Far From The Sea We Know

CHAPTER 27

  Penny left Andrew on the bridge and went off to ponder his theory. Maybe something out there did watch, and listen, and who knows what else. The expanse of the ocean all around her suddenly seemed to close in as if they were in some faked zoo environment. It was getting to her, being cooped up on the ship. There was no way to really move around. She wanted to run a canyon trail, baking in the sun, and dive into a rushing river at the end.

  Instead she walked around and around the deck like a penned-in animal. Still, it was better than the treadmill she had tried using earlier. The acrid stench of dried sweat in the small hold they had stuffed it into had driven her away. She wasn’t cut out for life at sea and had always known that. She had no regrets as she had no desire to follow in her father’s long shadow, anyway.

  After three times around the deck, she decided to do a session of stretches. At the end of her last set, as she came to her feet, she had to suppress a cringe. Lorraine Hart, the TV reporter, was coming her way. The meeting was still going on, but here was Lorraine, wrapped in bed sheets, her once well tended blond hair now a mass of frizz. Without her layers of makeup, she at least looked human.

  As she approached, Lorraine’s gaze met hers. There was a certain look to her, and it was in her body as well. It was as if she had been inhabited by someone else. It brought back the memory of a Maasai tribeswoman Penny had met years ago while doing fieldwork on the African veldt. As the young woman had moved through the grass, each step was like a sacrament that kept her in perfect synch with her world.

  Lorraine strolled up but remained silent, a faint smile on her unpainted lips.

  “You okay?” Penny said.

  Lorraine barely nodded. She remained almost motionless yet not at all stiff. More like a still pool standing upright.

  She finally spoke. “And you, Penny?”

  “A good night’s sleep helped a lot.”

  Lorraine didn’t say anything, just stood there, somehow looking as if she were seeing everything.

  “You’ll have a whopper of a story to bring back,” Penny said to break the silence. “Should be a boost to your career. If anyone believes it.”

  “I’m not going back to my job.”

  “Why not?”

  Lorraine reached out for her hand, and Penny was so off guard that she let her take it. She didn’t know why, but she closed her eyes. After a moment, Lorraine said, “He will come back to you. Remember when you first met? Become each other.”

  When she opened her eyes, Lorraine had a smile shimmering on her face. Not the smile of the ambitious TV newswoman who had arrived several days ago. It was as if she had slowed down and caught up with herself. All the hurly burly was gone. The sensation of Lorraine's hand flowed into Penny’s until she could not distinguish it from her own. The silence went on and she couldn’t break it, nothing came to say. A lump formed in her throat and a feeling in her chest that she hated. “No…damn it.” She began to cry. Lorraine put her arms around her. Penny sobbed quietly for a long time, but it may have only been minutes.

  When it was all gone, Lorraine tenderly released her and took a step back. She lifted up the edge of the sheet. “Use this.”

  Without thinking, Penny dabbed the remaining tears from her eyes and face.

  “The nose, too. I’ve got another, and this one is due for a wash.” She laughed. “Come on!”

  She blew her nose.

  “Our secret,” Lorraine said, and glided off without a sound. There was some kind of enticing scent following in her wake, but it wasn’t perfume.

  Penny was sleepy. It just came over her, so she headed back to her cabin to lie down. She didn’t want to think, had no desire to. It felt good to let go, and she drifted off without a thought, glad to forget everything, if only for a while.