Spring moved into summer as the frozen foods were nearly extinguished. We stretched it out as far as we could, turning to other sources of protein and fat. We seem to be doing very well. Birds, insects, small animals and fish were becoming more abundant and we were very selective in harvesting these.

  The one project Jillian and I found fascinating was making fuel. Scotty was able to ‘tweak’ his recipes and make a substantial fuel for gasoline engines. Long term effects were not good, but we had an endless supply of vehicles and combustion engines.

  One of my new responsibilities was fishing and watercraft. I was able to use old charts from local fishing charters to plot my courses. Scotty and I decided on one particular boat that was mechanically sound, reliable and sleeps six. Rosie was reluctant at first and was frightened. Ginger, Pete, Becky and Jeff just absolutely loved it. When Rosie saw the first fish that Scotty pulled in; she was a fan of fishing.

  Rosie, Becky and Jeff tore into it as it flopped on the deck, making a bloody mess everywhere. Even Ginger and Pete joined in, but they were not keen on tearing it apart. They preferred it when Jillian cut it into small cubes. After we packed up our coolers and had a quick lunch, we headed east back to the marina.

  About forty minutes into our two-hour voyage, something stopped working. Scotty shut everything down sending everyone forward and displacing a few items that were not properly stowed. Scotty ran through his mental checklist, Jillian and I responded to each of his questions; yes or no. Everything checked out. Scotty stood at the back of the boat; his silhouette crisp against the golden setting sun.

  “Oh shit.” Scotty said with his cap in his hand. Jillian and I approached and saw the problem; a huge fishing net was trailing our boat and more than likely, twisted around the propellers.

  The Pacific was calm and quiet as we sat, drifting along. Scotty started taking off his clothes and requested a sharp knife and a snorkel.

  I was the only one with a full two hours of scuba experience from a Hawaiian vacation twenty years ago. I made sure to pack two complete sets of scuba gear. I was excited and concerned at the same time as I suited up and testing the equipment a couple of times. Jillian took pictures constantly laughing and calling me a ‘dork’.

  I tested and verified everything as I slipped off the swim deck and into the ocean, being careful not to get tangled in the netting.

  I emerged on the swim deck; “This is going to take a while.” I said as Jillian handed me a nine-inch hunting knife. “See if you can find me something, else.” I asked. The dogs were curious and excited watching me swim, but did not appear anxious to join me.

  The water was clear and my task monumental. I started to cut away at the netting only to reveal a thicker line. I could barely hear Jillian and Scotty talking; muffled and periodic. I frantically cut away at the lines and the knife slipped out of my hand and disappeared. I propped myself up on the swim deck.

  “That was quick!” Jillian said.

  “I dropped the knife.” I said.

  “Oh shit.” Jillian exclaimed.

  “I’ll find you another one.” Scotty said as Jillian stepped back and said; “You’re bleeding.”

  “I knew I nicked my hand, but it isn’t that bad.” I said looking at the slice at the base of my thumb.

  “Here ya go.” Scotty said handing me a large fillet knife.

  I was making good progress on the lines as I heard Pete’s booming bark and Jillian’s shrill screaming at a panic level. I surfaced as Scotty was on the swim platform yelling; “GET OUT OF THE WATER!” His face had an expression I have never seen before. I handed him the knife as I tried to pull myself up, but the scuba gear made it difficult. Scotty grabbed my air tank and hoisted me up with one muscle tearing effort as I climbed the short ladder right behind him. The dogs were going nuts as I turned around to see a massive ‘V’ shape on the water’s surface about twenty yards out; closing in fast. The sun’s reflection on the water made it impossible to see exactly what it was, as it disappeared under the boat causing the large boat to roll a little.

  “What the hell is it?” I asked out of breath.

  “I have no idea, but it’s B-I-G.” Scotty said breathing heavy as well from his exertion. The dogs settled down and crowded around me as Rosie found the cut on my thumb and started to lick it, repeatedly.

  “Thank you, Rosie.” I said as I let her mend my wound as I took turns petting all the dogs and let them smell me as they verified that I was okay.

  “I heard Pete’s bark first and looked around and didn’t see anything, then I heard Jillian’s voice cut through.” I said sitting at the table as Scotty handed me a Bourbon.

  “We will try it again, tomorrow.” Scotty said sitting down in a chair as Jillian looked through the pictures she took and could not see anything with the limited resolution on the small LCD screen that would identify what it was.

  “Shark? Whale?... we should have seen a fin?... Right?” Scotty asked.

  “I don’t know, I don’t have much experience fishing the ocean. I just figured it was like an inland lake, only bigger.” I said animated.

  “I just grabbed the tackle and gear that was in the store; I thought the same thing, just bigger.” Scotty added.

  “Let’s hope the weather doesn’t get bad tonight. We are drifting more north than east. Let’s drop anchor.” Jillian said looking at the charts and making a notation with a pencil.

  “She really comes in handy, doesn’t she!” Scotty said with a gracious smile.

  “I don’t know what I would do without her.” I said in an immediate response in an undertone. Jillian showed no response to my comment and started to roll up the charts as the anchor grabbed hold.

  None of us had ever spent a night on a boat in the ocean before. It was very serene and brighter than I expected. The waves kissed the side of the boat in an almost predictable manner, then; suddenly, it stopped.

  “How can an ocean be as still as a pond?” Scotty said in a whisper looking out at the black enamel surface.

  “Can someone put this as far below as possible? Jillian said holding a large garbage bag.

  “What is it?” I asked as I stood up reaching for the bag.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Dog poop and our garbage! Want to see?” Jillian asked. Handing me the bag.

  “No. I’ll take your word for it.” I said. The dogs were all laying together in the cabin as we sat and sipped Bourbon and talked in hushed tones knowing that we are not the top predators here.

  “We might want to try reversing the propeller’s a little to relieve the strain.” Scotty said thinking about our current predicament.

  “You’ll need to be careful not to cut into something important like a hydraulic line or something.” Scotty added.

  “I’ll see if I can adjust the sonar to get a wider picture, in case of visitors.” Jillian said.

  As we were discussing and analyzing our situation; the boat rocked. All of us looked at one another hoping someone had an explanation.

  “Rogue wave?” I asked.

  “Hell if I know.” Scotty said looking in different directions from his chair. Jillian quickly got up and turned on the sonar.

  “I don’t see anything, but I’m not really sure what I’m looking at.” Jillian said hitting buttons causing it to beep loud in the total silence. I got up and looked for the manual. The light from the sonar was bright and I sensed that we were giving away our position for anything that might be patrolling these waters.

  “We’ll look in the morning.” I said as I turned off all the lights and Jillian turned off the sonar. Jillian and I returned to the table and noticed by what light was available from the moon; Scotty was smiling.

  “How much Bourbon have you had?” Jillian asked him jokingly.

  “I have a confession to make. Last year, ‘bout this time, I was thinking about cashing in my chips. I had some pretty dark thoughts and just frightening nightmares.” Scotty said looking down and shaking his head.

  “I could never work up the courage to…you know. Coward; I thought. Then you rolled by my house. I was actually looking at the road a few minutes before you drove by; just sitting staring at nothing. I usually don’t watch the road, no reason to. I blinked my eyes thinking I just imagined it and the dust did not go away. I know we are in a tight spot right now and things might not go as planned, but… I’m actually having fun!” Scotty said with a guilty smile.

  “You’re not scheduled for being ‘bait’ tomorrow either.” I said.

  “Not true! From what you said it sounds like a two-person job, and I’m ready!” Scotty said with finality.

  “Fair enough, you’re probably right, some assistance pulling the cut lines might speed things along.” I said.

  “That’s just great! What if something happens to the BOTH of you!” Interjected Jillian very concerned. I looked at Scotty, then to Jillian, hesitated and said; “You will eat lunch, feed the dogs, fashion a large sail using our carcasses, pull up the anchor and sail along the breeze and gently dock at the marina we left from yesterday.” We all burst into laughter as it woke up the dogs. Becky stretched and came over for some attention.

  I laid awake with my anxiety higher than normal as Jillian dozed off. I gave up trying to sleep and made some coffee and sat at the table with Pete and Jeff as we ate some leftovers and watched the sun rise.

  “You been up all night too?” Whispered Scotty breaking the silence as he appeared with a cup of coffee and Rosie who yawned, stretched and came over to greet us. Rosie came over to me and put her head under my hand and I scratched her head and said “Good morning to you Rosie.” Rosie lifted her head and smelled my mouth and face.

  “When’s the last time you brushed your teeth?” Scotty asked commenting on Rosie’s behavior. I forced a smile.

  “What about a drone? Do you think it has a better chance of detecting… visitors, than the sonar?” I asked Scotty in a low voice.

  “Both would be ideal.’ Scotty said.

  “What time do you think?” I asked. Scotty did not respond, thinking, as Jillian joined us at the table with the sonar user manual. Not knowing when the best time would be, we all agreed on noon. The strong winds ruled out using the drone and Jillian was monitoring the sonar and only had a few small hits.

  Scotty and I suited up and I explained, the best I could the scuba gear. He picked it up pretty quick and we climbed down the ladder to the swim deck.

  “Pete! Settle down!” Jillian said as Pete was frantic watching Scotty and I. Pete cried and wined running back and forth causing all the dogs to gather at the back of the boat. Jillian handed me the large filet knife as Pete was foaming at the mouth and out of control. Jillian held on to him as he protested.

  The water was clear and visibility was good, I guess. As I cut through the lines, Scotty pulled them away. By reversing the propellers, it seemed to help as the tangle of line and netting was pretty loose.

  I was more than half way complete when I heard Jillian’s screams cut through the water followed by a splash. Pete jumped into the ocean and was swimming away from the boat. Scotty grabbed the knife from me as I worked my way to the surface.

  Jillian’s screams went from muffled to crystal clear; “SHARKS!” as she pointed west and Pete swimming on an intercept course. I submerged to find that Scotty was almost done. A portion of the netting caught my mask and ripped it off my face as I surfaced and immediately started swimming in Pete’s direction.

  As I was catching up to Pete, I realized it was a pod of Dolphins. I could hear their whistles and clicks. I caught up to Pete and tried to calm him down as the dolphins playfully darted around us. Pete was exhausted and I could feel him breathing hard on my shoulders as I held him above the water. I could not support his weight and the weight of the air tank, so I dropped the scuba tank and was able to tread the water with Pete on my shoulders. I heard the boat start up and the engines roar to life as it was heading right towards us. My muscles ceased up and I used absolutely every ounce of energy I had. My legs just stopped working as my friends’ weight on my shoulders caused us to plummet.

  I woke up in a bed with Pete next to me, golden setting sun and a warm ocean breeze flowing across my face.

  “Heaven.” I said, waking Pete who snuggled in close to lick my hand.

  “We made it to Heaven Pete.” I said to him as his back leg kicked a little as I scratched his side looking around at the peaceful surroundings and breathing in the fresh air.

  “I’m hungry Pete. You hungry?” I asked Pete who just laid with his big head upside down and tongue hanging out. I got up very slow, weak, sore and a slight headache. Reality coming into focus as I sat on the edge of the bed and Pete climbed off slowly.

  “What happened Pete? How did we get here?” I said. I put on my favorite Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts and slowly made it down the stairs.

  “HOLY SHIT!” I heard Jillian say as she launched out of her chair at the kitchen table and across the room toward me at the bottom of the stairs. She kissed me and hugged me tight as she cried out a sentence that I could not understand. Scotty came into view as I looked over Jillian’s shoulder with a big smile and arms outstretched. My legs gave way as Jillian and Scotty assisted me to the big comfy couch. All the dogs immediately came over to me, each one wanting to smell or lick my hands. Pete sat next to me on the couch and Jillian on the other side wiping tears from her face.

  “Coffee?” Scotty asked as he was heading toward the kitchen knowing my answer.

  “What happened?” I asked Jillian who hugged me tight.

  “You’ve been out for almost seven hours. Jillian said as she used her fingers to comb my matted hair.

  “I was using the binoculars and spotted movement and saw the fins cutting through the water and thought it was sharks and screamed, then Pete jumped off the back of the boat.” Jillian said as Scotty handed me a cup of hot coffee.

  “He was going to sacrifice himself to protect you! He is one brave dog!” Scotty said admirably patting his big head.

  “I jammed the knife into the nest and started cutting and the lines and netting, then… it all just fell off! I yelled to Jillian as I surfaced and sat on the swim deck as she took off.” Scotty said.

  “I pulled up the anchor when I saw you go after Pete. The Dolphins actually kept you afloat until we got there, you never let go of Pete.” Jillian said.

  “I pulled Pete off you and put him on the swim deck, then pulled you up. Jillian worked on you and you spit about a half a gallon of water and your eyes opened and you took a deep breath. Then she worked on Pete and made him spit up a bunch of water and he took a couple of breaths.” Scotty said.

  “How did you know what to do?” I asked Jillian.

  “I’m from Minnesota, land of a thousand lakes, you and Pete make a total of six lives I have saved!” Jillian said proudly.

  “The Dolphins followed us all the way to the shore!” Scotty added.

  All the dogs admired Pete for his display of bravery and now he was Alpha. Ginger had to reclaim this responsibility because Pete was just not interested and somehow, they shared this responsibility. The pack was well balanced and strong, even Rosie showed an interest in wearing a backpack.

  The next few days I mostly slept; three or four hours for every five I was awake. Jillian, Scotty and the dogs went out of their way and went above and beyond to make sure I was okay. I was feeling guilty about not being able to contribute and it took about a month until I felt better. My left arm never felt the same again, but I never told Jillian or Scotty. Pete’s energy level was noticeably reduced; he would keep up with us on bike rides; but not like before.