Claire Gulliver #04 - Cruisin' for a Bruisin' (25 page)

So she tried to fill her hours, but only in activities where she didn’t need to participate with other passengers, and therefore, become known to them. She couldn’t play trivia, which she was especially good at, because she would be part of a team. She couldn’t play card games as each table of players developed an intimacy between them. She could and did play Bingo as there she was just another face in the huge audience. She could swim and workout at the gym, which she did every day, careful not to nod or make eye contact with any of the others who might make a friendly overture. She saw most of the movies and went to all the theatre productions. She ate in the buffet set up every night for those who didn’t want a formal dinner so the people assigned to her table never even saw her. She went to many of the lectures, but two she attended she found to be too intimate, so she didn’t stay. The whole environment of the cruise seemed to foster involvement and lean toward creating friendships; she had to do the opposite without anyone noticing. That was the only way she could remain anonymous.

He looked at her appraisingly. He didn’t want her to be upset. He appreciated her willingness to take care of Anita when it became apparent that Anita’s presence would interfere with their success. And he was truly amazed at how skillfully she dispatched her. He had never imagined she would be good at it. He remembered how excited she had been afterwards. That disturbed him a little, but he shrugged it off deciding to think about that later. Now he needed to reassure her. He needed to keep her happy for a few more days until they arrived back in San Francisco.

“Kim, you’re the best. I appreciate everything you’ve done. I know it’s been hard, but wait, you’ll see, it will have been worth it. I promise you that. And maybe after everything is settled, we’ll go off on a cruise of our own. Maybe to the Caribbean? You’d like that. Sun and fun with lots of partying, with a younger group of passengers and no one will care who we are. And we won’t care if they notice us or not.” He smiled, coaxing an answering smile from her. He put his empty glass on the little side table and got up. Holding out his hand to her, he escorted her back to her cabin for some physical reassurance.

“About time you got back.” Lucy was ready. “I almost decided to come up and find you, but I thought I’d probably miss you. You are either very slow on the computer or they’re missing you at the book shop.”

“Both, I am a little slow this morning. I think I stayed up way too late last night. And I know you did, although I didn’t even hear you come in.”

“I was pretty quiet,” Lucy said with a grin. “When you come in that late you don’t like to call attention to it by making noise.”

Claire laughed. “True. And I appreciate your stealth. How do you suppose Antonio keeps up with the pace? He has to work every day.”

“Practice, I imagine,” was Lucy’s droll response. “Are you ready to go out? Did you notice the weather?”

“I’m ready.” Claire pulled out her scarf and jacket. “It’s cold and cloudy. Dress warmly. How about we find a cup of coffee first thing? I’m feeling the need for more caffeine. And don’t forget your ticket for the DUCK Tour.”

“Yes, mother. I’ve got it right here. Let’s go, coffee sounds good to me.”

The friends made their way down the corridor to the door on their deck where the disembarkation was going on today. Millie and Ruth had left very early to join the Gallagher Brothers on shore today. They planned to hire a local to take them on their own special tour after deciding that none of the offered excursions were quite what they wanted. Ian had complained they wanted to do everything, see everything at this last port in Alaska and the tours offered were too restrictive. They decided to pool their money and hire a local so they could do just the things they wanted to do and stay as long as they wanted at each place. They figured it still would be cheaper than the excursions the cruise line offered.

Claire, on the other hand, wanted a lazy day. She needed to spend some time catching up on her emails. After all, she still had a business to attend to. Besides, after Sitka and Skagway, she wasn’t ready to spend another busy day on shore. Lucy, battling sleep deprivation from her late nights with Antonio, was in agreement with her. They decided to explore the town at leisure late in the morning, signing up for the DUCK tour to make sure they saw something of the town with minimal effort on their part.

After their coffee and a pastry in lieu of breakfast for Lucy, they wandered the town ending up in the picturesque area of Creek Street. There Ketchikan’s former infamous red light district clung precariously over the creek. The old wooden buildings now housed shops catering to tourists. It was hard to imagine now, how it had been then, in spite of the one house which had been turned into a museum of that time. The intent of the museum was to maintain the house as if it was still in use. The docents agreeably dressing the part in feathers, ruffles and heavy make-up didn’t fool the visitors for a minute. Still they enjoyed their visit even though they dawdled too long and had to hurry back to the dock to catch their DUCK.

“Oh, look at that. Some of my customers told me about taking one of these in Boston, but somehow I didn’t imagine it so big, and awkward.”

The big amphibious vehicle was painted a bright, garish yellow. It looked like a barge, on wheels, sitting in the middle of the street. The driver had let down a ladder like contraption that people were already struggling up to gain access. Claire and Lucy waited their turn and then held on to the rope guide while they ascended. Inside was like a big bus with a canvas top. All the windows were closed against the weather today, but it still wasn’t really cozy inside.

They selected seats and Lucy generously waved Claire into the window seat. After all, she had a camera and would be trying to get pictures of everything. The driver’s seat was separated from the passengers. It looked like he would be sitting in a little hole. Beside him was a place for his assistant. Soon the passengers were in place and counted, the driver settled in his niche and the assistant pulled up and secured the ladder. They were ready to go.

“Boy, I’m glad I’m not driving this thing. It would be like driving a Hummer in those little lanes in Cornwall. What a behemoth!”

Claire agreed, holding her breath as the driver somehow got them through the streets around the Creek Street area. It wasn’t a long tour. After all, Ketchikan was a rather small town, and the DUCK quickly made it seem smaller. Since much of the town was built up the side of the mountain, many of the streets were too steep or too narrow to allow the DUCK access. Then after going through the warehouse district near the waterfront, the driver paused and with a great grinding sound coming from the front, he drove into the water and they were floating. It was a very strange sensation. Soon however, it was apparent that the DUCK was much more comfortable in its role of a water-going vehicle. There it seemed to be more graceful, more responsive. They made their way cautiously through the harbor while the tour director told them about the huge canning capacity the town had, and of the colorful fishing history of the town.

When the first huge bird blotted out the view by diving into the water right outside one of the windows the passengers drew back frightened. They didn’t know what was happening and the birds were way too big and ferocious to be seagulls. It was incredible. Suddenly, they were in the midst of a flock of eagles, diving into the water all around them. There must have been over a hundred. It was fantastic and frightening.

“See them sitting on the roof? They have learned how easy it is to get a meal when the cannery is operating. What you’re not seeing is the offal of the fish, which the cannery is pumping out through a long pipe, and dumps right about where we are.”

More birds dived while some settled back on the roof of the cannery waiting for another turn. “The eagles know when the cannery is operating. They’re intelligent enough to know this is an easier way to get a meal then their usual hunting. You won’t see any seagulls around when the eagles are here. I suppose the eagles wouldn’t mind eating the seagulls if they were stupid enough to try to compete for the fish entrails.”

“Did you get any of those on film?” Lucy asked.

“Don’t know. It’s kind of hard with all the swooping and diving. I tried to get the ones on the roof, but I’m afraid they’ll only look like little dots from this distance. I don’t think anyone will believe it when we tell them.”

Their driver guided the DUCK out of the harbor and there was the same grinding and shaking as before. Then they were off down the streets, dripping sea water, heading back to the cruise line dock.

“Well, that was fun,” Lucy admitted when they were safely on the ground again. “But now I’m starved. Let’s have lunch at that restaurant we saw down the way. It looked good.”

Claire agreed. Their ride on the waves had apparently activated her appetite too. But after a pleasant lunch, Lucy was ready to go back on board. She wanted a massage.

Claire wasn’t quite ready. “I’m going down to check out the Discovery Center we passed on our tour. It looked interesting.”

And it was. The Southeast Alaska Discovery Center was crammed with interesting displays including an entire rain forest ecosystem. She spent over an hour there before she happened on the book store tucked in the back corner of the center. Here was an entire shop dedicated to books about Alaska. Here was everything anyone thought or experienced about Alaska. They carried no fiction on these shelves. Nevertheless, they had plenty of adventure stories. Claire took off her jacket as the cheery fireplace kept the store too warm to last long in her outerwear. She made a list of titles and publishers she thought would be appropriate to add to her own stock for customers planning a visit to Alaska, and she couldn’t help purchasing a couple books to read on the voyage. One was
The Sinking of the Princess Sophia
by Coates and Morrison, and another,
I Married the Klondike,
by Laura Beatrice Berton. She intended to share the first with Mrs. Bernbaum and her mother. Knowing that Nate’s mother and sister died on the ill-fated vessel made the book even more intriguing.

Claire found an empty table with several chairs along the front window on the non-smoking side of the Starlight Lounge. All during the voyage this seemed to be the place they all congregated, so she was certain her friends would be showing up before the ship cast off. It was still early, but it was a pleasant place to read while she waited for the others to arrive. She turned her chair toward the window, laid her binoculars and camera on the little table, having learned her lesson to keep them ready at all times, and settled down with her book.

“Look who has her nose in a book. Why am I not surprised?” Ruth, with Ian in tow, found her first.

Claire smiled. “Must be cocktail time.”

“You bet. And we’re just in time to help the captain navigate.”

“What’s the drink of the day, today?” Millie, right behind Ruth and Ian looked pretty tonight, perhaps the cold weather was making her cheeks pink and her eyes sparkle.

“Do we need more chairs?” Sean, trailing slightly behind, wrestled a chair from a table behind them that wasn’t yet occupied. “How many?”

“Better get a couple more,” Ruth instructed. “There’s one.” She pointed at a table not far away and the occupants graciously admitted they didn’t need the chair.

“Where’s Lucy?” Millie asked.

“Don’t know, but she’ll show up shortly,” Claire assured her, then said to the waiter, “I think I’ll try the drink of the day, the Mango Daiquiri, please.”

“I’m buying today,” Sean insisted handing his card to the waiter. “Please let me as it’s so much cheaper than buying champagne for the table as others have done.”

They laughed at Sean’s attempt to portray himself as a cheapskate. They already knew from the past few days what a generous person he was.

“Well, how was your day?” Claire’s questions started a deluge as they all tried to describe their day at the same time. What she got from their onslaught was it was a very successful venture and it was too bad they hadn’t thought to do it earlier, as it was a very satisfactory way to see a port.

Lucy, as Claire predicted, arrived when the waiter brought their drinks. After she ordered she offered with a guilty smile, “I had a wonderful massage and then went back to the cabin and fell asleep. What a great afternoon.”

“Well, as long as you didn’t miss cocktails...” Ruth said.

“Not a chance, I have an internal clock that lets me know the proper time. I can be in my office, immersed in my writing and when cocktail time arrives it’s like an alarm goes off in my head. I have to wrap it up for the day. I’m very disciplined that way.”

Just then the horn blasted and the ship eased back from the dock. Claire looked at her watch. The ship was leaving right on time.

“Oh, look at that view of Ketchikan. What a pretty little town it is, even on a gloomy day.” Millie pointed. “Claire did you get a picture of it from here?”