Chapter 9-Expensive For Being Free

The next day we were up bright and early so we could take in as much of St. Lucia as possible. We brought along a watch and decided to walk as far down the road as we could before a little less than half our time was done, then we would come back to ride on Roam with the Lockharts and the Heinmans.

"Do any of the rest of you think its odd that they're being so nice to us?" asked Kyle. He had seemed to be avoiding them the most but didn't mind partaking in their hospitality, when it benefited him.

Mitch turned to him. "Why does everything have to be suspicion with you Kyle?" he demanded. "They're just nice people. It would be better if everyone were as nice as them."

"And had daughters you were interested in," remarked Kyle. "Your family and women, geeze," he muttered. I was nearest to him and I think I was the only one who caught the last part as no one reacted to it.

Mitch glared at him. "That's beside the point," he said. " I just think its extreme rude of you to go around accusing people who have been so nice to us."

"I wasn't accusing!" shouted Kyle. "I simply remarked that it was odd."

"Don't fight guys," said Kat, breaking the two up. "I agree with Mitch that they're probably just nice people. No doubt they want our company because it's hard being so far away from people like you. I think we all can begin to understand that." Everyone nodded, even Kyle.

"We're probably going to learn a lot from this trip," Joseph said. "Trust will definitely be something we'll need if we're going to ever loosen up." He directed that at Kyle then turned to Mitch. "However," he said. "We'll also have to learn to be cautious, not necessarily suspicious, but cautious because not everyone here is our friend. Though I personally think those six are."

"Well said," I told Joseph and we smiled at each other. Kyle didn't say anything more about our new friends but he seemed a little angry and walked on the other side of the road from Mitch. Towards the end he had loosened up and was laughing and talking with the rest of us.

When we arrived back at the bay, Brad, Morgan, and Lindsay were lounging in a covered patio drinking cokes.

"Coke, coke," said Lindsay. "Nothing but coke down here."

"Don't mind her," Morgan said to us. "She's a pepsi fanatic."

"Yeah because Pepsi is simply better than coke," said Brad. "Though Mt. Dew is my drink of choice, it's by the same company."

"Pepsi makes Mt. Dew?" said Joseph, sounding a little shocked. We all turned to stare at him. Brad in particular had an eyebrow raised in his direction. "I'm kidding!" he said, raising his arms up in front of him defensively.

"So where's your folks?" asked Mitch, taking the opportunity to sit next to Lindsay.

"Our mothers went to load up on food," explained Lindsay. "And John went to fill out legal papers. When they're done we're going to see the boat and meet the Skipper. You guys can come if you like."

"Sounds jolly good," said Kyle, with slight sarcasm in his voice. Lindsay shot a confused glance at him and Mitch glared. We sat down on the rest of the benches and waited until the three adults returned. First came John and he sat and talked with us till the women came empty handed.

"Where's the food?" demanded Morgan. He seemed to have demanded a lot in the little time we were with him. Last night Lindsay had explained that he was an only child and didn't have the most discipline in the entire world.

"They're bringing it to the boat for us," said Terry.

"Oh.." trailed Morgan.

"I think we can see the boat now," said John, glancing at his watch. We all stood and made our way to the docks.

Two men waited next to a boat that was prepped and ready to sail. One approached us and introduced himself as Carl, one of the owners of the business they had rented the boat from. Then he introduced the other as their skipper, Joseph. He was jolly and shook everyone's hands. Kat smiled in particular at him. He couldn't have been older than his mid-thirties and his dark form was short but well built.

"I thought there were six of you?" asked Carl.

"Oh yes, there are," said Trisha. "We're giving these kids a ride as far as St. Vincent."

The man shook his head. "Sorry," he said. "No hitchhikers on our boats."

"They're not hitchhikers," said John angrily. "We invited them."

"Sorry," said Carl. "Its company policy."

John muttered to himself and gestured for us to come aboard. "You don't mind if we show them the boat?" asked John. "Is that against the rules too?"

"Of course not," said Carl with a cheesy smile. Thankfully he left then.

When we went aboard John pulled us aside and spoke conspiratorially. "Do any of you have problems with treading water?" he asked us, we shook our heads. "Good because you're coming with us, despite what he says. Give us your bags and we'll load them with us. Then, go down to the end of the point and swim out to about the middle of the water. I know it sounds crazy and I'd smuggle you from shore but I don't want to do anything that could possibly cost the skipper his job. I don't think there will be a problem if he rescues you from the middle of the water but it might be bad for him if he let you on."

"Its okay," said Kyle. "I'm sure we can manage elsewhere."

Kat nudged him in his side. "That sounds like a good idea," she said. "What are you, afraid Kyle?"

His face went red and he shook his head without saying anything more.

"So it's settled?" asked John. We all nodded, though Kyle's was quite forced.

Awhile later we were out on the cliff edge at the end of the point, waiting to see them take off from shore. Our bags were stored safely within the main cabin of the boat. It took awhile to get Kyle to put his there. He said that he'd rather carry it in the water than leave it with them but eventually we got him to leave it. We were all dressed in our swimming clothes and hoped beyond hope that Kyle wasn't right because it was all we had. It had been the first time we were all able to wear them and I wasn't entirely comfortable. My green and blue, knitted style two-piece wasn't as revealing as Kat's black and white bikini but I felt naked. Joseph told me I looked great and I eased a bit.

Suddenly their boat began moving, its white sails flapping though there wasn't a lot of wind and they must have been running mainly on some sort of engine. We glanced at each other. We weren't very far from the water but we were going to have to jump quite a ways.

Kat was the first to go. "No guts, no glory," she said and then jumped into the water below. She shrieked on the way down but when she came up from beneath the water she smiled and shouted, "Oh its great fun! Hurry! Come on!" We then each jumped in. I stared dubiously at the water below but then stepped off, plunging down. I hit the water and felt the air knocked out of me. I struggled and soon reached the surface. After Puerto Rico I wasn't very comfortable with staying below the water for very long. All my friends had already taken off and were swimming quickly toward our destination. I hurried to catch up with them, performing the stroke with fierce determination.

Though it constantly seemed we wouldn't, we managed to reach the middle a little ahead of the boat. When they stopped near us, they all grinned down at us.

"You guys have balls of steel," remarked Brad. They then lowered down a ladder and we made our way up onto the promised vehicle.

"That sure was an expensive ride for being free," said Kyle, not giving into how fun it had been.