Naked Came the Manatee Read Free Page B

that something—a hand, or perhaps a diver's fin—came to brush against his chest, and then he became aware of a great presence swelling up beneath him. In this dream or vision, he began to rise through the murky water, picking up speed, spiraling upward toward some brilliant pool of light. Aside from the rather hackneyed image of the light, it seemed a lovely dream to him, one in which he felt his face break the surface of the water as if it were a tangible membrane, a passage into some other world, where he could gulp down air like any other man, and simply live and be.
     
    "Just lie still, you." The woman's voice came to him from the darkness. A small voice, ancient, and yet carrying the authority of its years. He blinked his eyes, realized that it wasn't just darkness, that in fact he couldn't see. He raised his hands in a panic, felt hers pull him down.
     
    "You've got some nasty bumps and cuts there," she said. "I've got a poultice resting. It's not to be disturbed."
     
    Deal felt the pressure of cloth, at his face. Yes, maybe he could detect a nimbus of light. He blinked again, felt his lids rustle at the bandages, smelled vague medicinal odors.
     
    "Hospital," he heard himself mumble.
     
    She laughed. "There won't be any hospital tonight, unh-uh. They got the whole of Coconut Grove cordoned off, they do. Waitin' for the fuss to burn itself out."
     
    Deal heard distant shouts, chanting, the double boom of a shotgun. He felt a wave of dizziness sweep over him. He lay back, remembering, trying to comprehend all that had happened.
     
    "Where am I?" he managed, at last. He groped about him, felt crisp sheets, a blanket, realized his clothes were gone, that he was wearing some kind of flannel gown. A lady's nightgown? It couldn't be. Surely it couldn't.
     
    "Keep your hands off those bandages, now, or I'll tie 'em down, you hear me." Deal nodded, rested his hands on his chest.
     
    "You're one lucky boy," she cackled. "Lucky old Booger took a liking to you, lucky I was there to pull you out."
     
    "Booger?"
     
    "He's a manatee," she said. "He's the last sane creature that lives in these parts, and that includes me. All the fuss erupted downtown, I went over to have a chat with Booger, see if maybe he thought this was a sign."
     
    "A sign?" Deal's head was swimming again.
     
    "The beginning of the end," she said. "Booger and me got a running bet. Hundred and two, I think I'll be around to witness it, he says we got a ways to go yet. I found him in his little grotto, keeping you propped up on a chunk of boat seat."
     
    The dream was coming back to him now. The vague presence, being propelled upward, toward a pool of light he'd taken for the light. He shook his head.
     
    "Did you have a flashlight with you?" he asked.
     
    "You think I can see in the dark?" she snorted. "Here, raise up some. I want you to take a drink of this."
     
    He felt a wiry hand under his neck, sensed something warm and steaming at his lips. The smell was bitter, even searing. "What is it?" he said.
     
    "Swamp yarbs," she said. "Now drink it, or I'll hold your nose and pour it down you."
     
    Deal sensed it wasn't a bluff. He was so weak he had no doubt she was capable of doing exactly what she said. He nodded, helped her guide the cup to his lips.
     
    Despite its wretched smell, the brew tasted amazingly good. Licorice, he thought. And something earthy. With an unidentifiable blend of herbs. It was bracing. And just as quickly, soporific. He was drifting again by the time his head hit the pillow.
     
    "Booger showed me what you floated in on," she said.
     
    "I don't know what you mean," Deal said.
     
    "What you had tied to that boat seat," she said.
     
    Deal shook his head. "I… I fell into the water," he said.
     
    "Course you did," she said. "You wrecked your boat and damn near drowned."
     
    "No," he said. He felt himself spiraling. "I didn't."
     
    "Carrying a thing like that, I'd hate to admit it myself," she said.
     
    Deal