Bullard's Best Page 7

  “But I don’t think they’re quite ready to let go of Leia’s magic or their medicine woman’s skills,” Katie noted.

  “No, definitely not.” Dave turned to help Katie into the skiff. He looked back to see everybody watching, as if they had followed them down to the water. “I’m not sure when they came after us. I didn’t see them, did you?”

  She shrugged. “I wasn’t really watching, but I saw them, yes.”

  He smiled at them and helped her into the boat, then slowly pulled out.

  “Times are changing here, aren’t they?” she asked quietly.

  “Time changes everywhere,” he noted in an equally quiet voice.

  “I can’t imagine living a life like this.”

  “More joy. Maybe more hardship too sometimes, but it’s a simpler life that isn’t so driven all the time. It’s a lot more peaceful.”

  “Until you have something like these young men, seeking something more.”

  “Very true.” At that, Dave and Katie stayed quiet, and they drifted, slowly motoring their way back toward the yacht.

  When they got on board, she called out to the captain, “Are you ready for food?” When she got no answer, she turned and headed to the kitchen. But there was no sign of him there. She ran upstairs and called out again. “Where is he?”

  His face grim, Dave came back from searching the pilot area. “No clue. The prisoner is gone too.”

  She froze at that. “Oh my God. Do you think they took Sam too?”

  “Worse would be if they deep-sixed him.”

  Her heart quaked at that idea because the captain was a hell of a good man and such a dedicated husband and father. There was nothing more important than the family he held so close.

  They quickly raced around on the second deck, and, under one of the lifeboats, Dave stopped and pointed to a bit of fabric sticking out. With a handgun at the ready, he quickly lifted a corner and snapped, “Hands up!”

  The captain cut loose with a roar. Easing up the end of the lifeboat, Dave found Sam lying there, tied up, furious, and gagged.

  Dave immediately holstered his pistol and helped the captain out from underneath the lifeboat, so they could get him untied. As the captain sat up, he swore. “I know I’ve got a harder head than most, but I really don’t like getting it smashed.”

  Immediately Dave took a look at his head; they had broken the skin when they had knocked him out. “On the other hand, it’s a damn good thing they only knocked you out.”

  “If you say so. I can’t say I see a single good thing about any of this,” he snapped.

  “How many were there?”

  “No clue. I didn’t see anything. I was studying the maps and looking at the weather charts, when this guy came up behind me. I turned and got hit over the head.”

  “Sorry about that.” Dave helped the captain up to the deck, where he sat him back down.

  Katie immediately brought some water for him. “We really do need backup now,” she said.

  “I’ve already called it in,” Dave replied gently. “They will be here soon.”

  She walked over to him, and he immediately opened his arms and gave her a hug. “It’ll be fine,” he murmured.

  “Maybe, and maybe not. I’m sure seeing the uglier side of your work.”

  “True. But something like this could happen anywhere.”

  “I guess. I just don’t like to see it.”

  “None of us do,” he replied, with a gentle smile. He dropped a kiss on her forehead. “What about lunch?”

  “Can you eat right now?”

  “Absolutely. Plus, it might help the captain feel better.”

  She went to the galley area and quickly made up some sandwiches that she brought out.

  The captain’s eyes lit up when he saw the food. “Nothing like food to make you feel better.”

  “If it had been me hit over the head,” she said, “it would be all I could do to get any food down at all.”

  “That’s because you’re a girl, with a softer head.” Sam munched down on the first sandwich he could reach. “My head’s pretty hard. It’s just my temper that’s the problem right now. I can’t believe the little buggers snuck up on me.”

  “You had your headset on, didn’t you?”

  He looked at her, shamefaced. “I did. I was listening to some of the songs my son wanted me to hear.” Then he shrugged. “Can’t say it was worth getting hit over the head about either.”

  She chuckled at that. “It’s all good. I won’t tattle on you.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Somebody needs to because there has to be an explanation for why I got hit.”

  “Your guard was down,” she said. “We’re all experiencing something similar.”

  “We’re not supposed to though,” Sam complained. “Obviously things are very off here.”

  She added, “I think it’s just off for these two young punks.”

  Just then, Dave’s phone beeped, with a text message. He looked down at it, smiled, and said, “Guess what?”

  “What?” the captain asked in a testy voice.

  “Looks like we’re about to get company. Good company this time.”

  *

  Dave looked up to see a speedboat coming toward them. He lifted a hand in greeting, as they approached. And, sure enough, there was Bullard, Leia, Fallon, and Linny too—Fallon’s partner and Dave’s niece. Dave smiled. “Well, here’s four out of at least twelve?”

  “At least.” Fallon gave a jovial laugh, as he hopped on board, helping Linny next, and took one look at the captain, and frowned. “What the hell?”

  “Don’t even start,” the captain groused.

  Dave hugged his niece, happy to see her so happy.

  “You really got hit from behind?” Fallon asked Sam.

  He pointed to the head wound, and there was no mistaking that, from the angle of the blow, he’d been taken down from behind.

  “So, even in paradise, there’s still a little hell.”

  “We were hoping that it was all dealt with,” Dave said, looking at Leia and smiling. “But your paradise has a few vipers.”

  “Every paradise does.” Then her face twisted, as she worried about the island and its people. “How is the wise old one?”

  “Not so good. Also a very pregnant woman really hopes she’ll get back on her feet fast.”

  “That’s Micla. I guess she’s due now, isn’t she?”

  “She looks like she was due weeks ago,” Dave confirmed. “I don’t know if you can willfully hold a child in, but, if she gets her choice, she won’t let that birth happen until the old woman can help her.”

  “That’s not a great idea either.” Leia looked up at Bullard. “I better get over there.”

  Bullard nodded. “I’m coming too.”

  She smiled. “They won’t hurt me.”

  “I’m coming,” Bullard said in a firm voice.

  She raised both hands in frustration. “Fine, be protective then.”

  “I intend to,” he stated, with a cheeky grin.

  Dave said, “Maybe I’ll come along with you, as long as Fallon and Linny are good to stay with Captain Sam and Katie.”

  With everyone in agreement, they headed to the small skiff, and Dave slowly motored them around the island to the village.

  “I always walk,” Leia said. “I don’t ever come this way.”

  “There was no need to before,” Bullard said quietly. “Why would you get into a rowboat that will be hard to navigate in the ocean waters, especially when high winds come up, if you can just walk?”

  She just smiled at him and his island ways. As she got off the skiff and onto the dock, several people raced toward her. Lots of hugs and exclamations and greetings were exchanged all around. Then, almost as one, the entourage, the entire troop, headed toward the old medicine woman. As they got closer, more and more people joined in.

  “Wow,” Dave said to Bullard. “Leia really is loved here. Her and the medicine woman.”
r />   Bullard nodded. “It’s causing me a little bit of trouble too, as far as keeping Leia happy in Africa.”

  “Well, I can see that she will want to come back on a regular basis. These people have become like family to her.”

  “And a family who accepted her,” Bullard stated.

  “All the more reason,” Dave said. “We all know what that’s like.”

  “I understand, but I don’t know that I want to lose her that often.”

  “Well, like Katie said, maybe you need to make this another stronghold.”

  Bullard looked at him and started to laugh. “I don’t think anybody will get any work done while they’re here.”

  “And maybe that’s a good thing too,” Dave replied. “Everybody works too much as it is.”

  “So many new relationships are developing right now,” Bullard noted. “I’m half afraid nobody will ever work again.” He turned to Dave. “You included.”

  Dave looked at him in surprise, then realized what he meant and flushed. “Hey, Katie and I have been heading in that direction for a long time.”

  “And I’m damn glad to see it,” he said. “I’ve thought a couple times that I might have to do something to throw you two together, but it looks like you finally got there on your own.”

  Dave smiled. “Absolutely. Absolutely.”

  “But how serious is it?”

  “She asked me how many kids I wanted today,” he mentioned sheepishly.

  Bullard looked at him and started to laugh. “Well, in that case, it’s damn serious. She’s been after a family for a long time.”

  “Yeah. I’m both excited and terrified.”

  “With good reason,” he admitted. “You lost everything, man. Now you’ve been given a second chance. I would take it, if I were you.”

  “I’m planning on it,” Dave added. “All the excitement on this trip has brought us closer, that’s for sure.”

  “Sorry for the trouble, but I’m really glad for you, Dave.”

  “Thanks. It sure changes how you look at things.” He turned his attention back to see the old woman, stretched out just as he’d left her. She didn’t show any signs of having moved at all. He frowned at that. “She’s in exactly the same position as I left her in.”

  “Yes, of course,” Leia said, with a heavy sigh. “She’s well past her end date.”

  “What?” he asked, not sure he’d actually heard her say that.

  Leia smiled. “We used to joke about it, the two of us. We think she’s well in her nineties.”

  “Much harder to recover from something like this then.”

  “She was also ready to go, but looking for somebody who would help take over the island and her position. But she never found anybody who had quite the right qualifications and personality.”

  “Understood, and that’s got to be tough.”

  “It is. She spent her lifetime looking for somebody to help.”

  “Which is another reason you bonded with her so well. If you had been a local, her search would have ended.”

  “Yes. But it’s also not my place, not my home. I’m happy to be a visitor and a regular tourist,” she admitted. “But it’s a whole different story to devote your life to looking after a village like this.”

  “Maybe they’ll have to make more trips to the mainland,” Dave suggested.

  “And it also depends on how often we’ll come back,” Bullard said.

  Leia looked up at him and smiled knowingly. “You don’t want to come back at all.”

  “That’s not true,” he protested. “I just want to make sure you’re safe.”

  “You can’t keep me all bundled up forever,” she murmured.

  “But I can try,” he said.

  She just shook her head, but her happy smile was evident.

  Just then there was a movement from the old woman on the floor. As she opened her eyes slowly, to see everybody around her staring, her gaze landed on Leia. She smiled immediately and reached out a hand.

  Leia grabbed her hand and just held it close to her heart, then spoke some interesting words that nobody really understood.

  Dave looked at Bullard, but Bullard was trying to figure it out himself.

  Finally Leia settled back. “She will pull through this time,” she stated, looking around at the others. “But, as I’ve told you many times, her time is coming. She doesn’t have much more to give.”

  “But you didn’t give us a time,” the pregnant woman said.

  “Nobody can give you a time,” she corrected. “When it’s time for her to go, she’ll go.”

  There was sadness in everybody’s face but also joy that the medicine woman would make it through this time.

  Leia stood again and eased the medicine woman out of the awkward position she’d been in. She looked at Bullard. “They will likely have to do more and more trips to the mainland, and there is a trend toward that, but there’s also a lot of people who don’t want anything to do with it. There’s a monetary system on the island that doesn’t really work well for them here.”

  “No, of course not,” Bullard said. “Is there free care for anybody?”

  “No, not free, at least I don’t think so. But there is a bartering system that a lot of them employ.”

  “That’s good at least.” Bullard just shook his head, as the others surrounded them, with several trying to talk to Leia.

  She listened to several, gave advice to a couple, and then her gaze landed on the very heavily pregnant woman standing off to the side. She frowned and walked over. “You need to lie down.”

  The young woman stared at her defiantly.

  “She will live, but she may not be of any use for your birth at this time,” she said quietly.

  “I was waiting for somebody to help. Are you staying long enough to be here?”

  “If you would relax and allow that child to be born, we’ll have this over and done with in just a few hours.”

  The young woman flashed a bright smile. “In that case, I will go lie down.”

  “But you need to be calm because that baby is bound and determined to come now.” And, with that, Leia turned to Bullard, “I’ll go help deliver her child.”

  “Right now?”

  “Yes, right now.”

  Bullard looked at Dave, who shrugged. “I’ll head back to the launch. Obviously you’re staying here with Leia.”

  “Obviously,” Bullard said, with a grin.

  “Hey,” Leia said, “you’d be just as bad. I’ve seen you deliver babies in the clinic yourself.”

  “Sure, but I had a full set of equipment.”

  “Well, you get to learn new ways here,” Leia replied, with a smirk. “And, if everything goes well, it’s fine. When there’s no equipment and when we have big problems, then it’s a huge issue.”

  “How long to the mainland?”

  “Over an hour, and that’s only in ideal weather conditions.”

  “Big cities sometimes have to wait that long to get an ambulance anyway,” he muttered.

  She nodded. “Unfortunately that’s very true.” And she and the pregnant woman disappeared into a small hut off to the side.

  Dave reached up, slapped Bullard on the shoulder. “Have fun.”

  “Great. If I need an assistant …” Bullard let his words trail off.

  “You are the assistant this time,” Dave said, with a big grin.

  “That I am. That I am.” With a deep breath, Bullard headed toward the small hut and poked his head in. He spoke with Leia for a few minutes, then popped out. “Dave, we’ll be fine here. Maybe come back in an hour or two.”

  “Will do.” Dave returned to the skiff.

  What he needed to do first was figure out where the pathways were so they could make that walk. By the time he got to Leia’s corner, it would be almost time to turn around and check back with Bullard again.

  As he made it to where Leia’s little corner was, he saw Fallon and Linny walking around the space, getting accli
mated. He docked, hopped out of the boat, and saw Katie there too, once again with her tape measure. He smiled at her and said, “The old woman woke up, seems to be coherent. Leia is staying to help deliver the pregnant woman’s baby, and Bullard is staying to look after Leia.”

  Katie grinned at that. “That’s perfect. The circle of life and all. It’s a cycle of life and death.”

  “Let’s hope there’s more life than death,” he muttered. He looked at Linny. “And how are you doing, my dear?”

  She walked over and gave him a big hug. “Better than you.” But then she stopped, looked at him. “Or not.” She looked back at Katie, who was busy muttering with her tape measure, then back at him again and grinned. “I am so happy.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Everybody needs to get out of my business,” he muttered.

  “No,” Katie said. “They all share the same sentiment as I do.”

  “He’s slow, but he finally got there,” Linny declared. “I presume it was worth it.”

  At that, the two women chuckled, and Dave felt the heat spreading on his cheeks. “Enough of that,” he said. “We have work to do.”

  “I’m running security and checking up on the others right now,” Fallon stated from the side, as he put away his phone. “Bullard will be running security on Leia, and we have a bunch of stuff to set up. We’ve got a ship coming in with some prebuilds that we’ll put together.”

  “What kind of a ship?” Dave asked.

  “Not a fast one,” Fallon stated, with a big smile, pointing out in the distance. Sure enough, there was a low slower-moving vessel, almost like a barge, coming toward them.

  “So, now what? We’re about to throw up a half-dozen huts or so?” Dave asked.

  “That’s part of it.” Fallon nodded. “No reason not to, right?”

  “No, none in the world.” At that, Dave said, “You want to head back to the other boat to meet them, or are they coming in here?”

  “I was just looking at the water. I think they can come in.”

  “That’s one of the reasons this area is perfect,” Dave stated. “It’s deep right here.”

  Chapter 8