Waking Up Gray (33 page)

“Austin, it’s Fanny. Gray’s in trouble. The boat sunk out in the Sound, she’s swimmin’ in.” She listened, then answered, “Northwest of the island. She said she was headin’ toward Howard’s Reef. Coast Guard’s on the way.” Fanny waited and then added, “All right. I’ll be right here,” before hanging up.

Fanny turned to Lizbeth, who was still frozen in stunned silence. “They’ll find her.”

Lizbeth, although quite still, was running a hundred miles an hour in her brain. She was trying to figure out how a drunken Gray was going to swim to shore in the dark. How would she know which way was east? She could use the stars. Gray would know how to do that. Surely she had a floatation device. How cold was the water? How long could she stay afloat? Were there sharks out there? The questions flew by in rapid succession. Lizbeth didn’t know the answers to many of them and it frightened her even more.

The radio came alive again as the Coast Guard cutter from Hatteras Inlet joined the rescue boat in the search. Two helicopters, dispatched from Elizabeth City, called out grid assignments. Gray had waxed poetic about the Coast Guard and how much respect she had for them. Her father’s best friend had taken a cutter out in thirty-foot seas that no one else would risk. Against orders, he set out to rescue a crew from a sinking fishing vessel. He was unable to get out of Oregon Inlet, because the sea kept throwing them back into the Sound, so he drove the cutter as fast as he could down the backside of Hatteras Island and out the inlet at Ocracoke, saving all hands. He received the highest award possible for an enlisted man from the President of the United States. In order to receive The Coast Guard Medal an individual must have performed a voluntary act of heroism in the face of great personal danger. The men and women of the Coast Guard were brave and took their mission to help a sailor in distress to heart. Lizbeth prayed they would be up to their best performance tonight.

They spent the next few hours pacing the floor. The news traveled quickly through the village. Friends and neighbors started pouring into the little cottage, spilling out onto the porch. Platters and bowls of food trailed through the door. Cora Mae showed up without the offending Jane. Concern creased their brows, even as the gatherers told funny Gray stories to ease their minds. It reminded Lizbeth of the way people acted at a funeral, the food, the stories, hushed voices, and questioning glances. Gray wasn’t dead, she couldn’t be. Lizbeth had to get away from these people. When Jaye showed up, she offered to go for a walk with Lizbeth. Lizbeth gave Fanny her daughter’s cell phone number, so she could call if she heard anything.

Fanny seemed to understand Lizbeth’s need to get out of the house. She kissed her on the cheek and whispered, “You just keep prayin’.”

Jaye and Lizbeth found themselves standing by the Swan Quarter ferry dock, staring out into the black water. They could see the lights from some of the boats out looking for Gray. The villagers had rallied to form their own search party, running a line of boats on the backside of the island, moving west into the Sound, hoping to intercept Gray swimming in. Occasionally, the sound of helicopter blades echoed through the air.

“How cold is that water, Jaye? How long can she swim?” Lizbeth asked, peering over the water.

Jaye answered with an islander’s certainty. “Sound water’s usually about the same as the air temperature, so it’s close to seventy in the shallow places, gets colder out deep. Gray can swim in, if she’s smart.”

Lizbeth argued, “But she’s at least ten miles out. I heard what those men in the yard were saying. They said if she was in the deep water, then she was at least that far and she’s drunk.”

Jaye tried to reassure Lizbeth. “I guarantee you when that boat started sinking she sobered up pretty damn quick. If she keeps moving, the alcohol will burn off, anyway.”

“I just hope she can keep moving. Did you hear Cora Mae say they had taken all the lifejackets off the boat to clean them this afternoon, so she doesn’t even have one.”

Jaye sniffed the air, observing, “Wind’s pushing against her, but it’s not strong. She can swim from sandbar to sandbar. She can wait a while between swimming. Water’s flat so she should be able to see the beacon from the lighthouse even if she’s swimming.”

“If anything happens to her, I’ll never forgive myself. This is my fault.”

Lizbeth started to cry for the first time since she knew Gray was in trouble. She had not let herself cry in front of Fanny. Fanny had enough to worry about. Fanny was strong and showed faith that all would be well and they’d all have a good laugh over it later, but Lizbeth knew Fanny was desperately worried for Gray.

Jaye continued to impress Lizbeth with her insight. “I don’t ‘magine it was you that told her to get on that boat like a damn fool, drunk. From what I gathered, you weren’t even on the island at the time.”

“How do you know where I was?”

Jaye laughed. “Well, after the scene down at the docks this morning, I kinda figured it out.”

Lizbeth’s brow creased in question. “What scene?”

Jaye started laughing harder, and her words were interrupted repeatedly by all out guffaws, as she relayed the story of what happened after Gray found out she was gone.

“Gray got hauled in this morning around seven and she was pissed. She stormed down the dock telling anyone that would listen that she was going to find out who stole the gas and kick some ass. She did pull back on that when she found out it was Billy, and he meant to put it back this morning when the store opened. He didn’t know she was going out again. She didn’t kill him, but she made his ass sorry, that’s for sure.”

“So all this started because some guy named Billy borrowed her gas.” Lizbeth was shaking her head at all the little things that had brought them to this moment. Gray might have been in time to stop Lizbeth from going to Durham, if she had not run out of gas.

Jaye continued, “I overheard Gray tell that pretty blond lady that this was all her fault and that you had left because of her. Gray told her to get the fuck off the island, right there in front of the Community Store.”

“Yeah, the pretty blonde told me that part.”

“So, you met her. Is that the one?” Jaye asked.

“Yeah, Jaye, she was the one, but it’s over, for good. Now, if Gray will just come out of that water, we can go on with our lives.”

Jaye threw an arm around Lizbeth’s shoulder. “She’ll be back. Little bit of water won’t stop Gray. If she knew you were on the island again, she’d be here already.”

“Do you really think so?”

Jaye smiled. “I’ve watched Gray real close. I think I know her pretty well and she is head over heels in love with you. She’s probably out there swimming in, thinking about you, and what she’s going to say to you if she gets the chance.”

“I know what I’m going to say to her, if I get the chance,” Lizbeth said. “She’s not to take anymore nighttime boat rides with other women. It leads to trouble.”

Jaye snickered. “You got that right.”

#

Lizbeth woke up on Fanny’s parlor couch, with an afghan tossed over her by someone in the night. She had waited until the wee hours of the morning before shutting her eyes against the sheer exhaustion of not knowing. The sun was just coming up and Lizbeth could hear hushed speech in the back of the house. The radio was gone from the mantel, moved into the kitchen, where Lizbeth could hear an occasional crackle of voices from the searchers.

There was still no word from the rescue party. Lizbeth stood and stretched the sore muscles in her neck back into place. She had fallen asleep awkwardly positioned and her body was fighting back with pain. Lizbeth tiptoed to the bathroom in the hall. She relieved her screaming bladder and then stood washing her hands in the sink. She caught her reflection in the mirror. Dark circles from lack of sleep and worry had formed under her eyes. Lizbeth took a shuddering breath and then sat down on the edge of the tub.

Gray had been missing for more than nine hours now. The Coast Guard helicopters had located an oil slick and debris field where they believed the Fanny Gray went down, approximately ten miles off the coast. There was no sign of Gray. The grids had tightened and the search was underway still, with more Coast Guard resources now engaged. They hoped that at daylight they would be able to spot her. Lizbeth couldn’t let herself lose hope. It was the only thing keeping her from going over the edge.

In the bleakest of times, even the most staunchly anti-religious person will seek a higher power. Lizbeth realized she could not do this alone. She needed a hand this time. Lizbeth wasn’t an extremely religious person, but she believed in God. She knew she was at the end of her rope. She slipped off the edge of the bathtub and dropped to her knees, folded her hands and prayed.

A soft tap on the door startled her. Fanny’s voice came through the door. “Lizbeth, are you all right?”

Lizbeth stood and opened the door. She managed a weak smile for Fanny, whose own anxiousness shrouded her face. “I’m fine Miss Fanny.”

“Come on, let’s feed you.” It was just like Fanny to be more worried about Lizbeth than herself.

Lizbeth followed Fanny to the kitchen, where to her surprise they were alone. “Where did everybody go?”

Fanny bustled around cracking eggs and placing bacon on the griddle. “I sent them to the porch for a while. Give me some time to collect my thoughts.”

“You and Gray have a lot of friends.”

Fanny dropped an egg in the frying pan, where it sizzled. “Kin to most of ‘em, but we’re all like family here. What happens to one affects us all.”

“Fanny, Gray’s still out there. I can feel her. I know she’s trying to get back to us.”

“You hang on to that feeling. I believe Gray’s out there, too. Gray’s got too much life in her to go down without a fight.”

Lizbeth laughed under her breath. “When I do get my hands on her we’re going to have a talk about going off drunk and half cocked.”

Fanny chuckled. “Get in line. I’m gonna beat her within an inch of her life with a boat paddle, after I hug the tar out of her.”

Lizbeth nibbled on the edge of the toast Fanny sat in front of her while she waited on the eggs. “You know, that Sound is shallow. She could swim up on a sandbar out there real easy.”

Fanny looked back over her shoulder at Lizbeth from her duties at the frying pan. “How’d you go to know so much about that Sound?”

“I looked up nautical charts on Gray’s laptop in her room. She said Howard’s Reef and I figure she could have made it there and just be sitting in the shallow water waiting to be picked up.”

Fanny turned back to the eggs, but continued talking. “That’s a long swim from where they found the slick, ‘tween seven an’ eight miles, ‘magine it would’ve taken awhile, but God knows as stubborn as that girl is, she will swim that water.”

“Yes ma’am, I do believe you’re right about that.”

The cell phone in Lizbeth’s pocket rang. Lizbeth looked at the caller I.D. and saw it was Molly. Evidently, Mazie and Molly had exchanged numbers during Lizbeth’s recent downfall. She answered.

Before she could get beyond hello, Molly started talking fast. “Lizbeth, oh my God, I just saw it on the news. Are you okay?”

Lizbeth hadn’t thought about anyone but the people on the island knowing about Gray. “Yes, worried sick, but okay.” Lizbeth glanced at Fanny and took the phone out onto the back deck to finish the call. The sun was just beginning to dawn.

Lizbeth heard a voice in the background, and then Molly said, “Is there anything I can do?”

“No, just pray, I guess. We’re just waiting to hear something, anything. You could call Mazie for me. Tell her I’ll call as soon as I know something.”

“Okay, I’ll do that. Is there anything else?” Molly paused and Lizbeth heard the voice again. “We can be there in a couple of hours if you need us.”

Lizbeth was worried, but she wasn’t so preoccupied that she couldn’t figure out what was going on. “Molly, when you say we, are you referring to you and Mazie, or the other woman there with you?”

Molly chuckled. “Yeah, you’re all right. You still have your sense of humor.”

“I take it dinner went well,” Lizbeth teased.

“Very well,” Molly said, and Lizbeth could visualize the smile on her face.

“Then why are you up so early?”

“I was just getting ready to take Dana to the airport. She has an early flight, but she just called and cancelled it. Said she couldn’t leave till she knew Gray was all right.”

“Molly, keep her in Durham. Whatever you do, do not let her come down here. When I do get my hands on Gray, Dana is the last thing I want to see or discuss. You keep her busy.”

Molly laughed loudly. “That, Lizbeth, would be my pleasure.”

“God, I’m dying out here and you’re getting laid,” Lizbeth said, but she was laughing, too.

Molly’s tone changed as she said, sincerely, “Lizbeth, I’m praying for you and Gray. She’ll be all right. From what I gather, she’s quite tough. Dana said she’d make it.”

“And yet, Dana is staying because she’s afraid she won’t,” Lizbeth said, gravely.

Molly tried to cheer her, whispering so Dana wouldn’t hear, “I’d like to think she used it as an excuse to stay with me just a little longer.”

Lizbeth smiled into the phone. “One woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure, ‘ey Molly?”