Savior by Anthony Caplan Read Free Book Online Page B

whispered behind Al's ear.
    She looks so much older in that dress.
    The Reverend Pamela Grayson, the minister from the Methodist church, was a large, jolly woman in robes, who registered official mirth on her face as she lifted up Al and Mary’s conjoined hands like boxing champs when she pronounced them man and wife and somebody, nobody knew who, some middle-aged meathead, gave a big Bronx cheer when they kissed.
    They flew to Seattle for the Carnival Line cruise of Alaska's inner passage, and a limousine picked them up at the airport. During the drive in the limo, Mary felt sick and Al told her to lie down and put her head in his lap. He stroked her forehead and hoped she would be all right. They were supposed to stop at the Pike Place Market, but Al told the driver to go straight to the hotel. Mary sat up groggily.
    It's just bloat, she said.
    We'll get plenty of rest on the cruise, Mary. No worries.
    In the hotel room that night, they had steak and champagne with the room service. Mary ate the asparagus tips and barely touched her food. Then they watched the lights of the harbor out the large window, pulling the curtains back all the way. The television stayed off at Mary's insistence. Al thought she looked beautiful in her nightgown after she had showered and put her wet hair in a bun.
    Are you feeling better?
    Yes. Being with you always makes me feel better.
    She snuggled next to him in bed and they just lay like that in each other's arms in the half -lit room listening to the muffled sounds of the western city on the edge of the continent.
    There's something wild in the air here, she said.
    I know.
    Can you feel it? I could feel it in the limo, just going under those underpasses along the highway. So overgrown and lush and wild.
    Yeah. It's different all right. And Alaska's going to be even better.
    I wonder if we shouldn't have just stayed here and explored on our own. Eight days. Will that be too much?
    Oh, no. It'll be perfect. There's music and a jogging track on deck, and karaoke.
    I'm not a jogger.
    It will be nice, Mary. You'll see.
    He pulled her closer to him and kissed her. Her kiss back was strong, passionate, but he felt that he would crush her with the intensity of his feeling.
    Mary. Are you sure you're okay?
    I'm fine, Al, she said, with a hint of exasperation.
    They made love, not for the first time, and it had a hint of savagery in it, of inexplicable forces beyond their control.
    The next morning they boarded the cruise ship, took a cabin on deck with a balcony, and settled in by walking down to the shopping gallery and inspecting the gift shop. The ship was very luxurious and stable, with almost no feel or sound from the water below. There were hundreds of people on board, and Mary felt overwhelmed. They retreated to the cabin and unpacked. Al was very excited and couldn't stay inside the cabin very long.
    You go and have a walk .
    He went to the deck and watched the land slip away. Now he was a married man and it was like his youth lay behind him and the mystery of the future was like this, a boat, a large comfortable boat. It was a good life, and many of the conversations he overheard on the deck reflected the sense that the people onboard felt graced somehow with the good fortune of sharing this very day. Al wished Mary felt better, but part of the mystery of th is new life was learning how to match each other's rhythms and habits. He felt sure she would enjoy herself soon. When it became evident that she would spend most of the cruise inside the cabin, the realization dawned on him that there were shades of blessedness and his was perhaps not the most vivid of all possible colorations.
    But she felt better by the sixth day. At Skagway they both hiked with the more intrepid voyagers up the trail taken by the Gold Rush miners. Then they sat in the Gold Rush cemetery on a cold stone bench and Mary, flush in the face after the hike, told Al about a dream she'd had.
    I was traveling in a boat, sailing