Between the Stars

Chapter Ten

"Sorry about that," he said as he jogged down the front steps.

"Don't worry about it," she said nonchalantly. "I don't mind."

"I hate taking them," he muttered.

"Why?" Her head tilted curiously. "Don't they help?"

"Yeah, maybe." He frowned as he stared down the street. "I don't know. I don't like admitting that I need help, even if it's just from some little pills."

"So you'd rather struggle along without them?"

He shook his head. "No, I— I don't know. I can't explain it."

Charlie was quiet until they turned the corner at the end of the road.

"I think it's kind of like wearing glasses," she said. "Like, you could get along okay without them, depending on how bad your vision is, but life would be a whole lot easier with them."

"That's a good point," Sam admitted.

He hadn't realized how common it was for people to rely on something for help like that. Even though needing glasses was still a disability, it was so widely accepted that he'd forgotten it counted. Somehow, her analogy made him a feel a little better as they turned down the road that led past the police station. No one put up a fuss when someone pulled out a pair of reading glasses. He hoped someday antidepressants would be thought of the same way.

"Have you been sailing before?" Charlie asked.

"No, never."

A whole new set of knots formed in his stomach at the thought. He'd never had the chance, and it never struck him as something he'd want to do. Charlie began to tell him about their 'adventures at sea' from years before, but he barely heard a word as he chewed his lip nervously. How was he supposed to act on a boat? Was he supposed to do something, or just sit there? What if they tipped over, or he got seasick? A million doubts ran through his head as they followed the road where it led down to a marina tucked deep in a cove. A tall white fence blocked access to the docks and the many boats that sat among them. Charlie walked up to the gate and punched a code into the keypad, then held the door open for Sam to pass through.

The cacophony of questions in his head quieted for a moment when they stepped onto the dock, and he couldn't help but think how much it looked like a forest as they walked through the maze of white masts. Instead of birdsong and wind in the leaves he heard rhythmic clanking from the boats and the gentle slap of waves hitting the pier as the vessels gently swayed in the wind. There were a lot more than Sam expected, in all shapes and sizes. Some of the sailboats looked big enough for a family to live on while others were so small he thought they might not survive a trip out on the open water. They walked past a row of large speedboats, then Charlie turned down one of the branches of the dock and came to a halt in front of a slender red and white sailboat.

Dan was already aboard; when he saw them he paused his work and waved. His uniform from the parade was gone, replaced with a light blue polo shirt, khaki cargo shorts, a pair of dark sunglasses and a baseball cap. Charlie headed for the boat, but Sam hung back. His hands twitched nervously as he studied the tangle of ropes that draped across the length of it. Charlie stepped over the gap onto the bow, then turned around.

"You coming?"

Sam nodded, but his legs refused to move as doubt whispered through his mind like the wind through the masts. Charlie stepped off the boat and walked back to him.

"Is something wrong?" she asked quietly. "You know I'm not going to make you come along if you don't want to."

He shook his head. "No, I want to. It's just— I've never been sailing before."