After the Storm Read Online Free PDF

set off together.
    ‘To this liquor warehouse on the edge of town and I’ll bet Raul’s been giving them drinks. He’s the owner and he’s always generous with the whisky bottle.’
    Kim was sorting through the provisions, putting some foodstuffs in the cool box and others in the food locker, singing under her breath.
    ‘I think I’ll unpack our stuff and lie down for a bit. I had a bad night last night,’ Anna said.
    ‘Sure, I’ll help you make up the bed.’
    Kim got a clean double sheet out of one of the lockers and spread this over the two mattresses to make it into a double. She gave Anna another sheet for the top. There was a yellowing quilt which was rolled in the corner.
    ‘Usually the sheet is enough. You’ve got that quilt for colder nights.’
    ‘Great, thanks.’
    Once she was alone in the forecabin and the door was shut Anna allowed herself a few tears. There was so little space on this boat and nowhere to escape to if you felt the need to be alone, except for this one small cabin. And they would be living in such close quarters with two strangers they knew nothing about. Kimberly had sent her off to get the tomato puree so that she could take those magazines. It was the sneakiness of the act rather than the actual taking of the magazines that had jarred with her. She did not want to give in to these negative feelings. She was tired out by the events of the last twenty-four hours and hoped that once they were sailing, her spirits would lift. She stretched out on the thin mattress and closed her eyes.
    Two hours later Owen, Rob and Elbert appeared with the trolley stacked high with the ten cases of liquor.
    ‘I see we won’t run out of rum,’ Kim said.
    Owen supervised the stowing of the cases in the small berth at the back of the boat. When this was done and the others had left the saloon he pushed Raul’s package right down the side and lashed this and the cases in with a rope. He knew what Kim’s reaction would be if she got wind of Raul’s package. They had fought about it before. He paid Elbert his fee for the day and then went to work on the engine.
    Rob went through to the front cabin and found Anna stretched out on the mattress. She was half asleep and was very pleased to see him. She put her arms around his neck and he kissed her fondly and started to nuzzle her.
    ‘I smell whisky,’ she said sleepily.
    It was too late to sail far that evening. Owen had got the diesel engine working again. It was corroded inside, that was the problem. He rarely used the engine, except for getting in and out of moorings. Truth be told he was suspicious of sailors who over-relied on their engines. The wind and the sails were what you should rely on. The tide had risen slowly so that the El Tiempo Pasa was now afloat. He said they would motor a little way out and anchor some distance from Belize City. As they moved away from the Quay Rob noticed how the water changed colour from a sludgy brown to dark turquoise. The dinghy was attached to the boat by a rope and it moved smoothly through the water behind them. Rob liked being on this old wooden boat, it was his kind of vessel. Anna came up and sat with them in the cockpit. There was now an easy banter between Owen and Rob.
    Kim was down in the galley and she could hear the three of them talking up above. She opened the cool box and took out some chicken thighs and breasts and put them on the chopping board. She unzipped her belt and got out her knife. Then she heard someone coming into the saloon and she quickly threw a tea towel over the chopping board and the knife. It was Anna.
    ‘Can I help?’ she asked.
    ‘That’s real kind of you, but there’s so little room down here,’ Kim said.
    It was true. The saloon felt crowded if there were more than two of them down there. And the galley space was particularly restricted.
    ‘If you’re sure?’
    ‘I am, thanks. I like cooking. It’s what I want to do one day.’
    ‘Be a chef?’
    ‘Have my own