Fiddlinsue 2001 thru 2018 Page last updated 7/30/2018












RivermenandRiverboats Aimoo Forum List | Ticket | Today | Member | Search | Who's On | Help | Sign In | |
RivermenandRiverboats > Mazie Krebs Introduction > Mazie Krebs Go to subcategory:
Author Content
Fiddlinsue
  • Rank:none
  • Score:220
  • Posts:220
  • From:USA
  • Register:11/11/2008 8:17 AM

Date Posted:12/08/2008 6:09 AMCopy HTML







A half hour later, the reserved tables on B deck were full,
and Captain Streckfus stood with one hand on a replica
of the helm, flanked by his three pretty nieces. A dapper
Ray Maxwell knelt one knee, in his tan suit and brown and
white wing tips. The young queen posed next to a star of
white mums. Dark flowers spelled, "A Great New Star,
S.S. Admiral
."
At the Captain's table, Ray Maxwell had waltzed once
around the dance floor when the band kicked into "I'd
Like To Get You On A Slow Boat To China." Soon the
dance floor was full.
When Ray presented the plaque to Mazie, she accepted
it with a brief "thank you," brushed past his attempted kiss,
and tossed it onto the banquet table. She knew this entire
room was her creation. And watching the shore lights
through the rounded windows, she knew no movie set could
have been more successful. And hers was moving,. Being
on the river was liberation from the cares all had left on the
levee.
She took her glass and a bottle and walked a bit unsteadily
on her three-inch heels to the Deanna Room. She sat on a
leather covered stool in front of an adjustable mirror. She
had done the walls in musical scores, and the notes merged
with the sounds from the ballroom. The woman in the mirror
belonged on the Left Bank of the Seine, not the Mississippi.
She looked like an artist, possibly an actress. Neither an
ingénue, nor a vaudevillian, but tonight a quiet, thoughtful
star. True, lines were snaking from the corners of her eyes
but they could be fixed, perhaps even exploited with the
right touch. She opened her compact.
Mazie was on the top deck when the Admiral began her
turn. It was as though the huge steamer had stopped while
the Missouri and Illinois shorelines revolved. Just after the
turn, and the Admiral headed toward the Jefferson Barracks
Bridge, Mazie saw the lights of a speedboat coming directly
at them, very fast. The Admiral let out a warning blast, but
began to slow, as the boat approached. Mazie leaned over
the rail and saw the Chriscraft come alongside, throwing
a line onboard.
She pulled off her shoes and flew down the stairs to the main
deck. Back near the stern, two men were climbing aboard.
Buddy Aufberg's hair was messed up and he had sweated
through his suit jacket. As he stepped over the gunwale,
he looked past her and said, "I need a drink."
They went up to the ballroom where Buddy ordered a double
scotch. He looked completely drained. "You made your
deadline," she observed.
"Yeah. But it is one I wished I hadn't," he said. Buddy looked
away toward the dance floor, and back. "Let's dance, before
they quit," he said.
The Haymakers were playing slow, after midnight tunes.
Buddy held her in a way he never had before, and Mazie
allowed her head to rest on his shoulder. He was awfully
quiet, and she knew something was wrong. "It must have
been bad," she whispered.
She felt him pull her closer and say, "Yeah, real bad."
Mazie looked up at this defeated face. "So tell me."
"You don't want to know, Mazie, honest you don't."
She froze then. "It's about Paris, isn't it?"
His head dropped. "We got it onthe wire service. The
Germans march in tomorrow."
"In Paris it's tomorrow now, isn't it?"
Buddy pulled her to him and held her tight. They were
completely still in a vortex of dancers who moved dreamily
around the ballroom as the great steamer worked her way
upstream, against the powerful, eternal current.










No part of this story is to leave this site
under any circumstance. It is used with
permission from the writer, Al Gowan.
Thanks Al.  ©Maiden Voyage.
Backgrounds and images created by me
(©Fiddlinsue). Background html code was
provided by Liz from
Beyond the Horizon.
Thanks Liz. Image is from
©image-cafe.net.
 









Copyright © 2000- Aimoo Free Forum All rights reserved.