John Casey - Spartina

“It was Elsie Buttrick went to Miss Perry and set up the ten thousand. Miss Perry is just into her spell. Elsie’s the one in charge of looking after her this year.”

“That’s good,” May said. “When do you think you can put your boat in?”

“Depends. If I can get the loran without too much wait. If I can get Eddie to help with the wiring. If I can use the boatyard to launch her. Another week or ten days.”

May nodded. “And when can you start work with her?”

“Depends. If Parker agrees that half the pots out there now are mine, on account of what he owes me. And if I can buy out some more from him — then I’ll have pretty near a thousand pots out there to start with.”

Dick got up and looked out the back window at the shed. What he’d just said to May sounded strange to him. It was all reasonable, but he didn’t feel connected to it. The boat, the engine, now seemed less physically true than when he used to see them in his dreams. His resolve then had been bright and sharp. The boat’s lines had cried out to be made whole. And the spurts of anger every time he went out in his skiff past Sawtooth Point — they’d helped.

Could it be that he’d gone to bed with Elsie Buttrick because she was part of Sawtooth Point? Because she was one of the Buttricks, the Perryville School, the life of tennis courts and sailboats that had overgrown the point, squeezed him up Pierce Creek to an acre of scrub? Of course, it had squeezed him into a concentrated purpose too.

When the boat was half done, he’d been the boat’s other half. Now the boat was almost whole, he’d hoped he’d feel whole. He didn’t. He’d got himself into all this mess.

May said, “Call the boys in, would you? They’re down at the wharf. Supper’s ready.” When he didn’t move right away, she touched his shoulder again. “Dick. Maybe you don’t know how hard it was. Maybe you thought it was just giving in, and so you thought it’d be easy. Going to those people and getting money is work. You have a good supper and a good sleep, you’ll be all right.”

Dick said, “I’ll get the boys.”

A North Star loran. Five thousand bucks. Eddie Wormsley looked over Dick’s shoulder as he wrote the check on his account at the Wakefield bank. Elsie had called once to get his account number, and again to tell him the ten thousand was deposited. The dealer went into his back office to call the bank. He came out all smiles. It was Eddie who thought to ask for help with the hookup. The dealer agreed, he had a man free.

Eddie also came with Dick to buy the radio. Eddie was having so much fun it carried Dick along.

By the end of the week they’d spent the ten thousand on the loran, VHF, RDF. The sonar took the swordfish money. They got the stuff hooked up. The antennas, along with the topmast and crow’s nest, had to wait till they pulled the boat out of the shed.

Eddie was with Dick when the boatyard manager came to talk about launching. All three of them walked out to the shed. Dick held the plastic sheet aside. The manager stepped inside and said, “Jesus H. Christ!” Eddie laughed and stamped his feet and said, “You’re goddamn right.” Dick said to the manager, “You think you can move her?”

“Goddamn,” the manager said. “That’s just fucking amazing.” He bobbed his head down. “I didn’t do you a bad turn, then, laying you off.”

Dick said, “I never held it against you. ”

The manager walked around her, checked the cradle and poppets. “We can do it. So long as you don’t mind what happens to the shed.”

Dick said, “No. The shed don’t matter.”

“Okay. We can do it. This’ll be the last piece of business for the marine railway. You’ll have to arrange something over by the state pier in Galilee if you want her hauled after this. I got a new boatmover but it can’t haul you, big as you are. Just yachts from now on. I’m tearing out the old rails.”

Eddie said, “So you’ll put Dick’s boat in for old times’ sake?”

The manager looked sideways at Eddie, then back at Dick.

“I’ll do right by you. I got to make it a job, but I’ll do right by you. We’ll do it Monday. I got yachts coming out every day from now till mid-September, but I’ll fit you in Monday, for old times’ sake. It’ll still be four men and the use of all that equipment.”

Eddie said, “We could keep the cost down if Dick and I—”

“No,” the manager said, “my insurance is only good if I use guys on my payroll.”

“How about if you could use some piles,” Eddie said. “I got some I cut this past winter — big straight ones, size of phone poles.”

Dick said, “I’ll take care of it, Eddie. I got some more money in the hole.”

The manager left. Eddie said to Dick, “I know he’s going to need those piles. If he runs the bill up on you, we’ll stick him for the piles come October.”

“Yuh.”

“Look, Dick. You’re all set with this, right? You don’t strike me as feeling as pleased as you might.”

“Yuh. Maybe I’m tired. Maybe I don’t think it’s all there yet. Maybe when I see her in the water.” Dick made a little effort. “Look, Eddie. You’ve done a lot of work for me.”

“Not that much,” Eddie said. “I’m glad to see things work out. These last couple years, I’ve been doing okay. I wouldn’t want my luck to turn.”

Dick knew what he meant — if you don’t help out, it shows up sooner or later. Dick thought that might be why he himself was feeling so skittish. He’d been pretty much living for his own boat. He couldn’t count helping out Parker, he’d been in that for the money — whether he got the money or not. He couldn’t count hauling Elsie out of the drink — he’d turned that into something he sure as hell couldn’t call helping out.

Eddie said, “Well, then. See you Monday.”

“See you Monday, Eddie.”

D ick called Elsie again Sunday evening. He’d talked to her the two times on the phone, but he hadn’t been back to her house all week. Now she made it easy for him.

She said, “I ran into Eddie Wormsley yesterday. He told me the two of you were up to your eyeballs putting in all that stuff you bought. Look, I’ve got your other check here. Do you want me to drop it off or will you come by? Why don’t you come by?”

“Yes,” Dick said. “I’m at home now.”

Elsie said, “Ah.”

Dick said, “When’s a good time to pick it up?”

“Right away would be a good time.”

Dick looked around the kitchen. The boys were setting the table, May was at the stove. “After supper,” he said, “if that’s convenient. How’s Miss Perry?”

“Fine,” Elsie said. “No. She’s not fine. I’ll tell you about that later. It’s no worse than usual, at least that’s what the doctor says. How are you?”

“Fine,” Dick said.

Elsie laughed and said, “Fine. We’re all fine. Come over.”

Dick cleared his throat. “It turns out I will need the money after all, so I’m—”

“Dick, hey, Dick,” Elsie said, “just come over.”

“All right,” Dick said and hung up.

When Dick said he had to go out to pick up some more money, Charlie asked if he could come along. Dick said no, because after he picked up the money he was going to look in at the Neptune to see if Parker was back.