An Island Away, Excerpt 3

Below is the third excerpt from my novel, An Island Away, which takes place on the island of Aruba.

Page 280… Once again, Charlie is on his veranda with his cat, Screwball, observing Main Street, where Sam and his pals as well as Captain Beck have just ended a night out…

Charlie was impressed. Captain Beck apparently knew when to call it a night. The man was a sailor, but he was of the new breed that navigated with computers and didn’t risk a flogging for sneaking booze onto the boat. That kind of person often took an overdose of San Nicolaas that left him wrecked physically and mentally.

When the refinery was first sold by Esso, the new owners had sent several dozen American managers. Five of them ended up divorced twice, once from their wives in the States, and a second time from the whores they married. Nonetheless, Charlie was pleased the Captain had fallen in with the boys. Their carousing was mostly harmless, at least to others. As for themselves, well, that was their problem.

“Sam needs to take it easy,” Charlie said to Screwball. “A little taste, maybe a bite or two.”

Captain Beck was a little smarter. He tested the water one toe at a time. Of course, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t eventually fall in. It wasn’t the first step that was slippery; they all were.

Published in: on July 2, 2008 at 11:11 am  Leave a Comment  
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Belmonte Castle, Spain

Belmonte Castle (Spain) might have been taken from a story book. Or, perhaps it is the other way around. Whatever the case, this place gives the impression that the middle ages are not yet over. Here’s a first look:

The crenelated ramparts, the towers, the long walls down to the village, all lend themselves to medieval impressions. The best part is, you can walk right to the base of those walls, stare up, and wonder what kind of nerve it took to attack such a place. Madness perhaps?

I’ve never been inclined to write about this era. There are plenty of novels set in these times in various locations. Most of them don’t interest me. I’d like to read a book about building castles the way Ken Follet wrote about building a cathedral in Pillars of the Earth. That would be an interesting story. Here’s another look that shows most of Belmonte:

As you can see, there are multiple layers of defense, a gatehouse, a keep, all the trappings of a well designed fortress. It is compact, making it easier to defend with a smaller force. This castle, like so many of them, sits at the top of a hill and overlooks the town and surrounding plain. It would be a challenge to sneak up on this place. Again, I’m not interested in someone pouring boiling oil down on me. I’ll hold off until the battles over and the celebration begins.

In another post I’ll show the castle at Ballesteros de Calatrava. Stay tuned.

Published in: on July 1, 2008 at 3:30 pm  Comments (2)  
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Working on the Railroad

In the previous post, I mentioned my short story Big Iron Holiday. It takes place in December of 1918, just after the end of World War I. Thanks to another blog, I found a link to the Library of Congress site, which has now digitized a number of panoramic photographs. I found these two that were relevant to the story. The first one shows Mauch Chunk, PA, USA, which is just up the tracks from the Central Lunch shown in the previous post. The town is now called Jim Thorpe, named after the famous athlete. This view shows the railroad tracks, canal, and a little piece of the town. If you look closely, you can see the clock tower on the courthouse, the same courthouse where the Molly Maguires were convicted. (Sean Connery was in the movie of the same name for those who remember.)

The next photo is not from Pennsylvania, but it does show a train wreck and the salvage crew at work. This is the type of job supervised by the character Ellsworth Botcher.

This was quite a violent wreck. The locomotive on the right side of the frame has its cab crushed. No doubt the engineer did not survive. Luckily, it appears that nothing exploded. Steam explosions are among the worst.

People forget how many train wrecks there used to be as well as how many people died in them. These days it’s more likely that a plane crash makes the news. However, in general, traveling is a thousand times more safe than it was in the days of Ellsworth Botcher and his pal, Ned Fry. Nonetheless, be careful out there. Or there will be a crowd around like this one shown below:

Another big THANK YOU to the Library of Congress for keeping track of all the books, photos, and paperwork that they do. If I worked there, I would never leave.

Published in: on July 1, 2008 at 12:25 pm  Comments (4)  
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The Central Lunch

One of the places I remember visiting with my grandfather (the one who worked for Coca-Cola) was the Central Lunch. This little restaurant is located in Weissport, Pennsylvania, USA. In the photo below, you can see the place has recently been painted.

It sits beside the railroad tracks, serving quick meals to whoever happens to pass by. Originally there was a set of double tracks here. The line belonged to the New Jersey Central. On the other side of the building, out of view, is what remains of the Lehigh Canal. Both the canal and the railroad were instrumental in transporting anthracite coal which originated just north of this spot to Philadelphia, New York, and beyond. In those days there was also a fast steam train known as the Black Diamond that ran from Mauch Chunk (now called Jim Thrope, PA) to New York City. It provided regular service for the mine owners to meet the financiers of Wall Street.

In my short story titled Big Iron Holiday, two friends used to race each other along the tow path of the canal. The winner had to buy the other a slice of pie at the Central Lunch. Well, in the story, they are now adults, and the year is 1918. Ellsworth (“E.L.”) Botcher works for the railroad as the superintendent of a wreck crew. His pal Edward (Ned) Fry joined up with some other Americans to become a pilot during the First World War. As the story opens, it is Christmas Eve, the war is over, and Ellsworth is returning from a job with his crew. As they approach the Lehigh Water Gap he spots an airplane. Sure enough, it is Ned Fry, always a crafty character. And so, it is the iron horse versus the flying machine as they race yet again to the Central Lunch, just ten miles up the tracks, on the evening before Christmas.

I’ll have to figure out how to post longer entries like Big Iron Holiday. Then I’ll put it up for all to read. Ultimately, I’d like to turn this story into a book about these two men. Something like… Ellsworth climbs through the ranks of the railroad. Ned ends up flying airplanes for Hollywood and performing other crazy stunts. Ellsworth deals with the tragedy of train wrecks and boiler explosions, witnessing the death of a young protege that leaves him bitter but determined to press on as America becomes an industrial giant. Ned suffers his own losses as the movie business uses his talent but denies him stardom. The novel would culminate in World War II, D-Day, when both of them are much older men. Ellsworth, now a powerful railroader, helps organize logistics for Eisenhower. Ned begs him to use his influence to get him a spot in a fighter squadron. But they’re both too old, and too valuable, to be placed in such danger. They have to face the reality that their days of glory are behind them and that younger men are not only capable, but willing, to do the hard and bloody work of defending a nation.

All this from a stop at the Central Lunch. You never know where a good story will pop up.

Published in: on July 1, 2008 at 12:36 am  Comments (1)  
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