Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Part Forty-Three

Peggy could not believe how dark it was at 5:10 in the morning as she walked to the ferry. What had been blue, orange or purple sky before she left for her trip was now black except for an almost imperceptible glow from the East. A very light mist fell on her shoulders as she stepped onto the boat.

Raoul was already in his seat, leaning with his back against the window, dressed in his motorcycle leathers and reading the paper, just as Peggy had first seen him. Kelly Flinn sat across from him. They both looked up as Peggy approached.

"Morning," said Raoul.

"We thought you decided to stay on the other coast," said Kelly.

"Good morning," said Peggy, not to anyone in particular.

Peggy took the seat across from Raoul, next to Kelly. "Not a chance. I went in late on Monday and Tuesday. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you. I want to hear all about your congressional testimony."

Raoul looked up from his paper. "They put us two blocks away so they could turn off the sound if they didn't want to listen to us."

"Of course; you wouldn't want facts to get in the way of partisan politics, would you?" said Kelly.

"Hello. Our jet setters are back." Florence entered with a flourish of clicking high heels and bangly things on her wrists. Her hair was a slightly different shade than Peggy had remembered. Jake was in tow, handsome in a dapper suit, seemingly content in his role as a fashion accessory. Raoul shifted his position to make room for them. Florence sat next to him and crossed her legs. It seemed to Peggy that her skirt had gotten even shorter, if that was possible. "I'm dying to hear about your trip," she said.

"Raoul was giving us a first-hand account of our national political process," said Kelly.

"Who cares about politics. Let's see some pictures of Maine. Did you catch a lobster?"

"You don't actually catch them yourself," said Raoul. "They have people who come by in boats and get them out of the water for you. It's really quite civilized."

"I have a picture of the lobsters we ate," said Peggy.



Florence shuddered. "They look like they're still wet."

"Did you do any boating?" asked Jake.

"Most evenings we went out in the canoe," said Peggy. She glanced quickly at Raoul. His eyes met hers briefly. They had especially enjoyed canoeing in the evenings, when the water was often as calm as a pond.



"I see three people in the boat," said Florence.

"As it turned out, my son and Raoul's daughter both joined us for the trip," said Peggy.

"Hmm, how cozy."

"Were you right on the water?" asked Jake.

"My brother got us a deal. I can't wait to thank him by dropping a bowling ball on his foot," said Raoul.

"It was a charming, rustic cabin," said Peggy. "You liked it once you stopped complaining about it."

Raoul looked at Florence. "It had no electricity, no showers and no toilet."

Florence's jaw dropped. "Was it condemned?"

"It had bath tubs. Look, here's a picture of them," said Peggy.



"You bathed in those little things?"

"Actually, we took sun showers," said Peggy. "The house had plastic bags that you fill with water and leave out in the sun to get warm. Then you hang them up in an outdoor shower stall that is very private and protected from the wind. It's a great way to shower."

"Sounds quite reasonable," said Kelly. "I supposed it had an outhouse as well."

"Yes."

"I wouldn't last a day," said Florence. "What if you have to get up in the middle of the night? Do you bring a bow and arrow with you to protect yourself?"

"It's much simpler than that. You have a chamber pot in your room," said Peggy.



"Here we are in the land of flush toilets and you find the one place that doesn't have them," said Florence.

Peggy fished through her pictures. "Actually, we did see oneā€¦ here."



Florence laughed. "Now I've seen it all. I imagine you called your brother and gave him a piece of your mind," said Florence to Raoul.

"The house didn't have a phone," said Raoul. "You had to take your cell phone down to the beach and climb up on Laughing Lizard rock to make a call."

Florence bent over and held her stomach while she laughed hysterically. She leaned against Raoul. "This is sounding like the vacation from Hell. You guys must have been at each other's throats after a week of that."

Peggy and Raoul looked at each other. There was a sudden lull in the conversation. Florence studied their faces with a shrewd look.

"We had some great sunsets," said Peggy, fishing for a picture.



A chorus of oohs and aahs rose from the group.

"Who's that dancing?" asked Jake.

"A large extended family owned the house next to us," said Florence. "They've been staying there for a hundred years."

"I saw a handwritten blueberry cake recipe tacked to a wall and it was dated 1941," said Raoul.

"They showed us how to roast mackerel over a fire on the beach," said Peggy.

"It all sounds like fun to me," said Kelly.

Florence sighed. "Sounds like an episode of Survivor. Sorry, I'll take a Marriott in New York City any day."

"Now you're talking," said Raoul. "Tomorrow I'll show you some nice pictures I took on the Brooklyn Bridge."

2 Comments:

At 9:25 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great pictures, and some really good laughs! It's fun to be back with "the gang".

 
At 6:22 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

motorcycle leathers I am keen to work with motorbike dealerships around the world, or provide one off custom suits for any biker, based here in England we can ship worldwide within 4 days from stock motorcycle leathers, clothing, gloves, knee sliders and protective gear.

 

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