Chapter 10: Airboats and Alligators!
"Now, the first thing you must absolutely remember," Henry said as the Bob-Whites lined up along the wooden dock the next morning, "is to not go sticking your hands in the water. You might find yourself going back to New York missing a limb."
Di's violet eyes widened. "Maybe I could stay here and help with the preparations for the Crawfish Boil?"
Mrs. de Villemont smiled encouragingly. "You don't want to miss this, Diana. Once we're out on the waterways, you'll be glad you came along."
Trixie grinned at Di's unconvinced expression. "Don't worry, Di. I saw Jesse putting shotguns under the pilot seats. They'll take care of any mean gators."
"Really?" Honey asked. "You aren't making that up?"
"No, ma'am, she's not," Jesse confirmed. "Though we don't typically shoot the gators. Just every so often we have to fire off a warning round; get the critters to understand we aren't part o' their menu."
Honey swallowed heavily. "Okay, I'm starting to think maybe I'd like to stay behind, too."
"Let's see," Henry said, surveying the group. "I'll take Mrs. de Villemont, Honey, Jim and Dan. Jesse, you take those rascally Belden kids and Diana." He grinned at Trixie and her brothers as he said it.
"If y'all will just go over to that crate there and find a life preserver that fits, we'll be shoving off as soon as we can," Jesse said.
"Oh, we're all really good swimmers, sir," Trixie said. "Do we really need them?"
"You do if you plan to get on one of my boats, ma chere. Don't nobody ride on Jesse's boats without a jacket. Not even ole' Jesse himself."
The Bob-Whites hurried to comply. As they dug through the trunk removing the dark green preservers, they discovered they were one short.
"Mr. Jesse, sir?" Honey called politely. "There are ten of us total, but only nine jackets in here."
Jesse scratched his head. "Well, now. How did that happen?" He stepped across the dock and looked in the bin. "Henry?"
Henry shrugged. "I didn't take any of them."
Jesse frowned for a moment then snapped his fingers. "I think I've still got that little girl one in the back of my boat! I'll bet one of these girls could fit in it." He nodded to Honey. "You're just a little bit. It should fit you fine."
Honey glanced at Trixie and raised her brows. "Little bit?" she mouthed.
As Jesse hopped onto the front airboat, Mrs. de Villemont gave Honey a small hug. "Don't take it wrong, dear. He wasn't trying to insult you."
"I know, ma'am. It's just I don't think I've ever been called a 'little bit' before!"
Jesse returned holding a bright pink life preserver with large yellow flowers and blue and purple straps. Though Trixie tried to keep a neutral face as he helped Honey slide it over her shoulders, she couldn't stop herself from laughing aloud.
Jesse paused in the act of snapping the buckles. "Hmmm. This seems to be more wide than long." He glanced up. "You," he said, pointing to Trixie. "Let's try this on you."
It was Honey's turn to laugh as Trixie was snapped in. The other Bob-Whites pulled on their jackets and waited for Mrs. de Villemont to slip on hers.
"Wait," Mart said suddenly as they were about to climb into the boats.
"Yes?" Mrs. de Villemont asked.
"Let us just linger momentarily to feast our orbs upon the sartorial magnificence that is my little sister."
Trixie glared at her brother. "Cute. Very cute."
"Oh, I don't know," Jim said with a grin. "I think you do kind of look cute in that, Trix."
Mart rolled his eyes. "You would say that."
Ten minutes later, as the two airboats zipped through the boggy swamps, Trixie completely forgot about her life preserver and how she looked in it. She was too busy trying to look in all directions at once.
Tall cypress trees reached up toward sky, balanced on thick knobby roots that grew out of the trunks several feet above the water level. Trixie saw many beautiful birds. There were warblers and woodpeckers, a snowy white egret, and a large blue heron she guessed was close to four feet tall.
Jesse leaned forward to tap her on the shoulder. He pointed off to the right and slowed the boat.
There, less then two yards away on a mossy bank, a large alligator was resting in the sun. It seemed completely unperturbed by the passing airboats.
"That's just a young'un," Jesse explained, talking loudly to be heard. "His mama is somewhere nearby, probably looking for breakfast."
"That's a baby?" Trixie called back. "He's huge!"
Jesse grinned widely. "These are Swamp Gators, chere. They can get to be as big as sixteen feet."
Trixie lips parted in a silent 'O'. She couldn't really imagine a sixteen foot alligator and she was fairly sure she didn't want to.
A short while later they passed out of the wooded area of swamp and into a wide, flat bayou. Jesse applied the speed and soon they were racing along, the other airboat not far behind. Several times their boat seemed to bounce right off the water and Trixie grabbed her seat with both hands, clinging tightly as she enjoyed the thrilling ride. At last, Jesse turned them around in a wide curve and headed back toward their starting point.
When they finally reached the dock and disembarked, even Di's face was glowing with exhilaration. "That was amazing!" she crowed.
Mrs. de Villemont laughed merrily. "I'm so glad to hear you say so! Now we can head back to the house for our lunch. These boat rides always make me feel famished! Jesse, I hope you'll be joining us?"
Jesse suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Well, now. That's very nice of you-"
"He'll be joining us," Henry said firmly.
Jesse shrugged his broad shoulders. "I guess I'll be joining you," he mumbled as he tossed his life preserver back into the crate on the dock.
Henry winked at the Bob-Whites. "Jesse is at home on his boats, but take him out of the water and he's as shy as a baby rabbit."
Jesse accompanied the others for the half mile walk to Rosehill.
"Have you always been an airboat pilot?" Honey asked, trying to draw him into the conversation.
Jesse nodded. "Since I was just sixteen. All I ever wanted to do. I've got a house on the water and I don't much go anywhere I can't get to by walking or by boating."
"Did you and Henry grow up near here?" Trixie wanted to know.
"Just a stone's throw," Jesse replied with a smile. "I know these bayous and waterways like you know the back of your hand."
"So I guess there's no chance of you getting lost like poor Andre du Pree," Trixie said. "It was very beautiful and I'm so glad we had a chance to go out on your boats, but I'm absolutely certain I wouldn't want to ever be lost out there! Not with sixteen foot alligators to worry about."
Jesse ran a hand through his dark hair. "Andre du Pree, huh? Henry been telling you them ghost stories?"
"Well, he told us the story of Andre du Pree and Claire de Villemont, and that some people have claimed to see Andre's ghost, but he also said in all the time he's worked for Mrs. de Villemont he's never seen any ghosts. I don't really believe in them anyway," Trixie finished dismissively.
"Humph. I do. And I'll tell you what, I think I've seen old Andre myself a few times."
Trixie and Honey both turned to stare at Jesse, wondering if he was simply teasing them. His expression was sober, his mouth pulled into a slight frown.
"Really?" Trixie asked skeptically. "You really saw Andre's ghost?"
"You live out in the bayous; you see some strange things."
"We saw a light the other night," Trixie said, "but Henry said it was just the Lumie- the looms, uh, the Death Lights. He said it was swamp gas."
"And it might've been. When the conditions are right it can look like a whole host of gators is throwing themselves a great big party. But not all lights are swamp gas. I've seen a person out there in the bayous where no person should be. And if he didn't get swallowed up by some gator, I'm thinking it was because he was already dead, no?"
Honey crossed her arms and shuddered.
"Oh, Jesse!" Henry exclaimed. "Quit scaring the poor girls. There is no ghost!"
Jesse's brows drew downward. "I'll tell you what, little brother, just about a week ago I saw a man walking right through Bandit's Alley and he disappeared before my very eyes!"
By now all the Bob-Whites were listening to Jesse speak. "What's Bandit's Alley?" Trixie asked, intrigued.
Henry sighed, shooting his brother a dark look. "Jesse, you probably just saw some old fisherman. And he probably didn't disappear, he just passed out of your sight." He turned to Trixie. "Bandit's Alley is the name for the main waterway that leads from Rosehill to the next plantation about two miles from here. Some people used to say it was used by privateers, and at some point it got stuck with that name."
"Oh." Trixie glanced at Brian. "What's a privateer?" she whispered in a loud aside.
"Basically, a privateer is a pirate," Brian explained. "But they didn't call themselves pirates because they only looted enemy ships."
"Weren't all ships considered enemy ships to pirates?"
"Not exactly. Jean Lafitte was a privateer. He didn't mind looting and sinking foreign vessels, but he left the American ships alone."
"And privateers used these waterways?" Trixie asked, pointing to her right.
"So they say," Jesse replied.
"Gleeps! Maybe that's how Andre made his fortune! Maybe he really did come here with a pirate bounty and it got left behind when he was chased into the bayou!" Trixie exclaimed excitedly.
"And maybe you're starting to get a bit of gold fever yourself, Trix," Brian said, not unkindly.
"But Brian! What if that's what our mysterious digger is trying to find?"
"That probably is what our mysterious digger is trying to find," Brian answered. "But that doesn't mean there actually is a treasure out there; just that someone believes there is."
The path broadened out as they grew closer to their destination. Trixie walked along in silence for several minutes, trailing behind the others. No, it didn't mean there was a treasure to be found. But what if there was? Oh, what if there really was!