Our fishing skills have developed to the point that we can select what kind of fish and where to catch them. Jillian’s charts were a mess of different colored post-it notes and scribbling of dates and times that only she could decipher. We approached Santa Catalina Island, typically we would turn around, but the winds were tempting us for a trip around the island.

  As we approached the southern tip, a voice came over our marine radio: “Please dock at Avalon Bay, and remain onboard.” The voice was not threatening or hostile. We all just looked at each other and I responded; “to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?” I asked. “Please dock at Avalon Bay, and remain onboard. Over and out.” The voice said. Male. Mid-thirties perhaps. It was difficult to assess with such limited information.

  We docked at Avalon Bay and all remained on board. The dogs were eager to investigate. Jillian and I used our binoculars and surveyed the area for our mystery Santa Catalina Island harbor master.

  “You know. He is watching us.” Scotty whispered as we secured the boat; not too secure in case we needed to leave in a hurry. We sat for about forty-five minutes, no sign of anything or anyone. Jillian and Helen put together a make-shift gift basket with a couple of bottles of wine, some of Scotty’s bourbon, couple of cigars and assorted items in a bucket as a goodwill gesture. We stopped using our binoculars and sat at our table and opened a bottle of wine.

  “Game-on!” Scotty said as we watched four people; two women, two men, approach with guns pointed to the ground. We all stood up and the dogs were nervous and stood like gargoyles on the edge of the boat. Sniffing the air. Rosie was no-where to be found.

  “She was here a second ago.” Scotty whispered.

  “Shit.” I said under my breath with a smile as they approached.

  “We finally meet, neighbor!” I said out loud.

  “Mister Malibu?” One of the men responded.

  “Yes.” I said with a smile.

  “We counted five dogs, now there is only four.” The other man said. This drew a sideways glance from the other man which appeared to be an unwarranted question.

  “We mean you no harm. We were just out fishing and the winds favored a trip around your beautiful island.” Scotty said smiling in a diplomatic respectful tone.

  “Anything good?” One of the women asked in a friendly manner.

  “YES! We would be willing to share if it would be, appropriate.” I said politely. The four converged and talked quietly.

  “Permission to board your vessel.” The one man asked using an official tone.

  “No need to bring your guns, and the dogs will need to… approve.” I said.

  “WHY?” asked the other man. Almost defiantly.

  “Because canines can detect deception better than humans, especially her.” I said stroking Gingers head as she remained still and focused on the four people.

  “Are you afraid of…” I started to say as the man standing on the dock interrupted. “I’m not afraid of nuttin!” The man said as the other man approached our boat and turned and gave the man a subtle but intense look.

  “We’ll see soon enough.” I said.

  “I had a Rottie when I was a kid, her name was Mable.” The man said stepping onto our boat, his arms raised and turning in a circle looking at Pete.

  “Hold your hands out in front, palms up, do not try to pet her and do not smile or show teeth.” I said to the man. He was in his mid-thirty’s, healthy, average weight and height, no visible tattoo’s, married, brown hair, very clean sneakers and jeans, light facial stubble, two- or three-days growth.

  Ginger stepped up slowly and approached the man, he gave her a sincere closed mouth smile as Pete stood up and approached him.

  “That dog is scary.” The man said with quiet sincerity looking at me, referring to Pete, as Ginger smelled his shoes.

  “Those two…” the man said looking at Becky and Jeff. “Have not blinked once, and I cannot place the breed.” He said quietly as Ginger backed away slowly and I presented my hand.

  “Greg. Pleased to meet you.” I said.

  “Paul.” He said with a big smile.

  “May I introduce my better half. Jillian.” I said as Jillian stepped forward and accidentally knocked over her two crossbows leaning against the inside of the boat. Paul chuckled and greeted Jillian.

  “And our even better half; Helen and Scotty.' Jillian said. Paul greeted Helen and Scotty with the same enthusiasm.

  “You guys are loaded for bear! Three-fifty-seven, AA-12, 9mm, crossbows, intimidating dog pack. Something we need to be concerned with on the mainland?” Paul asked taking inventory and being observant. I laughed as Helen presented Paul with the make-shift ‘goodwill’ bucket.

  “We would like to offer you this, as a gesture of faith and trust.” Helen’s presentation was sincere as Paul graciously accepted.

  “Thank you very much.” Paul said looking at each of us, then going through the basket. He stopped short with a slight gasp and pulled out the unmarked bottle of Scotty’s bourbon.

  “The brownest of brown!?” Paul said setting down the bucket and holding the bottle up and peering through it. Scotty just smiled. Paul uncorked the bottle and passed it under his nose with his eyes closed.

  “To faith and trust!” Paul said loudly enough for everyone to hear as he sampled Scotty’s finest with two gulps and handed me the bottle.

  “Nothing like homemade! Permission for my friends to board…what is the name of this vessel?” Paul asked me.

  “Fuck Me.” I said. Paul looked sideways at me as one of the women went to the end of the dock to read the name.

  “Fuck Me. Malibu, California, North America, Earth, Milky Way.” The woman said laughing.

  “Permission for my friends to board, Fuck Me!” Paul said loudly.

  “Conditional permission, no guns, one at a time, must pass our security detail.” I said as the two women put down their weapons and one removed a side-arm and placed them on the dock. The remaining man stood his ground.

  “I’ll wait here.” He said in a gruff tone.

  “Reese. I must insist you greet our visitors.” Paul said with every intention of his request being acknowledged. Reese just turned his head away.

  “May I introduce MY better half, Susan.” Paul said as we greeted Susan. Susan was in her late twenties or early thirty’s, blonde hair, athletic build and slightly dirty or muddy shoes, clean hands, fresh nail polish and a huge diamond ring.

  “May I introduce, Rebecca.” Paul said. Not performing the connectivity or association of each other’s exclusive mate.

  “Don’t mind him, he’s just being an asshole.” Rebecca said with a jerk of her thumb in reference to Reese as Rebecca greeted everyone. The dogs gave everyone a passing grade but in true ‘pack form’, Rosie needed to vote. The dogs looked and tried to smell the air trying to locate her, which was observed by Susan.

  “Where is number five?” Susan asked as everyone greeted each other.

  “It would be in Reese’s’ best interest to put down his weapon and be, social.” I said quietly to Paul.

  “Reese. Put down your penis and greet our visitors.” Rebecca said loudly. Reese turned and faced Paul and reluctantly put down his rifle, and stood with arms folded in silent protest. Reese was professional football sized, linebacker perhaps. Shaved head and a scraggly beard. Sleeve tattoos on his arms. He was about twenty-five years old.

  “Reese. Rosie, is going to perform an inspection.” I said in a loud voice with emphasis on ‘Rosie’. Jillian got out her camera and started recording.

  “Something real interesting is going to happen.” Rebecca said as she sampled Scotty’s bourbon. Our new friends all gasped at the same time.

  “Fuck Me!” Paul said under his breath. “That’s, that’s the name of this boat! Now I get it!” He said laughing a little. Rosie appeared behind Reese as he eventually assembled the looks on his friends faces.

  “Reese? Listen very carefully to me.” I said. His eyes met mine with full compliance. “Do NOT move a muscle. If you run. You are dead. If you go for your gun. You are dead. If you do ANYTHING other than what I tell you. You are dead. Rosie is going to try to figure out what side of the ‘River Styx’ you reside. Are you familiar with the ‘River Styx’, Reese?” Reese shook his head very slowly, no.

  “The ‘River Styx, separates Heaven, hell, good, evil. Whatever you want to call it. Rosie is determining what side you have chosen. Because, you see, Rosie ‘swims’ the ‘River Styx’.” I said flatly and matter of fact.

  Susan stood with her hand covering her mouth, Rebecca said “He’s fucked” as she took another drink of bourbon and Paul was very concerned.

  “Oh, my, God.” Susan said loud enough for Reese to hear as Rosie smelled his shoes, legs and back. He looked down not moving his head as Rosie walked by, bumping into his thigh and sitting down preventing passage to the sail boat. Reese just stood with his arms folded not moving a muscle and not looking into Rosie’s amber eyes of doubt.

  “Is Rosie, a wolf?” Paul asked already knowing the answer, just looking for confirmation.

  “Yes. See Pete here and Rosie are currently, well, dating and here is the result.” I said kneeling down and hugging Becky and Jeff who were waiting for any command.

  I stood up and all the dogs were looking at me. “Okay.” I said quietly as the dogs went to our guests with wagging tails and expecting to be petted. After a full 5 minutes of chaotic crotch sniffing, hand licking and an overall individual scent sampler or marker applied to each of the three guests, the dogs scrambled and struggled in what was now getting a little crowded on the boat.

  “So, what made you decide to break radio silence?” Scotty asked as we all took seats and observed each other.

  “We have seen you out fishing a couple of times and usually you turn back and go north. We pick up radio chatter once in a while. One time, you Scotty, asked “if you want to have a look-see?” and Greg, said “No, we see lights.” or something to that effect and you turned around. Which is odd because, our lights, what little we have I’m sure cannot be seen.” Paul said with a little concern in his voice.

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  “Also, because we did not want you to surprise us one day if you wanted to explore the island.” Paul said, which still seemed to conceal a hidden truth.

  “What made you decide to live here?” I asked as Jillian placed a large bowl of fruit and cold drinks on the small table.

  “I went on a vacation here once in nineteen-ninety-eight and just fell in love with everything about it.” Paul said with conviction.

  ”It is beautiful from what we have seen so far.” Jillian said pouring water for the dogs.

  “Rosie? Water?” Scotty said loud enough for her to hear. I stood up to get a better view of Rosie and her silent nemesis. Rosie stood up, stretched, looked at me then looked back to Reese who was in the same position and she jumped effortlessly into the boat. I tossed a bottle of water to Reese and he quietly asked if he could sit down.

  “Since you are “not afraid of nuttin,” do whatever you think is best.” I said. Rosie walked by our guests like they were not even there and started drinking.

  “She is just beautiful!” Rebecca said looking at Rosie. Susan asked if she could pet her. “That would be, unadvisable.” Scotty warned. “It is best to let her do her own thing.” he added. As soon as Rosie was finished drinking, she immediately went over to Susan and started smelling her shoes. Rosie interweaved her way under the table smelling shoes and pants and popped up next to Scotty. Rebecca was sitting next to Scotty and Rosie’s head was almost in line with hers as Rosie was panting and wagging her tail a little.

  “If Rosie is happy. We are happy!” Scotty said holding up the half empty Bourbon bottle and taking a swallow and passing it to Rebecca.

  We talked about the recent rain, weather conditions, wind, fishing and Jillian’s wrist watch sounded an alarm.

  “We need to pack up, if we want to get back before sundown.” Jillian said standing up and looking a little nervous.

  “Quite right. Winds are still holding.” I said standing up causing everyone to stand.

  “We will notify you if we plan on visiting, since you know where we dock, please extend the same courtesy and leave a note here on our boat. But be warned, we recently made friends with a Momma bear and her cub. They may be in the neighborhood and, well, I’m not sure how you will be received.” I said.

  “How does one make friends with a bear?” Paul asked, half joking.

  “I saved her cub from certain death; he was stuck in a drain pipe.” I said.

  “It might be in all our best interest to have communications, emergency communications, we have a radio that is capable of thirty plus miles if you are interested. You don’t have to give us an answer now. It’s just an option.” I said diplomatically to everyone.

  “What do you want in trade?” Paul asked flatly.

  “Hmmm, whatever you think is a fair trade for whatever walks around in your ‘pen’.” I said with a smile.

  “What makes you think we have…” Susan started to say as Paul interrupted her.

  “How did you know?” Paul asked, as everyone’s attention turned towards me.

  “Susan’s shoes. At first, I thought it was just dirt or mud, but when Rosie took interest, it made me think of your clean, new shoes and pants. Is that why we waited for forty-five minutes? For you to change shoes and pants because you knew the dogs would be all over you.” I said as the Catalina group exchanged glances.

  “I’m guessing, chickens!” I said.

  “Well done, Holmes!” Scotty said with admiration. “John or Sherlock?” I asked as Paul started to laugh out loud. “Tell you what Mister Holmes. We will talk about it and leave you a message, here on your boat.” Paul said standing up. We all exchanged handshakes and pleasantries as we made ready to depart from the dock.

  “Reese?” I said out loud as we taxied out of the marina. “Nothing good ever comes out of an asshole.”

  We made good time getting back to the marina, just under four hours. We secured the boat and Jillian invited Helen and Scotty for dinner.

  “I would like all of us to talk about our new neighbors, without distractions.” I said packing up the golf cart.

  “What about your bear friends and the wolf pack?” Helen asked as Scotty was about to ask the same question.

  “Mom knows about Rosie, Becky and Jeff. I’m sure they will pick up the bears scent as well and investigate soon enough. We cannot change our lifestyles and avoid the inevitable forever.” I said.

  “Mother Nature has her way. You told us that Scotty.” Jillian added.

  “I know, I just don’t want to see a, confrontation.” Scotty said.

  “Besides, Ginger and Pete are good friends with the bears. We have plenty of fish to eat and to share. No reason to engage or be confrontational, I hope.” I said reluctantly, hoping my statement was convincing.

  Helen and Scotty learned that it is best to keep the fish alive until we reach the marina and toss the fish to the wolf pack so we didn’t have to clean and sometimes repair the boat for two hours. Sometimes the fish put up a pretty good fight on the land, making it difficult for them to make a quick kill and allowing them to exercise their DNA with something bigger than a rabbit. Ginger and Pete would show interest but keep their distance.

  As we drove up our street, the sun was setting and Becky and Jeff wanted to jump out of Scotty’s golf cart. Rosie swept the area with her nose and remained in the cart. We pulled in our driveway and unloaded our gear and the coolers as we watched the dogs sniff the ground in different directions.

  Scotty and I prepared the fish and Helen and Jillian headed towards the gardens. I did not see any sign of Mom and Sam, as the dogs all ended up in our backyard.

  Ginger continually barked until I stopped what I was doing and uncovered the pool. We all had dinner and talked about the Catalina residents. We all had similar assessments of each individual; Paul, confident, diplomatic and a good sense of humor. Susan, friendly and adventurous. Rebecca, strong willed and a little overdressed. Helen and Jillian were still convinced she was interested in me.

  “She was creaming her jeans!” Jillian said laughing.

  “She was fixing her hair every five seconds and making sure ‘the girls’ were noticeable.” Helen said. I looked at Scotty and he looked at me with the same; ‘I didn’t notice anything’ look.

  “She just wanted to make a good impression I suppose.” I said to Jillian and Helen as they just rolled their eyes. “I was more focused on diplomacy, NOT getting laid!” I said.

  “You can’t have one without the other!” Scotty said.

  “Reese is an asshole.” Jillian said and Helen agreed.

  “He was the easiest to read.” I said.

  “How so? What do you mean? He only said three or four words.” Scotty asked.

  “And he was the easiest to read?” Asked Helen, trying to draw out an explanation.

  “An asshole; maybe, but our presence threatens his position. He is used to being the biggest and baddest. When he said: “I ain’t afraid of nuttin”. That was a clear indication of a warning and not to test him. His obstinance was a result of a pre-existing conflict, probably with Rebecca, or Paul.” I said.

  “Regardless of our psychiatric evaluation of each individual, what about them as a ‘whole’ is what matters.” Scotty said. We all agreed.

  “I could sure go for some fresh barbeque chicken!” Jillian said and we all agreed to that as well.

  “What’s our next move?” I asked everyone. I had at least four different scenarios, but wanted to hear everyone’s input. “Helen?” I asked because she looked most apprehensive.

  “What if they are desperate? Running out of water or some other problem we don’t know about and they want to take over… your home, or ours?” Helen said.

  “I suppose they might have limited water.” I said. Everyone looked at me for an explanation.

  “Everyone’s hair was very short. Longer hair takes additional resources. Short hair is lower maintenance.” I said.

  “What about if they are not desperate and are just reaching out?” I asked Helen.

  “Hmm. Let’s just see if they are open for more interaction, even if they accept the radio and do not use it.” Helen concluded.

  “Scotty?” I asked. “Check your boat every day for the note. If it’s tomorrow or the next day, they are in fact desperate and we might have an issue. Maybe because they live so isolated, they just like the interaction. If they DO agree to the radio, our communications will not be… private. They will know everything that is said between us.” Scotty said as I turned to Jillian.

  “I agree with Scotty, check the boat every day and let’s see what happens. Maybe they are lonely, just feeding the chickens all day.” Jillian said assembling her favorite chicken recipes in her head.

  Jillian and I drove down to the marina every day. On the fifth day, two envelopes were found near the wheel, one large, one small. Jillian called Helen and Scotty and received no answer. We decided to open it and read the handwritten contents.

  “Dear; Jillian, Greg, Helen, Scotty and canine friends. We believe it would be in all our best interest to keep an open line of communication. We accept your offer of the radio. We would like to extend an invitation for all of you to our island. The only request is that Rosie and the other two, I apologize I forgot their names, not be included. We will explain our reasons in greater detail during a tour of the island. We plan on having a welcoming party for lack of an official term and we would be very interested in having you bring your favorite culinary choices to share. Firearms are optional. Please arrive around noon next week Thursday. Please dock at Avalon Bay. We will receive you there. Kind regards, Paul.

  “Look, all of them signed a huge greeting card.” Jillian said reading the signed names.

  Paul: “I hope Scotty brings some more home brew!” Susan: “Can’t wait to hear some new stories!” Rebecca: “Looking forward to getting to know you all better.” Reese: “I apologize for being an asshole. Look, he wrote something else, then erased it. It seems sincere enough, yes?” Jillian asked me as I looked around the boat. Everything seemed to be correct, but I had a weird feeling.

  “What’s wrong?” Jillian asked.

  “Nothing, I just thought I heard something.” I said as the dogs sniffed around the boat and were just concentrated in the small area near the wheel. Jillian tried Helen and Scotty again on the radio and finally received a response.

  “Holmes was wrong! Five pups! Three girls and two boys!” Scotty said very excited.

  “OH! Take some pictures for me!” Jillian said as her eyes welled up with tears.

  “Congratulations! How’s Mom doing!” I asked.

  “A tired and proud Momma!” Helen said crying with joy.

  “Becky and Jeff?” I asked.

  “They could not be any happier!” Helen said still crying as we heard heavy panting in the background.

  “We found a note from our new friends. We’ll be there in thirty minutes.” I said as I was carrying the radio to Jillian’s white BMW.

  As we drove to Helen and Scotty’s house, I noticed a couple of quick flashes. Like a mirror reflection far off in the distance toward the north.

  “Did you see that?” I asked Jillian.

  “No. What?” She said looking at the road.

  “That hillside, there.” I said pointing. “Let’s take another route to Helen and Scotty’s, you navigate.” I said as Jillian parked the car behind a building and we switched places.

  “Okay. I got it. We have never used these roads before and it will take us probably one and a half hours.” Jillian said concentrating.

  “It could have been anything.” Jillian said.

  “Or it could be binoculars or a rifle scope.” I said not happy with my assessment.

  “California is sure getting crowded.” I said disappointed. During our detour, we marked two locations that had the light blue storage tanks and one was horizontal, behind a National Guard depot and marked a couple of other places to investigate. Helen called us on the radio.

  “We are a little behind schedule, be there soon.” Jillian said.

  “Okay.” Helen responded with a little chuckle.”

  We arrived at Helen and Scotty’s and were greeted by Becky and Jeff who were so excited. We made our way to Rosie’s Den and were overcome with joy as the tiny pups were snuggled in close to Rosie laying just near the opening of her Den with Helen gently stroking Rosie’s head. Ginger and Pete carefully sniffed and kissed the pups and greeted Rosie in a beautiful display of canine affection. Becky and Jeff had a lot of nervous energy and took off running as Ginger and Pete chased after them in a cloud of dust.

  Jillian has a large first-aid kit in everyone’s’ vehicle and administered some checks on Rosie as she continually kissed her hands as she carefully checked her heart, ears, eyes and stomach. Rosie just loved Jillian and all the attention and concern. Jillian did not check the pups because Rosie got a little nervous if she got too close to them. Scotty walked up with some fresh water.

  “Were going to need names, so start thinking!” He said with a big smile.

  We all sat in the ever-expanding Gazebo Scotty has been working on and Jillian handed the letter and greeting card to Helen. She read the letter first, then handed it to Scotty.

  “Looking forward to getting to know you all better!” Helen said in a sexy voice and winking at me. In reference to Rebecca’s comment.

  “I know! It’s a code. I bet if you rearrange the letters it says: ‘Greg, I can’t wait to fuck your brains out!’ No secrets here Scotty, NONE!” I said facing Scotty.

  “I know.” He said nodding his head in agreement.

  “Not sorry for being the asshole that I am. Is more like it.” Helen commented on Reese’s entry. Scotty read the letter twice to himself. “What about security?” He asked not looking up and putting his glasses back on. “If we show up with weapons, it might be considered a ‘trust’ issue or hostile. If we don’t, we will be vulnerable.” Scotty said thinking out loud.

  “What about small caliber sidearms, in plain view?” Jillian proposed.

  “It shows that trust has to be earned, especially since Reese is in charge of security.” I said as Scotty shook his head. Helen and Jillian discussed what culinary specialties we should bring as Scotty and I discussed tactics and specific items we wished to remain secret.

  “You know, they are doing the exact same thing. They are only going to show us what they want us to see.” Jillian said from across the table.

  “Maybe we are overthinking this.” I said out loud to no one in particular.

  “We should prepare for all possible contingencies.” Scotty said as we all turned when we heard the sound of breaking twigs and rustling bushes as Becky had lunch for Rosie followed by Jeff, Ginger and eventually Pete who was limping. I got up immediately followed by Jillian, Helen and Scotty.

  “Pete. Paw.” I said as he sat panting and held up his injured paw.

  “Looks like a stick or nail pierced his paw.” I said as Ginger came over and sniffed his paw and started to lick it. A little blood was present, nothing serious.

  “Clean through the webbing.” Jillian said taking a closer look and bending his paw and ankle. Pete did not protest. The look on his face with his tongue hanging out at everyone paying attention to him was a clear indication he was okay, and that he should consider an injury a couple of times a week.