he said heading down the ladder into the cabin.  He reappeared a short time later with two life vests.  Lucas caught the one that he tossed to him.  "Put it on all the way, Lucas.  When you get it on I'll check yours and you check mine.  We don't want any loose lines."

They busied themselves with putting their vests on and making sure that they were secure.  After they'd checked each other's vests Bridger attached a line to each vest that ended with a carabineer.

"What's this for?" Lucas asked holding up the spring-loaded link at the end of the line.

"You've heard the old adage about one hand for the boat and one hand for yourself?"  Lucas nodded.  "This a little help for your hand.  If you've got to move out at all and for that matter probably even while you're in the cockpit, latch the line onto the boat.  It might keep you from getting swept overboard if we get hit by a rogue wave."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Lucas said clipping his line onto the top of the cockpit combing.  He looked again at the dark clouds in front of him.  "This does not look like fun at all, sir."

"Nope," Nathan agreed and then turned to the radio again as it crackled to life.  "Sandcastle home this is Sandcastle, go ahead."

"Nathan, are you two alright? Over," Kristin's voice asked distantly through the radio.

"Not exactly.  We've had to lower the sails and we're going to have to ride the storm out.  We've got winds of around 50 knots right now and 8 foot waves.  We've got everything battened down as tight as we can, we're wearing our vests and we're secured to the boat.  I think that's about all we can do except hold on tight for right now. Over."

Ford took the microphone from Kristin.  "Sandcastle this is Sandcastle home.  We'll be monitoring the radio on this end.  If you run into any major problems call in right away and in the meantime we'll advise the Coast Guard that you're out there and let the UEO know in case they've got any equipment up.  Can you give us your current location? Over."

"Roger that, Sandcastle home.  Our current location follows." Bridger read out the readings from the geo-locator twice to ensure that Ford had received it.  "Sandcastle home, we're currently headed due west into the storm to try to cut down on our exposure.  Do you want set up a check-in schedule? Over."

"Affirmative, Sandcastle.  Let's say every half hour on the half hour. Over."

"Roger that Sandcastle home."  They could hear the wind whipping past the microphone as Nathan talked.  "Talk to you in a half of an hour. Sandcastle out."

"Keep safe, sir.  Sandcastle home, out."

Kristin stood staring at the radio and then looked up at Ford.  "Jonathan.." she said tentatively.

"Let's give the Coast Guard a call," he said reaching for the vid-phone.

The clouds were no longer to the west of them.  Now they were right in the middle of the storm.  Rain pelted down on them and the wind that was blowing rain and the sea water directly into their faces threatened to knock them over.  Nathan and Lucas held tight to the sides of the cockpit as they watched the storm rage around them.  A little earlier Nathan had deployed a drogue anchor off the stern of the small boat to try to keep it turned into the storm and to steady the erratic movement of the boat.  All in one motion the 30-foot sailboat would climb the side of a wave, lean over as the wave crested and then corkscrew down back to the swell before starting up another series of drastic movements.

The wind and the spray rushing through the air were loud enough that Lucas and Nathan had given up talking to each other but instead were depending on hand movements to communicate.  After one particularly gut-wrenching slide down the side of a wave Lucas heard a resounding crack from above and looked up just in time to see the top of the mast come crashing down towards the deck.

"Look out!!!" he yelled to Nathan.  They both ducked down inside the cockpit as the top third of the mast bounced off the boom before tangling in the lines to the side of the part of the mainmast that was still standing.

Cautiously, they stuck their heads up over the side of the cockpit and saw the broken mast top swinging drunkenly in the stays.  "I'm going to have to secure that," Nathan yelled at Lucas, stuffing several pieces of line into his vest.

"How the hell are you going to do that?" Lucas yelled, incredulous.

"Very carefully," Nathan yelled back unclipping his line from the cockpit and moving cautiously over the coping onto the side of the deck.  Before releasing either hand from the handholds he had on the boat he again clipped the line attached to his vest onto an eye fitting that stood on the top of the cabin.  Slowly wrestling the broken mast piece around until it was leaning next to the boom, Nathan took the pieces of line from inside his vest, Lucas saw the muscles in his arms straining as he lashed the mast piece to the boom.  Finally, he stood again holding onto the rigging and inspected his work, nodding his head a little as he stepped back and turned to move towards the cockpit.  He had just reached his hand up to unclip his line from where it was secured when the boat suddenly tilted over 45 degrees to the opposite direction from where it had been.  The abrupt tilt caused the boom to shift a little... just a little but enough that it caught Nathan squarely across the shoulder blades and knocked him off the boat.

Lucas stared in horror as he saw the boom shift around and pick Nathan up in an arc and throw him out into the churning sea.  "Captain!!!!" he yelled.  His only answer being the sea green water that spewed up over the side of the boat.

"What did the Coast Guard say?" Kristin asked chewing on her thumbnail.

"Pretty much what I expected," Jonathan said with a frown.  "They'll keep an eye out for them but they're not intentionally sending anyone into that storm unless they get a report that a vessel is in distress."  He frowned again and sat in the chair in front of the computer.  "And at this point, they're out there but as far as we know they're riding it out."  Looking over at the screen, Jonathan punched a couple of keys to put the view of the storm in movement.  "God, I hate this kind of storm.  It just pops up out of nowhere and blows like the devil.  There's really nothing you can do to prepare for it."

"So it's dangerous?" Kristin asked in a small voice.

"Any storm is dangerous, Kristin.  It's just that if you know a storm is coming then you can prepare, you can get your mind set for it but when they blow up like these do you're just thrust in the middle of it."  He shook his head again.  "You never quite know what they're doing."

Kristin nodded a little, a worried look still covering her face.  "What about the UEO?"

Jonathan leaned back a little.  "Well, they've got a storm chaser plane up there and he'll keep his eyes open but that's really all the equipment that they've got dedicated to this storm right now.  All in all, I'd say that they're pretty much on their own right now."

"That's not very comforting," Kristin said in a little disapproving voice.  She reached for the microphone of the marine radio.  "Check in time," she said keying the mike.  "Sandcastle, this is Sandcastle home, over."

Lucas locked the wheel down before he started for the spot where Nathan had been thrown from the boat.  As he came over the top of the cockpit coping he almost cried when he saw that the line attached to Nathan's vest was still hooked to the screw-eye on top of the cabin and was stretched tight.  Not wanting to put more strain on that fitting, Lucas carefully detached his line from the coping and moved down the side of the cabin until he was able to attach it to a fitting on the deck.  Bracing his feet against a cleat, Lucas took the line that was attached to Bridger's life vest with both hands and pulled on it as hard as he could.

"Sandcastle, this is Sandcastle home.  Come in please. Over," Kristin said into the mike for the fifth time.  She looked warily up at Jonathan.

"It could be anything, Kristin.  They might have lost their antenna or the radio may have been damaged by water."

"He's got a spare radio in the cabin and they might have capsized," Kristin protested.

"Kris, you can't go jumping to conclusions like that.  Nathan is a terrific sailor."

"And he's out there with a boy who just learned how to sail this year," she broke in.

"Lucas has learned from the best, Kristin.  You've got to give them a chance," Ford said adamantly.

"But what if something's happened?"

Jonathan reached for the vid-phone again.  "We'll let the Coast Guard know that we've lost comms with them.  It's about all we can do right now."

"Oh, I really hate this," Kristin said worriedly as she looked out the window at the edge of the storm that was almost upon them.

Lucas couldn't tell whether he was pulling the line in or not.  All he knew was that his hands hurt like hell... but damned if he was going to let go.  The movement of the boat was so erratic that the line went taut and then slacked so rapidly that he felt that his arms might be pulled out of their sockets.  Grunting loudly and closing his eyes with the effort, he tried one more time to pull up on the line.  There... that time he was sure that he'd made a little progress.  He opened his eyes again and almost dropped the line as he saw an arm reach up and grab the bottom line of the railing around the deck.  Quickly securing the line to a cleat, Lucas reached over and grabbed the arm.  A second hand reached up for the railing and Lucas leaned over to the edge of the boat to the full extent that his line would allow him to grab hold of the shoulders of Bridger's life vest.  He leaned back as hard as he could and the both of them tumbled to the deck as Nathan slid between two of the railing lines.

Bridger lay on the deck, face down, gasping for air as Lucas slid close to him.  "Are you alright, sir?" he asked breathlessly.

Nathan nodded slowly, still struggling to control his breathing.  "Yeah, I'm alright," he finally answered.  Another wave came crashing across the deck and they both slid a little from the force of the water.  Grabbing onto a railing stanchion, Nathan looked up at Lucas.  "We better get back in the cockpit."

"Yeah," Lucas said helping the older man up.   He ensured that Nathan had both hands holding onto the boat before he reached over to unsnap Nathan's life line.   Then Lucas carefully moved, hand-over-hand, down the boat until he could hook Bridger's line onto the cockpit coping.  When he had that secured, Nathan reached down and released Lucas' line from the fitting it was attached to and then followed Lucas' lead in moving carefully to the cockpit and hooking the boy's line onto the coping.  Both of them scrambled into the relative safety of the cockpit where Lucas looked over in concern at Nathan who had slipped down to sit on the deck and was still gasping for air.  "Are you sure you're alright?"

Nathan nodded a little.  "Yeah, I'm alright," he repeated.  He pulled himself up and looked over to where he'd gone overboard.  "But I don't care to try that little exercise again.  I think I swallowed half of the Gulf."

Lucas looked at the sea around the boat suspiciously.  "Is it my imagination, or has the wind gone down?"

Standing, still leaning against the coping Nathan looked around also.  "It's not your imagination.  One nice thing about storms like this is that they also pass pretty quickly." He frowned over at the boy.  "They're pretty damned unpleasant when they pass... but at least it's quick."  He nodded as he watched the waves that had decreased to about four foot crests.  "Let's check the engine.  Then we'll get that drogue anchor aboard and see about following the storm back in."

Lucas started towards the engine compartment.  "Sounds like a plan to me, sir."

"Well?" Kristin asked Jonathan as he disconnected the phone.

The tall Commander shook his head.  "No sign of them yet, I'm afraid," he looked out the window where the storm was now raging in all its glory.  The rain could be heard pelting the front of the house and the trees were bent almost all the way over.  "The Coast Guard and the UEO plane are both still looking but nothing yet."

"Jonathan," Kristin said also looking out the window, "that's a nasty storm out there.  I don't know how they could have managed in that small boat."

"Nathan knows all the tricks, Kristin."  He looked over at her and smiled a little.  "Remember, he cut his teeth on seas a lot worse than this.  Even this storm is probably a cake-walk compared to the nor'easters he grew up with in Massachusetts."

"And Lucas?" Kristin asked doubtfully.

"Lucas will follow Nathan's lead.  They'll be fine," he said positively.

Nathan stuck his head up out of the engine compartment while Lucas worked the piston of the pump.  "God, I really hate clearing the water out of the engines," Nathan muttered.

"I don't think that pumping the place out is going to be one of my best memories of the day either," Lucas said with a little grin.  "I think the half of the Gulf that you didn't swallow ended up inside the boat."

"I think you're right," Nathan chuckled.  He looked back down at the engine again.  "You're almost there.  Another inch or so and we'll be able to give it a try."

"Is that engine going to run after all this water?"

Nathan stuck his head back down again.  "That's why they call them marine engines.  They're used to water," he called up.  "All you've got to do is try to ensure that the intake and exhaust are clear and it's as dry as you can get it and generally, they'll start."

"Is the intake clear?" Lucas yelled down after him.

Lucas heard a rush of water and Nathan stuck his head back up again. From the look of him it was obvious that he'd gotten in the way of whatever had just emptied.  "It is now," Nathan groused.  Lucas laughed loudly and Nathan smiled at him.  He glanced down again towards the engine.  "I think that's enough.  Let's get the drogue anchor in and give her a try."  He scrambled up until he was sitting on the deck with his legs hanging into the engine compartment and Lucas went to the stern and recovered the cloth anchor that dragged behind them before he moved over to the control panel.  "Let her rip," Nathan said to Lucas.

"You got it," Lucas said turning the key and pressing the ignition button for the motor.  Nathan leaned down watching intently as the engine sputtered a couple of times and then caught.

Nathan glanced up at Lucas with an impressed look on his face.  "Well, I'll be damned.  That's a pretty darned good motor."

"It just became my favorite," Lucas grinned.  "Where to, sir?"

"That-a-way," Nathan said pointing towards the stern of the boat.

Lucas threw the wheel over to get them turned around and frowned.  "Little problem here, Cap," he called back.

Nathan pulled the engine cover closed and scrambled up to stand next to Lucas.  "What's wrong?"

The boy shook his head.  "The wheel isn't moving right."

Nathan took hold of the wheel and moved it back and forth.  "Bent rudder," he said with a grimace.   "Let's check it out."  With the engine running, Bridger got the boat turned around in a wide arc before he began some experimental turns on the wheel to see how the boat would react.  After a few minutes he shook his head.  "Well, not too bad.  We don't know how well the rudder is still attached so don't make any radical moves but it feels like we should make it in."  He stood back and let Lucas take the wheel again.  "I'll go see what I can see from the stern."

"For God's sake, after all this, don't fall in, Cap."

"I'll try not to," Nathan grinned patting Lucas on the shoulder.

Lucas watched as Bridger moved to the stern and started leaning over the back of the boat before he thought better of it and looked back at Lucas grinning before he attached his life-line to a cleat before he leaned over again.  He pulled himself back into the boat and looked around then reached down and grabbed a long wrench from the toolkit attached to the well deck wall before leaning over the end of the boat again.

"Clang" came the sound of the wrench hitting the rudder.  Lucas frowned as he felt the vibration of the hit through the wheel. Bridger raised the wrench once more and Lucas again heard and felt him hit the rudder.  Then Nathan climbed back in the boat and looked over at Lucas.

"Any better?"

Lucas moved the wheel experimentally.  "A little I guess." He glanced apprehensively at Bridger.  "You're not going to hit it again, are you?"

"Nah," Nathan said coming into the cockpit.  "It's pretty bent and I was hoping to straighten it some but I think if I give it too many more whacks it'll just fall off."

"Then don't hit it, please," Lucas said fervently.

"Okay," Nathan grinned.  He moved over to the geo-locator and nodded.  "It'll take us a couple of hours to get in but as long as there's not another storm following that one we'll be okay.  Just don't try to climb any large waves with that rudder."

"You mean any *more* large waves," Lucas said passionately.

"Yeah," Nathan grinned.  He picked up the mike for the radio from where it hung loosely.  He flipped the switches and frowned.  "Well, this one is toast."

Lucas looked aloft and grimaced.  "Wasn't the antenna on the mast?"

"Yeah, and without it we won't have much of a transmit distance.  I'm going to go check the spare," he said opening the door to the cabin and heading down the stairs.  A short time later he came up with the radio in his hands.  The whole front of the radio was smashed and bare wires hung loose in the back of it.  "Guess what broke loose," Nathan frowned.

"No radio," Lucas stated bluntly.

"No radio," Nathan agreed.  He put the broken radio down and glanced over the boat.  "You keep it on that easterly heading and I'll check around the boat to be sure that we don't have any other problems that we should know about."

"That sounds like a pleasant thought," Lucas teased.

"Yeah," Nathan said heading down in the cabin again to check the hull and see if they had any leaks they needed to know about.  Not too much later he came up the ladder again and shrugged.  "Looks pretty good down there, surprisingly enough."

He turned and went forward to the bow and Lucas saw him leaning over the side several times... always carefully hooking up his life-line before he did.  Lucas lost sight of him for a short time when he was behind the mast and then Bridger came back down on the other side of the boat.

"Well, could have been much worse," he shrugged.  "We lost some gear and some fittings forward where the water was slamming into us and, of course, our mast is a hell of a lot shorter than it was earlier today but all in all... we're in pretty good shape."

"Let's go home, Cap," Lucas said in a heartfelt voice.

"Sounds good to me, kiddo," Nathan said patting him on the shoulder and taking the seat next to him as the boat motored through the now calming water.

"We should have heard something by now," Kristin said staring at the rain that still fell lightly on the water beyond the dock.  The trees stood upright again but various leaves and branches scattered around were evidence of the force of the wind that had blown through.

"Not necessarily," Jonathan said in a calming voice.  "The Coast Guard was staying pretty close to port until the storm passed so they wouldn't be out where the Sandcastle was.  The UEO plane tried to see if he could spot them but it's a big Gulf and they weren't where Nathan had said they had started out.  The storm probably blew them away from there and they're probably on their way back in right now."

"I hope so," Kristin muttered worriedly then she raised her head a little as she heard a chatter on the dock.  "Darwin," she said and grabbed the portable vocorder before heading down the porch stairs.

Ford stayed in the house in case the Coast Guard called as he watched Kristin lean over the end of the dock to talk to the dolphin.  A short time later she headed back into the house.  By the way her shoulders sank, Jonathan suspected that the news wasn't good.

Kristin looked over at him as she came back up on the porch.  "Darwin says that Nathan sent him away just before the storm hit.  He tried to find them where he left them but they weren't anywhere that he could find."

"Nathan wouldn't have wanted Darwin with them during the storm.  If for no other reason than to protect Darwin from any lightning or any damage the boat might have suffered."

"But Darwin couldn't find them," Kristin said sadly.  "Darwin can always find Nathan."

"Maybe forces from the storm are interfering with Darwin's ability to find him," Jonathan suggested, searching for anything to reassure her.

"Maybe," Kristin said quietly staring out the porch towards the water.

An hour later Ford walked back out onto the porch with an iced tea in each hand.  Kristin was still standing staring off of the porch with her arms clutched around her body and chewing on her thumb again.  He walked up next to her and held out one of the glasses.  "Here."

Kristin started a little and then smiled wanly at him as she took the glass from him.  "Thanks," she said quietly.

"It's early still, Kris," Jonathan said softly.

"I know," she said smiling a little at him.  "I just hate this waiting."

"Yeah," he said putting his arm around her shoulder.  "It's not easy."  He turned suddenly as the marine radio that they'd moved to the dining room came to life.

"Sandcastle home, this is Coast Guard vessel Fitzpatrick. Over."

Kristin made it to the radio first.  "Fitzpatrick, this is Sandcastle home, go ahead."

"Sandcastle home, this is Fitzpatrick.  Just wanted to advise you that Sandcastle is heading back in on motor power with all hands aboard and in good shape.  Their radio is broken and they've lost part of their mast but they look like they're doing okay. Over."

Kristin had brought her hand up to stifle her relieved sob as she listened to the Coast Guard report and Jonathan took the mike from her.  "Fitzpatrick, this is Sandcastle home.  Thanks much.  We'll be waiting for them. Over."

"Sandcastle home, they're about a half hour out and headed straight in.  We've got to go look for some people who really need our help. Over," the Coast Guard radioman said with a smile in his voice.

"Roger that, Fitzpatrick.  Sail safe.  Sandcastle home, out."

"Fitzpatrick, out."

Lucas smiled as they approached the entrance of the intra-coastal waterway.  "I don't think I've ever seen anything that looked so welcome," he said over to Nathan who was sitting on a seat leaning against the combing of the cockpit.

"Home always looks good but today especially so," Nathan smiled.  "Watch your wake."

As he throttled back on the engine Lucas looked aloft at the broken mast.  "Do you think we'll be able to fix it, sir?"

"Yeah," Nathan said looking up also.  "I think we'll have to put the Sandcastle in dry dock to get her checked out really good but replacing the mast is no big deal."

"What about the other damage?"

Nathan shrugged.  "Until we get her out of the water it's hard to tell how bad the rudder is damaged but it looks like we've got good hull integrity and that's really the most important part.  I'm sure we can fix her."  He patted the top of the combing.  "She turned out to be one tough boat."

"That she did, sir," Lucas grinned.  He looked forward off the boat and smiled broadly.  "We've got a welcoming committee waiting for us."

Nathan looked forward to where Kristin and Jonathan Ford stood watching them with concern on their faces as they slowly approached the dock.  He quickly glanced over at Lucas who was fighting the wheel a little.  "Do you want me to take it in?"

"Yeah, I think so," Lucas nodded, stepping back so that Nathan could take the wheel.

Almost painfully slowly Nathan inched the Sandcastle into the dock until Lucas could throw the mooring lines to Ford who secured them around the piers.  The boy smiled softly back at Nathan who secured the wheel before moving for the side of the boat.  Lucas jumped down onto the dock and into Kristin's waiting arms.  She enveloped him in a big hug.

"Are you alright?" she asked pushing his hair back up off his forehead.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lucas said quietly.  "But it was quite a ride."

"I can imagine," Jonathan said patting Lucas on the back as Kristin released him and moved to throw her arms around Nathan's shoulders. Lucas noted how the Captain winced at the pressure of her arms.

She buried her head in the top of his vest, holding him tight a moment before she pulled back to look at him.  "Are you alright?"

Nathan nodded softly.  "Yeah, I'm okay."

"You said you weren't hurt, sir," Lucas said in a disapproving tone.

"I said I was alright," Nathan countered.  "That doesn't mean not hurt."

"Okay, Nathan, how bad are you hurt?" Kristin said glaring at him a little.

He pulled out of her arms and took his vest off, tossing it onto the boat.  "Not bad.  Pulled the muscles in my shoulders a bit and I think I've got a terminal case of rope burn," he said showing her the raw scrapes across both palms and his fingers.

"Ouch," she said taking his hands and looking at them carefully.

Nathan looked over at Lucas.  "How about your hands?"

Lucas held out his hands which also had bad rope burns on the palms.  "Not as bad as yours but you were holding on longer than I was."

"Beat the hell out of the alternative," Nathan grinned.  He turned Kristin and started walking to the house with his arm around her and Lucas and Ford walking ahead of them.

"You should have seen it, Doc," Lucas said back over his shoulder.  "The boom came around and caught the Cap in the back and knocked him completely overboard right in the middle of the storm." The boy shook his head.  "We were lucky to get him back on board."

Kristin's hand had tightened around Nathan's waist as Lucas talked and she looked up at him with concerned eyes.  "Is your back alright?"  Then she shook her head.  "Let me rephrase that.  Is your back hurt?"

Nathan grinned a little.  "The vest caught most of it but I think I've probably got a pretty good bruise," he said climbing the stairs to the porch behind her.

"Both of you go straight to the kitchen so I can have a look at those hands," Kristin ordered.

"Good," Lucas said in a heartfelt voice.  "The kitchen is just where I want to be.  I'm starving."

"Did the storm hit before you fed him?" Kristin asked Nathan.

"Nah, he ate enough at lunch for two people.." He winked at Lucas.  "But you have to understand he's been through a lot today and needs to build up his strength."

"Oh, yeah," Kristin said in a disbelieving voice.  "You two go to the kitchen and I'll get my bag."

"I'll get it for you, Doc," Ford offered.  "You take care of the old man of the sea and his young protégé there."

"Hey, just remember, I still write your fitness report," Nathan teased as Ford headed back to the den where Kristin's medical bag was.  He turned to Kristin.  "Look at Junior here, he's hungrier than I am."

Lucas frowned at him and moved over to the sink where Kristin stood.  "Get real, you're only letting me go first because you're afraid she'll give you a shot."

"I'm not afraid of shots," Nathan protested.

"Yeah, that's why you can't even watch when she pulls out a syringe," Lucas said wincing a little as Kristin poked at his hand.

"Sorry," she mumbled.  Ford put her bag on the counter next to her and opened the zipper.  "Could you hand me that brown bottle and some gauze pads?"  Jonathan reached in the bag and handed her what she needed.

"Just 'cause I can't watch the needle doesn't mean that I'm afraid of it."

"I don't understand that," Lucas said frowning at how Kristin was scrubbing his wounds and then looking over at Bridger.  "You can give people shots but you can't watch it yourself."

Nathan made a face as he watched Kristin's efforts to get the little pieces of the synthetic rope out of Lucas' hands and then shrugged.  "That's because I can watch her work on other people, I just can't look if it's on me.  I can't watch her stitch me up either."

"God knows she does that often enough," Lucas said pulling one hand away and wincing.

"Sorry," Kristin repeated.  "Last one."  She put down the tweezers she'd been using to take out the small pieces of rope that had stuck in the wound and reached for some antiseptic.

"Is that going to hurt?" Lucas asked alarmed.

"Oh, who's the wimp now?" Nathan interjected.

"You're next, pal," Lucas shot back.  He winced a little again as Kristin finished treating his rope burn and wrapped some gauze around it then he sighed.  "Can I eat now?"

"Yes, Dear.  You can eat," she looked over at Nathan.  "Your turn."

"Uh huh," he said hesitantly.  Lucas grinned as he opened the refrigerator and took a plate of fried chicken out.  Nathan looked over at him.  "You had that for lunch."

"Yeah, and it was excellent," Lucas grinned.  "You want some, Commander?"

"You know, I think I will," Ford said moving around to the other side of the counter that separated the kitchen and the dining room.  "I've got a feeling this is going to be a good show."

"Very funny," Nathan frowned.

"For heaven's sake, will you stop procrastinating and get over here?" Kristin said.

Nathan scowled over at her and finally moved to the sink.  "Is this going to hurt?"

"I guarantee it, Nathan," Kristin said taking one of his hands.

"Oh, goody," he said unhappily, looking away.  Unfortunately the direction he looked was towards where Ford and Lucas were sitting, munching on the cold fried chicken and grinning at him.  "Oh great, now I'm the dinner entertainment."  He jumped as Kristin pulled a sizable piece of rope out of his hand.

"Sorry," she repeated again.  "You really messed your hands up.  Did you ever think of letting go of the rope?"

"Not even once," Nathan said in a heartfelt voice.

"It was the only thing that kept him attached to the boat, Doc," Lucas interjected.

She looked quickly over at him.  "Do you mean he really was overboard?"

"Oh yeah.  Completely over the side.  The only thing that kept him with the boat was the line that he'd attached to the boat from his life-vest."

Kristin looked Nathan in the face with a frown.  "And what were you doing while you were over the side of the boat?"

Nathan gave her a 'no duh' look.  "Mostly I was trying to get back aboard," he dead-panned.

"You know what I mean, Nathan," she said in a disapproving voice.

He relented.  "It depended.  First I got sucked under the boat and swallowed about half the Gulf.  Then the boat climbed a wave and I was left hanging out in the air with only the rope keeping me hooked on and then when it came down the wave I got smacked into the side of the boat."  He glanced over at Lucas.  "Just about then I felt Lucas pulling on the rope so I pulled as hard as I could too and managed to get my arm up over one of the railings and he pulled me aboard."  He looked back at Kristin who now was watching him with a serious, concerned look on her face.  "I never even considered letting go of the rope."

"I'm glad you didn't," Kristin muttered in a heartfelt voice as she returned her attention to his wounds.  She worked in silence, ignoring the occasional wince and flinch that Nathan made as she worked.  Lucas and Ford pushed a plate of chicken over for Nathan to eat with the one hand that Kristin had already finished bandaging.

"Don't get chicken goop all over those bandages," Kristin muttered trimming a loose piece of skin off his hand.

"Ouch," Nathan protested.  "How am I supposed to eat chicken without getting it on the bandage?"

Kristin glanced up at him quickly.  "Be careful."

"I'm not good at that," Nathan simply stated.

"I've noticed," Kristin muttered reaching for the antiseptic and the gauze.  Nathan turned his head again and made a face as she finished cleaning the raw wound on his hand.  "Baby," she mumbled.

"Am not," Nathan quipped and then grinned at her.  Kristin shook her head and carefully wrapped his hand with gauze pads and strips.  He looked at her handiwork.  The whole palm of both of his hands were covered in gauze and the hands themselves were wrapped all the way around.  "How am I supposed to do anything with my hands wrapped like this?"

"Punt," Kristin said putting her equipment away.  She patted him on the chest.  "Don't worry, I'll help.  Now let me look at your back," she said reaching down for the bottom of his shirt.

Nathan grinned over at Lucas.  "There she goes... trying to undress me again."

"Will you stop?" Kristin objected sharply.  She pulled the back of his shirt up until she could see the angry bruise that went right across his shoulder blades.  She poked at it a little eliciting an objection from Nathan.

"It didn't hurt until you started pushing at it," Nathan said over his shoulder.

"Um hmm," Kristin said checking out a place where the bruise appeared to be especially deep.  "Are you sure it doesn't hurt?"

"No, not really."

"Alright," she said pulling his shirt back down.  "If it's sore tomorrow you go get some x-rays."

"Okay," Nathan said turning towards her and putting his forearms on her shoulders.  He leaned into her and whispered in her ear.  "If my back is hurt does that mean that I get to be on top?"

Kristin frowned at him.  "You can be on top any time you want to be and you know that... unless I want to be on top," she quipped quietly and then pinched him on the side.  "And before you decide you want to be on top you better figure out how you're going to do it with those hands," she whispered.

"They're talking dirty," Lucas told Ford.  "When they get close like that and whisper they're always talking dirty."

Nathan turned to frown at him.  "No we weren't," he protested.

"Yes we were," Kristin said rubbing his stomach and reaching over for a piece of his chicken.

"Hey, that's mine."

"You know that's what I like about you, you're so good at sharing," Kristin teased.  She pulled a couple of the tall barstool chairs around into the kitchen and she and Nathan sat at the counter and finished their dinner.

Jonathan smiled as he looked over to where Lucas was yawning.  "I've got a feeling that these guys are more than ready for bed tonight. I'm going to get going."  He stood up from his chair.

Kristin smiled over at him.  "Jonathan, thank you so much for being around today.  I'm not quite sure how I would have managed without your help."

"Glad to have been able to assist, Kristin... and I'm really glad that you're both okay."

"Yeah, us too," Lucas grinned.  "I kind of wondered about that for a little while there."  He got up to walk over to the door with Ford.

"I'll lock the outside door," Ford said as he went out onto the porch.  "See all you on Monday."  He stuck his head back in for a moment.  "Try to make your Sunday a little more calm than your Saturday."

"We'll try," Nathan chuckled.

Lucas pulled the porch doors shut behind Ford and locked them.  "I'm going to bed," he said heading for his room.

"Good night, dear.  We'll be right behind you," Kristin said.

"'Nite, kiddo.  Thanks for the pull."

Lucas grinned over at him.  "Any time, sir.  I can't really say it was fun but it was one hell of an experience."

"Yeah," Nathan said fervently.  He sat in his chair and watched Kristin tidy up the kitchen before she turned towards him and moved over until she was standing in front of him, between his legs.

Her hand came up to gently stroke his cheek.  Her face was sad and serious.  "I almost lost you today, didn't I?" she asked almost inaudibly.

"Yeah," he said in a soft voice.  "I guess I got lucky again."

"Jonathan said it was because you're the best sailor he's ever seen."

"I don't know about that but I'm not going to argue with the results," Nathan grinned a little.

Kristin's hand still rested against his cheek and her thumb came around to run gently across his lips.  Nathan sighed and closed his eyes leaning into her hand.

"How about if we get you to bed so you can get some sleep?" Kristin asked softly.

"How about if we make love first?" he asked just as softly.

"Are you sure you're not too tired?"

Nathan reached out with his forearms, since his hands hurt and pulled her close to him.  Kristin melted against him, encircling him with her arms and holding onto him almost desperately.  They both leaned their heads onto the other's shoulders and stood there just clinging to each other for a while.

"Alright," Kristin whispered into his ear and moving against him.  "You've convinced me.  Let's go make love."  She felt Nathan smile into her shoulder and he turned his head to kiss her neck.  "In the bedroom, Nathan," she said in a warning voice.

"Aye, aye, ma'am," he said standing from the chair and walking with her down the hallway.

She pushed the bedroom door shut behind him and then turned and smiled as she saw him trying to lift his shirt off.  Her hand covered his gently.  "Let me.  If we wait for you to get your own clothes off we'll both grow old before we get to this," she grinned.

Nathan looked ruefully at his bandaged hands.  "How are we going to do this if I can't use my hands?"

"I guess you're just going to have to be creative," Kristin suggested pulling Nathan's shirt over his head.  She tossed the shirt on the laundry hamper and then reached for the waistband of his shorts.

Nathan moved closer to her and she leaned her head back a little as his lips and tongue traveled down her skin from just below her ear to the low neckline of her tank top.  He nuzzled the place between her breasts and she sighed.  "Like that?" he mumbled against her skin.

"I knew I could depend on you," she said tenderly.