Galveston Read Online Free Page A

disappointment of the encounter.
    There were camera and computer bags slung over Newton’s shoulders, and as he approached the beautiful black man, Newton shrugged and dropped these things to the ground, leaving a little trail of high technology from the door to the counter. “Okay, chief,” he said. “Let’s fly.”
    “Yes, sir,” said the black man. “Only there’s been a delay.”
    “Typical,” Newton muttered.
    It was the first time the black man had mentioned the delay officially, and everyone in the little waiting room came to attention. “You see,” said the airline representative, addressing them all, “there is an active weather system.”
    “There is an active weather system which is fricking hundreds of miles away,” said Jimmy Newton.
    “Yes, sir. But we are trying to assess the potential danger to our passengers and pilot.”
    “I’ll assess it for you: zilch-o.”
    “There is a thought that we should cancel today’s flight. We’ll reschedule for tomorrow. The airline would put everyone up in Miami for the night.”
    “Does this mean it’s a hurricane now?” asked one of the young women.
    “Yes,” said the black man. “It’s been upgraded. The weather office has issued a hurricane watch for the area, including Dampier Cay.”
    “Let’s review the terminology,” said Jimmy Newton derisively.
“Hurricane watch
means that hurricane conditions are possible within twenty-four to thirty-six hours. And the flight we’re talking about only takes an hour and a half.”
    “I don’t understand why you’d want to fly knowing that there is the potential for danger.”
    “Because there’s not all that much potential. And even if the storm was here, it wouldn’t be all that dangerous. You can fly through all sorts of systems. Hey, I flew into Floyd with the Hurricane Hunters. Right through the wall and into the eye. And Floyd was
a four.”
    The man behind the counter took a step backwards and raised his voice. “Flight number 764 is delayed until further notice.”
    “But not cancelled?” asked Beverly.
    “The matter is still under consideration.” He picked up hiswalkie-talkie and a cellphone and disappeared through a door behind him.
    Jimmy Newton scowled, turned away, took a few steps into the middle of the room. He had a large trunk, short legs and arms, and was dressed like a little boy, Beverly noted: running shoes, white shorts and a T-shirt that he tucked into the elastic waistband. Newton put his hands into his pockets but had to hoist up the shorts first in order to do so.
    “That was goddam amazing, flying into Floyd,” he said to no one in particular. “We hit the wall, right, it’s like we’re a BB in a boxcar, you know, rattling around, and then,
whoosh …
into the eye. And in there it’s like heaven or something, you know. It’s all calm, and there’s these little puffy clouds and this weird silver rain. It was like light, right, like it was raining light.”
    The elderly couple stood up and started rolling their little suitcases toward the door. “Where are you going?” Newton demanded.
    “They’re going to cancel the flight,” the husband said resignedly.
    “They’re not going to cancel any goddam flight. Sit down.”
    The elderly couple obeyed. Jimmy Newton didn’t sit down himself, however. He remained standing in the middle of the room, staring at something he alone could see.
    Half an hour later, Caldwell opened the door to the waiting room and stepped through. He had a sailor’s duffel bag slung across his shoulder, and wore dark sunglasses, which he didn’t remove. Caldwell nodded at Newton, said his name quietly. “Jimmy.”
    “Hey, it’s the fisherman.”
    “So,” asked Caldwell, “what’s going on?”
    “The airline’s getting cold feet.”
    Caldwell nodded, taking in the information. It registered on Beverly that, had the flight left on schedule, this man would have missed it. It was possible that he’d anticipated there would