The boys returned from their trip, and I helped unload the supplies they had brought back. After taking a break for lunch we gave ourselves to the task at hand, and under the capable direction of Parker we began to make headway in preparing the scheme of work he had devised. First, we would concentrate on the rigging and other exterior work, and following that we would move belowdecks.

It was a joy to lose myself in manual labor, but while taking a short break I happened to glance at my watch and realized that the afternoon had flown by.

“Friends and neighbors,” I announced. “I hate to break this off, but I’ve got a function to attend this evening. I hope you won’t think too badly of me if I bow off the stage and wash some of this honest sweat from my brow.”

Danny Ray tugged at the brim of his cap and flashed me a grin. “Z-z’okay.”

“Not at all, Kennesaw. Danny and I can handle the rest of this. We only need to cut out a few more spots on the bulwarks and weld in the new metal. But we’ll probably work on into the evening. I want to get this portion done while the weather holds off.”

“Y-y-y-yeah.” Danny Ray nodded in agreement.

“Okay then,” I responded. “It’s all yours.”

Thirty minutes later I emerged from belowdecks, cleaned, curried, and dressed. Neither of the men looked up from their work as I departed. They both had their heads down, shielded by welding masks, bathed in a shower of sparks and flickering blue light.

Driving into town was a snap. All the traffic was flowing out as I was coming in. I pulled into the police headquarters parking lot just as Patricia was walking out the door. I cruised up alongside the walkway, lowered the passenger window, and leaned over.

“Looking for anyone in particular, miss?” I asked.

Patricia looked in the window. “Yeah, I am, but until he comes along, I guess you’ll do,” she quipped as she opened the door and got in beside me.

“Hey you,” I said as I reached over and squeezed her hand.

“Hey you,” she replied as she returned the squeeze.

“How was your day? Filled with the normal mayhem and carnage of life in the city?” I asked.

“By and large. A little short on carnage, and about average on the mayhem.”

“That’s one of the things I’ll never understand about being a cop, and probably why the life never appealed to me,” I said as I glanced over at Patricia. “How you can wade, day after day, through the most sordid acts committed by man, picking up the fetid, smoldering pieces of human wreckage, and still retain your emotional equilibrium, your sanity.”