Morning came all too soon and the cousins met at the buffet breakfast in the lobby. The boys looked at the large pot of oatmeal and the boxes of cereal without enthusiasm. Quinn said, “Let’s just pack up and stop at the breakfast place on our way to the train station.” Their dirty wet clothes had magically re-appeared by their doors with a note saying, “Sorry, but we were unable to remove the stains.”
They wrote short thank you notes before stuffing the clean clothes into their backpacks which were anything but clean and still pretty damp. They stopped by the desk on their way out trying to figure out how they were going to pay their bill. The clerk said, “Your bill has been taken care of. John was a friend of mine and I would like to personally thank you for what you did.”
The boys mumbled their thanks and headed out for breakfast. It was only a couple of blocks but after 12 days on the boat their legs tired easily. The restaurant was pretty full but a guy sitting by himself got up and offered them his table, moving to one of the stools at the counter. The boys looked at the menu with all the different choices of eggs and meats. Mikey decided first on a cheese omelet with a side of reindeer sausage. Quinn added pancakes to the order for himself. Kade and Johnathan settled for a couple of eggs with the sausage.
The food arrived quickly and disappeared as fast. They got up to pay their bill and the waitress pointed to the guy who had given up his table saying, “He’s a good friend of John’s and picked up your tab.”
The boys turned to thank the man but he just gave them a thumb’s up and turned back to his paper. Kade was anxious to make it to the train so they could get good seats and hurried them along. Several people in the car seemed to know about their adventure and kept asking questions. Quinn finally asked how they knew so much and a lady handed them a copy of the Anchorage paper. Right there on the front page was their picture sailing the Sea Shanty to the harbor entrance. They just stared at the twisted mast and huge dents in the hull. Kade finally said, “She sure took a beating but she got us back to port safely.” Johnathan started to hand the paper back to the lady but she motioned to him to keep it.
The train pulled out of the station and soon they were back in the mountains. The glaciers on the peaks no longer looked soft and inviting. The vastness of the wilderness they were traveling through remained as awesome as when they had arrived but now it also had their respect. They had experienced the power of nature and it left them with a greater love of the wilderness but also a far greater understanding of the dangers. About half way to Anchorage Quinn asked, “Where should we go next year?”
“How about the Outback in Australia?”
“A bike trip through Death Valley?”
“Hiking in Iceland?”
“Hiking the Pacific Crest trail?”
“Camping in the Alps?”
“Attending a glider training camp?”
“Scuba diving in the Caribbean? “
The list kept growing and then Johnathan said, “I’m not sure our parents will be too eager to let us go on more adventures.”
Quinn countered, “They are always trying to get us to do stuff together. I think we did pretty well. We earned the money for this adventure and did all the studying to be ready for it. They should let us do stuff.”
The wait at Portage did not seem as long and soon they were back in Anchorage. The change from wilderness cliffs and ocean to old buildings and congestion brought on a sense of heaviness to the boys and they quit chattering about their future adventures. Mikey summarized their feelings by saying, “I think this must be how the Captain feels when other boats are around. It’s almost like breathing is harder when you are confined by buildings and people.”
The train pulled into the airport and the boys grabbed their packs. If they skipped lunch they would have enough time for a quick visit with the Captain and still get checked in for their flights. They took the first cab they found. It was anything but new but the driver was friendly and took them to the hospital. Johnathan asked, “How do we figure out which room the Captain is in?”
Kade said, “We ask at the information desk?”
The lady at the desk seemed to think that four teenage boys with backpacks was normal enough and said, “Your Captain Cook is in room 328. Take the elevator on the left.”
When they got off the elevator they were confronted with the normal busy activity of a surgical ward. Someone dressed in green scrubs pointed down the hall and said, “Third room on the left. He should still be sitting up.”
When they arrived at 328 they knocked before opening the door. They were greeted by the sight of the Captain dressed only in a hospital gown slumped down in the recliner with his injure leg straight out. He looked awfully small and fragile. He must have sensed their presence because he opened his eyes and then his face broke into a big smile. He said, “I was hoping you would stop by! I needed to thank you for what you did!”
Mikey said, “I wanted to give you this” as he reached into his backpack and took out the sketch he had done of the bear. It was a little worse for wear but he carefully unrolled it and handed it to the Captain. He explained, “I wanted to frame it for you but did not have time. I dried it with the hair dryer at the hotel and it wrinkled a bit. I can try and do another sketch if you want.”
Their gruff old Captain took the sketch and had tears in his eyes as he simply said, “Thank you. I like this one because it has a story with it.”
Johnathan handed him the chart with all his calculations on it saying, “Here is the track of our journey back. I thought you might like to have it.”
“I will have plenty of time to study the chart. Looks like I will be stuck here for a few more days and then off to some rehab center. They say you saved my leg and maybe my life.”
Kade handed him the ship’s log saying, “I tried to keep the log up to date but did not do a very good job of documenting what happened. We did not want it to get lost so I took it with me from the boat.”
The Captain’s hands were trembling as he reached for the book. He turned to the log of the last days and read Kade’s writings. The tears flowed and he said, “Excuse an old man’s tears. Thanks for saving the log…it is very important to me and your entries are wonderful.”
Quinn was a bit anxious as he handed the Captain one of the mystery cans of food he had saved which had “TL” scratched on the top. He answered the Captain’s quizzical look by saying, “I did not have anything to give you but thought you might enjoy this mystery can of food as a reminder of the meals we shared together.”
The Captain looked at the can from several different angles and started laughing. He explained, “This is a can of tea leaves a previous group from India brought up. It is very appropriate because these docs tell me my liver needs a rest. I have to give up drinking. Now I can use the glacier ice for iced tea.”
Johnathan’s watch started to buzz and he said, “We have to go now so we can get checked in for our flight.” Everyone had tears in their eyes as they shook hands and said their goodbyes.
As they were walking out of the door the Captain said, “I am going to rebuild the Sea Shanty and take her on the voyage that Captain Bligh made. Who knows, I may even find someone who can love an ornery old sea Captain like me.”