Three days at sea passed.
Trace sat on the foredeck against the cabin. He was reading a book. Cooper was at the rudder. Kelsey walked around the boat as if looking for something to do. He did deep knee bends, push-ups, and ran in place.
Exasperated Kelsey said, “How do you put up with this!”
“Sometimes I read,” Trace said.
Kelsey bent down to read the title of the book. “Moby Dick!”
“Yeah,” Trace said, “it’s a good book. You ought to read it.”
“Doesn’t the ship sink in the end, and they all die?”
“No,” Trace said, “Ishmael, the main character, lives.”
“If you know how it ends, why read it?” Kelsey said.
“Actually, this is the fourth time I’ve read it.”
“The sea has made you stark raving mad!” Kelsey said.
Trace laid the book on his lap. He smiled softly as if he understood Kelsey's condition of boredom. “There’s portions of this book where there is no wind. When there’s no wind, there’s nothing for sailors to do. In the book, it’s a difficult time. I sometimes think Melville wrote that portion of the book to inform others how taxing with monotony the sea can be. And reading about it eases the boredom.”
“I think a good workout does a man better,” Kelsey said. “Ya don’t want your muscles to atrophy.”
“I won’t argue the point with you,” Trace said. “But the mind can also atrophy. Cooper has a couple of good books below.”
“Like what?”
“I think there’s The Bobbsey Twins, The Mystery of the Deep Blue Sea, that’s if you fancy sea stories.”
Kelsey sneered.
“What! You've got to start somewhere,” Trace feigned concern.
“You don’t trust anyone, do you?” Kelsey said.
“Not so,” Trace said. “I trust my buddy back on The Tramp Islander, Sage. I trust his dad; they call him Coyote. I trust my grandpa and my dad. I trust cows, my dog, and my horse. But it does keep one eye open when it comes to the cows.”
Kelsey disdainfully sniffed.
“Here’s the deal, Kelsey, you don’t trust anyone—not one person. The guys over you, under you, and beside you. You can’t trust them. The guys beside you and under you would do almost anything to move above you, and the guys above you want to keep you where you are.”
“It’s that place everywhere,” Kelsey said.
“Not back in Texas,” Kelsey said.
“Texas ain’t any different than anyplace else,” Kelsey grinned. “I’ve watched Dallas.”
“Where I’m from, that’s kiddy show stuff, Saturday morning cartoons,” Trace said. “In my parts, people show up like that, we spit in their coffee and send them back to Austin, Houston, or Dallas. It’s a big state. It’s like a big house; by the time you clean from right to left, right is dusty again.”
“Given what you’ve just said,” Kelsey squatted in front of Trace and came eye to eye, “why do you stay here? There’s deceit all around. I’ve read a file on you. I’m sure it doesn’t tell the whole story, but you’ve been involved in stuff that’s enough to make a sane man curse the good lord and die.”
“What keeps you going?” Trace asked. “What is it? Certainly, you don’t think that this is a Hollywood movie, once the bad guys are chased out of town, the whole valley is at peace? There is no closing scene or last chapter when all is good. When you retire, it will be worse than when you started. You should go back to the station or ranch or whatever you call it. Get yourself a good dog and horse.”
“And look at you,” Kelsey said. He stood from his squatted position. “I’m going below and look for that Bobbsey Twins book you mentioned, what was it?”
“The Mystery of the Deep Blue Sea,” Trace said. “It’s really not down there.”
“I know that,” Kelsey said, “but I’m going to look for The Bobbsey Twins in La La Land. It’s something that would be right down your alley, or in your wheelhouse, or whatever you call it.”
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