Read Online Port Starbird (Storm Ketchum Adventures) by Garrett Dennis - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Garrett Dennis
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it if we need it. Besides, I like mine better. Hey, Jacky-boy!" The Captain gave the dog a brisk two-handed rubdown. "Kari's comin'? So you did get busy this afternoon after all, you dawg!" he grinned.
"Knock it off," Ketch said, but good-naturedly. "Jack, you stay in the yard."
"Hey, y'all!" Len walked into view, followed by Mario and not two, but three girls, a blond and two brunettes. Ketch had seen a couple of them around the boatyard now and again, but he didn't remember their names, if he'd ever known them. They looked to be in their mid-to-late twenties like their escorts, and were not hard on the eyes. The dog barked once, then trotted into the front yard to greet them.
Mario pushed ahead of the others. "Ketch, th is here is Barb, Joette, and Diana," he said, pointing them out as he named them. "Hope it was okay to bring 'em, Don said he thought it'd be okay," he added in a lower tone.
"Of course," Ketch replied, "no problem, the more the merrier. We have plenty of everything." He stepped past Mario into the yard. "Ladies, welcome, it's nice to meet you. There are drinks in the fridge up on the deck there, and the door's open if you need anything else. Make yourselves at home."
"Thank you kindly, Mister Ketchum, and thanks for havin' us," the blond one (Barb?) said. "Oh, and you too, Captain Manolin ," she added - since he'd brought the fish, Ketch assumed. The other two muttered similar sentiments and headed for the steps.
"You can call me Ketch."
"And Don!" the Captain called from behind the grill. "We're skippin' the black ties tonight! Though we do serve fine wine here - y'all bring any?" he cawed. "Well, I see I got a pan and a kit. Hey Ketch, get me some tinfoil and butter when you get a chance, and I'll get these babies started. And you ladies, make yourselves useful in the kitchen! Remember, you don't have to be crazy to work here, we'll train ya! And you there, Len, grab me a beer out a that cooler!"
"Aye-aye Cap'n!" Len grinned and saluted, cutting a somewhat comical figure in bib overalls with no shirt, and his scraggly beard, straw hat and glasses.
"What's with you tonight? Y 'all look like a dang farmer - all you need's a corncob pipe!" the Captain said to Len.
" I got one, right here in my pocket!" Len replied, producing said object. "It ain't my fault, I ain't got to the laundrymat yet this week. Besides, I am a farmer." He passed a beer to the Captain and opened one for himself. "My daddy's got a tobacco farm back home in Tar Heel..."
"Here you go, amigo," Mario said, dragging a lawn chair closer to the grill and handing Ketch a beer. "You take a load off, I'll go help the girls in the kitchen." Amigo, indeed - although Mario could speak Spanish and one of his parents had been born in Mexico, Ketch knew Mario had never been there.
" Tinfoil and butter!" the Captain called after him.
"There's tossed salad, pasta salad, and cookies in the fridge," Ketch added. One kept most everything that was edible in the refrigerator in these parts, to deter what the locals variously and euphemistically referred to as 'palmetto bugs', 'water bugs', and so on - cockroaches, in other words, which thrived in sultry environments. He hadn't yet seen any in his house, knock on wood, but he still fumigated periodically.
Ketch eased into the lawn chair and twisted the cap off his bottle. This turned out to be a fine idea, he thought amidst the pleasant babble of voices. It was usually pretty quiet around here, which he also enjoyed, but sometimes too quiet. The dog settled next to him to wait for something good to happen with the grill, but then bounded up again as a weathered Outback pulled into the yard and popped its liftgate. He waited for Kari to start crossing the yard before sauntering out to meet her. "Kari, over here," Ketch called contentedly. Now that the best part of this day had arrived, the party was complete.
"Jack y, I missed you this afternoon," she said, giving the dog a quick hug. "Ketch,
"Knock it off," Ketch said, but good-naturedly. "Jack, you stay in the yard."
"Hey, y'all!" Len walked into view, followed by Mario and not two, but three girls, a blond and two brunettes. Ketch had seen a couple of them around the boatyard now and again, but he didn't remember their names, if he'd ever known them. They looked to be in their mid-to-late twenties like their escorts, and were not hard on the eyes. The dog barked once, then trotted into the front yard to greet them.
Mario pushed ahead of the others. "Ketch, th is here is Barb, Joette, and Diana," he said, pointing them out as he named them. "Hope it was okay to bring 'em, Don said he thought it'd be okay," he added in a lower tone.
"Of course," Ketch replied, "no problem, the more the merrier. We have plenty of everything." He stepped past Mario into the yard. "Ladies, welcome, it's nice to meet you. There are drinks in the fridge up on the deck there, and the door's open if you need anything else. Make yourselves at home."
"Thank you kindly, Mister Ketchum, and thanks for havin' us," the blond one (Barb?) said. "Oh, and you too, Captain Manolin ," she added - since he'd brought the fish, Ketch assumed. The other two muttered similar sentiments and headed for the steps.
"You can call me Ketch."
"And Don!" the Captain called from behind the grill. "We're skippin' the black ties tonight! Though we do serve fine wine here - y'all bring any?" he cawed. "Well, I see I got a pan and a kit. Hey Ketch, get me some tinfoil and butter when you get a chance, and I'll get these babies started. And you ladies, make yourselves useful in the kitchen! Remember, you don't have to be crazy to work here, we'll train ya! And you there, Len, grab me a beer out a that cooler!"
"Aye-aye Cap'n!" Len grinned and saluted, cutting a somewhat comical figure in bib overalls with no shirt, and his scraggly beard, straw hat and glasses.
"What's with you tonight? Y 'all look like a dang farmer - all you need's a corncob pipe!" the Captain said to Len.
" I got one, right here in my pocket!" Len replied, producing said object. "It ain't my fault, I ain't got to the laundrymat yet this week. Besides, I am a farmer." He passed a beer to the Captain and opened one for himself. "My daddy's got a tobacco farm back home in Tar Heel..."
"Here you go, amigo," Mario said, dragging a lawn chair closer to the grill and handing Ketch a beer. "You take a load off, I'll go help the girls in the kitchen." Amigo, indeed - although Mario could speak Spanish and one of his parents had been born in Mexico, Ketch knew Mario had never been there.
" Tinfoil and butter!" the Captain called after him.
"There's tossed salad, pasta salad, and cookies in the fridge," Ketch added. One kept most everything that was edible in the refrigerator in these parts, to deter what the locals variously and euphemistically referred to as 'palmetto bugs', 'water bugs', and so on - cockroaches, in other words, which thrived in sultry environments. He hadn't yet seen any in his house, knock on wood, but he still fumigated periodically.
Ketch eased into the lawn chair and twisted the cap off his bottle. This turned out to be a fine idea, he thought amidst the pleasant babble of voices. It was usually pretty quiet around here, which he also enjoyed, but sometimes too quiet. The dog settled next to him to wait for something good to happen with the grill, but then bounded up again as a weathered Outback pulled into the yard and popped its liftgate. He waited for Kari to start crossing the yard before sauntering out to meet her. "Kari, over here," Ketch called contentedly. Now that the best part of this day had arrived, the party was complete.
"Jack y, I missed you this afternoon," she said, giving the dog a quick hug. "Ketch,
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