PYGMALION

By DocPaul

Chapter Twenty-one: The Interim

 

 

Days 21-33: Somewhere better than Roswell, time unimportant.

 

St. Thomas rose like a brilliant jewel in a sea of turquoise. It has the distinct pleasure of being the busiest cruise-ship harbor in the West Indies, but is not the largest of the U.S. Virgins, with St. Croix, 40 miles south, having that distinction. But bustling Charlotte Amalie at the heart of the island is the capital of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and it remains the shopping hub of the Caribbean.

Michael looked over Maria’s shoulder as their plane lined up to land. Miles of beach head stretched as far as they could see from the small window of the plane, until it turned into the wind and lowered its flaps for approach. Then all they could see was ocean. Beautiful spans of blues and greens, so uncomplicated on the surface, but holding a wealth of life beneath. The beaches on this island are renowned for their white sand and calm, turquoise waters, including the very best of them all, Magens Bay. National Geographic rated the island as one of the top destinations in the world for sailing, scuba diving and fishing.

“We’re not staying here?”

Michael still leaning into Maria shook his head. “No. Only for a short while. We leave for the British Virgins almost at once.” Michael looked at Maria and tipped his head. “But our plans are our own, if you want to stay in St. Thomas for an extra day or so, we could.”

Maria smiled and went back to watching out the window. “I’ll let you know.” Maria snuck a glance at him again. “Careful Detective, I’m on the verge of becoming completely pampered by you, with my every wish and desire met. Careful that you don’t spoil me entirely.”

Michael just tightened his arms around her. Spoiled? Pampered? Perhaps. Who cared? Until someone lived through the experience of holding her dead body in their arms, feeling her life gone, they had no room to criticize. It was his pleasure to make the most of every day he was given with her. It was a gift. A gift from something bigger than himself. God? He was actually learning to believe in God again.

Charlotte Amalie, with its white houses and bright red roofs glistening in the sun, is one of the most beautiful towns in the Caribbean. It's most famous for shopping, but the town is also filled with historic sights, like Fort Christian, an intriguing 17th-century building constructed by the Danes. The town's architecture reflects the island's culturally diverse past. As they drove through the town on the way to the harbor, they passed Dutch doors, Danish red-tile roofs, French iron grillwork and Spanish-style patios.

Maria was excitedly reading him a history of the Fort, and the Denmark’s settlement of the island, as they finally arrived at their destination. The line of pristine boats in slip at the marina was impressive. There was a warm gentle breeze, and the smell of the sea permeated.

“A boat?”

Michael waited as a man came towards them with a large smile on his face. “Mr. Guerin?”

“Michael. This is my wife, Maria.” Michael missed Maria’s startled look in his direction. That was the first time he had officially introduced her as his wife.

“I’m Harry.” He shook their hands. “Welcome to St. Thomas. Leave the bags. I will have them brought aboard.” Harry looked over at a young man, said a few words to him and tossed him a few bills. Soon their bags were speeding past them on the way to their ‘boat’.

“My wife, Gaby is waiting. The Prima Donna, our First Lady, is actually a Nautical 62 foot Ketch, more of a yacht than a boat, Mrs. Guerin.”

“Maria.” Maria looked at the beautiful yacht with her tidy sails, teak decks and the hull painted in a brisk Nautical blue sitting in the water. “It’s beautiful! How many in the crew?”

“Just my wife, Gaby and myself. We run and operate it ourselves.”

Maria pushed her glasses higher on her nose and held her hat on her head firmly to keep the breeze from blowing it away. Fish. The air smelt of fish. “Your accent is charming. German, but not quite. Bavarian?”

Harry laughed. “Yes! Both Gaby and I come from a beautiful town in Bavaria called Oberammergau and the Schloss Neuschwanstein always a major find. Here is Gaby!”

He watched as Michael climbed aboard sure-footedly and quickly helped Maria. Gaby was a lovely woman, blonde with mid-length hair and a charming smile as beautiful and brilliant as the sunlight. She helped her husband get them situated, showing them their stateroom. It was the main room with its own bath and a King-size bed. All the wood was a fine teak, refurbished. The cabinets and bureaus were built into the walls to maximize space.

Michael and Maria took the time to settle in and unpack. They would live on the Prima Donna for the next two weeks. Its normal run was seven days, but Michael booked them two seven day tours back to back. It was less crowded than a resort, and they had the added benefit of traveling to the numerous Islands, even some of the American Virgins and Leeways. Maria left Michael in the shower as she rushed topside to look at everything.

“Maria.” She turned at the sound of Gaby’s voice. “I hope everything is okay below.”

“Perfect! Michael is showering. He hates to admit it, but he suffers from jet lag. We flew from Albuquerque last night and even though the flight from Miami wasn’t that long, he still feels it. The shower will help to wake him. That or he’ll collapse on the bed in an exhausted heap and join us later in a pissy mood.”

Gaby laughed, delighted at Maria’s expressions. “I understand this is your honeymoon.”

“Oh, yes!” Maria sat back in the lounge chaise and told Gaby all about her wedding. The women were soon gossiping and laughing like old friends, exchanging stories. When Harry joined them, he sat down and poured himself a fruit drink and listened, adding a few tales of his own. That was how Michael found them two hours later. As predicted, Michael wasn’t in a very good mood. He never was when he had impromptu naps.

Maria handed him a drink, and his mood quickly turned, becoming more boyish and devilish. He was away from Roswell. Everything was so far away. He had Maria. His children, and there was a whole lot of fun to be had exploring islands, snorkeling, and just watching Maria grow brown and fat in the tropical sun.

Maria talked Gaby into making them something from Bavaria. She stood in the galley watching and assisting as the women continued to talk. Maria was delighted to discover that both Harry and Gaby spoke not only a charming English with their charming Bavois accent, but also spoke French and Italian fluently. Maria and Gaby continued talking in Italian as they cooked.

Dinner was Bavarian roast beef with homemade dumplings, red cabbage and mushroom sauce. Maria nibbled on the dumplings, some cheese and fruit as they cooked. Michael came into the galley to ask Gaby for some more limeade, and as she refilled it, Michael hugged Maria from behind kissing her loudly on the side of her neck making her giggle.

Gaby smiled.

“Aw, feeding your face again, I see! Good. Eating for three.” Michael took his glass and thanked Gaby on his way out.

“Three?” Gaby looked at the young thin woman. Her pregnant stomach was hardly noticeable, not as much as it usually is on someone as thin as she was. Twins? “How far along are you?”

“Just passed twenty-eight weeks. By the time I get home, I’ll be thirty.”

Oh crap! Gaby pushed more food on Maria. She was too skinny to be twenty-eight weeks and carrying twins! The young woman probably looked better in a bikini than she did. “You better eat some more.”

Maria laughed delightfully shoving more food in her face. “I eat all the time!” Gaby doubted it, but maybe that was why Michael had asked them to carry more food, enough for a much larger party. He paid extra for it. His only provision was that there be food available twenty-four hours a day, a ton of Tabasco, hollandaise sauce, cocktail sauce, and French onion dip. It made no sense at the time, but seeing the overly-thin young woman, Gaby was beginning to understand.

It was a good night. After dinner, Harry and Gaby took Michael and Maria on a tour of St. Thomas and some its better and more interesting night spots. Michael didn’t seem to drink, and of course neither did Maria, but they stuck to Island favorites full of mango juice and other delightful fruits. Watching the couple add a ton of Tabasco to their drink, Harry had to comment.

Maria took the blame immediately. “It’s my fault. This pregnancy has me eating all the time, strange things, and the taste of sweet and spicy is just killing me. Michael tried my drink once, found out he liked it, and now we can’t keep Tabasco in the house. We put it on everything!”

“You are going to have some fiery kids,” Harry said good naturedly.

“You have no idea,” Michael said under his breath.

They made it back to the slip well before midnight. Michael didn’t want Maria too tired, and they were leaving in the morning to Jost Van Dyke, the Barefoot Island and a few smaller ones nearby. They were going to explore Sandy Cay, Green Cay, and Sandy Spit along with enjoying the fun of Jost Van Dyke. Harry told them that they had to meet Foxy Callwood, a character of immense local color. Maria was so excited by the entire trip, Michael doubted he would be able to talk her into actually sleeping.

They would have to find better things to do to whittle away the time.

“You want to go for a midnight dip? Harry said it was safe.”

Maria seemed to be thinking about it. “Oh, what will I wear?”

Michael laughed and shed his clothes, easily jumping in the water. Turning around he waited for her to disrobe and join him. She took her sweet time, taking off every item with excruciating slowness. They were in the tropic zone; it was warm and perfumed. Maria wasn’t wearing much to start with, a thin sundress, strappy sandals, no bra, and nothing but a tiny pair of panties.

She stood at the bow on the lower step in nothing but the panties with her small body in the moonlight making her skin seem like the purest of pearls, with the silky texture gleaming. She reached up her hands and casually tied her hair up in a quick slipknot enticingly letting his eyes roam happily over her entire body. Even pregnant, she was still slim and sexy with her stomach a gentle swell. It was her breasts that held his attention. They were rounder than usual, taunt and more than just a little perky. Her nipples were almost becoming too sensitive, but the mark above her right breast held his attention. His. He had marked her for all time. Maybe shame should have been a little bit of what he felt about that thought, but it wasn’t. All he felt was an immense sense of pride.

Then she slipped that slight piece of silk and lace off her body and let it drop suggestively to the deck. With her foot, she kicked it on in the pile with the rest of their clothing. Michael’s eyes had already dropped to another area to concentrate on.

Michael groaned. Okay, maybe they should just go to bed.

Maria, reading his thoughts laughed. “Uh uh. You promised me a swim.” She stepped into the water and made a sound of surprise at its warmth. Somehow, she had expected it to be cold. Michael’s arms immediately found her, and they played in the warm waters of the Islands just off the boat, while all the other boats around them gentle bobbed in the ocean.

It was good to be alive!

Maria tried to keep her laughter down as they stumbled to their stateroom. They were both dripping wet, minus any clothing except what they were carrying.

Michael paused in the door as Maria went in first. He had a nice clear view when she turned on the light. His head was cocked to one side, and a slight smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.

"What?" Maria asked, pausing, wondering if he'd forgotten something.

"You look sexy like that," Michael told her, a slow smile spreading across his face.

"Like what? Dripping?" Maria laughed. She knew that expression on his face.

Michael shut their door and padded barefoot around the corner towards her. Maria actually stepped back from him, natural instinct perhaps, or some innate sense of self-preservation. The man was fully nude, walking with a predatory gleam in his eyes, and it was undeniable that whatever animalistic part of nature that made him a hunter, sparked in her the responding wariness. Well, for all of two seconds, until that other part of her nature kicked in. The one called ‘female’ as she took in the muscles of his chest and shoulders, his thighs, the long leanness, and dropping her eyes to stare at his very obvious groin she made a clicking noise in her in her throat with a ‘My, my, my’ sound. The Guerin body. Oh, Lordy, it was a little hot in there. He was the sexiest thing Maria had ever seen.

Michael reached for her and drew her close with a hand on the back of her neck, fingers tightening in the damp strands of gold. Maria moved to him, holding his hips in her hands, and allowed him to tilt her head back for the kiss. Michael's free hand dropped down to grip her ass and pull their bodies together. Maria moaned softly. God, it was amazing how fast the man could turn her on! She'd never known anyone else who could get her so hot, so fast. The man was a detriment to her normally functioning brain, draining it of logical progression, leaving behind nothing but the most basic and primitive of thoughts. Honeymoon. Good. Roswell. Bad.

"I want you," she murmured when Michael freed her mouth.

"How do you want me?" Michael murmured back, lips centimeters from her own, nose nuzzling a soft cheek. Michael was distracted by the soft play of her lashes on her cheeks as she closed her eyes. That and the hot movement of her tongue in his mouth.

"Ahh... any way I can get you, Detective," Maria whispered, leaning her head into the warm caress of Michael's mouth.

"Any way you can get me, huh?" he repeated, a wicked light shining in his warm golden eyes.

Maria shivered. God help her, he was able to send thrilling chills down her spine with just a look. Note to self, upon returning home, find twelve step program to work on this obsession problem. Staring at her husband, she just made a mental note to forget her mental note. A good healthy addiction could really be not such a bad thing.

"Just dry me off and I'm all yours," she promised.

Michael laughed. He swung her around and gestured. Maria stood at the foot of the bed, looking up at him curiously. Michael picked up a towel from a pile on a low bureau, gave her a rubdown, all along her arms, back and legs. He dried away most of the water dripping from her hair, and looping the towel around her waist, pulled her to him. Maria laughed. He was still wet. Michael kissed the side of her neck and tossed the towel onto the side table.

"Wait," he directed, with a light touch to her shoulder, and disappeared behind her. Maria twisted to watch , to see what he was doing. Candles. He was lighting candles.

“Romance, Detective?”

Michael came to wrap himself around her from behind, his hands moving over her still damp skin. “Romance? Will it get me lucky?”

Turning in his arms, she leaned hard into him, her arms going around his neck as she lifted on toes and kissed him. Kissed him hard. Her tongue finding a warm place in his mouth, and she could taste him. It was slow and intense. All she was seemed to be yearning for was him. Then suddenly, Maria started to giggle.

“What?” Michael said huskily, as he tried to pull her back for another kiss.

Maria grabbed his hand and redirected it away from her breasts to her stomach. Michael smiled as her entire stomach moved under his hand. Suddenly, he picked her up, and deposited her on the bed, quickly joining her. His hand stayed on her in wonder. The twins were becoming more active every day.

“Michael, do you think they’re okay? I didn’t hurt them when…”

“No. I think they’re fine. And I think you’d know if they weren’t,” Michael gazed into her worried face. “Maria, you didn’t do anything wrong. Don’t take this as blame.”

Maria started to nod, but suddenly her face infused with color as her checks became redder, and Michael watched as her eyes closed and her mouth opened making a low moaning sound. His hand. Beneath it, her skin was changing colors, streaking, and then the sensation hit him too. She was still overly sensitive to touch. Moaning, he buried his head in her breasts. It took a few moments for either of them to recover.

“Oh baby!” was all Maria said, and then she and Michael started laughing, collapsing against each other. “God! I hope I get to keep this instant orgasm thing!”

“You’re such a slut,” he teased gently.

“I am! I so am!” Maria pushed him over on his back, and straddled his legs, her hands on his chest. Leaning down, her mouth found his, as her lips brushed his lightly, seductively. “For you, I am a total slut.”

“I am so good!” Michael said, outrageously proud of himself, and Maria pinched him.

"You arrogant bastard," Maria said, laughing in spite of herself.

"You know it." Michael pulled her closer, his gaze a hot caress on her naked body. Maria shivered under the intensity and lost her grin under those possessive eyes. She licked the taste of him from her lips and groaned softly with desire for his touch.

Smiling, Michael stared into Maria's half-closed eyes and lifting himself to a half upright position, he bent down to leisurely taste her mouth, pulling away every time Maria tried to lick or suckle. The kiss was going anywhere until Maria gave him total control of the kiss. Maria sighed and opened her mouth in silent surrender. Michael chuckled and began to kiss her slowly and thoroughly, tongue sliding warmly. Reached down with his left hand, stroking her skin from breasts to her stomach, he kept the touch light, just enough to make her move against him wantonly. They'd been lovers long enough for each to have learned just what it took to blow their partner's mind completely away, and Michael was taking advantage of the knowledge.

It was different. Maybe it was being away from the stress of Roswell, and what that meant lately, or maybe the freedom of fear for the first time since they discovered Maria was pregnant, but something was different.

They were young again, in love and happy just to be together without the world weighing them down. Sex wasn’t survival any longer. It was fun again. Provocative and sexy. Making love bled into the actual act and gave it back a sense of newness and wonder. They stayed up making love as the candles burnt down to the holders, and until the sun teased them with the start of a new day. Whatever had happened between them, it changed both of them inside, and for the first time in months it felt like being energized instead of drained.

 

~~~

 

In the dark a hand circled her body and pulled her from sleep. Settling deep into the warmth and making a soft sound from the hot mouth on the back of her neck, Gaby wiggled deeper into the embrace.

“Harry?”

“Shhh, Harry is sleeping. Be real quiet!”

Gaby laughed at her husband’s playful whisper. Turning in his arms she kissed him, enjoying having him all alone, in the dark, with a soft breeze coming in their small stateroom window. The gentle sway of the boat was as lulling as the night.

It was an unexpected surprise for a woman married to the same man for over thirty years, and a mother of three grown boys away at University. Life was good, and at times like these, it was even better.

Harry whispered suggestions in her ear, as Gaby softly laughed, mindful of their guests.

They could sleep tomorrow. Naps were a big thing in the British Virgins.

 

~~~

 

Michael and Maria lay facing each other in the soft dying light of the candles. The sweat on their bodies was finally drying, and for a while they both had slept.

Maria had woken to find him facing her, staring at her. His fingers softly touching her features. She tried to smile, but couldn’t. It was so much. All he felt. It was there on his face, and at times it was overwhelming to hold so much of him. They didn’t speak for the longest time.

“If you had died…” Michael started softly, but Maria quickly put her fingers over his mouth.

“No. Michael, no.” Maria’s eye held pain. He was hurting her. What was in his eyes hurt her. There was too much. He gave her too much power over him, over his heart and his very happiness. Many women would’ve felt the urge to control at such a gift, but Maria only felt the responsibility. She loved him too much to face what it meant.

If she had died, then so would he.

“No, Michael. No. Don’t feel that way. I don’t want that. I never asked for that.” Maria kissed him softly. A part of her needed to know, needed to believe that if she had died, that he would go on, that a part of them would survive. His eyes told her the truth, and the stark reality of how close they had come for the both of them fading from this world, was almost like a heartache.

Michael’s fingers continued to trace her features, and moved down to trace a gentle line over the swell of her breasts, and then to touch his sleeping children, finally giving their mom a rest. His hand came up to cover the mark he had left on her and her hand did the same to him, covering the mark on his chest.

He understood why it hurt her, but she needed to understand him as well.

“If I die?” He asked softly.

What he was asking hit her hard, and the very breath in her body seemed to shutter and struggled to release. If he died? She…God! She thought of Tess, and how she had been after Jack died. Maria’s eyes flooded with tears, and she gently shook her head. He saw it in her eyes, the same thing she saw in his. She would not go on.

Understanding was all they had. The only comfort. Each of them would wish the other to survive, but they knew it would never be so. Grief. So much grief and loneliness. At what point did it break a body, after already breaking a heart? It wouldn’t be suicide. It would be mercy.

Michael kissed her then. Kissed her softly, his lips melding along the line of hers, gently tracing hers with the tip of his tongue and letting his breath mix with hers. Then it was agreed. Understood. Together. They walked together. They lived together. They died together.

There could never be any other way.

 

~~~

 

Jost Van Dyke, four miles long, is truly the "barefoot" island known by travelers around the world for its casual lifestyle, protected anchorages, fine beaches and beachfront restaurants and bars. A favorite destination of yachties, Jost Van Dyke adjoins the tropical isles, Green Cay and Sandy Spit. They spent over two days moored in the Great Harbor and exploring the small island. Maria dragged Michael from shop to shop, and they spent an afternoon learning to snorkel.

Michael was taking instructions from Harry on scuba diving, but he refused to let Maria try it, since she was pregnant. Spending a lot of time in the water, and the rest in the sun and walking the long sandy beaches, it was nice at night to hit the local spots for music and food.

Harry and Gaby insisted on taking the couple to a special treat, introducing them to Foxy Callwood, a man of immense local color. He had opened a lemonade stand sized bar that was suppose to be open for one day, and soon became a tourist favorite stop. What was to be only a two day stop quickly became five days as Michael didn’t want to miss the Friday and Saturday barbeque at Foxy’s and insisted they all go to another place, Ali Baba’s for the Monday pig roast.

Maria found a sort of kinship with this Foxy person, who was one to croon a nice song, or tell a tale of whopping proportions. She matched him in lectures of history and what she had learned reading about the Islands. They amused each other with stories of the local shipwrecks. And Maria laughed delighted at the outrageous stories that Foxy created of his boyhood adventures. Michael watched her, his face quiet and at peace. It was nice to see her back again. His Maria. The one he first met and fell in love with. This lively happy creature had been weighed down in worry and sorrow, but as bright as the sun shone in that part of the world, Maria DeLuca…Maria DeLuca-Guerin was back.

Gaby and Harry found it amusing that their guests were doing the Islands as an eating tour. But there was more than just food. They were in the upper wheelhouse when Gaby looked down on the deck, and found the two sharing a chaise lounge. Michael was whispering in Maria’s ear, and suddenly she laughed and tried to get away from him. He lazily pulled her back, and then they were kissing passionately in a flurry of arms and legs.

Harry looked down and smiled. He pulled back on the engine, and dropped anchor. It was a good place to take a nap. Taking his wife’s hand he pulled her along with his to their stateroom, kicking the door shut behind them. Gaby’s laughter and an ‘Oh Harry’ made him smile even more. Whatever their guests had going for them, it was a true miracle aphrodisiac. He hadn’t felt that young in years, and the happiness and laughter in his wife’s eyes made it worth everything.

 

~~~

 

Tortola, the main island of the British Virgins was their next major stop, with short day trips and stops at smaller Islands. Treasure Island was a day long excursion. Maria read all types of books in preparation, following Michael and Harry around on the decks reading them choice passages as the two men rigged lines for fishing, and Harry gave Michael lessons in sailing. There was a special adventure on Treasure Island, a Treasure Hunt for children, but Maria insisted they do it. Michael made lots of noise about not being a child, but suddenly under Maria’s organization the four of them were ready.

There was the sudden feeling of being excited and going on an adventure, and in that instant Harry and Gaby got to meet the real Michael Guerin. His competitive nature hit a high, and he eyed up the other group of children ready for the great adventure.

Turning to Harry, he said with a deepness to his voice, “We should have come out last night and cased the area. See those kids over there?” Michael pointed to a group of boys, with one leader, a second in command, and kid a little on the portly side, but obviously bright, and a small kid, one of the other’s brother. “We might have to take them out.”

Harry laughed in true delight, but both Gaby and Maria’s mouths open at the horror of an overly competitive Michael, and a delighted Harry.

“You bring your gun, Detective?” Maria asked quickly, fearing for those poor children’s lives.

“No.” Michael grumbled a lot. So, he sort of forgot to register and request a travel permit to carry his sidearm, so for once in a long time, he was unarmed. Well, hell. That just made him mad enough to spit. Those kids were going down. They looked over at the group of adults and bent together conspiring. Let the games begin!

 

~~~

 

Maria had read every book she could find on Pirates, Treasure Island, and Prince of Pirates in preparation. The first leg of the journey began with a sail to the‘Bight’ which had wonderfully ample moorings and anchorage. Harry settled them in a choice spot towards Billy Bones with a 15-30’ shelf. Michael kept a lookout for their major competitor, and swore when he saw a boat equal in size and power to the Prima Donna.

Maria rolled her eyes, but inside she was bubbling over in laughter at her husband’s boyish abandon. He was so damn cute and adorable. It was a good thing it was a single day adventure or she would’ve been forced to tie him up or at least handcuff him overnight to prevent him from convincing Harry into snorkeling with him to the other boat and sabotaging it. Poor baby hated to loose.

“Professor, what do we need?” Michael asked as he used the binoculars to spy on the competition.

“Snorkeling fins, masks and snorkels. Also be sure to bring an underwater flashlight and some zip-lock baggies with bread or crackers to feed the fish.” Michael scowled.

“Fish? We have to feed fish as part of this? What? Are they guarding the ‘Dead Man’s Treasure’?”

“No silly. Children like feeding animals and fish. It’s supposed to be fun.” Michael made a sound under his breath. Fun? Hell, he was having fun. What? What was that? He squinted to get a closer look at the competition. Those four boys were up to something. He might have to arrest them.

“Next, Professor! What’s next?”

“Once in the Bight, check your map.” Maria waved it dramatically for effect and Michael quickly took it. “To locate the Pirate’s Treasure in The Caves. Remember, ‘X’ marks the spot!”

They immediately took off to The Caves. Gaby and Maria hurrying to keep up with the men. Gaby puffing along laughed under her breath. “In all these years we lived here, we never did this. I swear, I haven’t seen Harry this carefree and enthusiastic in years. Your Michael is a good influence.”

Maria just snorted. “Oh, yeah, he is that. You should see all the fun and interesting things he influences at home. Usually it is full of destruction and mayhem, restaurants being destroyed, and other things.”

Gaby laughed and shook her head in wonder. She couldn’t remember the last time they laughed so much during a cruise. They were heading towards The Caves.

The Caves. Lending to the continuing legend of buried treasure, the famous Caves, were only four feet deep, although they drop off to 40 feet near their entrance. Typically explored by snorkeling, the Caves were fascinating rock formations. The northernmost Cave stretches 70' back into the island. An underwater flashlight was needed to see the gorgeous purples, rusts and deep veins of the above water walls. Underwater, it was like a night dive, with the coral polyps extending their tentacles to feed. At the end of the cave was a small room. The next Cave was deeply indented into the rock face. Still another Cave was above the water line.

The southernmost Cave had a rounded rock bottom on which to stand underneath a natural skylight.

Maria read the instructions as they practically ran at a fast pace. “To go to The Caves, get in the dinghy and follow the craggy shoreline to Treasure Point on the lower tip of The Bight. Round the point and tie up at the dinghy mooring.”

The four boys had caught up to them, and Michael looked over cursing. “Damn it! They’re going to take the good dinghy. Harry, get the good one!”

It was a pathetic display to see two grown men going at it with four small boys. And Michael cheated by cutting the poor guys off as he rowed the dinghy with unnatural speed. For a moment the kids dinghy looked like it was losing control, and spinning a little. Maria stared at her husband sharply suspecting an unauthorized usage of alien mojo to defeat the competition. Michael met her stare with a look a pure innocence, but she wasn’t that easily convinced.

“Slip into the water with your snorkeling gear. Stop to feed the fish at the entrance of The Caves.” Maria said as Harry passed out the snorkeling gear. She had memorized the instructions.

“Feed the fish? Do we have to? If we don’t stop, we can get a jump on those midgets!”

Maria tossed the small bag of bread crumbs at her husband. “Michael, feed the damn fish! Okay?”

So he did. He upturned the bag and was ready to continue. Damn fish. Fat ass bastards. He’d be catching them next and eating them. Harry was leaning against a rock laughing his ass off.

“Professor…”

“Right, right, right!” Maria said exasperated. “Explore the northernmost Cave which goes 70' back to a small room. Watch for the surge!”

Too late! Michael and Harry got caught in the swell and were swept dangerously close to the rock face. While they were struggling to right themselves, four small bodies, young Indian Jones, each of them, slipped past them into the lead, their young little bodies as lithe and fast as the little fish they just fed.

“Look for secret markings on the cave walls with your flashlight. Just remember, if you find the buried treasure, it's your turn to pay!”

Michael and Harry were hot on the others’ trail shining their light, following the markings. When they arrived, the kids were sort of disappointed by the end treasure. The cave emptied into an underwater dry grotto. They had really wanted to find the buried treasure of Pirates, and each won an award, but real treasure would have been even better.

Michael looked at Maria, and winked suggestively. She stood in front of him as he bent down to some volcanic rocks. Using his powers, he quickly transformed the rocks into multi-parity glass of various colors. Gems. Sweeping the sand away, he quickly buried them.

Winking again at Maria, he went to stand next to the young boys. “You kids are good. Real good!”

They just shrugged. So Michael tried again.

“It’s hard for people to beat me at finding clues seeing as how I’m a cop.” That got their attention.

“A real cop?”

“Yeah, just like Serpico.”

The four boys looked confused. “Who?” said the older one.

“Serpico! You know, Al Pacino, and…”

“Michael...” Maria called to him.

Michael cleared his throat. “Anyway. Yeah, a real cop. Anyway, this used to be a real treasure hold, but I bet after all these years, it’s all been picked over.” Michael squatted to be more on level with them. “I hear tell, from my friend Harry here, who lives in these waters, that all the Pirates’ treasure hasn’t been found. Sometimes, it’s missed, and if you look around and dig a little, you might find some precious gems! Of course, you’d not want to tell anyone if you found them, because you know all adults are greedy thieving bastards and…” Maria cleared her throat and gave him a look of disbelief, “um, well I mean, certain unscrupulous individuals, real low scum might try to take your treasure.”

“What’s unscrupulous mean?” asked the smaller one.

Michael looked at Maria and bet closer to the little boy as the other three leaned in. “Greedy thieving bastards.”

“Oh!” They all said together nodding in understanding. Michael gave Maria a nice smug look.

“So I propose that before the others catch up, that we scout around, look for places where the sand looks disturbed, and quickly dig to make sure no treasure was overlooked. My man, Harry there will be a lookout.”

“Yeah! Yeah!” Screamed the young boys. And they started to take off.

“Whoa! We have to have a plan. Why don’t you start over there, by that big fat rock. That looks choice for hiding treasure.”

The older kid remembering the eager and competitive Michael, and the term ‘unscrupulous’ stopped the others before they started. “We get to keep what we find? Keepsies?”

“Absolutely!” With that, they  rushed off in a loud shout of excitement.

Maria watched amused coming to stand next to him, her hand on his back. It didn’t take too long before they found the buried glass gems that Michael had made.

“Treasure! We found treasure!”

 

It was a good day. Made better when later they met up with the same boat cutting across the waves. How it became a competition, no one knew. But Maria was sure it was the boys on the other boat telling their parents that ‘greedy thieving bastards’…um, well ‘unscrupulous’ individuals were coming for their Pirate’s treasure. So the two sixty-two foot Ketches went mast to mast in a full tacking regatta. Rounding the Treasure Cove and back, Maria was given the task with Gaby to hold the wheel steady while Michael and Harry pulled the sheets and turned tack. Scooting high on the water, the Prima Donna pulled wind and pushed the other ship in her wind shadow.

“Dammit, Harry, they’re gaining!”

“Not for long!”

The two men were suddenly in their element…men against nature as the brilliance of the sea, the spirit of the wind carried the Prima Donna into a once long ago time and land. It was like living history when the seas were dominated by high mast and sail.

 

~~~

 

Tortola. The main island means "Turtle Dove," so-named for its shape and beauty. Of volcanic origin, a central mountainous "spine" formed its core with a series of lesser ridges undulating and spilling to the sea. Spectacular views abound with vistas opening up to outlying islands across the azure blue sea and emerald colors above reefs. The scenery was enhanced by ascents like "airplane rides," sheer descents and hairpin turns that require mirrors to be posted in places. Yes, driving on Tortola was an experience in itself.

Michael loved it. He insisted that they travel the entire island by jeep. The Ridge road, Sir Francis Drake Channel Coastal Road, and the North Coast Road were but a few. It was hazardous in numerous spots, and Maria had to keep reminding him to drive on the left.

They explored so many places, ate till they were sick, and shopped so much Michael was horrified at the growing packages crammed in their stateroom until Gabby took them and put them in the empty other stateroom.

Nanny Cay, Road Town, Fat Hog’s Bay, and Maya Cove were just a few in a five day stay. It wasn’t unusual to find them in a private cove that Harry found to moor at while Michael and Maria went ashore for a picnic and a nap in a hammock under tropical palm trees. They snorkeled around smaller islands and enjoyed the uniqueness of Peter Island, Copper and Salt Islands, and Beef Island. It was a magical place. A place where time and concerns seemed to melt away. In the almost fourteen days they spent with Harry and Gaby, almost a moment didn’t go by that the two weren’t caught up in each other and lost to their normal lives. It was a nice break.

Time passed unmeasured. Their last major stop was Anegada, an island 10 miles long by 2 1/2 miles wide, with extensive salt ponds. It reaches its highest point at 28 feet, hence its name, which means the "drowned land." Of coral reef origins, Anegada had "extruded" sixteen miles of sandy beaches with a primeval quality. Anegada is "guarded" by the famous Horseshoe Reef which, at eighteen miles long, is one of the world's largest coral reefs. It was a world apart from the other islands of the British Virgins.

On the East End of Anegada, large piles of conch shells, some even forming islands, attest to the presence of Aboriginal people. Later, pirates hid in the maze of reefs, with legends of pirate treasure. In modern times, earlier generations of Anegadans practiced agriculture, of which The Walls at the Settlement are unique artifacts. Subsisting in close harmony with nature, its rich marine environment was harvested as well. Contemporary Anegadans were skilled fishermen supplying the markets of the British Virgin Islands. Sea turtles, now conserved, were communally shared. Maria, Professor of Anthropology that she was, found the entire island a fascinating experience. She found a woman named Diane, famed to be one of the world's best Anegada lobster cooks. They found her at the Big Bamboo in Loblolly Bay, and Michael declared her a goddess with an apron. Michael decided that they could never go home when he found Anegada Reef Hotel with their barbequed lobster with a special secret sauce.

It was with great reluctance that the two-week honeymoon came to an end, and on the last night Gaby and Harry took them out to a special place in St. Thomas where they had returned that day. The smell of cooking barbeque, steel drums and the sweet tropical plants were all part of everything they experienced, that and new good friends. Harry and Gaby actually talked about refunding Michael and Maria their money for the charter, but Michael just made a face. So Harry invited them to return again, not as customers, but as friends.

They promised to write and send pictures of the twins when they were born, and standing at the airport, Harry waved goodbye to Michael and Maria as he held his wife close to his side.

Now that was fun.