I didn't want to like her, but I did. It would have been somehow easier to resist the lush temptation of her if I hadn't liked her.
The wind was catching the sails now and I had to admit that this makeshift catamaran was a joy to navigate. Keturah indicated to follow the wind and I let the boat go to chase after it and we really picked up some speed.
Christina cried out nervously as the right dugout canoe boat dusted up off the waves and the platform heeled over to the left to coast on just one canoe pontoon. There wasn't anything wrong with what was happening. She just wasn't used to what real sailing was like.
It had been a long while for me too, but it came back to me now along with the free roaming joy of it. Something occurred to me then. I glanced around to see what had become of Keturah since I had taken over the ship.
She stood leaning back against the mainmast her knotted braids whipping around in the sea breeze. She was smiling as usual only she had a look of pure contentment to her face now. Like it or not my taking over stewardship of the ship had been a symbolic gesture on my part.
Handling her boat and mastering it through the waves was a close thing to doing the same thing with her body as her mate. It was clear from the look she was giving me that she recognized the progression in our relationship as well as for what it was a sign of interest on my part for something more.
Change was terrifying, but it could also be exciting.
An hour later the color of the water changed. I relied on Jim to tell me what was different about it other than the color.
He came back to me and said, "It's shallow. There's a coral reef or something like it down there."
I motioned to Keturah and she came closer to me and I asked, "There are other islands?"
"Yes, but they are very small. The whale people get the wood they need for our crafts from the islands and they grow food on the beaches."
Jim and I gave each other a disbelieving look. They grew food on the beaches?
Keturah seemed to sense our quandary of mind and said, "The water of the inner lagoons is sweet. You can drink it. It's not salty."
"How's that possible?" Jim asked with curiosity rarely known for him to express.
Keturah shrugged to say as if she didn't know before saying, "The water comes from below. It has lots of bubbles in it. Some can even swim in it without coming to the surface for air for long periods of time, but that is very dangerous."