Rocky Island Read Online Free

island. He saw very little damage, just some areas of the shoreline rearranged by the heavy waves that were still pounding on the east side of the island. There was a good amount of driftwood scattered around and he stopped to pick up what he could reach and throw it back on the shore far enough that the waves wouldn’t pull it out to sea again. When it was dry, he would gather it for firewood for the living room fireplace that they would begin to use in a month or so. Just as he was about to change direction and move southward, he saw something else.
    The badly shattered bow of what was most likely a Cape Island fishing boat, green with a white stripe running fore and aft, was banging on the rocks with each incoming wave. The section was probably about ten feet long. Where the rest of the Cape Islander was located he had no realistic idea, but he guessed that it would either still be floating or lying on the ocean floor somewhere east of the island. As he got closer to the wreck, his heart gave a jump. He knew that boat. He could see the name painted on the side of the bow: The Smitty II . The longliner belonged to Allison’s father.
    He slithered down the wet rocks and found a six-foot section of rope hanging over the starboard side. Pulling with all his strength, he managed to get the bow up over the rocks onto the land. The effort wore him out, so he sat down on the side of the remains of the craft to rest and to think. How would he tell his wife? Straight out, he decided. There wasn’t any other way. He would also have to call the Department of Transport and report the loss of the craft and get a search going, hopefully for the crew, but more likely for bodies. Depending on where they had foundered, they could have been in the water for hours, and nobody could survive for long in the cold North Atlantic water and high seas. The best he could hope for would be that they would be wearing immersion suits and have got into an inflatable life raft, but the storm had been so intense that he didn’t hold out much hope for the success of such an event.
    Slowly, he got up and continued his walk. He hoped that he might find more of The Smitty II washed up on the shore. That was not to be. He finished his circular check of the shore in about twenty minutes and walked slowly into the house where Allison was just getting out of bed. Her tousled blonde hair and sleepy eyes made her even more beautiful and her welcoming smile crushed his already heavy heart.
    “Bad news, darling.” He took her in his arms and held her close.
    “What? What did you find, Toby dear?”
    “Allie, I found the forward part of The Smitty II washed up on the shore.”
    For several moments she made no sound. Then she whispered, “No.” She pulled herself tighter into his arms and buried her head against his chest. “No. Not Dad.”
    “’Fraid so. He must have been out and got caught in the storm.” He held her as she began to shake. “I’m sorry Allie, dear. So terribly sorry. I don’t know what else to say.”
    “That will kill Mom. She has always been afraid that it would happen to him some time.” She began to cry, the hard sobs shaking her and tears soaking his shirt. He led her back to the bed and helped her lie down. He stroked her hair, her back and made murmuring sounds to let her know he loved her and felt terrible for her and her family.
    After a few minutes, he got up and went to the office to pass the news to the Yarmouth office where a search for the bodies of the crew would begin. Then he called the pastor of the Smith’s church in Barrington Passage to tell him of his discovery so that he could go to the survivors of the crew members. Douglas Campbell, the Pastor, didn’t know how many crew there had been on the fishing boat, but guessed three, the usual number, and Toby agreed with him.
    Hanging up, he returned to Allison. She was lying quietly on the bed, all wrung out from crying for the time being. When she saw him enter