Compass Rose (35 page)

Tom said, “It’s probably going to be all right.
Bom Sonho’s
on her way, and it’s still light. The Coast Guard got a fix on the distress signal.
Bom Sonho
’s closest; she’ll get there faster than the Coast Guard. They’re pretty far out. Captain Teixeira’s on the radio with
Bom Sonho
. They were hauling pots when the Coast Guard radioed to see if anyone was close. They just cut the line and put a buoy on it. They’re on their way.”

“What happened?”

“They don’t know. That’s the thing,
Spartina
got on the mayday frequency—but when
Bom Sonho
switched to their working frequency, nothing. Charlie told me there’s an EPRB on the dory—he said what it stands for, emergency position something. Maybe RB is radio beacon. Charlie knows.”

“How cold is it out there? The water?”

“Yeah, I asked Charlie that. He says it depends where the Gulf
Stream is today. But they’ve got the dory. They’ve got survival suits. And look—it could just be they’ve lost power or fouled their rudder. Charlie said they can set off the EPRB and it doesn’t mean they abandoned ship.”

“Let’s go inside.” May knew Dick wouldn’t send a distress signal if the engine quit. He’d be below working on it for a long time before he sent a distress signal.

When they got to the kitchen, Tom said, “Captain Teixeira says I can bring you over, be right there while he’s on his radio.”

“I should get Rose,” May said. “Do you know where Rose is? I just talked to Elsie on the phone. It didn’t sound like Rose was there.”

“Elsie’s with her sister,” Tom said. “They just got to the dock; that’s where I talked to Captain Teixeira. I don’t know how they know—Captain Teixeira, maybe. He and Elsie are pretty tight. They went into Captain Teixeira’s radio shack.”

May thought it would be like a circus over there. Dick would hate it if he found out.

Charlie’s car pulled in. May went onto the front porch. She said, “Tom told me. You better go listen in with Captain Teixeira. Call me as soon as you know something. Tom, you can go with him or you can stay here. I’d just as soon be here, where I can keep busy.”

She’d said those very words not two hours ago, and now they were a judgment on her.

Tom looked uncertain. May said, “Or here’s what you could do. You go on up to Rose’s school. I think they’re using the auditorium to get the Sawtooth show ready. Rose’d like it if you’re with her.”

The boys left. May went into the kitchen and sat by the phone. She pictured
Spartina
, then felt rather than saw the cold, gray distance. She thought of Captain Teixeira bowed over his radio. He’d be speaking Portuguese. She’d been unkind about how Catholics carried on, about Mr. Salviatti’s angels, about Captain Teixeira’s big Catholic family, but now she saw Captain Teixeira’s hand holding the microphone like the priest holding that little wand he shook water out of when he blessed the fleet, and in her mind she went down on her knees before Captain Teixeira and confessed her sins, the spite and anger she’d let loose against Dick and his boat.

S
ally was at Elsie’s door, knocking and calling; she was inside saying, “Can you come? Can you come right now? Something’s happened. I called your Captain Teixeira. They said he was at the dock because something’s happened. Can you come?”

On the ride over, Elsie tried to reassure Sally, but when they squeezed in behind the people in the radio shack, Elsie became alarmed at the silence. After a while the radio crackled, and there was a rush of Portuguese. Captain Teixeira turned to Charlie and said, “
Bom Sonho’s
close. She got her own fix and the Coast Guard fix. She’s close, and she’s looking.”

Sally said, “What’s happening?”

Charlie turned. He saw Elsie, slid his eyes to Sally. “
Spartina
sent a distress signal. The Coast Guard sent out a call.
Bom Sonho’s
the closest boat. She had a fix of her own when Dad called her, but she lost contact. It could just be … it could be a couple of things. Maybe
Spartina
lost power.” He turned back toward Captain Teixeira. He said, “I sh-should have been on board.” Without looking away from the radio Captain Teixeira held Charlie’s forearm and gave it a shake. Elsie understood it wasn’t
Spartina
losing power. She hoped Sally hadn’t understood.

Another silence. It seemed to Elsie to grow denser, as if compressed by everyone’s thoughts. Captain Teixeira’s shaking Charlie’s arm was in it; Charlie’s self-reproach was in it. What else was pressing through the silence? Was there reproach in Charlie’s look sliding away from her? Was he thinking, Why is
she
here and not May? Elsie felt the silence urging her to self-reproach so she would be more cleanly prepared for bad news.

She tried to stop. She couldn’t stop by herself. She leaned against Sally. No help. She imagined Sally reproaching herself for not having
protected her son from Jack’s notion of how to make a man of Jack Junior.

She knew hers was a superstitious muddle. Her dumb pleasure in the tower room had nothing to do with what was happening at sea. What was happening at sea was physics, it had its own physics. But what was happening to her in this small room had its own physics, too, a rush of shame into the vacuum of not knowing.

Another crackle, a short sentence in Portuguese. Then four words that she could tell were counting—one, two, three, four. Captain Teixeira said to Charlie, “He sees them; they’re all there. He’s working her around to pick them up.”

In the next silence they all moved a step closer to Captain Teixeira’s broad back. At last another longer set of Portuguese sentences. Captain Teixeira answered, seemed to be giving orders. He didn’t translate. Charlie said, “Did you say ‘helicopter’?”

Captain Teixeira said, “Yes. They’re all on board. Your father didn’t have his survival suit on. The dory was stove in. They were lying across a piece of her. It was awash. Wait. I’ll see if they can ask Tony.” After another back-and-forth he said, “Tony’s not so good, either. He unzipped his survival suit and tried to hold your father against his chest. Tony’s below. They called a helicopter for your father.”

Elsie heard the words. They hung suspended for a moment. Then she saw Dick, Tony clutching Dick; she felt the waves rocking them, washing over them. She felt Dick getting colder.

She heard herself cry out. She grabbed Sally’s sweater, but it slipped through her hands.

When she came to, Charlie had his hand under the side of her head. He said, “Don’t move yet.”

Sally said, “Elsie, are you all right? Did you hit your head?”

“No,” Charlie said. “It came down on my sh-shoe. The top of my shoe.”

Like something to be scraped off, a bird dropping.

Captain Teixeira translated, “They’re waiting for the helicopter. Okay, he’s come to. He’s groggy, but they got a good pulse. Tony’s okay to stay on board. Okay. After they get Dick on the helicopter,
Bom Sonho’s
going to haul that one line of pots, then come in.”

“What?” Sally said. “Why don’t they just come in?”

Captain Teixeira turned. He said, “Elsie, what happened? Lift her feet, Charlie. Put your jacket under her head and lift her feet.”

Sally said, “Why don’t they come in as fast as they can?”

Captain Teixeira, who’d been leaning toward Elsie, sat up straight. “Mrs. Aldrich, I thank God your son is safe. They got him in a bunk all wrapped up. He’s doing good. Him and Tran and Tony. They had suits on. They got cold, but they stayed dry. I thank God
Bom Sonho
was close. I thank God she’s a fast boat. And the men on her did the right thing. So now I think it’s okay we let them earn what they got in those pots.”

Charlie said, “Excuse me, Mrs. Aldrich. Can you lift her feet? I’ve got to call my mother.”

“I’m fine,” Elsie said. “I’m going to sit up.”

Captain Teixeira said, “You help her, Charlie. Hold her shoulders. Is your mother alone? If she’s alone, you should go to her. Not a phone call. You see how Elsie keeled over.”

Elsie shut her eyes. Jesus, what else? Charlie put his hands under her shoulders and pushed her as she sat up. She leaned forward and grabbed her legs so he wouldn’t have to go on touching her. She said, “I’m sorry, Charlie. Sally needed me to come.”

He stood up. She heard him shake his jacket. He said, “Mom sent Tom to find Rose. If he finds her, he’ll bring her back to the house. So Rose might be there. Is it okay with you if I tell her along with Mom?”

“Yes.”

Sally said, “May I at least speak with my son?” Elsie was glad someone else was a problem.

“He’s in a bunk, Mrs. Aldrich. The radio’s in the wheelhouse. When he’s on his feet, and when they’re not busy, maybe there’s a good time. Right now I can have someone tell him you’re glad he’s safe. You can say that right now into this microphone.”

“Who will I be speaking to?”

“My grandson. He’s Ruy Teixeira like me. And he speaks English like me.”

Charlie was gone. Elsie was glad that the first words Sally said into the microphone were “thank you.”

At least Sally was redeeming herself.

Elsie tried to concentrate on the hopeful news. She thought of Dick’s blood warming his body, reaching his brain. She tried to think of what could comfort him for the loss of
Spartina
. She kept being interrupted by Charlie’s scorn for her. She could have defended herself against that, she could have been unashamed of her crying out, unashamed of her graceless sprawl—if she didn’t feel weakened by the echo of her crying out and sprawling in the tower room.

She got to her knees. She said to Captain Teixeira, “
Spartina
went down?”

“Yes.”

“But Dick’s going to be all right?”

“Yes. They got him warmed up. You go home. Don’t drive yourself. Mrs. Aldrich, you got a car? Maybe you can drive your sister, make her take it easy. Your son’s okay. Come back after a while. When
Bom Sonho’s
steaming home, you can talk to your son.”

M
ay called Elsie early the next morning. May said, “They’re keeping Dick in bed over at the hospital, but he’s all right. I expect Rose told you.”

“Yes. But thank you.”

“There is one other thing. Your brother-in-law called me. He was perfectly polite and said he was glad everyone’s safe. But then he said it’s better if we don’t talk about it. He said he’d prefer that we get together after Dick gets home. That way—I wrote down what he said—we can make a dignified joint statement.”

Elsie said, “That’s Jack, all right.”

“When I told Dick, he laughed. Then he swore at him. He said Jack Junior’s a poor fool, but Jack’s something worse. You know
Dick gave the boy his survival suit. Dick wasn’t going to say anything, but now that Jack’s horning in, Dick’s in a state. I don’t blame him—I just don’t think it’ll do any good for him to go round talking the way he’s doing now. Maybe if he gets to talk more while he’s still in the hospital, he’ll get talked out. I put you on the list for this noon. I hope you’ll go.”

“Yes,” Elsie said. She pulled her bathrobe tighter around her. “I’m sorry Jack called you. On top of everything. You must have had a terrible day.”

“It went by pretty quick. From the time Tom told me until Charlie came, it wasn’t but an hour or so. Charlie came in and first thing he said was ‘It’s good news.’ Before then I had Rose and Tom with me. I should have asked you before—you’re all right, are you? Charlie said you took a turn.”

Elsie’s face twisted. When she opened her mouth there was a whoosh of breath.

May said, “What?”

“It was that little room,” Elsie said. “The air got thick.”

“Charlie said Captain Teixeira didn’t let up in the details, so that must’ve been hard, Dick being fished out, nobody knowing if he was drowned or frozen.”

Elsie had no idea what she said. She might not have said anything.

“Anyways,” May said, “he’s over there now, on the top floor. I’ll tell him you’re coming. Eddie’s going after supper. I had a time putting Phoebe off. I didn’t like hurting her feelings, but when she gets hold of a story …” May sighed. “You’d think we could just be thankful and have done with it.”

“Yes,” Elsie said. “I’m sure Phoebe will understand. You can say how you were in a daze.”

“I wasn’t.”

“I just meant—”

“I know what you meant. I’ll get it straight with Phoebe. Right now I’ve got to call Tony. There he was holding Dick on that piece of dory, so I want to thank him. At the same time I got to ask him to stop going round saying Jack Junior’s a Jonah.”

“I’m not sure what that means,” Elsie said. “He was the one who was swallowed by a whale.”

“A Jonah’s someone who brings bad luck to a ship. That’s why they chucked Jonah overboard.”

When May hung up, it took Elsie a moment to get her balance. What was odd was that May sounded so sure of herself, and yet she was submitting to Jack’s pompous edict. But one thing was clear—May told her to go see Dick.

It was Rose who saw it first. She said, “Mom, you’ve got a skunk stripe.”

“What are you talking about?” Elsie was still in her bathrobe, poking through her clothes to pick out a dress. She went into the bathroom to look in the mirror. Just to the side of the crown of her head there was a streak of white. She covered it with her hand.

Rose was standing behind her. “It’s okay, Mom. It’s cool. Really.”

Elsie took her hand away. She ran a brush through her hair, thinking the white might be mixed with the dark, that she could pluck the white like the occasional gray. The white was thick and pure all the way to the roots. Had she cut herself? Scraped her head when she fell over? No—her head had landed on Charlie’s shoe. Her body did this, as involuntarily as it had sprawled her across the floor in a faint.

“I told you, Mom. It looks good. Stop standing there staring—you’ll be late for Dad.”

The white streak was involuntary, but she would decide what it marked.

Rose held up a dress. “You look good in this.”

All right, then—everyone was urging her to go see Dick.