Part Six

Peggy boarded the ferry at 5:11 a.m. The blue sky was already filled with light and color. A few small clouds reflected orange, pink and purple from a sun that was not yet visible, but glowing brightly from below the horizon.

Instead of going in the cabin, Peggy went straight up on deck to absorb the brilliant morning. Looking over the rail she saw a full moon, hanging low over Eagle Harbor, its night's work not yet completed. Walking around to the front, she saw the Sound glowing pink and green with morning sunlight. It was going to be a special day, she felt.

"Good morning," Peggy said to Raoul once she had finally made her way to her usual spot on the left side.

Raoul mumbled some kind of greeting from behind his newspaper. He leaned back against the window, his long legs casually sprawled on the bench.

"Can you believe this morning?" said Peggy.

"Should be clear today," he said with a quick glance in her direction, tilting his head to look over his reading glasses.

"Can't wait until we get out of the Harbor. Would you like to go on deck? Maybe we can see the mountains."

"Should be clear."

Peggy realized she was getting nowhere so she settled back and opened her novel. Just then Kelly Flinn plopped down next to her.

"Good morning, Kel," said Peggy.

His voice was raspy but energetic. "It's going to be another crazy day. This election dispute has become a career move for some people."

She heard Raoul sigh from his bench in the next booth. Kel, a retired music professor, was known for sitting down with just about anybody and sharing his opinions of current events. One issue in the news is the disputed Washington State governor's election.

"The Republicans are still arguing that it was fraudulent, but nobody's stopping to look at how cumbersome and error prone the system was to begin with," exclaimed Kel.

As he launched into a discussion of the arcane details of election laws and procedures, Peggy watched the bicycle riders come in and occupy the booth across the aisle. Since the weather was relatively warmer, and drier, they wore even less than usual: short biker's tights and thin clingy jerseys. As one of the women bent over to unlace her riding shoes Peggy noted with fascination that her bottom was no wider than a bicycle seat. 'What do these people eat?' she wondered.

"…the system has always been inefficient: lost ballots, incorrectly processed ballots, sloppy work by underpaid workers or well-meaning volunteers who are tired or have poor eyesight," said Kel with great animation in his voice. "What do you expect from that kind of a system? The thing is, if we are serious about having proper elections then we have to put money into it."

Raoul finally put down his newspaper and spoke up. "Peggy, did you want to go up on deck? It appears we'll have a good look at Rainier this morning."

"Oh my, look at that. I wasn't even paying attention," said Peggy.

The ferry had made the turn and she gasped at the majestic view of Rainier, its snowy glaciers glowing pink all the way up to the summit.

Peggy excused herself from Kel's conversation and accompanied Raoul up the stairs and out onto the windy deck. As they walked she noticed for the first time that he was a whole head taller than she.

"You reminded me of a damsel in distress," he said, his eyes twinkling.

"He's really not that bad you know. He does keep up with the issues," said Peggy, wrapping her windbreaker more tightly around her. She wanted so badly to put her arm around his but she put her hands into her pockets instead.

"I know. I'm just being an old curmudgeon."

Peggy stopped, stunned by the vista surrounding them. "Look, Raoul. To the East, the Cascade Range, visible from end to end, with Seattle in the foreground looking like a little village. And there, Mount Baker way up there in the north, and of course, Rainier right there, look how it's glowing." She spun around. "And to the West, the Olympic Range, look at those snowy peaks, and look how you can see the whole range. What an incredible morning. You can hardly decide which way to look. Isn't it amazing?"

Raoul stood very close to her, their shoulders touching. "Yes, now that you've pointed it all out to me, it is amazing." They stood silently, feeling the moment, then he said, "Peggy, thanks to you, I will never again take these days for granted."

She looked away from him, grinning, and leaned against his shoulder.