Day 27

Engine first. Then radio schedule. Mortar can wait for the heat to break.

Kneel beside the dinghy engine, fit the spare spark plug, prime the bulb, and pull the starter cord.

Kevin — pull the starter cord again, harder this time, listening for the catch.

Kevin — set the starter handle down, roll my shoulders, and wait thirty seconds before pulling again — slower, deliberate.

We need to get that crate clear of the pilings — now. Help me shove it toward the beach before the next swell lifts it sideways.

Grab the crowbar and wedge it under the crate's edge, bracing my feet against the wet planks, ready to lever it free and push it toward shore as the water rises.

Good. On three. One — two — three — push!

Shove with my shoulder alongside her, driving the crate toward the beach, boots sliding on the slick timber, using the crowbar as a brake against the piling to keep it from sliding back.

Hold it — just a bit more. Feel it? It's on the gravel now.

Keep driving forward with Jenny, using my body to square the crate against the shore, then plant my feet and brace as the next swell lifts beneath us, letting the water carry the crate the last few feet clear of the dock.

There she is.

Let the engine warm at idle while I check the gear engagement — forward, neutral, reverse — then kill it and row the dinghy back to the dock to secure it properly.

Kevin — kill the engine. Ship the oars and row back to the dock, tying the dinghy off bow and stern with the new three-strand. Stow the spare plug in the engine's tool roll.

Kettle's singing. Coffee'll be ready in a minute.

pour coffee into two enamel mugs, set one beside the pan of limpets and sea beet, sit at the table facing the radio

Limpets are done. Sea beet's hot through.

slide the pan off the stove onto the table, fork a portion onto my plate, start eating

Coast guard came through on Channel 16 two days ago. Supply boat's diverted to a medevac off the mainland. No ETA.

keep eating, watch her face

Crate on the beach has six tins of corned beef. Labels blurred but seals intact. Coffee jar too, sealed. That's another week at least.

finish my plate, push it aside, reach for the radio handset

Log it in the book. Time, frequency, what they said. Then we mix lime.

pick up the radio logbook, open to a fresh page, hold the pen ready

Engine held steady at idle. Ten minutes no miss. She'll take us to the supply boat when it comes.

eat limpets and sea beet, watching the clouds thicken

Started cold this morning. Started hot after the test run. That's two more than last week.

crack another limpet shell with the back of my spoon, scraping the meat out

Fifteen minutes at idle. Just to charge the battery. Then shut her down.

finish the last limpet, wipe the spoon clean on my thumb

The tomato and pepper went in the ground. Rest are drying under the tarp.

push the empty bowl aside, wipe grease from my fingers onto a rag

Battery's at sixty. Won't take long.

walk to the dock, pull the dinghy's starter cord

It's climbing. We're fine.

let the engine warm up, hand on the throttle to hold it at a steady idle

Boil them together next time. The beet cuts the salt if it's in the pot from the start.

pour two mugs of water from the tank, set one in front of her

Radio check at twenty-one hundred. Battery's at sixty percent.

sit at the table, peel a limpet shell with the tip of my knife

Battery drops faster in damp. If we miss two, the trust sends nobody — they just log us silent.

crack another limpet, drop the meat in my mouth, chew slow