The Fate of Trees- Chapter One

The Fate of Trees

Chap 1- Benvy

Benvy held the steaming cup close to her face and stared out into the thick gray fog. The boat rocked steadily beneath her feet, keeping rhythm with the movement of the sea. She tugged the thick wool of her sleeves down over her fingers and cleared her mind so that the only thoughts she had were of the warm smell of her coffee.

In fifteen minutes she would take over the helm. Most of the crew was happiest at the wheel but she had never cared for it. She was good at it, few were better at steering to windward, but she had always preferred letting someone else take charge. She found that she worked best when she could just shut it all off and react.

"Hey, Benvy?" called a hoarse voice from the cabin.

She sighed. "I have ten more minutes."

"No argument, but you also have a message."

Benvy crossed the deck without even looking at the lifelines. She was so accustomed to life at sea that she had almost forgotten what it was like to be still. She had taken her first job just a month after graduating high school. Never even considering college, she had met a man who needed a crew to sail his boat down to Key West. The only thing she had known about sailing was that she wanted to learn.

And she did. She quickly fell in love with the life and other than a few short visits home she had been at sea ever since.

Expecting the standard "I love you, I miss you" message from her father she stepped into the cabin and took the sheet of paper from the desk.

To: Benvy Murphy From: Plum Black
Re: May have found O. Come Home. Be careful.

They were two days from shore and from there she had planned on flying down to Miami to join a crew that was sailing for Cape Hope.

"Hey Danny, are you looking for another job after this?" she asked the young man who had woken up to take her message. He was strong and even-tempered and she knew he would make a reliable replacement.

"Where to?" he asked.

"Africa. The Cape. I already have a ticket to Miami," she replied.

He stroked his bearded chin and sighed. "Is the money any good?"

"It was going to pay off my boat."

"You got trouble at home?"

Benvy looked back down at the note in her hand, "Maybe. You interested in the job?"

"Yeah, I'll take it. My wife is going to kill me, but we need the money," he answered.

"Thanks, I'll let them know to expect you. Sorry about the wife."

He shrugged and said, "She's used to it. Besides, I haven't been to Africa yet."

Benvy laughed and went back up to take her place at the helm. She usually enjoyed the way that time slowed for her when she was out at sea but this was going to make the next two days seem like forever.

May have found O.

She knew that Plum wouldn't contact her if she didn't think it was real. There had been too many false leads in the last three years for her to do that. Benvy closed her eyes and allowed herself to envision the dark skin. She saw his white hair and then forced herself to stop. She knew that she shouldn't get her hopes up.

She hadn't seen him since he disappeared the night of the storm but she had refused to believe that he was dead. She had allowed her father to take her back to New York because she felt sure that he would come and find her. But he never did. She had gone through her days in a state of tight anticipation that had gradually faded to a dull disappointment.

She never stopped looking but she wasn't sure what she expected to find anymore. Would he still be the same? How much had he aged? He had been so defined by his situation when she knew him that she didn't know how much he might have changed now that he was free.

Or maybe he wasn't free at all. After all, no one had seen him after the storm. It might not have worked. It was possible that all they had gone through had been for nothing. It was possible that the reason she had never heard from him was because they had failed. She had failed. And if she couldn't help him, maybe he didn't want her.

Maybe, maybe, maybe.

There were no answers when it came to Ozzie. He was just as much of a mystery now as he was when she first saw him on that beach in her dreams. But she knew that they were still connected. She felt it. He was going to come back.

And now maybe it was happening.

She needed to get to Bimini.