“Yes sir. We’ll be there in about ten minutes.”

Snapping the phone off, Marty looked at the others. “She’s the fastest thing on the lake,” he told them. “Now, how do we get Mr. Harm down to the dock?”

“She’s here,” Marty announced as he hurried through the open front door.

Charlie glanced down at Harm and tried to smile. “Taxi’s here, Camp. You ready?”

“Sure” he replied, trying to return his friend’s smile. “Just make sure you guys don’t drop me, okay?”

“Like I’m gonna let anything happen to the guy who signs my checks. You just lie back and take it easy.”

He checked Harm one more time. They’d taken one of Fisher’s large, old fashioned arm chairs from the dining room, laid it on its back and put him in it, securing his arms and legs to the chair’s arms and legs with soft towels. Then they’d tied a bed sheet securely around the whole thing and slid one of the sofa pillows under his head.

Being the largest of them, Chad took his place at Harm’s head, grabbing the chair back on each side just under the arms. Charlie and Marty each took a side, positioning themselves to carry a back and front leg. Elgin walked along side, keeping pressure on the dressing.

On the count, they lifted the chair and started for the dock, winding slowly down the gravel path.

With Paul’s help, they got him on board and settled in the main salon on one of the bench seats under the window. Harm looked up into the silent, star filled sky.

Marty accompanied Paul back to the wheelhouse, watching him for a moment as he fired up the engines and inched away from the dock.

“How long will it take to get to West Shore?”

“An hour maybe. There’ll be a lot of traffic out there tonight.” He glanced at the clock glowing in the dashboard just above his right hand. “Fireworks’ll be starting any time now.”

“What’s the shortest time you’ve ever made the crossing?”

“Forty-three minutes. Four years ago. You made that bet with the loud mouth drunk at The Lodge who called ‘The Monkey’ a scow. Course you were stinking too but it was a hell of a ride.”

“There’s a thousand dollars for every minute you shave off forty-three,” Marty told him calmly. “If you make it under thirty-five, there’ll be an extra ten thousand.”

“Must be a very special friend.”

“She is.”

The pain had relented a little but it didn’t make him feel any better. Harm knew enough first aid to know the numbing effect of shock. They’d managed to slow the blood loss but he could feel a chill settling in, even under the snug blanket that covered him, another sign that he was losing the race.

Beside him, Elgin sat in the chair they’d used as a litter, checking his dressing every few seconds, clutching his hand and trying gamely not to cry. The pain on her beautiful pale face, the silent anguish in those dark eyes hurt worse than the bullet burning in his chest.

“Look,” Chad said, standing behind Elgin and pointing out the window, “the fireworks have started.”

What a lovely way to die, he thought idly. The black sky raining cascades and fountains of red, gold, blue, silver and green, and Elgin close to him. He wished for a wider bench so she could lie down beside him, feel her warm body against him, her soft lips kissing him, murmuring sweet nothings. How wonderful to make love with her just once more…to fill their own private universe with sparklers and streamers and skyrockets.

Chad put his hands on the back of Elgin’s chair, his fingers brushing her shoulders as he gazed out at the fiery display.

He won’t lose any time, Camp thought sourly. Hold her hand through the funeral. Send her flowers and come by “to see how you’re doing.” Long walks in the park, quiet dinners, a friendly shoulder to cry on. She’d be lonely and vulnerable and easy prey for a smooth charmer.

Still, he sighed silently, she was young and beautiful and he didn’t want her shutting herself off and mourning him her whole life. Just a “respectable” period. And certainly not with a two-bit Romeo like Chad Comstock who’d sink to taking advantage of a woman in Elgin’s fragile state.

He squeezed her hand and she looked down at him.

“Are you are all right?” she asked anxiously, her free hand going instantly to his dressing.

With breathing so precious and difficult, he could manage only a little smile and a nod.

Elgin tried to smile back. “We’re almost there,” she told him, trying to sound cheerful. “The old ‘Monkey’s’ fairly flying. I can see the casino lights plain as day. A few more minutes and you’ll be safe in the hospital. Just hang on, Camp. Please, just hang on a little longer.”

The chill had become a gnawing cold and there didn’t seem to be enough air getting to his brain. He felt himself slipping away, the edges of his vision growing dark, Elgin’s image as if through a smudged lens.

I love you, he told her softly in his mind. You can be a royal pain in the ass sometimes, but then, so can I. I guess that’s just one of the reasons we belong together. Please don’t cry. I’m not sorry for anything except leaving you. Find someone else and be happy, love. Just remember me sometimes. Good-bye, Darling.

He looked up at her and with a last squeeze, closed his eyes, his head lolling to one side.

“Camp?” She felt his grip loosen. “Camp!”

“Elgin…” Comstock leaned down to her but she ignored him.

“Oh God,” she wailed. “Charlie! Marty!”

“What happened?” Charlie yelled, coming through the salon door followed quickly by Marty.

“I don’t know,” Comstock replied in bewilderment. “We were watching the fireworks and…”

“Charlie!” she screamed. “It’s Camp! Oh God, Charlie, do something!”

Moving her aside, he bent over Harm’s body, lifting his closed eyelids and then checking the pulse in his neck.

“Marty, how soon before we dock?”

“About another five or six minutes. I radioed ahead. There’s an ambulance standing by as soon as we land. Is he…?”

“No, but it’s going to be close. Comstock, find something to put under his feet. We need to raise his legs. Elgin, dig out some more blankets. We have to keep him warm. Marty, we need everything ‘The Monkey’s’ got.” He nodded and the rest of them scattered.

Looking out the window, Charlie could clearly see the marina now, the flashing red light of the ambulance visible among all the other bright lights.

“Stay with me, Camp,” he urged. “We’re almost home.”

What was taking so long?

Elgin glanced at the wall clock for the millionth time. A little past one. A new day. Outside, beyond the waiting room’s huge picture window, the moon had just arrived from beyond the dark ridge of mountains and had begun her leisurely stroll across the black water.

Why didn’t someone come and tell them something?

A full moon, she noted. The Moon Goddess looking for lost souls. But tonight, the lake was empty, nothing but her silver wake to mark her passing.

“Pass by, Moon Goddess, pass by,” she mumbled, the words of a childhood chant coming suddenly to her lips. “You seek those who have gone not those who remain. But know Moon Goddess that we will meet again.

“He’s mine,” Elgin told the Moon Goddess defiantly. “ And you can’t have him. I won’t give him up.”

Chad looked up from the magazine he’d been pretending to read. “Did you say something, Elgin?”

“No,” she sighed, shaking her head and dropping on the sofa beside him. “I can’t stand this waiting…this not knowing.”

Gently, he put his arm around her and pulled him to her so she could nestle against his chest. “I’m sure if anyone can find out what’s going on, it’s Marty. In the meantime, why don’t you try to close your eyes and rest?”