Chapter 10. Angeline and Bergitta
The winds were strengthening that night and they found they had to huddle under many heavy blankets to keep from freezing. There was no snow falling but violent storm clouds were seething above their heads. At 3 o'clock in the morning, with the wind still howling all round them, everyone was wakened from fitful sleep by the sound of a woman's voice. She was shouting, `Raus! Raus! Wake up! Wake up!'
Sovant found, in the beam of his flashlight, two women, both fortyish. They looked well-to-do, in Haakon's estimation, or at least they were dressed in expensive, expedition-quality garb.
`You guys are on TV you know,' one of the women was saying. `You must be either Haakon or Sergio.'
`Haakon.'
`I'm Bergitta. This is Angeline. You can see the lights on our boat off yonder. We were sitting in our hot tub when we saw a little blue light. We wondered if it might be a flame from a paraffin stove. Then the Coast Guard showed up and shined its probing searchlight at us. We were in the hot tub in our bikinis, so the US Coast Guard might have enjoyed checking us out. The Coast Guard officer got in his launch and came over and asked to search us. We let them of course. We learned who they were searching for, and then the little blue light made some sense, but of course we didn't mention that to the Coast Guard. Like I said you're all over the news and on TV. The authorities were slow to discover that you had a sailboat and that it was no longer moored in the Grand Marais Harbor, but once they discovered it was gone, they began searching the lake in earnest for you.'
By this time Al could be heard crying under his blankets. Soon enough he was having a look at the curious ladies. They were telling him he would soon be warm and comfortable, and that had him smiling again.
`We'll help you as best as we can,' said Angeline. `You sunk your boat, huh? That was smart. Do you think it's deep enough? We can drag it into deeper water to make sure it's invisible. From a helicopter one can see to a depth of 50 feet or more beneath the surface.'
`We know Amanda is innocent,' Bergitta was saying. `It's insane to think you murdered that FBI agent, dear, but that's what everyone thinks right now.'
Al got a scared look in his eyes when he heard these words. He wasn't quite sure what they meant but he knew enough to know they were bad for Amanda. He just heard something about Amanda murdering someone, and he knew they were running from the police. Poor Al started to whimper and cry again.
`Cheer up little fellow,' Angeline was now saying. `We're going to help your big sis. She's on the lam you know. The cops are gunning for her cause they think she gunned down a G-man. But we know she's innocent! We just have to prove it! Or rather, we only have to find a reasonable scenario which will plant the seed of doubt in the minds of jurymen.'
Al was still crying.
`Cheer up little guy. We'll loan you our launch,' said Bergitta. `It has a 250 horse power outboard. Just keep your running lights off and watch the GPS and you can make it easily to Canada. But wait a few days till things quiet down.'
`Oh let's just run them ashore in the big boat,' said Angeline.
`Yes, that might be better,' said Bergitta. `The authorities have night vision equipment, radar, sonar, high powered rifles, not to mention a willingness to shoot to kill. They can spot you a long time before you can spot them.'
They set off down the beach. Like Lear out on the heath they had to battle the gales of chaos as they made their way toward some sort of asylum. It would have been a bleak scene indeed had Bergitta and Angeline not arrived to lend some hope to what seemed their futile attempt to flee. The Coast Guard cutter had vacated the bay, though perhaps another ship would appear round a headland at any moment. They were safe for the moment and yet they felt blasted with fear of imminent capture.
In twenty minutes they had walked over to the launch which they used to motor out to Bergitta's and Angeline's vessel, the Columbia Maru. Angeline was saying that it was a rusting 387 foot cargo boat which they converted into a luxury vessel. They had spent a lot of money putting a big new rebuilt MAN B & W 10,000 horse power marine two-stroke turbo-charged diesel into it, and they threw a lot more money at electrical and mechanical contractors; they also invested a lot of their own time, aggravation and sweat in gutting, degreasing, sandblasting, painting, redecorating and provisioning their floating pleasure palace. But it was all worth it! They dropped some more cash when they filled it full of glass and black granite, and then some more pennies were needed to gave it enormous staterooms and a futuristic ballroom to throw extravagant parties in. And now their masterpiece was anchored 1000 feet from shore in 6 fathoms of water. Bergitta remained in the launch with Haakon and Sergio, while Angeline welcomed the others aboard the big boat. Those who remained in the launch proceeded to find Haakon's sunken sailboat. After a brutal plunge into the ice water for Haakon, during which he looped a rope round a stanchion, they used the powerful launch to drag the boat into deeper water. Haakon let go one end of the rope, pulled on the other end, and soon the whole length of rope was wound up again and stowed away, and then Bergitta, Sergio and Haakon joined the others on the Columbia Maru.
Angeline was in the meantime showing Al and the ladies where they could freshen up and where they could get something to eat. The kitchen and the dining room were immense brass and granite, stainless steel and marble creations. After showing them where the food was they descended two flights of stairs and Angeline showed them how they could hide behind a false wall in the engine room should they need to hide if the cops wanted to search the boat again. This false wall was something which Bergitta and Angeline had constructed, because they knew it would come in handy if the cops were called to one of their parties to make a drug bust. Angeline said she and Bergitta weren't users but she couldn't vouch for all of their friends - in any event, should some of their guests need to hide from the cops she had learned the hard way that it's wise to have a room behind a false wall. Angeline then took her guest back up to the main deck and showed them their staterooms.
Angeline was explaining to Al and Amanda, Pamela and Maria that since their boat had formerly been a rusting cargo ship, the Columbia Maru might never have an `aura of pre-eminent splendor' about her, and yet, Angeline maintained, there was `no hint of dilapidated grandeur' and `no suggestion of meretricious elegance' about the refurbished boat, though Angeline detested the vulgar term `refurbished boat,' preferring instead `resurrected vessel' which she liked much better than Bergitta's suggestion of: `transformed and revivified floating pleasure palace.' Angeline confessed that she was `a great foe of eclecticism,' and therefore she let Bergitta do all of the interior decorating, with the upshot being that there was with `no promiscuous commingling of decors clashing in hideous proximity to detract from the vessel's thematic and aesthetic purity.'
`It's not my cup of tea,' admitted Angeline, `but Bergitta did the best she could and I support her for that.'
Angeline explained that Bergitta and she refused to use the terms such as `the mess,' and certainly not `the head,' as they thought those viler nautical terms, and they insisted instead on using terms such as kitchen and dining room and bathroom. With these preliminaries out of the way, and with Bergitta and the men back now from their little expedition, Angelina busied herself by pouring them hot coffee and giving them cinnamon rolls to feast upon. She also offered steaks and au gratin potatoes to those who wanted something more substantial than cinnamon rolls.
Once their 4 am snack was finished Bergitta suggested they relax for awhile in their enormous hot tub. She was saying Al wouldn't get a chance to luxuriate in a spa - and it beat hiding out in the wilds of Isle Royale. Bergitta painted a glorious word-picture of how they ought to indulge themselves in the luxury of the warm, lilac-scented waters now, as they would have to endure the hardships that befall desperate fugitives later. Angeline supplied them with the bathing suits.
They stepped outside onto the main deck. They endured the cold
gale blowing down from Canada and sunk themselves into the warm water. As clouds boiled and surged above them, as the north wind howled, they luxuriated in the fragrant warmth of 100 degree water which was perfumed with an exquisite scent. Bergitta and Angeline joined them after they had surveyed the horizon and found no that lights on any ships were to be seen.
`Been on this part of the lake long?' asked Maria while re-emerging after she had submerged her head to warm it up.
`Not too long,' said Angeline. `We're from LA but we bought and then refurbished the boat in Cleveland. It took us all last summer and fall to get it running and looking good. We'll head on over to Duluth and then turn around and see again Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland. Eventually we'll make our way to Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Boston, New York, Miami etc., etc. We'll hire a captain somewhere, sometime to steer it, but for now we don't mind doing that ourselves. We're learning. We're taking it slow. We haven't run aground yet!'
`You must be loaded!' exclaimed Amanda, forgetting that people suspected her of having had an unhealthy and excessive interest in other people's money.
`My father passed away three years ago and he left me some money,' said Bergitta.
`Bergitta had been frugal with her money for years, so this ship is something of a rare extravagance,' said Angeline.
`Had I been frugal?'
`Frugal in the sense that you used to toss hundreds around without a care, but now you toss thousands around without a care in refurbishing an old rust bucket,' said Angeline.
`We've breathed life into a work of art, into an oceanic vessel with classical lines. We have not "refurbished an old rust bucket",' said Bergitta.
`My expertise with oceanic vessels is almost exclusively limited to interior design,' Angeline was saying, `whereas Bergitta's repertoire of talents encompasses not only interior design but hydraulic and electrical systems, drive shafts and big greasy bearings, lubrication systems and bulkheads and smoke stacks and corrosion-resistant paints. Bergitta is Universal Woman, whereas I am the living embodiment of Restricted Woman.'
`Don't let her bamboozle you with that verbiage. Angeline is an accomplished outdoorswoman. She paints with sensitive yet boldly naturalistic strokes of the brush. Her eye is sound and true - perhaps she's better in oil than in water color though that's a contestable point - but everyone agrees she captures on canvass the soul of whatever she paints. Angeline is quite simply too distracted by her other accomplishments - I won't say predominantly feminine accomplishments - to presently enjoy mechanical hardware such as engines and turbines, turbo-chargers and big greasy bearings.'
`Bergitta was trying to teach me the cycles in a four-stroke engine: Intake, Compression, Power and Exhaust. I've managed to memorize four words, and I know what they mean, but that doesn't mean I'll ever be able to fix the huge diesel on this boat when and if it ever breaks down,' said Angeline.
`Especially since we have a huge turbo-charged two-stoke diesel,' said Bergitta.
`It boggles my mind to try to understand how an engine can combine both the intake and the compression elements into one stroke of the piston, and then combine the power and the exhaust elements into the next stroke of the piston. You would think that all engines would have to be 4-stroke engines wouldn't you? This seems especially so when a turbo-charger is used, as the function of the turbo-charger is to shove air above atmospheric pressure into the cylinder during the intake phase. I find in all this only more proof that I am Restricted Woman. Bergitta, Universal Woman, has a mind which comprehends all manner of internal combustion engines.'
`I wonder if, deep-down, we aren't land creatures more than water creatures. But we want desperately to believe that we have romantic, seafaring souls. Hence, this caprice of ours in breathing life into this vessel,' said Bergitta.
`I'm glad you didn't liken one of us to the unglamorous hippo, a creature who takes equally well to both land and water,' said Angeline.
`What I mean by land creatures is that Angeline and I are into treks, expeditions, you know, beholding gorgeous mountain scenery. We climbed Denali last year,' said Bergitta.
`Took the West Buttress route,' said Angeline. `It was two weeks of bitterly cold penitential purgatorial privation, but the great mountain beckoned us, and who were we to resist?
`When last we were in South America,' said Bergitta, `we made it to the summits of Cotopaxi and Sajama. Those are 20,000 foot peaks which anyone in top physical condition can walk up with no danger of dying from a fall.'
`They're not like Kangchenjunga and K2, Chogolisa and Changabang, where you fall thousands of feet and straight to your death if you make the slightest little slip-up,' said Angeline.
`Angeline and I went all over the Karakorum,' said Bergitta. `Before that we had been hiking through the Hindu Kush and Pakistan. The west face of Nanga Parbat rises 23,000 feet straight up from the Indus River Valley, so that was a panorama to marvel at.'
`Its stupendous precipices defy description for though they render man pitiful and insignificant in comparison, this gives no accurate perspective on their true proportions,'' said Angeline.
`I understand what she said,' said Amanda.
`Eventually Angeline and I trekked all over the Karakorum and the Himalayas, though we don't risk our necks climbing the big and steep peaks. That whole region is a graveyard you know, and a huge outhouse. People are forever falling to their deaths or being crushed in avalanches. 30 Germans died on Nanga Parbat before anyone finally got to the summit of that treacherous mountain. Yes, a vast graveyard and a huge outhouse are the Himalayas. Which reminds me, don't let me forget to give you plenty of bleach so you can keep your camp clean while you're hiding out in the wilderness in the coming months. You don't want to get dysentery when you're making your daring escape from vengeful lawmen crying for blood and justice. You guys remind me of….'
Bergitta had to dunk her head in the hot water for a little while because the icy winds had frozen her wet hair. She reemerged and was saying: `Where was I? Oh, yes, I was saying that you guys remind me of intrepid explorers. Soon you will venture forth once again into the wilderness to confront the inhospitable elements. Are you afraid? No! Are you brave? Assuredly! I have immense respect for you and for your will to survive while these cops and bounty hunters are gunning for you. If you make one slip-up with the cops, it will be over for all of you. You're like Mallory and Irvine, Tasker and Boardman, great explorers, adventurers, bold seekers who climbed to eternity on the North Face of Everest. You look death squarely in the face. You might all be gunned down in a glorious shootout, but you will never surrender. I'm quite sure of that. You probably think I need to soak my head again, but I'm being sincere.'
`We'll get through it,' said Maria.
`Let's not forget either,' said Angeline, `to give you plenty of bandages and antibiotics and antiseptics, as well as aspirin, cold medicine, cough syrup etc., etc.'
`And we'll give you plenty of apple sauce and yogurt for Al,' said Bergitta. `Once we get you off this island and get you to some lonely section of the mainland shore, you should be able to escape easily enough, but you might have to stick to the wilderness for awhile and avoid city life.'
`We just love to sit in this hot tub and relax,' Angeline was saying, `though we're not going to be able to really relax until you guys are safe. It's so much fun to anchor the boat before a city like Chicago at night time. That's when I really love to sit in this hot tub and gaze up at all the wonderful lights in all the towering skyscrapers. You can forget to wear your bikini out in the wilderness, but you might get an indecent exposure conviction on your record if you get too relaxed and forgetful when you're in cities. That's pretty much the biggest danger we face in life, but we haven't slipped up in that regard yet, knock on wood.'
Pamela was playing with Al who loved how the cold wind rushed over his head and how he could always warm up by having his mama hold his nose and plunge him down into the warm water.
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br /> `Did you grab her cell phone?' asked Angeline.
`Got it,' said Bergitta.
`Bergitta's mom is with us for a few days. She's sleeping now but when she wakes up she'll recognize you guys - she was glued to the TV and the news reports about you guys all day today.'
`She's not as Liberal and as Broad-Minded as some people, so I grabbed her cell phone so she can't call the cops on you guys,' said Bergitta. She was a Hitler Maiden - a little brown shirt - seventy five years ago. She really soaked up the rigorous training she received as a little girl.'
`We call her "The Nazi Sponge",' said Angeline.
While relaxing in the Jacuzzi all of the adrenaline that had accumulated from the sea-chase and the terror of the Coast Guard was slowly washed out of their systems. Eventually fatigue and the need for sleep told everyone they were ready for bed. They found their staterooms and slept about as peacefully as people can when they know every lawman in North America was hunting them.
`You are a sweet-looking child,' said Frau Hildegard Rummel to Amanda when everyone was seated at the dining room table for lunch later that day. `But in my day if someone killed a police officer that person was lined up against a wall and shot. They didn't waste time with lawyers and trials. Justice was swift, and if it wasn't always sure, it was nevertheless a powerful deterrent against crime and criminals.'
`Ma, we've told you Amanda didn't shoot the FBI man,' said Bergitta.
`Well of course they're going to proclaim their innocence. That's what criminals do. Why are they running if they are innocent? Bergitta you are so brainless at times it makes my heart murmur and skip beats whenever I contemplate how brainless you are. Dummkopf daughter! You're aiding and abetting fugitives, you're helping killers! Do you know how many years in prison you could get if you get caught? Dummkopf ! I don't care if they murder me - I'm old and withered - I'm an aged, as my darling daughter would say - but you're still young! You could still find a husband and have children.'
`Please, ma, you're making little Al cry. See his big cheeks are all wet. He'll probably have nightmares about you. Don't let the mean old Nazi woman scare you, Buddy, she's just an old woman set in her old woman ways.'
`Don't you call me a Nazi, Bergy. I couldn't help what my parents did with me. But you! Honestly. Aiding and abetting criminals!
Sergio and Pamela, Maria and Haakon and Amanda could see it was useless to plead their case before the former Hitler Maiden. There couldn't be a bigger waste of words than to expend some in trying to persuade Frau Rummel.
`Don't think I'm heartless,' said Frau Rummel. `I know it's perfectly natural for parents to want to help a child who is in trouble. Let's give you the benefit of the doubt, let's suppose you people are good and decent people. Can't you see you are still exposing my daughter and her…a…friend…'
`She's my partner, ma. Angeline and me are a couple. We're Lesbians, ma. We were married in a ceremony eleven years ago, remember?' said Bergitta.
`You always call me `ma' whenever you want to paint me as a heartless, out-of-touch Marie Antoinette who loves to advise the poor to have some cake, and whenever you want to portray yourself as a lawyer for the oppressed proletariat…As I was saying, even if we suppose you people are good and decent and innocent people, can't you see you are endangering these two Lesbian Love Birds? Do you want them to be arrested and thrown into jail for years? Why don't you get into the launch and go? Just take it and go!'
`That's how they'll get caught, and that's how we'll get caught, ma. We got to be smart about things, ma. Don't be a dummkopf, ma. We have to look like we are in no big hurry. We might be watched right now. That's why I got the blinds drawn. Comprende? Tonight when it is good and dark we'll drop them off in Canada.'
`All right. Say, has anyone seen my cell phone?' I hope it hasn't been stolen,' said the ancient lady as she glanced at Amanda.
Amanda felt like saying something but she had the good sense to hold her peace.
Amanda wrote in her diary about the events of that evening: We spent the afternoon alternating between eating, sleeping and luxuriating in the Jacuzzi. Angeline and Bergitta brought the "Columbia Maru" out of the little bay and we reversed the route which we had come the previous night. We came down the Eastern flank, and then round the Southern shore of Isle Royale. When the sun went down a difficult decision had to be made. There was wind. But there was too much of it! We left the Southern shore of Isle Royale and were slammed with 10 foot waves rolling down from the North. We could either retreat to the lee of the island again or we could venture forth into the gale. The wind was howling out of the North, with the gusts over 50mph. The billows were piling higher and higher. We said the Lord's Prayer and proceeded onwards into Storm and Darkness at about 9 o'clock. The full fury of the blast was slamming us over the starboard bow. Nature was terrifying to behold last night. It was not the cold, and it was not the fear that boat would break apart in the surges which made everything so awful: it was the nausea. When you're as seasick as we were you really don't care if you live or die. In fact dying becomes a potent attraction to you, as it promises an end to your misery. Halfway to Canada, that is, twenty miles into our voyage, a ship with powerful lights 5 miles away to the West seemed to be closing in on us. It was too far away to cause any panic, but Angeline and Bergitta said they would deal with the Coast Guard, should it be the Coast Guard, while we made our escape in the launch. Angeline put the bow directly into the wind and eased back on the throttle. We were able to scramble into the launch without being seen by those on the Coast Guard ship, because we had the full length of the "Columbia Maru" between the little launch and the Coast Guard vessel. It was hell soaring up and then plunging down the sides of those waves in the little launch in total darkness. But I'm writing all this from the Canadian shore, 50 miles below Thunder Bay. We made it to a little oasis of salvation amid this hostile world, though we were barely hanging on to life and sanity at the end of our voyage. It's Friday and the sun is shining and we're free and alive. Not one of us slipped off the launch to fall away into the icy abyss. Not one of us met death in terrifying icy darkness. Al was howling and rending the air with his anguished cries, but he is smiling and happy now! Sergio was saying it was like we were on The Raft of the Medusa. We'll call the number Bergitta gave us to let them know we made it to safety. The ladies advised us to be cagey and speak in code, saying something like: "Sidney and Clarice are just dying to see the revivified vessel!" Thanks for everything Angeline and Bergitta! Dad and Haakon sunk your launch in water 50 feet deep, but I suppose you can afford to buy another one. See you later!
Part 3. The End of the Good Old Days: Hard Times Hit Amanda, Haakon, Al et. al.