| In the patch of greater darkness Scarlett noticed
for the first time that the sky seemed very near, its spangling of
stars brighter than she could remember them ever beforeOne star
looked almost close enough to touch"Rhett, look at the sky," she
said
softly"The stars look so close He stopped walking, put his hand
over hers to signal her to stop, too"It's because of the sea," he
said, the sound of his voice low and warm
"We're past the warehouses now, and there's only waterListen and
you
can hear it breathing They stood very stillScarlett strained to
hearThe rhythmic slap slap of the moving water chanel bags for cheep against the invisible
pilings of the seawall became audible
Gradually it seemed to get louder, until she was amazed she hadn't
been
hearing it all the timeThen another sound merged with the cadence
of
the tidal riverIt was music, a thin high slow procession of notes
The purity of them made her eyes fill with unexpected tears"Do you
hear it?" she asked fearfullyWas she imagining things? "YesIt's
a homesick sailor on the ship anchored out thereThe tune is 'Across
the Wide Missouri They make those flute-like whistles themselves
Some of them have a real gift for playingHe must have the watch
See, there's a mulberry bags china lantern in the rigging, that's where the ship isThe
lantern's supposed to warn any other ship traffic that she's anchored
there, but you always have a man on watch, too, to look for anything
approachingMaybe two in busy lanes like this riverThere are
always small boats, people who know the river moving at night when
no
one can see them
"Why would they do that?"
"A thousand reasons, all of them either dishonest or noble, depending
on who's telling the story
Rhett sounded as if he were talking to himself more than to Scarlett
She looked at him but it was too dark to see his face
She looked back at the rolex daytona men's watches ship's lantern that she had mistaken for a star
and listened to the tide and the music of the yearning, anonymous
sailorSaint Michael's bells rang the three-quarter hourScarlett
tasted salt on her lips"Do you miss the blockade running, Rhett?"
He
laughed once"Let's just say I'd like to be ten years younger He
laughed again, lightly mocking, amused at himself"I play with
sailboats under the guise of being kind to confused young menIt
gives me the pleasure of being on the water and feeling the wind
blowing freeThere's nothing like it for making a man feel like a
god He moved forward, pulling Scarlett into rolex cosmograph daytona motionTheir pace was
slightly faster, but still in step
Scarlett tasted the air and thought of the wing-like sails of the small
boats that skimmed the harbor, almost flying"I want to do that," she
said, "I want to go sailing more than anything in the whole worldOh,
Rhett, will you take me? It's as warm as summer, you don't
absolutely
have to go back to the Landing tomorrowSay you will, please,
Rhett
He thought for a momentVery soon she'd be out of his life forever
"Why not? It's a shame to waste the weather," he saidScarlett
pulled at his arm"Come on, let's hurryIt's late, and I want to get
an early necklace tiffany star |
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