Page 1 of Echoes at Driftwood Cottage

Prologue

December 1999

Five days before Christmas

Somewhere off the coast of Central California

Marty Snelling decided his family needed a getaway. Since his wife died two years earlier right before Christmas, December had been a rough month for his kids. Seven-year-old William, affectionately called Willie, and four-year-old Hallie had spent two Christmases in a row missing their mother. Toys hadn’t done much to alleviate their grief. Many of their presents had gone untouched. While Hallie enjoyed her stuffed animals and dolls well enough, Willie had lost interest in most of his favorite things. Marty promised this Christmas would be different. He thought a change of scenery might help get his kids out of the doldrums. He’d vowed to give them a memorable holiday full of fun and excitement, especially to help Willie, who’d taken his mother’s death much harder than little Hallie had. After all, Hallie had been little more than a toddler when her mother succumbed to a rare form of leukemia within four months of diagnosis.

Determined to make this Christmas better, Marty had gone to his older brother, Royce, with an idea. Marty proposed a sailing trip, the perfect vacation to get them out of the house during Christmas break. What better way to spend the holidays and ring in a new year than a family outing on the water? They’d use Royce’s forty-four-foot sailing sloop, dubbed theCelestial Moon,to take the kids on an adventure down the coast of California to see the sights.

The boat, built in 1972, had seen almost a quarter century of use when Marty’s more prosperous sibling, Royce Snelling, bought it to satisfy his weekend itch to sail around Richardson Bay.

Royce had earned his wealth working for Apple in its early days, selling microcomputers to the masses. He’d made a small fortune alongside Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. All that money rolling in lasted until the downturn in the 1990s when power struggles upended Apple’s long-range plans. When the company lost out to the cheaper PCs packed with Microsoft Windows, Royce had to rethink his finances and his marriage. No longer sitting at the top of the food chain, his wife left him for someone who could better support her lifestyle. After another short-lived marriage ended in divorce and Royce’s employment became erratic, he lived full-time on theCelestial Moon.Instead of rubbing elbows with the rich and famous like before, showing off with trips around the Bay, the boat had become his full-time home.

But toward the end of 1999, approaching a new millennium, the brothers’ misfortunes seemed to be turning around. Microsoft in Seattle had offered Royce a job. With a fresh start on the horizon in January 2000, it seemed the perfect time for the two brothers to collaborate on a trip to mark the new beginning.

The Snelling boys began planning the trip in early October down to the last detail. And with Marty taking two weeks off from his construction job, he had high hopes that the vacation would get the kids out of daycare and bring his children some much-needed joy at Christmastime.

Despite living on theCelestial Moonfor almost two years, catching work where he could find it, Royce believed in keeping the sailboat in tip-top shape. He’d babied his prized possession during the lean times, even if he had to pay for repairs by relying on his credit cards. With Marty’s help, he’d overhauled the engine himself. The brothers added new fuel lines, added pumps from top to bottom, and even installed extra holding tanks for longer showers. Over the past two months, the Snelling brothers had replaced the halyards and sheets and bought new rigging.

By the morning of December 20th, they were ready to set sail. They began loading supplies onto the boat before dawn, with a thick greenish fog covering the harbor.

Marty carried a sleepy Hallie down to the second cabin. He laid her on the bunk while Willie, excited and eager, stayed above shadowing everything Uncle Royce did at the helm, waiting for him to start the engine and get underway.

“We’re really sailing like pirates,” Willie exclaimed, disbelief in his seven-year-old voice.

“Like old Jack Sparrow himself,” Royce promised with a wink toward his nephew as Marty appeared ready and willing to help.

“Leaving port this time of day we’ll see the sunrise if the fog lifts,” Marty added cheerily.

“I want to see it all,” Willie proclaimed. “I hope it’s not cloudy the whole time. If it is, we won’t see anything. I told everybody in my class how I’d spend two whole weeks sailing up and down the coast like One-Eyed Willie in that movie. My teacher said I should keep a journal and write a story about it. I’m gonna do that. I’m gonna show everybody how I don’t need a mom.”

Marty’s heart broke hearing his son say those words. He rubbed the top of Willie’s hair. “You’ll have a grand adventure to tell them when you get back to class. The fog won’t ruin the trip. I promise.”

Willie frowned. “If only I could see through the dumb fog.”

Noting the disappointment on his nephew’s forehead, Royce decided the boy needed to get underway. He started the engine, took the wheel, and began to steer the boat out of the harbor. He tapped the navigation system. “No need to worry about anything. We have GPS to guide us straight out. The weather forecast promises this pea soup will likely blow by in a few hours. Then you’ll see plenty of shoreline off the port side. That’s to the left. You can create your own map along the way as each city comes into view.”

“You did check the weather heading south?” Marty asked, trying to catch a glimpse of the skies through the thick fog off the bow. Worry ripped holes through his enthusiasm at the possibility of bad weather. “I didn’t consider bringing the kids through rough seas.”

Royce laid a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “It’s usually calm this time of year. The big Pacific storms don’t form until February. Besides, I’m a good sailor. You know that.”

“Even good sailors get caught off guard,” Marty muttered as Hallie wrapped her arms around her father’s legs in a death grip.

“I’m scared, Daddy,” Hallie said, rubbing her eyes. “I woke up, but nobody was there.”

Marty scooped the girl into his arms and patted her back as the boat rocked on top of the waves. “It’s okay, pumpkin. We’re just getting started. You’ll see. It’s going to be the Snelling adventure of a lifetime. Uncle Royce is an expert seaman. He won’t let anything bad happen to us.”

Hallie buried her face in her father’s neck as Marty looked at his brother with gratitude and apprehension. He knew Royce never took unnecessary risks, but the thought of taking his children out into the open ocean made him suddenly uneasy.

Noticing his brother’s angst, Royce slapped Marty on the back. “It’ll be okay. Take the kids out on deck. The fresh air works wonders to calm the nerves.”

The navigation system beeped as they neared a buoy. The noise had Hallie jumping, indicating that maybe they should leave Royce to focus on his tasks.

“It’s okay, sweetheart, everything’s fine,” Marty assured his daughter as he kissed the top of her head. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be asleep in your bunk, nice and cozy under the blankets? I promise to get you once we’re past the harbor.”

Hallie shook her head. “No. I want to stay with you.”

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