Chapter 55

At a quarter to noon, Joshua boarded the ferry. The first mate was a short, dark-skinned black man with a fuzzy goatee fringed with silver. His name tag identified him as Jimmy. He nodded at Joshua’s guest pass and showed a gap-toothed smile. “I will speak with you soon, my friend.”

“Okay.” Why did this man want to talk to him? Had Rachel told this guy about him, too?

The ferry had a few rows of bench seats that ran the length of the vessel. Joshua sat at the end of a bench and braced his overnight bag between his legs. He was thankful that no one had asked to examine the contents of his luggage.

The only other passengers were a trio of kids with bulky backpacks and University of Georgia caps and jackets. Probably college students on a research trip.

While waiting for the ferry to set sail, Joshua flipped out his Blackberry. He sent Eddie a brief text message stating that he had found out that Rachel was indeed on the island, that he’d boarded the ferry that was going to take him there, and would touch base with him later.

He expected a prompt response from Eddie, but after five minutes, he’d heard nothing. Eddie might be in the middle of a project. If Joshua didn’t hear from him, he would try him again when he reached the island.

At precisely noon, the ferry cast off, and plied into the marshy channel. Seagulls circled the boat, like escorts. Cool, salty breezes swirled over the deck, tickling Joshua’s nostrils.

Joshua got off the bench and leaned against the deck’s metal railing, watching the dark water churning underneath as the vessel surged forward. A pair of dolphins swam off to the side, gray fins cutting the water’s surface.

He thought about his dream. Walking the beach with Rachel and their child. Gazing at the beach house, the ferry, and the sea. He felt an almost painful knot of yearning in his chest.

“It’s a scenic ride, no matter the time of year,” a man’s accented voice said, from behind him.

Joshua spun, startled. But it was only the first mate, Jimmy.

“Yeah, it’s pretty out here,” Joshua said. “You said you wanted to speak with me?”

“My name is Jimmy.” He offered his hand, and Joshua shook it. “I’ll also be driving you around the island, Mr. Moore.”

“You will? Who asked you to do that?”

“Your wife, of course. She asked me to bring you to her when you arrived.”

“Seems like she’s thought of everything,” Joshua said, under his breath.

“Pardon?”

“Never mind,” Joshua said. “It seems like my wife is pretty well connected here. She told the lady at the visitor center that I might be coming today, now she’s got you taking me to her, too. Is that regular treatment for guests of residents?”

“No, no,” Jimmy said. “But your wife is not a regular resident.”

“What do you mean?”

But Jimmy only smiled, and excused himself to attend to deck operations. Frowning, Joshua watched him hurry away.

He pulled the informational booklet out of his back pocket, and scanned it once more. When he reached the section of the brochure describing Hall Hammock, the Geechee community on the island’s southernmost tip, he wondered again about Rachel’s connection to this place.

It can’t be, he thought. And in the next heartbeat: Or could it?

Add one more item to the list of topics he planned to discuss with Rachel.

About twenty minutes later, a lighthouse, striped with fat red bands, came into view. Drawer closer, Joshua made out old houses on high timbers dotting the shore.

He wished he had thought to bring a pair of binoculars. He thought he could see the house he’d seen in his dream, but it was too far away for him to clearly discern it.

If that’s the same house out there on the shore, that would mean my dream was a vision of the future, wouldn’t it?

A chill settled over him.

The main dock was ahead, crowded with shrimp boats and smaller boats secured to the pilings. He took out his Blackberry to send another message to Eddie, though he hadn’t yet received a response on the first message.

And apparently, he wouldn’t. The device declared, No Service.

“Damn,” he said. But the lack of a service carrier wasn’t surprising. With the island’s remote location, it most likely fell into one of those infamous cellular dead zones.

As soon as he disembarked, he would try to find a landline. He wanted to call Eddie and hear his voice. It wasn’t like his friend to let a half hour pass before he responded to a message. It wasn’t like him at all.