Ken Douglas: Ragged Man

“ We’re about half a mile south of the pier,” she said.

He continued on a straight course.

“ You have to make a left if you want the pier.”

“ I don’t want the pier.”

“ Why not.”

“ There’s no time. If I have to slow down and try and park this damn thing, we’ll never make it.”

“ So what are you going to do?”

“ Run it onto the beach.” He pulled the throttle back to a quarter. “When we get as close as we dare, I’ll make a hard right and you can dive off and swim to shore. Then flag a car and save J.P.”

“ What about you?”

“ I’ll beach the boat and follow you up.”

“ I don’t want to leave you.”

“ I’ll slow you down, right now the important thing is to save J.P.”

“ You’re right.”

“ You better get on deck.”

“ I love you,” she said, leaving the bridge.

“ I love you, too.”

She climbed down the ladder, stood on the starboard side, waiting and watching as the beach closed out of the fog, and when it looked like the beach was impossibly close, Rick slid the boat into a left turn. She took her shoes off and dove into the surf, swimming for shore with long easy strokes. As Ann, she had been a mediocre swimmer, but as Judy, she was world class and in excellent shape.

She caught a six foot wave as she closed on the beach and body surfed into three feet of water, where she stood and sloshed her way to the sand. Then, without looking back, she broke into a dead run for the road, waving and screaming at a black Toyota that sped up as she approached, its driver ignoring her.

In frustration she turned and watched as Rick took the Seawolf into a wide circle under full power. When he had completed the first half of the circumference he straightened it out and headed for the beach.

The Seawolf ended its last voyage with a scraping crash as she scratched along the bottom, but Judianne couldn’t wait and see what happened to Rick, because a green Porsche was coming down the road.

This one wasn’t going to ignore her. She staggered like she was hurt and fell on the road. The Porsche stopped and a leggy, young blond in a low cut sailor shirt and skimpy white shorts, scrambled out of the car.

When she heard the door open, Judianne jumped up, saying, “Sorry, but I need the car.”

“ What,” the blonde said, startled.

“ Life and death-Sorry.” Judianne pushed the girl aside, jumped behind the wheel and sped away.

Rick braced himself, but when the boat hit ground, he was thrown against the wheel and knocked onto his back. Painfully, he got up and when he was sure the boat was beached, he climbed down from the bridge. He stumbled along the deck and thought he saw someone approaching as he went over the side and into the water. He hoped he could touch, because he was too worn out to fight the waves.

He slid into the sea, holding his breath and his heart cried in dismay when his feet didn’t hit bottom. He opened his eyes and saw only black. He held his breath and pushed toward the surface. Flapping his arms, he grabbed a great gulp of air, flopped onto his back, trying to do the back stroke, but only one arm wanted to obey and he went under again.

He came up, gasping for air, fighting a wave.

“ Don’t panic, I’ve got you.” It was the voice of an angel.

He tried hard not to panic.

“ Relax, let me do the work and everything will be all right.” Not an angel, a living, breathing human being. A woman.

He lay back and obeyed as she circled his chest with a strong arm, then kicked with her long legs, pulling him safely and surely toward shore.

Rick leaned on her as she helped him out of the water and, once they were safely on the sand, he told her, through panting breath, that he needed to get up the hill, could she flag down a car, “It’s a matter of life and death.”

“ I’ve heard that before,” she said as she went up to the road to stop a passing car.

Judianne slammed on the brakes and jumped out of the car. She fumbled with her keys on the front porch, opened the door and dashed up the stairs. Out of breath, she flung the bathroom door open and sank to her knees in anger and frustration. The bathroom was empty.

She looked at her watch. 11:59. Dammit, she’d made it on time. He should be here. The man said he would be here. She stared at her watch and watched as the digital seconds ticked away to 12:00 and she cried.

At 12:05 she heard a car drive up and she went outside and met Rick and the woman whose car she’d hijacked. She saw a green van drive away, its driver apparently wanting nothing more to do with a situation he was beyond understanding.

“ Your keys are in the car,” she said to the woman.

“ You said it was a matter of life and death,” the young woman said, “did it end up life?”

“ No.”

“ I’m sorry.” She slid behind the wheel of the Porsche and slowly drove down the hill.

“ Is he dead?” Rick asked.

“ He wasn’t there. He was never there.”

“ Maybe he meant my bathroom.”

Judianne ran across the clearing to the other house with Rick on her heels. They flew through the kitchen, dining and living rooms and up the steps to the second floor. She pushed the door open and saw J.P., tied by the neck to the water faucet, naked, with his hands covering his private parts and a sheepish grin on his face.

“ It was easy,” he said, “once I figured it out. I pulled the plug.”

“ I’ll get a knife, honey.” Judianne dashed from the bathroom to the kitchen below.

She was back in an instant, handing Rick the knife and Rick sliced through the noose that bound J.P. to the tub, and then he handed him a large bath towel, which the boy wrapped around himself.

“ Where’s the Ragged Man?” J.P. asked.

“ Dead.”

“ Did you kill him?”

“ I hurt him, but your mother finished him off.”

“ He killed my birds.”

“ I know.”

“ Did he kill ’em all?”

“ Yeah.”

“ Dancer, too?”

“ I’m afraid so.”

“ He was a bad man. He killed my dad.”

“ He killed a lot of people.”

Judianne couldn’t take it anymore. She held her arms out for a hug, but before he could fall into her embrace, she heard the meow of a small kitten.

“ Oh, look!” J.P. darted past his mother. For a second he could have sworn the kitten’s dark eyes flashed red, but he paid it no mind as he scooped it up and snuggled it to his face.

He turned and smiled at Rick and Judianne and asked, “Can I keep him?”