West Wind by Madeline Sloane Read Free Book Online Page A

crushing the bow pulpit. Varnish peeled off the faded teak
trim.
    She looked closer. There were bales of moldy
hay on the cockpit seats and she could hear the "cheep cheep" of
tiny peeps in the cabin.
    It sat in a rusted, steel cradle, and its
broken lead keel lay beside it. Blair plucked a ladder from the
side of the barn and leaned it against the boat hull with a thud.
"Help yourself, missy. Have a good look."
    "I'm not sure what to look for," she
murmured.
    "Well, what is it you want to know?"
    "I'm searching for Hull Number One; the first
boat my grandfather made.
    Your invoice was the earliest, and I was
hoping that maybe this boat …" her voice faded.
    "Well, what you gotta do is climb up in there
and look in the cabin. There's a bronze builder's plate on one of
the walls. That's where it tells you the hull number. Why do you
want Hull Number One?"
    "A personal quest, I guess you could
say."
    He stepped back. "Like I said, help
yourself."
    Sabrina climbed the ladder and stepped
gingerly into the cockpit. She looked over the edge. "In
there?"
    "Ayuh."
    She inched towards the cabin opening and
removed the warped teak washboards. "Do you have a flashlight?"
    "Nope. I have a lighter. Want it?"
    "Um, sure. Thanks." She caught the deftly
tossed stainless steel Zippo lighter. She flipped the lid and
timidly rubbed the wheel. After a few tries, the spark caught
igniting a small butane flame. She looked inside. The cabin was
filled with several inches of black, oily water. Chicken feathers
floated on the surface.
    "Where did this water come from?" she called
over her shoulder.
    "Hatch leaks."
    She didn't want to step into the rank water,
so she leaned in and reached her arm forward, the flame casting
shadows on the washed-out teak. The lighter was growing hot,
beginning to burn her fingers. She couldn't see a bronze plate. She
almost gave up, had pulled her hand back toward her face when out
of the corner of her eye she saw it. It was on the bulkhead by the
cabin opening. She clung to the teak grab rails and leaned
inside.
    It read, "Zephyrus 32, No. 1, Zephyrus
Yachts, Warren, Rhode Island."
    "Yes!" she whispered.
     
    * * *
     
    Walking back to her car, Sabrina wished she
could ask Rose what to do next. She didn't know how to buy a boat,
didn't know what kind of questions to ask, so she started with the
most important.
    "I want to buy it. Will you sell?"
    "Well, you see, I'm fond of that boat."
    "But you haven't taken care of it. You can't
sail it. Why would you want to keep it?"
    "I don't. I'm just warming up."
    "I don't understand. You do want to sell the
boat, then?"
    "Maybe. How much?"
    "I don't know. What's a boat like that
worth?"
    "It's worth $5,000 to me."
    "What? That's what you paid thirty years ago.
I know, I've got the invoice," she cried, pulling the folded paper
from her jeans pocket.
    "That's what its worth. Do you want it?" The
canny old man leaned against the Cadillac and squinted at her.
    "Yes."
    "Then we gotta deal," he said, sticking out
his hand.
    Sabrina cautiously took it. "Will you accept
a check?"
    The old man looked at her car, then her, then
the car again. "Sure."
     
    * * *
     
    Back at the hotel, Sabrina called Rose. She
whispered into the cell phone, not wanting to disturb her. "It's
here, Grandmother. I've found it."
    "How exciting. I bet she's beautiful."
    "Not really. It's been stored next to a barn
for a long time, and it looks pretty shabby right now."
    "Boats are female, so you must refer to the
Zephyrus properly. Calling her an 'it' is not nice."
    Sabrina chuckled. "Boat etiquette, huh?"
    "That's right. Now that you're an owner, you
have to follow protocol."
    "That's right; we own a sailboat. I gave that
old thief a check today. What should I do now, Grandmother? I have
to get it repaired. I mean 'her.'"
    "Find a local boatyard, and talk to the
owner. They can arrange to have it transported to their shop."
    "It's going to be more expensive than I
thought," Sabrina warned.
    "I'm sure it will