The Odyssey of Ben O'Neal (17 page)

Of no surprise, Kilbie Oden went to the university at Chapel Hill and is now in finance, threatening to copy old man Vanderbilt up North. Frank Scarborough is teaching school down in Hatteras village.

My life has changed some, too, naturally. After thirteen years of voyaging, and having reached second mate's papers, I came home, at least temporarily, ten months ago to assume second-in-command of Heron Head station. Jabez will be retiring from the Lifesaving Service in three years, and I suppose I'll follow along behind Filene and Jabez, and so many others before them.

The reason I came home is the old reason. I swore I wouldn't get married until forty or so, but found myself taking the vows in 1910. It was a wearing-down process by a very skillful girl. But I don't really regret being worn down into matrimony. She gave up some things, too.

She's out in the kitchen now, big as a small barrel with our second child. Our first was born two years ago, a boy. I'm not sure he looks like me, but we called him Ben, anyway. He gets around pretty well on short, strong legs; even down toward the muddy Pamlico and that old dock, which I'm now repairing in spare time.

Lucky that we've got a big yellow hound to keep watch on that two-year-old. That hound I "shared" with Tee passed on to canine heaven in 1908 and is buried in Belgravia. Probably the first Banks hound that ever had the distinction of going to his rest in such a fancy place. This Lab we've got now is called Hans, brought over from England. Old Boo contaminated the breed despite all. Hans will never be a duck dog like his papa was at one point, but he has other talents. His mistress tells everyone he's an "extraaaaordinary guardian." So British.

I have to laugh about something else. Just a few minutes ago, Tee bundled the boy up, and he and Hans went off the steps and out into the yard. Tee called after them to say, "Now, don't go near the water, Benjamin," sounding just a little bit like the Widow O'Neal; such an echo from the past.

Acclaimed author Theodore Taylor was born in North Carolina and began writing at the age of thirteen, covering high school sports for a local newspaper. Before turning to writing full time, he was, among other things, a prizefighter's manager, a merchant seaman, a movie publicist, and a documentary filmmaker. The author of many books for young people, he is known for fast-paced, exciting adventure novels, including the Edgar Allan Poe award winner
The Weirdo; Air Raid—Pearl Harbor!;
and the bestseller
The Cay,
which won eight major literary awards, among them the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. Mr. Taylor lives near the ocean in Laguna Beach, California.