Spider Legs Read Free

was introduced to sophisticated scuba gear. Even after his marriage at 21 to Kalinda, and the birth of their child Alan, he kept his attention focused on diving deeper and discovering the way the oceans worked.
    Kalinda came up through the hatch and handed him an apple.
    “Thanks,” he said. Kalinda stared at the man with her sparkling eyes and then hooked her thumb in her shirt pocket and cocked her hip. He gazed at her and took her hand.
    “Like your outfit,” Garth said. Kalinda wore his flannel shirt, and nothing else.
    “I better get something on before I freeze to death,” she said, shivering. She was a slim woman, 27 years of age, with honey-colored hair, and eyes the darkest green.
    “Why don't I warm you up first,” Garth said as he kissed her on the lips.

    “At least the weather's a bit warmer today than yesterday,” she said with a charming smile that involved her eyes as well as her mouth. Like Garth, Kalinda was interested in the sea. Three years before she had been invited to join the National Science Foundation's research vessel Anton Bruun for a three-week exploration of the oceans near Madagascar. Together Garth and Kalinda had gone on expeditions to the Juan Fernández islands and the Galapagos Islands. Their parents, ever supportive, took care of their four-year-old during these trips.
    “You really must be cold.” He patted the crease of her bottom through the shirt. “Shall I follow you into the cabin?” He drew back enough to stare at Kalinda's nipples, which rose like goose bumps from beneath her inadequate outfit.
    “I better put a coat on,” she said, winking.
    He placed his fingers under her shirt and felt her naked buttocks. He began to stroke her. She was right: her body was cold, like the anatomy of a statue. It was an interesting experience. “Galatea,” he murmured.
    “But I'm no ivory statue,” she said. For Galatea, in mythology, was a beautiful statue later animated by the prayer of her lover.
    “That's because I'm bringing you to life,” he said, massaging her projecting flesh.
    “Mmmm,” she purred as he followed her to the cabin.
    Garth had convinced Kalinda that the ultimate in unusual vacations was the North Atlantic where they could spend some time traveling among the awesome floating mountains, the icebergs. He had explained to Kalinda that the weather was fairly mild near Newfoundland. The presence of the sea moderated the temperature in the winter. The average temperature in January was about 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and 55 degrees F weather was common in the summer. However, only the south coast was ice-free throughout the winter. At first she thought his vacation idea was crazy, but when he showed her some photographs the U.S. Coast Guard supplied of magnificent ice giants plodding through Baffin Bay, she gave into the crazy adventure. They started in Quebec, traveling along the St. Lawrence River intheir schooner, and continued through the Cabot Strait into the Atlantic.
    Occasionally they docked along the coast of Newfoundland where weathered bald mountains rose almost from the water. Newfoundlanders affectionately called their Island of Newfoundland “the Rock.” Battered by the Atlantic Ocean at Canada's easternmost point, it sometimes seemed a harsh place—remote and watery. Until the early 19th century, fish merchant monopolies, piracy, and international rivalry fiercely discouraged permanent settlement. Recently, however, Newfoundland had both modern amenities and rural values. In the past decade the government had begun to pursue an economic policy based on forestry, fisheries, and hydroelectric power. The fisheries remained the largest resource-sector employer, providing full-time work to 20,000 fishermen.
    They had come to St. John's, checked in with Garth's lovely little sister Lisa, and now were on one of their side jaunts, forging north along the east coast of the island. The wind had been wrong on prior days, and that could make a difference,