Northwest Angle

THIRTY-SIX

Cork had never been on water so huge. He was more than uncomfortable. He was seasick.

The big water, as the folks on the Angle called it, was well named. It stretched away to the horizon in every direction, dazzling blue under the vast sky, shot with diamonds of reflected sunlight, alive with swells. Kretsch was intent at the helm, fighting to keep the Tyee on course against the sweep of waves and shove of wind. Jenny sat with the ice chest at her feet, her eyes darting between the baby nestled inside and the vast expanse of water on which they were the only human presence.

Cork understood that it was going to be the longest and most miserable boat ride of his life.

He’d always believed that particular distinction would belong to the dinner excursion he’d made on Lake Michigan the night he proposed to Jo. It should have been romantic but turned out to be comic tragedy. Although they were never out of sight of land, the wind had been strong and the cruise a little rough and Cork hadn’t been able to eat much. He’d managed near the end of dinner to pop his question. And then he promptly threw up.

It had been a funny story to tell across the years. He was pretty sure that after this boat trip there would be nothing funny to tell.

He moved to the seat next to the helm and spoke to Kretsch, mostly to take his mind off his rolling stomach.

“How’re we doing, Tom?”

Kretsch glanced at the GPS display on the unit attached to the dash. “On target,” he said.

Cork eyed the great empty water around them. “No sign of any other boat. That’s good.”

“Most other boats wouldn’t be out here on a day like this.”

Cork leaned close to the deputy. “You’ll get us there, right?”

Kretsch gave him a look of consummate confidence. “I’ll get us there.”

Cork sat back, relieved. “You know Lake of the Woods pretty well?”

“There are a lot of folks who know it better, folks who’ve lived here all their lives. But I know it pretty well.”

“How long have you been here?”

“I started coming up to fish walleye with my father and brothers when I was a kid. In college, I spent summers on the Angle, helping with one or another of the resorts. Started guiding eventually. Finally moved up here for good.”

“What’s your law enforcement background?”

Kretsch shook his head. “Don’t have any. I took the job because the sheriff couldn’t find anyone else willing. Everything I know is from experience.”

The relief that Cork had felt in all of Kretsch’s assurances vanished in an instant. “No law enforcement training whatsoever?”

“Ride-alongs with the deputies out of Baudette, and a bunch of seminars over time, but that’s about it. Up here, there’s not much breach of the law to worry about. It’s only a part-time job. The rest of the time I work for a barge company in Angle Inlet, helping deliver big items to the islands.”

Jesus Christ, Cork wanted to say. He’d always thought of Tamarack County as a rural operation. This topped everything.

“What if something really big happened?”

“The sheriff comes up himself or sends one of his regular deputies to give a hand. I usually just hold down the fort until they arrive.”

The name Barney Fife came to mind, but Cork said nothing. He moved back to the seat next to Jenny.

“How’re you doing, kiddo?” he asked.

She looked at his face and said, “Better than you, I think. You’re pretty green.”

“I’ll be all right. And your boyo?”

She smiled down at the baby, who despite the wild rock of the boat and the whip of the wind and the noise of the hull against rough water, was sleeping. “He’s doing great,” she said.

“This is the most tolerant kid I’ve ever seen.”

A darkness came over Jenny’s face. “I wonder about that. I wonder if his ordeal has affected him somehow. Tempered his natural inclinations, maybe. He doesn’t cry much, not like the babies I’ve been around in the nursery down in Iowa City, anyway.”

“He’s only a few weeks old,” Cork said. “He’s malleable, right? And resilient. He’ll bounce back.”

“I hope so,” she said.

Cork leaned back and closed his eyes and concentrated on keeping what was kicking inside his stomach corralled there.

The clouds came up fast, black horses galloping wildly out of the west across the sky. Because his eyes had been closed for a long time, Cork didn’t see them. It was Jenny who alerted her father to the danger.

“Dad?”

When he heard the urgency in her voice, his eyes popped wide, and he looked where her finger pointed.

“Tom!” he called.

“I see it,” Kretsch said. “Nothing we can do now but ride it out. You better cover the baby. Looks like the rain’ll be heavy for a bit.”

Jenny had brought a windbreaker, and she draped it over the open ice chest, then peeked inside.

“What’s the verdict?” Cork called to her above the wind.

She shook her head in amazement. “Dead to the world, thank God.”

“Brace yourselves,” Kretsch said. “Here it comes.”

It was as if a dam had split open and everything held in the reservoir behind spilled out. The wind, already strong, became a rage, and the rain struck Cork’s face hard as bullets. Jenny had angled the lid of the ice chest to keep as much water off the windbreaker as possible, and she hunched protectively over the makeshift cradle. Kretsch turned the bow of the boat directly into the storm and held the wheel steady against the full force of all that came at them. The sky above was black and boiling, but Cork could see the edges of the storm system a few miles off. Beyond it was blue sky. They just had to hang tough for a while.

The squall passed, and as quickly as the sky had turned threatening, it cleared again.

Kretsch turned back to them from the helm and patted the dash of his boat. “Tough old girl. Knew she’d get us through.”

Jenny pulled the windbreaker from the ice chest, and the sun hit the baby’s face. He began to wake and make fussing noises.

“Want me to put together a bottle?” Cork asked.

Jenny had brought a clean bottle and formula. Rose had heated water and put it in a thermos.

Jenny shook her head. “He shouldn’t be hungry yet. Just needs a little reassurance, I think.”

She picked him up from the bedding in the ice chest, cradled him in her arms, and began talking to him softly. His eyes fastened on her face, and he seemed mesmerized.

Cork returned to the seat beside the deputy.

Kretsch smiled at him, clearly pleased. “I’ll have us there in no time.”

* * *

And he did. As soon as they came in sight of land, Cork felt the weight of worry lift from him. He could have hugged Tom Kretsch.

It was evening by then. The sun was low in the western sky. The wind had relaxed just a little, and although the lake was still restless, the whitecaps had all but disappeared. Kretsch kept an eye on the GPS display and guided the boat to a tiny cove lined with poplars where a cabin with a small dock stood. The trees looked beaten and ragged; a number of them lay on their sides with the roots torn from the ground, the result of the derecho two days earlier.

“There they are,” Jenny said, her voice a song of relief.

At the end of the dock, Stephen and Aaron stood waving. Kretsch motored up, eased back on the throttle, and drifted in. Cork went forward and picked up the bow line. He tossed it to Stephen, who secured the rope to a cleat. Aaron tied off the stern line. Jenny lifted the ice chest with the baby inside and delivered it into his waiting hands.

“You two okay?” he asked.

“He did great,” Jenny replied.

Aaron peered inside the chest and said with surprise, “My God, he’s smiling.”

“Took to it like a duck to water,” Cork said. “Where are you parked?”

“In front of the cabin,” Aaron replied. “It was a little hairy getting here. Trees still down over the roads everywhere. Looks like a nuclear blast in some places. I understand why the sheriff couldn’t spare any help up on the Angle. Major highways are clear, though.”

“Good. Let’s get you guys gone.”

They left the dock and skirted the cabin, a small and unremarkable affair that had lost shingles in the storm and sustained a couple of broken windows. Aaron’s truck, a new-looking black Dodge Dakota with a crew cab, was parked on the dirt road in front, which dead-ended at the cove. They put the baby in the rear seat, and before she climbed in beside him, Jenny turned to her father. “You’re going back in the dark?”

“Tom says he can navigate by the stars.”

Kretsch shook his head and grinned. “GPS, actually. It’s much more reliable.”

Jenny took the deputy’s hand. “Thank you. For everything.”

Kretsch looked down, as if embarrassed, and Cork thought he was going to say, “Ah, shucks.” Instead, he said, “I’m just glad I could help.”

“You get yourself and my father back to Oak Island in one piece,” she said seriously.

“We’ll be fine, sweetheart,” Cork told her. “You just get safely to Henry. I’ll feel a lot better when I know you’re there. And give a call to Bascombe’s place, let everyone know you’re safe.”

Cork gave her a long hug, then turned to Stephen. “Tell Henry boozhoo for me, and thank him. And take care of your sister and the boyo, okay?”

“I’m on it, Dad.”

Stephen tolerated Cork’s hug, even gave him a quick squeeze of his own in return.

He turned to Aaron and shook his hand earnestly. “When this is all over, we’ll sit down with a couple of beers and really get to know each other.”

“I’d like that.”

Cork nodded toward the truck that held his daughter and the baby. “Thank you.”

“I’ll make sure we get to your friend’s place safely,” Aaron promised.

Cork stood back and watched them climb into the cab. Aaron kicked the engine over and turned the truck around. As they headed into the waning light of evening, they gave him a last wave of good-bye.

“They’ll be fine,” Kretsch said.

“From your mouth to God’s ear.” Cork turned back toward the cove. “Let’s get ourselves on that lake before I lose my nerve.”

“We’ll be home before midnight,” Kretsch said.

“I don’t think so,” Cork replied.

“No? Why not?”

“Because we’re going to make a stop before we get there.”

“Where?”

“I’ll tell you on the way,” Cork said.