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"Joan, your heart action should be higher than normal—under the circumstances."
"Then possibly I need a stimulant, not a tranquilizer. Roberto, you sometimes forget—even though you have been through the whole thing with me—that I am not a normal patient. Not a young bride subject to hysteria. Underneath I am a very old man, almost three times your age, dear, and I've seen everything and no shock can truly be a shock to me. Death is an old friend; I know him well. I lived with him, ate with him, slept with him; to meet him again does not frighten me—death is as necessary as birth, as happy in its own way."
She smiled. "My pulse is normal because I'm happy—happy that my beloved Jake met death so easily and happily. Oh, I'll go to my cabin and lie down; I usually nap during the heat of the afternoon. But how about Eve?"
"Eh?"
"Have you done anything about her? She's young, she's probably never seen death before. She almost certainly needs a tranquilizer—not I."
"Uh... Joan, I've been busy. But— Olga. Will you find Wi
"Yes, Doctor." Mrs. Dabrowski left.
"Now, young lady, I'll take you to the cabin."
"Just a moment, Doctor. Captain, will you get way on with both sails and auxiliary, and make course for the nearest point of the seventy-five-mile limit? I want us to be in international waters before sundown."
"Aye aye, Ma'am. That would be about west by south, maybe basic course two-six-oh. I'll plot it."
"Good. Then pass the word, quietly, that burial services will be at sundown."
"Joan!"
"Roberto, do you think I would turn Jake over to an undertaker? Taxidermists! He wanted to die like his ancestors; I shall bury him like his ancestors—his dear body untouched and returned home before the sun sets."
"‘To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die-'
Joan paused in her reading. The Sun was an orange-red circle almost touching the horizon. On a grating at the rail, steadied by Fred and the Doctor, Jake's body waited, sewed into canvas, with ballast weights at the feet. (A primitive rite, Joha
(Go on, Joha
"‘All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man...?'
"‘Two are better than one... . For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?'" (Boss, that reminds me. Do we have to sleep alone tonight?) (Danm it, Eunice, don't you ever think of anything else?) (Come off it, Boss. What else is worth thinking about? Stocks, bonds, and other securities? I've been telling Jock about your discovery—that sex is more intense for a woman than for a man. He doesn't believe it. But he's eager to find out.)
(Jake, are you that eager? I intended to show respect for your memory.) (I appreciate the thought, Joha
"And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a three-fold cord is not quickly broken.'"
(Boss, I like that. This makes up for the funeral I never had. Not even a memorial service.) (But you did have a memorial service, Lively Legs) (I did? Who was there?)
(Just me, dear. I hired a little chapel and an organist. I read a couple of poems you used to like. Some flowers. Nothing much.) (Jock, I'm dreadfully touched. Boss! He really does love me. Doesn't he?) (He does, darling—we both do.) (I wish I'd been there, Jock.) (I didn't know where you were, dearest. Maybe just as well, you're not very well behaved at funerals.) (Oh, pooh all over you, you dirty old ghost—nobody can hear me.) (Careful whom you call a ‘ghost', Lively Legs; it might slop over onto you. Let Joan get through with this and splash it.)
"‘Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might—'
‘—for thy days are few and they are numbered—'
‘—man goeth to his long home.'
‘The silver cord is loosed, the golden bowl is broken.'
From the deep we came, let the body of our brother Jacob now be returned to the deep."
Joan closed the Book; Fred and Dr. Garcia lifted the end of the grating; the body fell into the water, disappeared.
She turned away, handed the Book to Mrs. Dabrowski. "Here, Olga. Thank you."
"Joan, that was beautiful. I don't see how you did it."
"Wipe your eyes, Olga; farewells must never be sad—and Jake was ready to go. I knew my husband well, Olga; I knew what he wanted, it was not hard."
She pressed Olga's hand and turned away. "Wi
Wi
"But, darling, how can I miss Jake when he has never left me? The Jewel is still in the Lotus, and always will be. Eternal Now."
"I guess so—but I just can't stand it!"
Dear Doctor, maybe? He'll be giving Wi
"I will—but are you all right?"
"You know I am. I have a prescription for you, however."
"All right. It won't hurt you to take a real knocker-outer tonight. Say phenobarb."
"Let's not say ‘phenobarb.' My prescription is for Wi
"All right. Do you want to join us in saying them? We could come to the cabin—then you could go straight to bed. I've learned that it's better than barbiturates."
"Doctor, if you wish, you may come to my cabin at nine o'clock tomorrow morning—and kick me out of bed if I'm not up. But I will be. Don't go there any sooner than that. Tonight I shall recite that hypnotic prayer. With Jake. He'll be able to hear me...whether you think so or not."
"Joan, I have no wish to attack anyone's faith."
"You haven't, dear. I appreciate your solicitude. When I need it, I will draw on it—freely. But now you take care of Wi